Here is a beautiful widget. You can see it on the right sidebar of this blog. It shows a random word in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish. You can click a speaker icon and hear audio pronunciation of this word in these languages. Click "Next" and see the next random word of the day.
Place it on your website, or your blog, or your Facebook, or in your iGoogle. Even on your Vista sidebar! For that click "Get & Share" at the bottom of the widget and then follow the instructions.
Also give a good rating and post a comment about this widget here.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Hindi Audio
Hindi audio is recorded, processed and uploaded to the site! Check it out on http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-hi-en
Huge thanks to our long time supporter Baggeroli for organizing and managing this project!
Huge thanks to our long time supporter Baggeroli for organizing and managing this project!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
New improvement: Speeeeeed it up!
The latest version that was deployed on last Friday (October 24) had a very small change - we did some optimization using JAWR https://jawr.dev.java.net/
The results are amazing - the speed of loading of all pages improved dramatically - in most cases by 30-50%.
Enjoy a faster Internet Polyglot - learn foreign languages while playing games!
The results are amazing - the speed of loading of all pages improved dramatically - in most cases by 30-50%.
Enjoy a faster Internet Polyglot - learn foreign languages while playing games!
Friday, October 10, 2008
New version of the site
Today our team deployed a new version of the site. The main changes are the following:
1) Improved sidebar - didn't you hate it when it was loading for about 5 extra seconds after the page was loaded. So, not anymore. Now he sidebar is loading quickly and the whole page is loading quickly too. Still, in this sidebar you can see the same information as before: your session game score, last played lessons, the champions of gaming.
2) iPoly widget. Now you and everybody can place an InternetPolyglot lessons on your blog or your site! For that go to http://www.internetpolyglot.com/widget.html , select languages that you like to show on your page in the widget, copy the code and paste it on your site or blog. Afte that your blog or site will start showing lessons directly from Internet Polyglot. And it will look like this:
The code for this widget was:
but you can change the languages in this code. For example, if you want to show Spanish-French lessons then simply change wordLanguage and translationLanguage parameters in this code like this:
and the widget will start showing Spanish-French lessons like this:
So please hurry and place this widget on your site or blog, make your visitors happy with playing Internet Polyglot language games!
What's next. The next couple of weeks our main goal becomes speeding up the site. We are going to work on making site's pages loading faster. Especially it's important for the game pages - iPoly gamers, stay tuned!
1) Improved sidebar - didn't you hate it when it was loading for about 5 extra seconds after the page was loaded. So, not anymore. Now he sidebar is loading quickly and the whole page is loading quickly too. Still, in this sidebar you can see the same information as before: your session game score, last played lessons, the champions of gaming.
2) iPoly widget. Now you and everybody can place an InternetPolyglot lessons on your blog or your site! For that go to http://www.internetpolyglot.com/widget.html , select languages that you like to show on your page in the widget, copy the code and paste it on your site or blog. Afte that your blog or site will start showing lessons directly from Internet Polyglot. And it will look like this:
The code for this widget was:
but you can change the languages in this code. For example, if you want to show Spanish-French lessons then simply change wordLanguage and translationLanguage parameters in this code like this:
and the widget will start showing Spanish-French lessons like this:
So please hurry and place this widget on your site or blog, make your visitors happy with playing Internet Polyglot language games!
What's next. The next couple of weeks our main goal becomes speeding up the site. We are going to work on making site's pages loading faster. Especially it's important for the game pages - iPoly gamers, stay tuned!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Three Fun Ways to Learn Italian
Who says that learning a language has to imply thick glasses, more than 1000 page books and a teacher who punishes you with loads of homework? Well, I believe learning can be fun! You might say “who are you to say that?” well, let’s just say I’m really smart and also lazy: I want maximum results with minimum effort. Trust me; you will WANT to read about these easy, fun methods of learning Italian!
1. Sing, sing, sing
What’s funnier than seeing all your friends goof around and try to keep up to both music and the lyrics? Well, your learning process has a lot to gain if you make a special Italian karaoke night! Great Italian singers like Laura Pausini, Tiziano Ferro, Biagio Antonacci, all have very inspired, clear lyrics that are easy to understand and to reproduce – they’re great for your pronunciation and vocabulary! Plus, in karaoke you also get to read the lyrics - improves you reading & writing skills! So, all in all, the Italian karaoke night will be a success both as a party and as a learning lesson.
2. Label everything in your way!
We feel more comfortable around the house, so we assimilate with more ease what we want to learn. Around the house – that’s where we have all the stuff we use on a daily basis. So why not take a pack of post-it notes and a dictionary and write the Italian word for things and label them? For example write “armadio” on a note and stick it on your closet, stick a “frigorifero” note on your fridge or even a “scarpe” note on the shoes you don’t wear as often. And also try to read the notes any time you see them – your family might consider you a loony, but soon enough, they will be proud of you being the only one in the family who speaks the language of DaVinci!
3. Pasta, anyone?
Have you ever considered taking up cooking as a way of getting familiar with a new language? Well, you can start now! Who doesn’t love a good lasagna, some freshly made spaghetti carbonara and of course, the Italian superstar: a ten topping pizza? The Italian kitchen is one of the richest and flavored of all. So, buy a dual-language recipe book or simply buy one in Italian (you will find loads on the internet) and a dictionary, and translate each recipe from Italian into your native language, as you cook it.
This helps you get familiar with the names of fruits, veggies and all sort of groceries and activities (cutting, baking, seasoning etc). Plus you have your belly filled with the world’s most exquisite meals. If you are a man and you’re reading this, trust me: your fiancé will be impressed by the pizza quarto stagioni you prepared for her! It gets your language learning juices flowing and stops your stomach from aching!
These 3 easy and fun steps are just the beginning of your “learning Italian odyssey”, but they will help you remember usual and common words and phrases, taking just a few minutes every day to do it. Once you know the basics, going to an Italian class will give you the professional teaching you need. Your teacher will see to your pronunciation being accurate, and your writing and grammar being close to perfection. But remember, the three methods I showed you above can be paired with your classes, so that you will speak fluent Italian in no time! Tanta fortuna, amico! (Good luck, buddy!)
1. Sing, sing, sing
What’s funnier than seeing all your friends goof around and try to keep up to both music and the lyrics? Well, your learning process has a lot to gain if you make a special Italian karaoke night! Great Italian singers like Laura Pausini, Tiziano Ferro, Biagio Antonacci, all have very inspired, clear lyrics that are easy to understand and to reproduce – they’re great for your pronunciation and vocabulary! Plus, in karaoke you also get to read the lyrics - improves you reading & writing skills! So, all in all, the Italian karaoke night will be a success both as a party and as a learning lesson.
2. Label everything in your way!
We feel more comfortable around the house, so we assimilate with more ease what we want to learn. Around the house – that’s where we have all the stuff we use on a daily basis. So why not take a pack of post-it notes and a dictionary and write the Italian word for things and label them? For example write “armadio” on a note and stick it on your closet, stick a “frigorifero” note on your fridge or even a “scarpe” note on the shoes you don’t wear as often. And also try to read the notes any time you see them – your family might consider you a loony, but soon enough, they will be proud of you being the only one in the family who speaks the language of DaVinci!
3. Pasta, anyone?
Have you ever considered taking up cooking as a way of getting familiar with a new language? Well, you can start now! Who doesn’t love a good lasagna, some freshly made spaghetti carbonara and of course, the Italian superstar: a ten topping pizza? The Italian kitchen is one of the richest and flavored of all. So, buy a dual-language recipe book or simply buy one in Italian (you will find loads on the internet) and a dictionary, and translate each recipe from Italian into your native language, as you cook it.
This helps you get familiar with the names of fruits, veggies and all sort of groceries and activities (cutting, baking, seasoning etc). Plus you have your belly filled with the world’s most exquisite meals. If you are a man and you’re reading this, trust me: your fiancé will be impressed by the pizza quarto stagioni you prepared for her! It gets your language learning juices flowing and stops your stomach from aching!
These 3 easy and fun steps are just the beginning of your “learning Italian odyssey”, but they will help you remember usual and common words and phrases, taking just a few minutes every day to do it. Once you know the basics, going to an Italian class will give you the professional teaching you need. Your teacher will see to your pronunciation being accurate, and your writing and grammar being close to perfection. But remember, the three methods I showed you above can be paired with your classes, so that you will speak fluent Italian in no time! Tanta fortuna, amico! (Good luck, buddy!)
7 Tips Every Wannabe Polyglot Needs
Any craft or skill in the world has its pros and amateurs and many times, the difference between the two is not necessarily natural talent, or hard work, it’s knowing the secret ingredient that makes the recipe what it is. Make no mistake about it, language learning is pretty much the same: know the tricks, you win the game. Here’s a collection of 10 useful tips and tricks on language learning for any wannabe polyglots out there:
1. Get Over Mistakes
One of the most annoying drawbacks when learning a language is fear of using it. Whether it’s fear of not spelling something right in an e-mail or letter, fear of sounding funny when speaking it or something similar, you need to get over making mistakes! So what if they occur? It’s the only way you can improve your language skills.
2. Set Yourself Stepwise Targets
Don’t go all out and plan to be proficient in a language, in a certain amount of time. Just take it stepwise, try getting to a basic level in the first few months, then improving your vocabulary in the next, then your grammar, then your speaking and so forth. Break it down into small bits, so you don’t choke on the bite.
3. Get Over Apparent Lack of Progress
Language learning is a flow that may or may not keep a steady rise. You might find yourself stagnating at some points during the process and it’s these that are the hardest to overcome, because you feel like you’re doing nothing apparently. Get over it!
4. Interests First
Are you learning Japanese for business purposes? Or maybe learning Brazilian to be able to communicate with your hot new Brazilian girlfriend? Whichever the purpose, study the language as if you would for that particular reason. Don’t stumble on small mistakes, get those economical Japanese terms so you can have a basic conversation, then build up on those.
5. Build a Solid Foundation
Again, if you have a solid foundation you can build up on it quickly and without too much trouble. Get the basic vocabulary down: that’s around 200 words that are commonly used, including common nouns, verbs and adjectives. Once you grab hold of that, there’s really nothing that can stop you.
6. Revisions
Happened to each and everyone of us in school, didn’t it? You learnt some long list of verbs in French class, but when it was time to actually use them the second time around, at the exam, you forgot them. That’s why revisions are always necessary, don’t lie on your back as soon as you’ve gone through the exercises, vocabulary practice or lessons.
7. Have fun While Studying
It’s been scientifically proven that if we learn something while we’re having fun, our brain assimilates that information a lot easier and for a longer period of time. Spice up your language learning habits, play some vocabulary games, maybe use some flashcards, or learn together with a friend. Anything that you deem as fun, is probably going to help you loads.
1. Get Over Mistakes
One of the most annoying drawbacks when learning a language is fear of using it. Whether it’s fear of not spelling something right in an e-mail or letter, fear of sounding funny when speaking it or something similar, you need to get over making mistakes! So what if they occur? It’s the only way you can improve your language skills.
2. Set Yourself Stepwise Targets
Don’t go all out and plan to be proficient in a language, in a certain amount of time. Just take it stepwise, try getting to a basic level in the first few months, then improving your vocabulary in the next, then your grammar, then your speaking and so forth. Break it down into small bits, so you don’t choke on the bite.
3. Get Over Apparent Lack of Progress
Language learning is a flow that may or may not keep a steady rise. You might find yourself stagnating at some points during the process and it’s these that are the hardest to overcome, because you feel like you’re doing nothing apparently. Get over it!
4. Interests First
Are you learning Japanese for business purposes? Or maybe learning Brazilian to be able to communicate with your hot new Brazilian girlfriend? Whichever the purpose, study the language as if you would for that particular reason. Don’t stumble on small mistakes, get those economical Japanese terms so you can have a basic conversation, then build up on those.
