Greek Lessons

If you are learning Greek, we have a good news for you. Now you can learn more Greek words on Internet Polyglot: visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-el-en and start memorizing new Greek words!


The fascination for Greece and the Greek language



The history, landscape, culture and people of Greece all have their fair share of increasing our fascination with this beautiful country. The same goes for the Greek language, which was once one of the sturdiest „lingua francas” (dominating languages). For a large period of time starting with antiquity, a true polyglot was only considered that if he knew Greek to perfection.



Comparing it to other languages Greek is not as large or widely spoken, the number of total speakers reaching somewhere up to 11 million, most of which are the native inhabitants of Greece and around 80% of the entire population of Cyprus. So despite the fact that in terms of number of native speakers the Greek language doesn’t rank to high among other languages, culturally it scores a lot of points. As the language of classical Greek philosophy and literature and, later, as the language of the Christian Gospels and the early Church it has profoundly shaped Western thought.



Learning Greek through free Greek lessons online



Despite its cultural importance, Greek is still not widely spread among organized education centers, so your best bet is to try and learn it on your own. For this, you may want to check out a few free Greek lessons online before diving into more complicated „Learn