5. Build a Solid Foundation
Again, if you have a solid foundation you can build up on it quickly and without too much trouble. Get the basic vocabulary down: that’s around 200 words that are commonly used, including common nouns, verbs and adjectives. Once you grab hold of that, there’s really nothing that can stop you.
6. Revisions
Happened to each and everyone of us in school, didn’t it? You learnt some long list of verbs in French class, but when it was time to actually use them the second time around, at the exam, you forgot them. That’s why revisions are always necessary, don’t lie on your back as soon as you’ve gone through the exercises, vocabulary practice or lessons.
7. Have fun While Studying
It’s been scientifically proven that if we learn something while we’re having fun, our brain assimilates that information a lot easier and for a longer period of time. Spice up your language learning habits, play some vocabulary games, maybe use some flashcards, or learn together with a friend. Anything that you deem as fun, is probably going to help you loads.
Finding Motivation to Learn a New Language
Learning a language is a HUGE job and let’s face it, procrastinator or not, huge projects scare us. Learning a new language is also a long term deal, so there’s really no easy way out of this: you’ll have to buckle up and roll with the punches. There are however a couple of tips and tricks that a lot of people use in order to find that motivational spark to language learning and I’m going to try and share them with you in the next few minutes.
Taking Things One Step at a Time
Whenever we take up on a huge job, it seems a little bit easier to do if it’s broken down into several parts. It might just be an illusion, because after all, the time and effort invested in the smaller parts will probably be equal to what you would invest if you would run the project heels to head, but it’s how our mind works and it’s how motivation gets pumped up. Imagine a language as a…sandwich. You have your bread, your mustard and ketchup, your baloney layer and of course, the tomatoes. In terms of a language, that’s vocabulary, grammar, spelling and speaking. Take your time to prepare each of these ingredients before even daring to drool about the sandwich itself.
Picking up Words from Your Environment
Chances are the language you’re learning is a somewhat popular one on the international stage and there’s plenty of opportunities to pick up new words and expressions from around you. Movies of course, are a great inspiration for French, Spanish, German and Italian. Wanna learn some Italian? Pop in The Godfather and try to repeat what the characters are saying (granted, you’re probably going to utter some nasty words). How about German? Well, pretty much any World War 2 movie will feature some native Germans speaking (Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan come to mind). And the examples could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Yes, TV can dumb up people at times, but it can also help you turn into an efficient polyglot.
Motivational Posters!
Some people trying to lose weight will place motivational posters in or around their fridge with stuff like “No Cake for You Today!” or “Taste lasts for an instance, fat lasts FOREVER!”, etc. Well, although it’s an extreme method, it works. Maybe make a couple of posters saying “Have your learned your 5 new words today?” or whatever you find motivational. Trust me, as stupid as it sounds, it’s an effective way to make yourself feel guilty about not learning the language you’re aiming for :). Good luck!
Taking Things One Step at a Time
Whenever we take up on a huge job, it seems a little bit easier to do if it’s broken down into several parts. It might just be an illusion, because after all, the time and effort invested in the smaller parts will probably be equal to what you would invest if you would run the project heels to head, but it’s how our mind works and it’s how motivation gets pumped up. Imagine a language as a…sandwich. You have your bread, your mustard and ketchup, your baloney layer and of course, the tomatoes. In terms of a language, that’s vocabulary, grammar, spelling and speaking. Take your time to prepare each of these ingredients before even daring to drool about the sandwich itself.
Picking up Words from Your Environment
Chances are the language you’re learning is a somewhat popular one on the international stage and there’s plenty of opportunities to pick up new words and expressions from around you. Movies of course, are a great inspiration for French, Spanish, German and Italian. Wanna learn some Italian? Pop in The Godfather and try to repeat what the characters are saying (granted, you’re probably going to utter some nasty words). How about German? Well, pretty much any World War 2 movie will feature some native Germans speaking (Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan come to mind). And the examples could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Yes, TV can dumb up people at times, but it can also help you turn into an efficient polyglot.
Motivational Posters!
Some people trying to lose weight will place motivational posters in or around their fridge with stuff like “No Cake for You Today!” or “Taste lasts for an instance, fat lasts FOREVER!”, etc. Well, although it’s an extreme method, it works. Maybe make a couple of posters saying “Have your learned your 5 new words today?” or whatever you find motivational. Trust me, as stupid as it sounds, it’s an effective way to make yourself feel guilty about not learning the language you’re aiming for :). Good luck!
How to Read and Write in Chinese
Definitely not the easiest of languages to learn, for us westerners, but Chinese is becoming an increasingly influential language member on the international stage, so whether we like it or not, we’re pretty much forced to take a look at it. True, not everyone needs to learn Chinese for business purposes for example, but there are people that are fascinated with the Chinese culture and would like to learn how to read and write in Chinese. Others simply want to take up on a hard language to test their skill, or to prove themselves true polyglots (some linguists say that you’re not a true polyglot, unless you learn a language that’s completely different from yours – as is the case with Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so forth, for us westerners).
Actually, the US State Department made a survey and ranked language by difficulty and as it turns out, Chinese (its Mandarin branch actually) is the toughest language to learn for an English-speaker, on a list of over 100 languages. So if you’re really set on learning this language, know from start that it won’t be easy.
One of the problems in learning Chinese is obviously, its system of characters. This is sometimes wrongfully filed as an alphabet. Chinese characters don’t form an alphabet, instead each word has its own specific character, made up of straight, curved and jagged lines and dots. There are over 50,000 of these characters, so you have a titan’s work ahead of you.
One of the worst problems we face when learning Chinese symbols is that we try to memorize each word by hard, which is a rather silly and unproductive tactic. When we grew up as kids, no one forcefully made us learn all the words in our vocabulary, we assimilated most of these words naturally, taking them out of their content. This is how you should learn how to interpret Chinese characters, because they’re not just random patterns of lines and dots, they’re actually very carefully constructed and the symbols can be understood from the context after a while.
Sure, some symbols are very similar and you may have problems confusing them for one another, which is where practice kicks in. No real way to go around this problem, other than sheer practice, or carrying around a character dictionary with you all the time. It’s also understandably a good idea to start off with characters that are written in a clean, clear fashion, so as not to spur any additional confusion.
Writing the Chinese vocabulary symbols should not be taken for granted, even if you are somewhat skilled in deciphering them. It takes a steady hand and again, a lot of practice to get all characters right, much like it took you to learn how to write alphabetical symbols as a kid (of course, you only had to learn 35ish characters, not 50,000). Good luck, you’ll need it :)
Actually, the US State Department made a survey and ranked language by difficulty and as it turns out, Chinese (its Mandarin branch actually) is the toughest language to learn for an English-speaker, on a list of over 100 languages. So if you’re really set on learning this language, know from start that it won’t be easy.
One of the problems in learning Chinese is obviously, its system of characters. This is sometimes wrongfully filed as an alphabet. Chinese characters don’t form an alphabet, instead each word has its own specific character, made up of straight, curved and jagged lines and dots. There are over 50,000 of these characters, so you have a titan’s work ahead of you.
One of the worst problems we face when learning Chinese symbols is that we try to memorize each word by hard, which is a rather silly and unproductive tactic. When we grew up as kids, no one forcefully made us learn all the words in our vocabulary, we assimilated most of these words naturally, taking them out of their content. This is how you should learn how to interpret Chinese characters, because they’re not just random patterns of lines and dots, they’re actually very carefully constructed and the symbols can be understood from the context after a while.
Sure, some symbols are very similar and you may have problems confusing them for one another, which is where practice kicks in. No real way to go around this problem, other than sheer practice, or carrying around a character dictionary with you all the time. It’s also understandably a good idea to start off with characters that are written in a clean, clear fashion, so as not to spur any additional confusion.
Writing the Chinese vocabulary symbols should not be taken for granted, even if you are somewhat skilled in deciphering them. It takes a steady hand and again, a lot of practice to get all characters right, much like it took you to learn how to write alphabetical symbols as a kid (of course, you only had to learn 35ish characters, not 50,000). Good luck, you’ll need it :)
How to Read and Write in Chinese
Definitely not the easiest of languages to learn, for us westerners, but Chinese is becoming an increasingly influential language member on the international stage, so whether we like it or not, we’re pretty much forced to take a look at it. True, not everyone needs to learn Chinese for business purposes for example, but there are people that are fascinated with the Chinese culture and would like to learn how to read and write in Chinese. Others simply want to take up on a hard language to test their skill, or to prove themselves true polyglots (some linguists say that you’re not a true polyglot, unless you learn a language that’s completely different from yours – as is the case with Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so forth, for us westerners).
Actually, the US State Department made a survey and ranked language by difficulty and as it turns out, Chinese (its Mandarin branch actually) is the toughest language to learn for an English-speaker, on a list of over 100 languages. So if you’re really set on learning this language, know from start that it won’t be easy.
One of the problems in learning Chinese is obviously, its system of characters. This is sometimes wrongfully filed as an alphabet. Chinese characters don’t form an alphabet, instead each word has its own specific character, made up of straight, curved and jagged lines and dots. There are over 50,000 of these characters, so you have a titan’s work ahead of you.
One of the worst problems we face when learning Chinese symbols is that we try to memorize each word by hard, which is a rather silly and unproductive tactic. When we grew up as kids, no one forcefully made us learn all the words in our vocabulary, we assimilated most of these words naturally, taking them out of their content. This is how you should learn how to interpret Chinese characters, because they’re not just random patterns of lines and dots, they’re actually very carefully constructed and the symbols can be understood from the context after a while.
Sure, some symbols are very similar and you may have problems confusing them for one another, which is where practice kicks in. No real way to go around this problem, other than sheer practice, or carrying around a character dictionary with you all the time. It’s also understandably a good idea to start off with characters that are written in a clean, clear fashion, so as not to spur any additional confusion.
Writing the Chinese vocabulary symbols should not be taken for granted, even if you are somewhat skilled in deciphering them. It takes a steady hand and again, a lot of practice to get all characters right, much like it took you to learn how to write alphabetical symbols as a kid (of course, you only had to learn 35ish characters, not 50,000). Good luck, you’ll need it :)
Actually, the US State Department made a survey and ranked language by difficulty and as it turns out, Chinese (its Mandarin branch actually) is the toughest language to learn for an English-speaker, on a list of over 100 languages. So if you’re really set on learning this language, know from start that it won’t be easy.
One of the problems in learning Chinese is obviously, its system of characters. This is sometimes wrongfully filed as an alphabet. Chinese characters don’t form an alphabet, instead each word has its own specific character, made up of straight, curved and jagged lines and dots. There are over 50,000 of these characters, so you have a titan’s work ahead of you.
One of the worst problems we face when learning Chinese symbols is that we try to memorize each word by hard, which is a rather silly and unproductive tactic. When we grew up as kids, no one forcefully made us learn all the words in our vocabulary, we assimilated most of these words naturally, taking them out of their content. This is how you should learn how to interpret Chinese characters, because they’re not just random patterns of lines and dots, they’re actually very carefully constructed and the symbols can be understood from the context after a while.
Sure, some symbols are very similar and you may have problems confusing them for one another, which is where practice kicks in. No real way to go around this problem, other than sheer practice, or carrying around a character dictionary with you all the time. It’s also understandably a good idea to start off with characters that are written in a clean, clear fashion, so as not to spur any additional confusion.
Writing the Chinese vocabulary symbols should not be taken for granted, even if you are somewhat skilled in deciphering them. It takes a steady hand and again, a lot of practice to get all characters right, much like it took you to learn how to write alphabetical symbols as a kid (of course, you only had to learn 35ish characters, not 50,000). Good luck, you’ll need it :)
Learning French Subliminally - For & Against
The human nature is designed so that whenever we want something, we want it as soon as possible so when we want to learn a language, like French in our case, we will want to learn fast and at least at an intermediate level, right? I will talk to you about three different methods of learning French and some for and against tips.
Learning French the subliminal way is based on the theory that our brain is capable to receive information even when it’s not aware of receiving it. In other words, the brain learns subconsciously. The subliminally learning of French can be done in two ways: the first is that you will listen to a CD. Probably playing music, as music relaxes you brain and creates the perfect climate for receiving information. Behind the music, there will be inserted different words and phrases in French, words that you will not perceive with your conscious brain, but you will sure receive in you subconscious .This means that they first compress the information digitally and then insert it on the CD.
The second method is text messages, bright colored images or watermarks that are either embedded in texts about any either subject than learning French, or images move around so fast that the naked eye does not see them, but in fact they send a strong message to our brain.
PRO: I tend to believe this method for I was always the kid in the last row who never listened to the teacher talking (I used to draw, draw, or just … draw as I got bored) but always got straight A’s. I tend to believe my brain perceived the information even if I was not paying any attention to the conversation going on in class.
Another pro I see for the subliminal learning of French is that you get to learn while you are doing other things. Fox example you can cook, drive, enjoy a cup of coffee, clean the house, while you are listening to the CD with subliminal messages in French. Convenient, isn’t it? Plus, remember that our subconscious works even while we sleep, so it should work for you to do what you want all day long and save the night for learning French – you go to sleep playing the CD.
AGAINST: there are no studies which actually prove this theory, even if you will find on the internet several site promising you will learn French quickly, without any effort. Ok, I believe that our subconscious is awake all the time and that we can pick up information unwillingly and insert it into our conscious, but we have no guarantee it works for everyone and definitely no guarantee that is an easier or faster method that any other.
Plus, you don’t get to practice grammar, reading comprehension, pronunciation, spelling etc. So, is there any use for learning random words and phrases?
To end it in a funny way, I must ask: do you remember that episode of Dexter’s Lab when Dex falls asleep listening to his CD for subliminally learn French, and the CD keeps skipping so in the morning all he can say is “omlette du fromage” ? Well, if you do choose this method, make sure the CD is ok, will you?
Learning French the subliminal way is based on the theory that our brain is capable to receive information even when it’s not aware of receiving it. In other words, the brain learns subconsciously. The subliminally learning of French can be done in two ways: the first is that you will listen to a CD. Probably playing music, as music relaxes you brain and creates the perfect climate for receiving information. Behind the music, there will be inserted different words and phrases in French, words that you will not perceive with your conscious brain, but you will sure receive in you subconscious .This means that they first compress the information digitally and then insert it on the CD.
The second method is text messages, bright colored images or watermarks that are either embedded in texts about any either subject than learning French, or images move around so fast that the naked eye does not see them, but in fact they send a strong message to our brain.
PRO: I tend to believe this method for I was always the kid in the last row who never listened to the teacher talking (I used to draw, draw, or just … draw as I got bored) but always got straight A’s. I tend to believe my brain perceived the information even if I was not paying any attention to the conversation going on in class.
Another pro I see for the subliminal learning of French is that you get to learn while you are doing other things. Fox example you can cook, drive, enjoy a cup of coffee, clean the house, while you are listening to the CD with subliminal messages in French. Convenient, isn’t it? Plus, remember that our subconscious works even while we sleep, so it should work for you to do what you want all day long and save the night for learning French – you go to sleep playing the CD.
AGAINST: there are no studies which actually prove this theory, even if you will find on the internet several site promising you will learn French quickly, without any effort. Ok, I believe that our subconscious is awake all the time and that we can pick up information unwillingly and insert it into our conscious, but we have no guarantee it works for everyone and definitely no guarantee that is an easier or faster method that any other.
Plus, you don’t get to practice grammar, reading comprehension, pronunciation, spelling etc. So, is there any use for learning random words and phrases?
To end it in a funny way, I must ask: do you remember that episode of Dexter’s Lab when Dex falls asleep listening to his CD for subliminally learn French, and the CD keeps skipping so in the morning all he can say is “omlette du fromage” ? Well, if you do choose this method, make sure the CD is ok, will you?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Learning French Outside the Classroom
No matter how interesting, structural and organized are the French classes you take, sometimes you just need a break, you need to be able to smile while you’re learning, relax and even have fun. Nowadays, our good buddy – the Internet – can provide several ways for doing that.
Play the games you love, but do it in French. Most of the games you can use for practicing your French are simple ones, like crosswords or hangman. As simple as they are, they can prove very efficient for your writing skills, vocabulary and comprehension. But there is also another option: change the language menu of the games you play more often from English to French (admittedly, not all games are bilingual) – this will help you get familiar with different words and phrases. Plus, if you play online games (like Lineage II), talk to you fellow players that are French in their native language! It's really some awesome, hands-down practice of your French language.
Another way to ractice your writing and comprehension skills by joining a chat room online. With one simple search on the internet you will find French chat rooms on any subject. There are beginner speakers and advanced ones, native speakers or even teachers, and they will all help you improve. It is ok to tell everyone from the start what your level is in French so they know where you need improvement. Plus, if you have an interest in the subject talked about in the chat room and you have studied it in your native language before, it will be easier to pick up meanings and words.
Find a French speaker friend and start a ‘language exchange’ program. This means you should find a native French speaker who wants to improve his English and make a sort of an agreement: you teach each other French and English. This will help in every aspect of learning a new language: comprehension, reading, writing, pronunciation. Plus you improve your social life buy having a new friend! This method can be efficient as long as you both have a little bit of knowledge of the other’s language and also a bit of teaching skills, right? Because what’s the use of being a native speaker if you are not able to pass your knowledge to your “student”?
We spend most of our time on the internet so why not begin taking online courses or play a CD for improving your listening and pronunciation? I personally prefer learning a language this way, for I am pretty busy and I spend most of my day in the car. So I’ll just play my French-learning CD and repeat after it “red – rouge”, “boy – garcon”, “small – petite”. The only disadvantage I see for this, is that I can’t advance in my writing skills, for I only listen, comprehend and pronounce. For this, every night, I take 10-15 minutes to go over the lesson I heard in the car and write all the words in it. It sure helps a lot!
The online French courses usually consist of short lessons which are very explicit and focused on the essentials. Plus you get to write, read and listen to French in it’s most correct state, you learn grammar and writing, not only spoken skills.
Of course, the funniest way to take the learning process of the French language outside of the class room is to take it into the great wide open! Visit France, visit Paris, pick up words along the way, find a French fiancé, eat baguettes with Brie Cheese, enjoy a piece of tarte au citron (lemon pie) and just have fun, every moment of it! You'll literally feel your French get pumped up with each day that catches you on French soil.
If you read this and you still feel like going to class, c’est la vie, mon amie! (that’s life, my friend) you’re no fun at all!
Play the games you love, but do it in French. Most of the games you can use for practicing your French are simple ones, like crosswords or hangman. As simple as they are, they can prove very efficient for your writing skills, vocabulary and comprehension. But there is also another option: change the language menu of the games you play more often from English to French (admittedly, not all games are bilingual) – this will help you get familiar with different words and phrases. Plus, if you play online games (like Lineage II), talk to you fellow players that are French in their native language! It's really some awesome, hands-down practice of your French language.
Another way to ractice your writing and comprehension skills by joining a chat room online. With one simple search on the internet you will find French chat rooms on any subject. There are beginner speakers and advanced ones, native speakers or even teachers, and they will all help you improve. It is ok to tell everyone from the start what your level is in French so they know where you need improvement. Plus, if you have an interest in the subject talked about in the chat room and you have studied it in your native language before, it will be easier to pick up meanings and words.
Find a French speaker friend and start a ‘language exchange’ program. This means you should find a native French speaker who wants to improve his English and make a sort of an agreement: you teach each other French and English. This will help in every aspect of learning a new language: comprehension, reading, writing, pronunciation. Plus you improve your social life buy having a new friend! This method can be efficient as long as you both have a little bit of knowledge of the other’s language and also a bit of teaching skills, right? Because what’s the use of being a native speaker if you are not able to pass your knowledge to your “student”?
We spend most of our time on the internet so why not begin taking online courses or play a CD for improving your listening and pronunciation? I personally prefer learning a language this way, for I am pretty busy and I spend most of my day in the car. So I’ll just play my French-learning CD and repeat after it “red – rouge”, “boy – garcon”, “small – petite”. The only disadvantage I see for this, is that I can’t advance in my writing skills, for I only listen, comprehend and pronounce. For this, every night, I take 10-15 minutes to go over the lesson I heard in the car and write all the words in it. It sure helps a lot!
The online French courses usually consist of short lessons which are very explicit and focused on the essentials. Plus you get to write, read and listen to French in it’s most correct state, you learn grammar and writing, not only spoken skills.
Of course, the funniest way to take the learning process of the French language outside of the class room is to take it into the great wide open! Visit France, visit Paris, pick up words along the way, find a French fiancé, eat baguettes with Brie Cheese, enjoy a piece of tarte au citron (lemon pie) and just have fun, every moment of it! You'll literally feel your French get pumped up with each day that catches you on French soil.
If you read this and you still feel like going to class, c’est la vie, mon amie! (that’s life, my friend) you’re no fun at all!
Learning German Through Traveling
Let's be honest: German is not the easiest language to learn, in fact, despite the similar roots to the English language, German won't be a walk in the park even for the most experienced polyglots. But this doesn’t mean that you cannot do your best to improve your conversational skills at least. Even if you are not able to write very good, because it’s indeed complicated, we will try to give you some hints on how to be able to have a conversation in German.
I strongly believe that the easiest way to improve your German language is to plan a trip over there! Germany is a great place to visit, there are some wonderful things to see: castles, gothic churches and domes, historical sites and so on. Once there, don’t be afraid to use your conversational guide and start pumping up your vocabulary.
Germans will honestly appreciate your effort to talk in their own language (even if you may mess up every now and then) and they will help you so that you get the right pronunciation or will teach you new words to improve your vocabulary. One of my funnies days spent in Germany was when we visited The Village Titisee, in the Black Forrest Mountains. There was a group o students singing around the fire, when they understood I was really doing my best to learn German, they wrote me the lyrics of the song so that I could sing along. It was not only funny but a good lesson of reading and pronunciation. And you know what they say, when you have fun learning something, it sticks!
Also, traveling in Germany will give you the opportunity to converse with a native speaker. The advantages for this are multiple: not only they tell you the proper way to pronounce words, but they give you immediate feedback, so that you don’t perseverate in your mistakes. Plus, it’s a known fact: learning along with people is a far better way then learning by yourself, while reading a book. The social aspect of learning is important for it relaxes you and creates the proper climate to assimilate new language. Besides, you won’t find the slang and the colloquial usage of German inside the conversational guide, will you?
In order to improve your reading skills, I strongly advise you to read and type the text that you encounter. Since you’re traveling and visiting all sorts of locations, take the opportunity to read directions, info panels, brochures on all the sites. I remember I was so willing to learn German, that I ever read the door signs. I still remember the “druken” for push and the “zien” for pull on the door of each shop. Never let any detail slip by you, it's the only way you can truly increase your German vocabulary.
Last, but not least, remember that your trip is not just a study tour, but also a holiday, so try to relax as much as you can, don’t ever be embarrassed to talk in German and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Each one of us needs to make mistakes in order to learn by correcting them. Always remember how easy it is, for a prescholar, to learn a foreign language! Because he is not ashamed to mispronounce, because he repeats words exactly as the teacher says them (your teacher for the trip is any native speaker you meet) and because he has a lot of fun during the whole learning process.
In order to make the whole lesson fun, don’t forget to sing the world renowned preschool song and do your best to understand them:
“Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil.
Komm aus Ägypten, das liegt direkt am Nil.
Zuerst das ich in einem Ei,
dann schni-,schna-,schnappte ich mich frei”
I strongly believe that the easiest way to improve your German language is to plan a trip over there! Germany is a great place to visit, there are some wonderful things to see: castles, gothic churches and domes, historical sites and so on. Once there, don’t be afraid to use your conversational guide and start pumping up your vocabulary.
Germans will honestly appreciate your effort to talk in their own language (even if you may mess up every now and then) and they will help you so that you get the right pronunciation or will teach you new words to improve your vocabulary. One of my funnies days spent in Germany was when we visited The Village Titisee, in the Black Forrest Mountains. There was a group o students singing around the fire, when they understood I was really doing my best to learn German, they wrote me the lyrics of the song so that I could sing along. It was not only funny but a good lesson of reading and pronunciation. And you know what they say, when you have fun learning something, it sticks!
Also, traveling in Germany will give you the opportunity to converse with a native speaker. The advantages for this are multiple: not only they tell you the proper way to pronounce words, but they give you immediate feedback, so that you don’t perseverate in your mistakes. Plus, it’s a known fact: learning along with people is a far better way then learning by yourself, while reading a book. The social aspect of learning is important for it relaxes you and creates the proper climate to assimilate new language. Besides, you won’t find the slang and the colloquial usage of German inside the conversational guide, will you?
In order to improve your reading skills, I strongly advise you to read and type the text that you encounter. Since you’re traveling and visiting all sorts of locations, take the opportunity to read directions, info panels, brochures on all the sites. I remember I was so willing to learn German, that I ever read the door signs. I still remember the “druken” for push and the “zien” for pull on the door of each shop. Never let any detail slip by you, it's the only way you can truly increase your German vocabulary.
Last, but not least, remember that your trip is not just a study tour, but also a holiday, so try to relax as much as you can, don’t ever be embarrassed to talk in German and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Each one of us needs to make mistakes in order to learn by correcting them. Always remember how easy it is, for a prescholar, to learn a foreign language! Because he is not ashamed to mispronounce, because he repeats words exactly as the teacher says them (your teacher for the trip is any native speaker you meet) and because he has a lot of fun during the whole learning process.
In order to make the whole lesson fun, don’t forget to sing the world renowned preschool song and do your best to understand them:
“Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil.
Komm aus Ägypten, das liegt direkt am Nil.
Zuerst das ich in einem Ei,
dann schni-,schna-,schnappte ich mich frei”
Learning Spanish for Everyday use
First of all, let’s get things straight: most of us don’t want to learn Spanish so that we can get a career in politics, so that we become good public speakers or for writing sensible and deep poetry. No, we want to learn Spanish in order to COMMUNICATE. Spanish is the second spoken language in the US, so why not try to get along with our Latin fellows?
As I said, I will try to give you a few tips for learning Spanish so that you understand what people talk to you about and even try to give a pertinent answer.
First of all, don’t forget to read the labels of the products you use. Most of the products, whether they are cosmetics, cleaners, food, clothes, have a bi-lingual label, so that it is very easy to associate words or phrases and understand their meaning. The more various the products, the more you learn words from different categories. Fox example, on the label of a cleaner, you will read in English “grease-cutting formula / long lasting fragrance” and underneath the same phrase in Spanish “formula corta grasa / fragrancia duradera”. On all sort of products you will find some words that are very useful to us all “no se deje al alcance de los ninos” (keep out of the reach of children).
Once you get a few basic words, try to use them as often as you can and don’t be afraid to use them in public. For example, when you go out to eat to a Latin fast food (like El Pollo Loco) try to order your meal in Spanish. Even if you don’t get the right pronunciation or you don’t get the grammar right – most of the employees are Latin and will help you get the pronunciation right. You should know Latin people are very friendly and willing to teach you their language!
And to prove how nice Latin people are why not joining a Latin group over the internet? Don’t forget they already speak both English and Spanish so they can understand everything you say and will help you in every aspect of the learning process: reading comprehension (they will know you don’t understand when you don’t laugh at good joke), spelling (a Latin girl will always correct you when you don’t spell “mamacita” right) and pronunciation (it’s Pedrito, not Pedro, ok?).
Who doesn’t love Latin music? If you are a man, you must like Shakira and for the ladies, you must love Alejandro Sanz, don’t you? The best thing about artists like Shakira, is that beside their great music, they have albums in both languages – “Oral Fixation Vol.2” and the Spanish version “Fijacion Oral Vol.1”. This way you will better understand al the lyrics and learn a whole bunch of new words that will permanently improve your vocabulary! Plus you get to have fun and learn to do Shakira’s belly dance!
And last but not least: go out, make new friends! I bet that at least one of your co-workers is Latin and if you ask politely, will agree to teach you a few words and tips, or better yet, you get to practice conversation, with the advantage of being corrected any time you pronounce something wrong. It's really the best way to learn Spanish, by practice.
So, these are my advices for now, and if you read them closely you will see they are not only practical, but also fun. Just try them, one at a time, and you will see that step by step, your Spanish will improve.
As I said, I will try to give you a few tips for learning Spanish so that you understand what people talk to you about and even try to give a pertinent answer.
First of all, don’t forget to read the labels of the products you use. Most of the products, whether they are cosmetics, cleaners, food, clothes, have a bi-lingual label, so that it is very easy to associate words or phrases and understand their meaning. The more various the products, the more you learn words from different categories. Fox example, on the label of a cleaner, you will read in English “grease-cutting formula / long lasting fragrance” and underneath the same phrase in Spanish “formula corta grasa / fragrancia duradera”. On all sort of products you will find some words that are very useful to us all “no se deje al alcance de los ninos” (keep out of the reach of children).
Once you get a few basic words, try to use them as often as you can and don’t be afraid to use them in public. For example, when you go out to eat to a Latin fast food (like El Pollo Loco) try to order your meal in Spanish. Even if you don’t get the right pronunciation or you don’t get the grammar right – most of the employees are Latin and will help you get the pronunciation right. You should know Latin people are very friendly and willing to teach you their language!
And to prove how nice Latin people are why not joining a Latin group over the internet? Don’t forget they already speak both English and Spanish so they can understand everything you say and will help you in every aspect of the learning process: reading comprehension (they will know you don’t understand when you don’t laugh at good joke), spelling (a Latin girl will always correct you when you don’t spell “mamacita” right) and pronunciation (it’s Pedrito, not Pedro, ok?).
Who doesn’t love Latin music? If you are a man, you must like Shakira and for the ladies, you must love Alejandro Sanz, don’t you? The best thing about artists like Shakira, is that beside their great music, they have albums in both languages – “Oral Fixation Vol.2” and the Spanish version “Fijacion Oral Vol.1”. This way you will better understand al the lyrics and learn a whole bunch of new words that will permanently improve your vocabulary! Plus you get to have fun and learn to do Shakira’s belly dance!
And last but not least: go out, make new friends! I bet that at least one of your co-workers is Latin and if you ask politely, will agree to teach you a few words and tips, or better yet, you get to practice conversation, with the advantage of being corrected any time you pronounce something wrong. It's really the best way to learn Spanish, by practice.
So, these are my advices for now, and if you read them closely you will see they are not only practical, but also fun. Just try them, one at a time, and you will see that step by step, your Spanish will improve.
Organize you own Spanish classes
First of all, do we really need an introduction to explain why we would like to learn Spanish? The answer is really simple: it is the second most spoken language in the US and one of the most spoken around the world! So let us get down to business and I’ll try to explain how to use these simple methods for learning Spanish without taking long and boring classes!
First of all, you need to ORGANIZE your study! You must decide how much time a day or a week you want to spend studying and at the begging of each week, you must also decide the topic for that particular week. Always make sure you pick a topic which is interesting enough to keep you fully awake and attentive and also a topic that you can use later. What’s the point in choosing “nuclear chemistry” if you are a dentist?
Once you made up your mind on the subject, try to figure out a way for practicing and improve each one of the following: comprehension, reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, writing.
To improve your comprehension of Spanish native speakers, try a quick search on youtube for some bits of “telenovelas” (the Spanish word for soap operas) and you will surely find ones with subtitles. Try to just listen to the conversation and write some ideas you heard there. Then play the video again, reading the subtitles, and see how much you really understood. Always look up in the dictionary the word you didn’t understand, write them down and repeat them a couple of times. This method also improves your vocabulary and pronunciation, for you can play the video over and over again, until you say the word in the right way.
If you want to work on your vocabulary, there are also many sites which have words in Spanish divided in categories such as “words to describe physical appearance”, “list of human body vocabulary” and many more. So choose a category for each day of your study, read the words in both English and Spanish, write each one of them a few times, read them out loud. This is good for vocabulary, reading, pronunciation. If you can’t find such a site (I doubt it, but still) you can chose a category, for example “words relating clothes”, make a list of all the words you can remember in English and use a dictionary to translate them in Spanish.
As far as the grammar is concerned, you will find in any library, as well as online, several books and e-books on “how to Learn Spanish without a teacher”. These books explain simple grammar rules and you can take one lesson at a time.
In order to make your classes at home more fun, invite over a friend who also wants to learn Spanish and work together on this. Your conversational skills will be greatly improved, you can have immediate feedback on any mistake you make and last but not least, you don’t get to talk to the walls, alone!
No matter which one of the methods you chose for organising the classes on your own, remember that at the begging of each one, you must take a few minutes to review the last class’s information so that it sticks to you. And let us not forget: don’t be afraid to give yourself homework and minus Ds when you fail in completing them. For this, you might need a friend, as we said, so you won’t do it all by yourself and you will be more motivated. Well, good luck and remember to relax – learning Spanish, as learning any language, is a long process that must be conquered one class at the time!
First of all, you need to ORGANIZE your study! You must decide how much time a day or a week you want to spend studying and at the begging of each week, you must also decide the topic for that particular week. Always make sure you pick a topic which is interesting enough to keep you fully awake and attentive and also a topic that you can use later. What’s the point in choosing “nuclear chemistry” if you are a dentist?
Once you made up your mind on the subject, try to figure out a way for practicing and improve each one of the following: comprehension, reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, writing.
To improve your comprehension of Spanish native speakers, try a quick search on youtube for some bits of “telenovelas” (the Spanish word for soap operas) and you will surely find ones with subtitles. Try to just listen to the conversation and write some ideas you heard there. Then play the video again, reading the subtitles, and see how much you really understood. Always look up in the dictionary the word you didn’t understand, write them down and repeat them a couple of times. This method also improves your vocabulary and pronunciation, for you can play the video over and over again, until you say the word in the right way.
If you want to work on your vocabulary, there are also many sites which have words in Spanish divided in categories such as “words to describe physical appearance”, “list of human body vocabulary” and many more. So choose a category for each day of your study, read the words in both English and Spanish, write each one of them a few times, read them out loud. This is good for vocabulary, reading, pronunciation. If you can’t find such a site (I doubt it, but still) you can chose a category, for example “words relating clothes”, make a list of all the words you can remember in English and use a dictionary to translate them in Spanish.
As far as the grammar is concerned, you will find in any library, as well as online, several books and e-books on “how to Learn Spanish without a teacher”. These books explain simple grammar rules and you can take one lesson at a time.
In order to make your classes at home more fun, invite over a friend who also wants to learn Spanish and work together on this. Your conversational skills will be greatly improved, you can have immediate feedback on any mistake you make and last but not least, you don’t get to talk to the walls, alone!
No matter which one of the methods you chose for organising the classes on your own, remember that at the begging of each one, you must take a few minutes to review the last class’s information so that it sticks to you. And let us not forget: don’t be afraid to give yourself homework and minus Ds when you fail in completing them. For this, you might need a friend, as we said, so you won’t do it all by yourself and you will be more motivated. Well, good luck and remember to relax – learning Spanish, as learning any language, is a long process that must be conquered one class at the time!
The Best Language Learning Practices - Divide and Conquer
The Roman Empire’s battle philosophy was that no war should be fought heads-on, but rather the territories that were about to be conquered, or the forces that were about to be taken on should be divided and conquered separately. Well, language learning might not necessarily be a war, but it’s definitely a battle with a force to be reckoned with. Many people quit after the first months, or even weeks after starting a language course, because they’re overwhelmed by the complexity of this task. Obviously, it can and WILL get overwhelming if you take a language heads-on, that’s why the Roman tactic of divide et impera is a great way to get a hold of it.
First off, you should break down the language you’re trying to learn in components. Not all languages will have the same components and not all components will have the same difficutly. For example, learning Japanese will obviously have more elements than learning French, because you’ll have to learn the alphabet, gender structure and writing style in addition.
Some common language components include:
Grammar – the glue that keeps a language together. Learning grammar is a structured process and leaves less room for natural assimilation.
Common Nouns – A good part of a language’s alphabet is made of common nouns. People only use around 10% of a language’s vocabulary and most of these are nouns: common nouns.
Common Phrases – this part of the vocabulary is something that could really get you started in a new language. Oftentimes, we start our learning process by memorizing simple phrases like “hi, how are you”, “thank you”, “what’s the time?” and the likes.
Numbers – numbers are another good way to start off and they have the advantage of being memorized in a particular order, making them easier to remember, through association.
Alphabet – even sister languages might have alphabet differences and it’s important to learn of these small variations right off the bat. Obviously, trying to learn german and it’s few new letters won’t be nearly as tough as learning Russian, or Chinese; languages with a completely different alphabet, with completely different sets of rules.
So, take each of these components one step at a time and handle them individually and you’ll notice it makes a world of difference. The trick is that while learning one individual component, you’ll also be practicing several others, so you’re attacking your objective on several levels. Good luck, soldier!
First off, you should break down the language you’re trying to learn in components. Not all languages will have the same components and not all components will have the same difficutly. For example, learning Japanese will obviously have more elements than learning French, because you’ll have to learn the alphabet, gender structure and writing style in addition.
Some common language components include:
Grammar – the glue that keeps a language together. Learning grammar is a structured process and leaves less room for natural assimilation.
Common Nouns – A good part of a language’s alphabet is made of common nouns. People only use around 10% of a language’s vocabulary and most of these are nouns: common nouns.
Common Phrases – this part of the vocabulary is something that could really get you started in a new language. Oftentimes, we start our learning process by memorizing simple phrases like “hi, how are you”, “thank you”, “what’s the time?” and the likes.
Numbers – numbers are another good way to start off and they have the advantage of being memorized in a particular order, making them easier to remember, through association.
Alphabet – even sister languages might have alphabet differences and it’s important to learn of these small variations right off the bat. Obviously, trying to learn german and it’s few new letters won’t be nearly as tough as learning Russian, or Chinese; languages with a completely different alphabet, with completely different sets of rules.
So, take each of these components one step at a time and handle them individually and you’ll notice it makes a world of difference. The trick is that while learning one individual component, you’ll also be practicing several others, so you’re attacking your objective on several levels. Good luck, soldier!
Monday, March 03, 2008
March 2008: New Release - Game Improvements
We've just deployed a new version of the web site. The main changes are in the Games:
- now games play sounds - you can control if you want them to be played or not
- now games show images
- a new mix game - mixing guessing, matching and typing games
- a system of hints
- now you can see the last played lessons and start them again after a while
- now you can login during the game without having to go to the login page
Don't forget that it's better to be a registered user of Internet Polyglot because in this case the program will be able to save results of your games in the database and show you the words that you know worse more often.
Enjoy your staying with Internet Polyglot! Happy language learning!
Misha
P.S. If you see any problems with this new version or with the site - please post a message on the forum.
- now games play sounds - you can control if you want them to be played or not
- now games show images
- a new mix game - mixing guessing, matching and typing games
- a system of hints
- now you can see the last played lessons and start them again after a while
- now you can login during the game without having to go to the login page
Don't forget that it's better to be a registered user of Internet Polyglot because in this case the program will be able to save results of your games in the database and show you the words that you know worse more often.
Enjoy your staying with Internet Polyglot! Happy language learning!
Misha
P.S. If you see any problems with this new version or with the site - please post a message on the forum.
Monday, February 25, 2008
How I Learned English
By Kate Z.
First time I started learning English I was 11 years old. Then I was at 4th grade of a secondary school in Obninsk, Russia.
I don't remember my first English teacher. I suppose she didn't do a very good job. She taught us for several years but apparently we didn't know English after that.
In 7th grade I started working with a private teacher, coming once a week to her home for one-hour one on one lessons. That was very intense and efficient but I had to do a lot of homework and reading and formal writing. Most of the exercises were from that one text book everybody knew - it was very reliable but no fun. I was also reading abridged books like The Quadroon by Thomas Mayne Reid and had to write down all idioms and learn them by heart. At the time I wished I was reading something more modern - and something about teenage girls or boys.
When I was taking exit exam at high school I knew English good enough not to take any time to prepare when I got my assignment and English texts to translate - I went straight ahead with my translation and speech and got my straight A.
Then in college I had to take English again - but it was mostly translation of very technical books and articles. We didn't get to speak English at all. So after graduating I knew how to write in English and translate from it but speaking and understanding from listening English speakers was almost non-existent.
During my first job after graduation I attended one of those so called intensive English courses where we at last had fun: we played games, sang songs, did inventive exersises in small groups, tried on different roles - and adored our teacher. The effect was tremendous and I understood that was the way to learn a language. But it was hard to find good courses like that and expensive too - although I tried many. I remember one of the best pieces of advice I got at that time: If you don't remember a word (or don't know it in English) - don't stumble upon it, you can always rephrase the sentence, say it differently, using the words you know.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Polish Audio Is Ready
Polish Audio is ready. Visit Polish Lessons and enjoy Polish pronunciation! Huge thanks to Baggeroli for making it happen!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Turkish Audio is Ready
Hello my dear Internet Polyglotters!
For those who are learning Turkish: audio is ready. Go to any Turkish lesson, like this http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4904301145 , scroll down to the list of words and click on the "Play" icon next to any Turkish word.
Enjoy!
For those who are learning Turkish: audio is ready. Go to any Turkish lesson, like this http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4904301145 , scroll down to the list of words and click on the "Play" icon next to any Turkish word.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
5 Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary
I won’t give you the whole “each word in a language’s vocabulary is a brick that works towards building up the entire structure” kind of speech again (I did it in another post on the blog), but I have to emphasize on the fact that without a proper vocabulary base, it’s a lot harder to learn the other components of a language: grammar, syntax and even spelling and pronunciation. Since a lot of modern courses and exercises (including some that you can find on www.internetpolyglot.com ) focus on vocabulary so intensely, I thought about making a list of 5 of the most important techniques that you could use to increase your word count and make your vocabulary in a foreign language flourish.
Repetition
Our memory can be quite a rudimentary process at times and the only way we can get things (literally) in our head is by repeating them over and over again. Repetition can be helpful for assimilating harder words that you wouldn’t be able to pick up from context in a sentence, or if you’re using the phonebook method (having a list of words that you want to learn and trying to memorize them top to bottom).
Contextual Assimilation
Whenever you read a text in a foreign language that you’re studying and you find a word that you don’t understand, try to pick up its meaning from the context it’s placed in. The same process can be put to work when watching a TV show in that particular language.
Personal Relevance
Our memory, again, works in very mysterious was sometimes. It seems that the memory has an internal parsing process that blocks out information that is not personally relevant. For example, if you’re not especially interested in koala bears, watching a show on Discovery about them won’t allow really get you a lot of information, because the subject is not personally relevant. However, seeing Rex Hunt’s Fishing Adventures (with you being a huge fishing fan) will stock in a lot of information on the subject because, you guessed, this time it’s personally relevant. If you can make words personally relevant, you’ll also learn them better. This is where association and mnemonics kick in.
Visual Imagery
We store information a lot faster if it is transmitted to us via a visual signal than if it’s written or heard. Some may argue that in fact writing makes use of visual memory, since the characters you use in writing are graphical symbols. True, but it’s better if you associate words with objects that can be traced with more ease. Use flash cards if needed with this learning technique.
Word Games
Did you know that children learn words almost 30 times faster than an adult? That’s because children, at an early age, are actually “forced” to learn new words, in order to communicate. Obviously, as an adult, this need slowly fades away, which also degrades the word assimilation process. In order to hasten up your language learning, you could try and go back to being a kid and play some word games. These include puzzles, translation games, scrabbles and many others. You can find a lot of these fun word games at www.internetpolyglot.com .
Repetition
Our memory can be quite a rudimentary process at times and the only way we can get things (literally) in our head is by repeating them over and over again. Repetition can be helpful for assimilating harder words that you wouldn’t be able to pick up from context in a sentence, or if you’re using the phonebook method (having a list of words that you want to learn and trying to memorize them top to bottom).
Contextual Assimilation
Whenever you read a text in a foreign language that you’re studying and you find a word that you don’t understand, try to pick up its meaning from the context it’s placed in. The same process can be put to work when watching a TV show in that particular language.
Personal Relevance
Our memory, again, works in very mysterious was sometimes. It seems that the memory has an internal parsing process that blocks out information that is not personally relevant. For example, if you’re not especially interested in koala bears, watching a show on Discovery about them won’t allow really get you a lot of information, because the subject is not personally relevant. However, seeing Rex Hunt’s Fishing Adventures (with you being a huge fishing fan) will stock in a lot of information on the subject because, you guessed, this time it’s personally relevant. If you can make words personally relevant, you’ll also learn them better. This is where association and mnemonics kick in.
Visual Imagery
We store information a lot faster if it is transmitted to us via a visual signal than if it’s written or heard. Some may argue that in fact writing makes use of visual memory, since the characters you use in writing are graphical symbols. True, but it’s better if you associate words with objects that can be traced with more ease. Use flash cards if needed with this learning technique.
Word Games
Did you know that children learn words almost 30 times faster than an adult? That’s because children, at an early age, are actually “forced” to learn new words, in order to communicate. Obviously, as an adult, this need slowly fades away, which also degrades the word assimilation process. In order to hasten up your language learning, you could try and go back to being a kid and play some word games. These include puzzles, translation games, scrabbles and many others. You can find a lot of these fun word games at www.internetpolyglot.com .
Best Languages to Learn as an English Speaker
I’ve read some authors that bragged about how they can learn any language they set their minds to, regardless of cultural background, in a matter of months. While this seems unreasonable solely on the fact that it’s impossible to actually KNOW a language in that short a time span, the most outrageous fact that they claim is that they can learn languages at the same pace, regardless of what they’re actually learning. This means that in a few months, you could learn French and in that amount of time you could also learn Chinese. This is a rather silly thing to say come to think of it, since any language that isn’t at least related to English, not to mention having its own alphabet, scripts and specific grammar rules, will be tough as hell.
Ok, so we’ve established that languages like Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Arabic are hard to learn because they don’t use many of the values that Western languages abide by. But which languages are easiest for an English speaker to learn, in contrast? Let’s take a looksie…
German
German is by far the easiest language to learn if you’re already familiar with English, since the two are closely related, having the same Anglo Saxon ancestry. Many German words are very similar to English ones (haus – house, maus – mouse, etc) which makes it a lot easier to understand the German vocabulary and also pick things up from the context they’re placed in. However, one of the biggest problems with learning German (actually this is probably the ONLY problem) is the word combinations that are usually formed in conversational German. To give you an example of what I’m talking about, here’s one of the longest words in German and its meaning:
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz means “Beef labeling oversight transfer law”. Admittedly, it will be hard to spot the actual words in there (beef = rind, fleisch = meat, etikettier = label, etc) but believe it or not, for a German that actually makes sense. I could hurt your eyes even further with worse examples, but I’ll just keep it at that.
French
Well French is considered a language that’s easy to digest by many cultures, not just by English speakers. French has a lot of influences from English but in turn, it influences it back. The numerous wars between France and England throughout history sparked this cultural exchange. Although English has an Anglo-Saxon background and French is mainly a Latin language, there’s still a lot of resemblance in the two, as they share the same language layer created by nomadic tribes like the Celts or Gaels.
Spanish
Spanish might not have that much in common with English as the above mentioned languages, but it’s easy to learn because it’s an international language that can be picked up from the TV, music and newspapers. In addition, if you’re an American, you’ll have a lot of Spanish-speaking neighbors that you can engage in conversations with and that will help you out when learning this new language.
Ok, so we’ve established that languages like Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Arabic are hard to learn because they don’t use many of the values that Western languages abide by. But which languages are easiest for an English speaker to learn, in contrast? Let’s take a looksie…
German
German is by far the easiest language to learn if you’re already familiar with English, since the two are closely related, having the same Anglo Saxon ancestry. Many German words are very similar to English ones (haus – house, maus – mouse, etc) which makes it a lot easier to understand the German vocabulary and also pick things up from the context they’re placed in. However, one of the biggest problems with learning German (actually this is probably the ONLY problem) is the word combinations that are usually formed in conversational German. To give you an example of what I’m talking about, here’s one of the longest words in German and its meaning:
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz means “Beef labeling oversight transfer law”. Admittedly, it will be hard to spot the actual words in there (beef = rind, fleisch = meat, etikettier = label, etc) but believe it or not, for a German that actually makes sense. I could hurt your eyes even further with worse examples, but I’ll just keep it at that.
French
Well French is considered a language that’s easy to digest by many cultures, not just by English speakers. French has a lot of influences from English but in turn, it influences it back. The numerous wars between France and England throughout history sparked this cultural exchange. Although English has an Anglo-Saxon background and French is mainly a Latin language, there’s still a lot of resemblance in the two, as they share the same language layer created by nomadic tribes like the Celts or Gaels.
Spanish
Spanish might not have that much in common with English as the above mentioned languages, but it’s easy to learn because it’s an international language that can be picked up from the TV, music and newspapers. In addition, if you’re an American, you’ll have a lot of Spanish-speaking neighbors that you can engage in conversations with and that will help you out when learning this new language.
How to Learn French the Easy Way
French is one of the easiest languages to learn as an English speaker. Is it? At least that’s what all the experts are saying, but on the other hand, not everything that applies in general is bound to apply to you. Some have it easier learning Japanese than French, simply because they can’t stand the language’s “softness”. If that’s not your cup of tea, then I suggest that you step off the French course and hop on to a Russian or German one, as those languages are definitely tougher and more rigid.
One of the first things you need to do in order to learn French properly is immerse yourself in the language. By spending more and more time reading in French and listening to French words, your brain will automatically try to mimic the informational input that it’s getting. Just like a baby, you’ll need to adapt to the new language, memorize the words and try to reproduce them. Can you say Ma-Ma? Don’t worry, you’ve been through this process before when you were a child and although adults lose their ability to learn languages as they grow older, you’ll still have the advantage of being there before.
From a grammatical point of view, French is not all that much different from English or any Western culture language (Latin or Anglo Saxon). Just like with German, French and English have several look-alike and sound-alike words, called cognates. Admittedly, the number of cognates in French is not as big as in German, when relating to the English language, but still, the few that are there make for a good building point.
One of the biggest problems that English speakers stumble upon when learning French is word pronunciation. Like I said earlier, French is a “smooth” language, words are pronounced in a much softer way than in English. It’s usually rather difficult for an English native to adapt to these pronunciation rules, so you’ll require a lot of practice. And don’t be content with the fact that you’re listening to French words being pronounced; you should also voice them out yourself. Don’t worry; no one will think you’re crazy if you talk back to your TV, if it’s for the purpose of learning French.
My suggestion is this: find a great online French course to work with, try it out for a couple of weeks and see where your starting point is. Are you a complete French newb that needs to take things slow in order to understand things? Or are you the type of learner that can skip a few chapters and still learn the language properly. Once you’ve settled this out, you can start with increasing your vocabulary (you can find several methods to do so at www.internetpolyglot.com ) . Good luck!
One of the first things you need to do in order to learn French properly is immerse yourself in the language. By spending more and more time reading in French and listening to French words, your brain will automatically try to mimic the informational input that it’s getting. Just like a baby, you’ll need to adapt to the new language, memorize the words and try to reproduce them. Can you say Ma-Ma? Don’t worry, you’ve been through this process before when you were a child and although adults lose their ability to learn languages as they grow older, you’ll still have the advantage of being there before.
From a grammatical point of view, French is not all that much different from English or any Western culture language (Latin or Anglo Saxon). Just like with German, French and English have several look-alike and sound-alike words, called cognates. Admittedly, the number of cognates in French is not as big as in German, when relating to the English language, but still, the few that are there make for a good building point.
One of the biggest problems that English speakers stumble upon when learning French is word pronunciation. Like I said earlier, French is a “smooth” language, words are pronounced in a much softer way than in English. It’s usually rather difficult for an English native to adapt to these pronunciation rules, so you’ll require a lot of practice. And don’t be content with the fact that you’re listening to French words being pronounced; you should also voice them out yourself. Don’t worry; no one will think you’re crazy if you talk back to your TV, if it’s for the purpose of learning French.
My suggestion is this: find a great online French course to work with, try it out for a couple of weeks and see where your starting point is. Are you a complete French newb that needs to take things slow in order to understand things? Or are you the type of learner that can skip a few chapters and still learn the language properly. Once you’ve settled this out, you can start with increasing your vocabulary (you can find several methods to do so at www.internetpolyglot.com ) . Good luck!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Accents in Romanian
A quick update: some our users pointed out that Romanian lessons don't have accents in Romanian words. Now they do! Tudi did the corrections and I uploaded them today to the site.
The 100 Crucial Words
Reading Tony Buzan’s book, “Using Your Memory” a while back, he mentioned something that I found strange: people only use up to 100 basic words in conversational speech, the rest of them being fillings. The number seemed awfully low, but as the author explained his reasons for reducing this to 100 words, it started to make sense. Truth is, we could get a conversation going with just these words, although not a very good one. These 100 crucial words do not include technical words, adjectives or slang, obviously.
When you’re starting out with learning a new language, these 100 crucial words should be your base point. From there on you can build up on your vocabulary, work on your grammar and polish out your pronunciation, slowly eliminating all the mistakes that can affect your language learning process. But what’s the most efficient method of memorizing these words? Does the phonebook method actually work? Or is it better to try and learn them in context. I’d say both techniques work and both have advantages and disadvantages:
Phonebook Method Pros and Cons
The phonebook method basically has you learning words from a vertical list, just like you would learn the numbers from a phonebook. Each word should have its corresponding translation on the same line and you should read the list by focusing on each word and its translation at a time, for around 10 seconds and trying to push it in your memory.
Usually, language specialists recommend against using the phonebook technique when trying to learn vocabulary, because if you’re dealing with a large list of words, by the time you manage to actually go through the list, you will have already forgotten the words at the beginning. However, seeing how we’re only dealing with a list of 100 words, the phonebook might just work.
Contextual Learning Method Pros and Cons
Learning words by deducting them from their context is a great way to improve vocabulary, but when you’re dealing with such a small word base as the crucial 100, it might be harder to create the context needed. Instead, what you could do is take sentences consisting mostly of words from the 100 list and try to contextually understand the OTHER words.
Both methods work quite well with the list and some people even prefer combining the two for great results. Personally, I find that both have flaws and tend to try and learn vocabulary through more diverse means, but if you think traditional learning methods may apply to you, then the above mentioned techniques should hold most of your focus, at least for the first 100 words.
When you’re starting out with learning a new language, these 100 crucial words should be your base point. From there on you can build up on your vocabulary, work on your grammar and polish out your pronunciation, slowly eliminating all the mistakes that can affect your language learning process. But what’s the most efficient method of memorizing these words? Does the phonebook method actually work? Or is it better to try and learn them in context. I’d say both techniques work and both have advantages and disadvantages:
Phonebook Method Pros and Cons
The phonebook method basically has you learning words from a vertical list, just like you would learn the numbers from a phonebook. Each word should have its corresponding translation on the same line and you should read the list by focusing on each word and its translation at a time, for around 10 seconds and trying to push it in your memory.
Usually, language specialists recommend against using the phonebook technique when trying to learn vocabulary, because if you’re dealing with a large list of words, by the time you manage to actually go through the list, you will have already forgotten the words at the beginning. However, seeing how we’re only dealing with a list of 100 words, the phonebook might just work.
Contextual Learning Method Pros and Cons
Learning words by deducting them from their context is a great way to improve vocabulary, but when you’re dealing with such a small word base as the crucial 100, it might be harder to create the context needed. Instead, what you could do is take sentences consisting mostly of words from the 100 list and try to contextually understand the OTHER words.
Both methods work quite well with the list and some people even prefer combining the two for great results. Personally, I find that both have flaws and tend to try and learn vocabulary through more diverse means, but if you think traditional learning methods may apply to you, then the above mentioned techniques should hold most of your focus, at least for the first 100 words.
The CUTE Way of Learning Languages
In a guide written by Greg Thompson and his family, they talk about 4 main principles that make learning languages a lot cuter. The CUTE technique is called so because the acronym stands for 4 of the most important elements that come into play when learning a new language:
- Communing
- Understanding
- Talking
- Evolving
Let’s see what Greg was talking about and how you can benefit from these CUTE principles.
Communing
Communing refers to working with others towards learning a specific foreign language. This principle is based upon the belief that a language is not something that can be studied scientifically, but something that can be grown organically and only in collaboration with other flesh and blood people.
I agree that a foreign language cannot always be learnt by reading textbooks. However, while learning organically does have certain advantages, you can easily go overboard and get used to a lot of common mistakes that people usually slide by in conversations.
Understanding
This might seem like a no-brainer (and it is!). Of course understanding what people say will help you learn a language faster. The trick is to “understand” words that you don’t actually understand. Confused yet? What I’m talking about is picking up new words from sentences that you understand and deducing them from their context. For example, if someone says “words are harder to remember because they are long” you will have learnt a new word, by deducing what adjective means from the context. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Just make sure the context processing mechanics are well in place for when it does work.
Talking
This third principle is actually a third step in language learning. After understanding and being able to “think” in a foreign language, it’s time to start talking. You’ll be surprised to find out that it’s actually harder than it sounds in your head. Many times, when you’re faced with the need to speak in a foreign language without prior practice, you’ll think that it won’t be a problem, because in your head, you can “talk” perfectly. Your mouth and your brain will think otherwise when you’re actually going to start talking.
Evolving
This is not necessarily a requirement in learning a language, but rather a requirement if you want to keep up with that language and where it’s heading. A language is organic in nature, it changes, it adapts to current social standards, and it metamorphoses along with its speakers. Knowing how to evolve at the same pace with the foreign language you’ve studied is important, although not as CUTE as the other three factors I mentioned above.
Obviously, these principles need to be backed up by months, if not years of practice, exercises and studies. A language can’t be learnt in 10 days, despite what all those crappy language guides say. At least not if you’re serious about it and want to have control over that language, not just learn the basic vocabulary and be off to something else.
- Communing
- Understanding
- Talking
- Evolving
Let’s see what Greg was talking about and how you can benefit from these CUTE principles.
Communing
Communing refers to working with others towards learning a specific foreign language. This principle is based upon the belief that a language is not something that can be studied scientifically, but something that can be grown organically and only in collaboration with other flesh and blood people.
I agree that a foreign language cannot always be learnt by reading textbooks. However, while learning organically does have certain advantages, you can easily go overboard and get used to a lot of common mistakes that people usually slide by in conversations.
Understanding
This might seem like a no-brainer (and it is!). Of course understanding what people say will help you learn a language faster. The trick is to “understand” words that you don’t actually understand. Confused yet? What I’m talking about is picking up new words from sentences that you understand and deducing them from their context. For example, if someone says “words are harder to remember because they are
Talking
This third principle is actually a third step in language learning. After understanding and being able to “think” in a foreign language, it’s time to start talking. You’ll be surprised to find out that it’s actually harder than it sounds in your head. Many times, when you’re faced with the need to speak in a foreign language without prior practice, you’ll think that it won’t be a problem, because in your head, you can “talk” perfectly. Your mouth and your brain will think otherwise when you’re actually going to start talking.
Evolving
This is not necessarily a requirement in learning a language, but rather a requirement if you want to keep up with that language and where it’s heading. A language is organic in nature, it changes, it adapts to current social standards, and it metamorphoses along with its speakers. Knowing how to evolve at the same pace with the foreign language you’ve studied is important, although not as CUTE as the other three factors I mentioned above.
Obviously, these principles need to be backed up by months, if not years of practice, exercises and studies. A language can’t be learnt in 10 days, despite what all those crappy language guides say. At least not if you’re serious about it and want to have control over that language, not just learn the basic vocabulary and be off to something else.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
5 Ways NOT to Learn a Foreign Language
Yes, I know it’s a weird title to use, but bear with me, I’m trying to make a point. I often talk to people trying to learn a new language and they complain that they’re using some popular methods and are not getting the results they paid for. They got the “Learn Russian in a week” book and, oh my God, after a week, they’re still at basic vocabulary (if at all). This sparked the idea to create this article, where I’ll talk about 5 very “popular” ways of NOT learning a foreign language and messing up your language assimilation process:
1. Playing by the rules with a blindfold – I’m not at all against popular learning methods, in fact we promote quite a few of the tried and tested ones on www.internetpolyglot.com . However, I do believe that not all learning programs are suitable for everyone. A lot of people will just buy a book, or get an online language course and wait for the cherry to drop right in their mouth. Truth is, you’re better off thinking for yourself than letting someone else do the thinking in terms of what’s good and what’s bad for you. Did you try some word games and they were fun and you felt like you learnt something in the process? Then continue to try them, despite the experts saying that they’re useless. Did all the language gurus tell you to study after a stepwise plan but it’s not working for you? Then simply take off the blindfold and study with the help of the methods that you feel are right.
2. Grammar obsession – This is so common it’s becoming tragically funny. People are perfectionists and they’re trying to get everything right from day one. I agree that works with many fields in life, but language learning is not one of them. Learning a language is something organic, something that can only be grown through experience. Being obsessed with getting the grammar perfectly from day one is a serious time waster, since you’re going to assimilate all the grammar rules naturally, while reading, listening or talking to someone. I’m not saying it’s not ok to learn the basic rules and think them through, just don’t overdo it.
3. The “I Must!” Theory – Setting yourself up with a learning plan from day one is definitely great: “1 hour per day, from 8 to 10 PM, I will study” is a solid statement. However, this doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to skip a day or two, or you need to use those specific hours. If you study just because “you must” do it, you’ll probably not have explosive results. Studying when you’re not tired, when your attention span is maximized and when there aren’t any distractions is the way to go. Being too obsessive about your language learning schedule is definitely a great way NOT to learn that foreign language.
4. Lack of Reviewing – Every now and then, you should test what you’ve learnt so far, or you might end up having more lose strings than you can handle. Learning for a whole year without reviewing what you studied every now and then is awful. You’ll think you know a particular subject, because, after all, you studied it, but when you’re faced to use it in “real life” you’ll notice that there’s no shortcut on the desktop for it. Constantly reviewing and testing what you learned is the key here.
5. Lack of Diversification – This is also related to point 1. If you find a method that works for you, great! But don’t focus strictly on that one. Try to diversify your language learning, make your exercises fun, try reading, listening, talking, writing or a combination of the above. You can very well learn a language without diversifying your techniques, but when you’re faced to do something that you didn’t study for, you’ll be in trouble. For example, you can definitely learn a language just by reading and writing it down, but when you’ll be faced with actually talking it, you’ll have wished you diversified early on.
Hopefully you’ll be able to avoid these mistakes if you start up on learning a new foreign language. Although there are other traps and mistakes you should worry about, I feel it’s the above 5 that have the greatest negative impact on one’s learning process.
1. Playing by the rules with a blindfold – I’m not at all against popular learning methods, in fact we promote quite a few of the tried and tested ones on www.internetpolyglot.com . However, I do believe that not all learning programs are suitable for everyone. A lot of people will just buy a book, or get an online language course and wait for the cherry to drop right in their mouth. Truth is, you’re better off thinking for yourself than letting someone else do the thinking in terms of what’s good and what’s bad for you. Did you try some word games and they were fun and you felt like you learnt something in the process? Then continue to try them, despite the experts saying that they’re useless. Did all the language gurus tell you to study after a stepwise plan but it’s not working for you? Then simply take off the blindfold and study with the help of the methods that you feel are right.
2. Grammar obsession – This is so common it’s becoming tragically funny. People are perfectionists and they’re trying to get everything right from day one. I agree that works with many fields in life, but language learning is not one of them. Learning a language is something organic, something that can only be grown through experience. Being obsessed with getting the grammar perfectly from day one is a serious time waster, since you’re going to assimilate all the grammar rules naturally, while reading, listening or talking to someone. I’m not saying it’s not ok to learn the basic rules and think them through, just don’t overdo it.
3. The “I Must!” Theory – Setting yourself up with a learning plan from day one is definitely great: “1 hour per day, from 8 to 10 PM, I will study” is a solid statement. However, this doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to skip a day or two, or you need to use those specific hours. If you study just because “you must” do it, you’ll probably not have explosive results. Studying when you’re not tired, when your attention span is maximized and when there aren’t any distractions is the way to go. Being too obsessive about your language learning schedule is definitely a great way NOT to learn that foreign language.
4. Lack of Reviewing – Every now and then, you should test what you’ve learnt so far, or you might end up having more lose strings than you can handle. Learning for a whole year without reviewing what you studied every now and then is awful. You’ll think you know a particular subject, because, after all, you studied it, but when you’re faced to use it in “real life” you’ll notice that there’s no shortcut on the desktop for it. Constantly reviewing and testing what you learned is the key here.
5. Lack of Diversification – This is also related to point 1. If you find a method that works for you, great! But don’t focus strictly on that one. Try to diversify your language learning, make your exercises fun, try reading, listening, talking, writing or a combination of the above. You can very well learn a language without diversifying your techniques, but when you’re faced to do something that you didn’t study for, you’ll be in trouble. For example, you can definitely learn a language just by reading and writing it down, but when you’ll be faced with actually talking it, you’ll have wished you diversified early on.
Hopefully you’ll be able to avoid these mistakes if you start up on learning a new foreign language. Although there are other traps and mistakes you should worry about, I feel it’s the above 5 that have the greatest negative impact on one’s learning process.
Finding the Time to Learn a New Language
I can’t stop smiling every time I browse the Internet or visit a local book shop and see those “Learn Chinese in 10 days” types of guides. It’s just silly, but people still fall for it, because learning a new language is a rather time consuming project and we’re all looking for ways to make it shorter. But seriously, 10 days? Anyway, if you’re looking for methods to cut down your learning to a couple of weeks, simply don’t. There are none. Your best bet is to try and structure your time so that you can learn over a longer period of time.
I’m a strong believer in online learning (obviously, otherwise we wouldn’t have started www.internetpolyglot.com ) and from the perspective of time consumption, it’s probably the best you’ll get. Sure, face to face language courses can be very useful, but they require you to relocate and for the most part, you can’t set your own time schedule. It’s difficult if you have to go all the way to a course when you’re feeling down and you’re not in the right move to learn. With online learning, you can simply put down the mouse and pick up from where you left earlier when you’re in the right mood again.
My suggestion is to break down your learning session in short chunks, over a longer period of time. Instead of hauling all that new information in your head 6 hours each day for a month, you’re better off taking smaller bites, say 1 hour each day, for 4-5 months. If taken in smaller chunks, information can be stored more easily and you won’t have to worry about learning saturation, tiredness or information overload. Don’t subestimate this aspect, having fun (or at least not feeling stressed out) during the learning process can do wonders.
At Internet Polyglot, we also focus on the fun aspect of language learning as a means to get information across and stored. Anything that’s fun in learning can be done in 10-15 minutes, such as playing a short word game, vocabulary quizzes, using some flash cards or playing language related puzzles. If you don’t have a lot of time at hand or if you’re just not feeling in the mood to start with an online course, those 15 minutes of playing during your lunch break will still be helpful. Obviously, the learning frame will be longer, but then again, it’s not like you put a lot of work into it :).
The only disadvantage of Internet language learning from a time-wise perspective is the many distractions that can appear on a computer. Instant messaging, online flash games, social networking sites and whatnot. They can all be very time consuming and they can easily redirect you from learning to wasting time. My suggestion is that whenever you start learning, regardless if you plan on doing it for 15 minutes or 1 hour, you turn off everything that can be a distraction. Close all tabs of addicting websites and try to fight to urge to “just check up on them” for the next hour. Close MSN, Yahoo Messenger or AOL so that no one bothers you. Myspace, Facebook and hi5 won’t miss you if you’re gone for an hour either :)
I’m a strong believer in online learning (obviously, otherwise we wouldn’t have started www.internetpolyglot.com ) and from the perspective of time consumption, it’s probably the best you’ll get. Sure, face to face language courses can be very useful, but they require you to relocate and for the most part, you can’t set your own time schedule. It’s difficult if you have to go all the way to a course when you’re feeling down and you’re not in the right move to learn. With online learning, you can simply put down the mouse and pick up from where you left earlier when you’re in the right mood again.
My suggestion is to break down your learning session in short chunks, over a longer period of time. Instead of hauling all that new information in your head 6 hours each day for a month, you’re better off taking smaller bites, say 1 hour each day, for 4-5 months. If taken in smaller chunks, information can be stored more easily and you won’t have to worry about learning saturation, tiredness or information overload. Don’t subestimate this aspect, having fun (or at least not feeling stressed out) during the learning process can do wonders.
At Internet Polyglot, we also focus on the fun aspect of language learning as a means to get information across and stored. Anything that’s fun in learning can be done in 10-15 minutes, such as playing a short word game, vocabulary quizzes, using some flash cards or playing language related puzzles. If you don’t have a lot of time at hand or if you’re just not feeling in the mood to start with an online course, those 15 minutes of playing during your lunch break will still be helpful. Obviously, the learning frame will be longer, but then again, it’s not like you put a lot of work into it :).
The only disadvantage of Internet language learning from a time-wise perspective is the many distractions that can appear on a computer. Instant messaging, online flash games, social networking sites and whatnot. They can all be very time consuming and they can easily redirect you from learning to wasting time. My suggestion is that whenever you start learning, regardless if you plan on doing it for 15 minutes or 1 hour, you turn off everything that can be a distraction. Close all tabs of addicting websites and try to fight to urge to “just check up on them” for the next hour. Close MSN, Yahoo Messenger or AOL so that no one bothers you. Myspace, Facebook and hi5 won’t miss you if you’re gone for an hour either :)
How to Learn the Vocabulary of a Foreign Language
A language’s vocabulary is its foundation, each word being a brick that can help you build vertically towards your goal. Unlike other concepts in the language learning process, such as grammar structure, pronunciation or spelling, learning vocabulary is not a one-time thing that you can study for a couple of days and understand. Your vocabulary in a foreign language will expand organically as you talk, read, write and listen. Let’s take a look at some popular methods that can help you improve your vocabulary in the language that you’re studying.
Keeping a Word Log
This is a tried and tested method that can help you out in the long run. What you need to do is this: each time you learn a new word, write it down in a log (a journal, a notebook, just make sure it’s something you don’t lose over time). Don’t explain the word, don’t give it a definition and don’t associate it with anything, just write it down. Now, every once in a while (2-3 months) go through the log and read each word and see if you remember what it meant. Chances are some of them might have been lost on you, especially if you haven’t used them again since you logged them, so get a dictionary and again, find out what they mean. This is not so much a method of learning new words, but one of storing the new words better in your memory.
Learning Words in Context
This technique is extremely beneficial and it can mostly be done through constant reading in the foreign language you’re studying. This is how it works: when you already have a basic word base, reading a sentence like as their smell is divine> will usually allow you to logically deduce the word from the context. This will help you create association links between words, helping you understand new concepts quicker if they are next to already known ones.
Read. Listen. Write!
Reading and listening will be your main channels of vocabulary improvement. They can get you a solid word base to use, but it’s also important to use that word base every now and then! If you don’t write and use what you’ve learned it might as well be lost on you. Talking can also help out, but writing is better purely from the vocabulary’s point of view (writing something down rather than saying it gets stuck better in your memory, because of the visual stimuli).
Hopefully these techniques will be helpful throughout your language journey. If you need more similar techniques, word games and useful (and practical) vocabulary improvement methods, try out www.internetpolyglot.com . You’ll find a vast base of exercises that have helped thousands of people struggling with a new foreign language.
Keeping a Word Log
This is a tried and tested method that can help you out in the long run. What you need to do is this: each time you learn a new word, write it down in a log (a journal, a notebook, just make sure it’s something you don’t lose over time). Don’t explain the word, don’t give it a definition and don’t associate it with anything, just write it down. Now, every once in a while (2-3 months) go through the log and read each word and see if you remember what it meant. Chances are some of them might have been lost on you, especially if you haven’t used them again since you logged them, so get a dictionary and again, find out what they mean. This is not so much a method of learning new words, but one of storing the new words better in your memory.
Learning Words in Context
This technique is extremely beneficial and it can mostly be done through constant reading in the foreign language you’re studying. This is how it works: when you already have a basic word base, reading a sentence like
Read. Listen. Write!
Reading and listening will be your main channels of vocabulary improvement. They can get you a solid word base to use, but it’s also important to use that word base every now and then! If you don’t write and use what you’ve learned it might as well be lost on you. Talking can also help out, but writing is better purely from the vocabulary’s point of view (writing something down rather than saying it gets stuck better in your memory, because of the visual stimuli).
Hopefully these techniques will be helpful throughout your language journey. If you need more similar techniques, word games and useful (and practical) vocabulary improvement methods, try out www.internetpolyglot.com . You’ll find a vast base of exercises that have helped thousands of people struggling with a new foreign language.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Top 5 Reasons to Learn Spanish
With around half a billion speakers world wide, you wouldn’t expect Spanish to be the subject of a “Why learn” type of article. Still, numbers aren’t always everything and some of you might want some more specific advantages of learning Spanish. Personally, I had great advantages from my Spanish language skills and throughout time, I noticed that a few patterns apply to people who learn this language. Most non-native Spanish speakers are people who travel a lot. Some of them learn it because they want to, others learn it due to necessity. But let’s assume you’re learning for fun, for the time being. What would be the main 5 reasons that could convince you to start up on Spanish? Let’s see:
1. Spanish is Easy – No, seriously, it is. It’s actually one of the easiest languages to learn for native English speakers. Spanish is quite common throughout the World and ever since you were a child, you were exposed to the Spanish language on TV, radio or, in some parts of the United States, in the community. This makes it a lot easier to learn the language later on, since you already have the “ear” to learn it.
2. Spanish opens the door for other languages – it’s true, once you learned Spanish it will be a lot easier to go for another language with a Latin substrate. Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, anything that’s related to Spanish will be a walk in the park. These languages can be learnt using the same language patterns, so once you got the hang of how Spanish needs to be assimilated, you will find it quicker to adapt to its cousins.
3. Travelling – Obviously, if you travel to South America or Spain, you’ll need to speak Spanish fluently if you want to make it a pleasant stay. Otherwise you’ll be going to your hotel room with your arms aching every night, due to the extensive body language that you used throughout the day. People in Spanish countries aren’t particularly keen on learning English and you can’t ask that from them anyway. It’s you who’s visiting their country, so it’s you who has a duty to perform in learning their language.
4. Business Opportunities – Regardless if you’re from Europe or North America, there are some very rich neighbors standing right next to you. Mexico for the US and Spain for Western Europe are two markets that need to be tapped, because they offer huge potential. If you want to conduct business in Spain, Mexico or any other Spanish speaking country for that matter, you’ll make a great first impression if you can speak the language of the persons you’re dealing with.
5. Cultural Understanding – The Spanish culture has been incredible throughout history and Spanish authors have left behind hundreds of thousands of books filled with interesting information. However, information is lost during translation, so if you really want to enjoy a book from a Spanish author, you’ll learn the language and read the book the way it was meant to be read: in the Spanish language.
I hope I made my point with these advantages of learning Spanish. If you need a starting point for your language efforts, visit Internet Polyglot and start the ride!
1. Spanish is Easy – No, seriously, it is. It’s actually one of the easiest languages to learn for native English speakers. Spanish is quite common throughout the World and ever since you were a child, you were exposed to the Spanish language on TV, radio or, in some parts of the United States, in the community. This makes it a lot easier to learn the language later on, since you already have the “ear” to learn it.
2. Spanish opens the door for other languages – it’s true, once you learned Spanish it will be a lot easier to go for another language with a Latin substrate. Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, anything that’s related to Spanish will be a walk in the park. These languages can be learnt using the same language patterns, so once you got the hang of how Spanish needs to be assimilated, you will find it quicker to adapt to its cousins.
3. Travelling – Obviously, if you travel to South America or Spain, you’ll need to speak Spanish fluently if you want to make it a pleasant stay. Otherwise you’ll be going to your hotel room with your arms aching every night, due to the extensive body language that you used throughout the day. People in Spanish countries aren’t particularly keen on learning English and you can’t ask that from them anyway. It’s you who’s visiting their country, so it’s you who has a duty to perform in learning their language.
4. Business Opportunities – Regardless if you’re from Europe or North America, there are some very rich neighbors standing right next to you. Mexico for the US and Spain for Western Europe are two markets that need to be tapped, because they offer huge potential. If you want to conduct business in Spain, Mexico or any other Spanish speaking country for that matter, you’ll make a great first impression if you can speak the language of the persons you’re dealing with.
5. Cultural Understanding – The Spanish culture has been incredible throughout history and Spanish authors have left behind hundreds of thousands of books filled with interesting information. However, information is lost during translation, so if you really want to enjoy a book from a Spanish author, you’ll learn the language and read the book the way it was meant to be read: in the Spanish language.
I hope I made my point with these advantages of learning Spanish. If you need a starting point for your language efforts, visit Internet Polyglot and start the ride!
5 Advantages of Being a Polyglot
I read on someone’s blog a while back a few journal pages where the owner made a sort of wish list for the next 5 years. Her main wishes were to learn 5 languages in the next 5-10 years, including Arabic, French, German, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. When someone commented on the post, asking why she wants to be such a big polyglot, she simply replied: to be a citizen of the World.
I agree that the only true way we can be citizens of the World is by knowing each other, our languages and our cultures but I’m sure there are many other reasons an individual would want to learn a foreign language or two and become a polyglot. Here are mine:
1. International Business – I-business is more common than ever nowadays, with the Internet allowing us to outsource, freelance and close deals overseas without too much trouble. Being a polyglot and being able to speak in the language of the person you’re working with, or the person you’re working for weighs heavily in how the deal will end. Remember, not everyone knows English and you shouldn’t expect others to speak your language if you don’t put at least some effort to speak theirs. Check out these free online courses if you’re planning on learning a new language.
2. Travelling Opportunities – How many times have you thought about travelling to a remote, exotic country, but worried that you’ll have a hard time there due to lack of communication? It happens everywhere, regardless if you’re going to a country in Africa, or somewhere in Europe. If you can’t talk their language and they can’t talk yours, you’d best learn body language. Or, you can take up these free language courses.
3. Personal Impression – Let’s face it, when you hear a foreigner coming to YOUR country and speaking YOUR language, I’m sure it tickles your ego a bit. The same thing would happen if you would travel to another country and the natives would hear you speaking their own language. It can really bump your image (positively) in a native speaker’s eyes.
4. Social Status – Does making a lot of money automatically make you a great person? No, because money can be the result of luck or theft. Does knowing 3-4 different languages earn you this social status? Yes, because being a polyglot is clearly the result of some hard work and you can tap in on that aura that you’ll be surrounded with, regardless if it’s simply to gain an edge in society, in business or at work.
5. Explosive Learning – Learning a new language is a tough process that involves both short and long term brain cells to work full time. The reason the first language is hard to learn is that we’re not used to the learning process itself. Most polyglots will find that it’s easier to learn their 3rd or 4th language than the first ones, because by the time they reach number 4, their language learning process is already in full motion and is capable of assimilating information much quicker, through the patterns you already established with the other languages.
Are these reasons enough to become a polyglot? I hope so. But even if it’s for one of the above reasons, or just for the heck of it, becoming a polyglot is a great achievement and something that is heightening for any human being. So if you want to become a better human and a true citizen of the World, start by learning a few languages to back you up.
I agree that the only true way we can be citizens of the World is by knowing each other, our languages and our cultures but I’m sure there are many other reasons an individual would want to learn a foreign language or two and become a polyglot. Here are mine:
1. International Business – I-business is more common than ever nowadays, with the Internet allowing us to outsource, freelance and close deals overseas without too much trouble. Being a polyglot and being able to speak in the language of the person you’re working with, or the person you’re working for weighs heavily in how the deal will end. Remember, not everyone knows English and you shouldn’t expect others to speak your language if you don’t put at least some effort to speak theirs. Check out these free online courses if you’re planning on learning a new language.
2. Travelling Opportunities – How many times have you thought about travelling to a remote, exotic country, but worried that you’ll have a hard time there due to lack of communication? It happens everywhere, regardless if you’re going to a country in Africa, or somewhere in Europe. If you can’t talk their language and they can’t talk yours, you’d best learn body language. Or, you can take up these free language courses.
3. Personal Impression – Let’s face it, when you hear a foreigner coming to YOUR country and speaking YOUR language, I’m sure it tickles your ego a bit. The same thing would happen if you would travel to another country and the natives would hear you speaking their own language. It can really bump your image (positively) in a native speaker’s eyes.
4. Social Status – Does making a lot of money automatically make you a great person? No, because money can be the result of luck or theft. Does knowing 3-4 different languages earn you this social status? Yes, because being a polyglot is clearly the result of some hard work and you can tap in on that aura that you’ll be surrounded with, regardless if it’s simply to gain an edge in society, in business or at work.
5. Explosive Learning – Learning a new language is a tough process that involves both short and long term brain cells to work full time. The reason the first language is hard to learn is that we’re not used to the learning process itself. Most polyglots will find that it’s easier to learn their 3rd or 4th language than the first ones, because by the time they reach number 4, their language learning process is already in full motion and is capable of assimilating information much quicker, through the patterns you already established with the other languages.
Are these reasons enough to become a polyglot? I hope so. But even if it’s for one of the above reasons, or just for the heck of it, becoming a polyglot is a great achievement and something that is heightening for any human being. So if you want to become a better human and a true citizen of the World, start by learning a few languages to back you up.
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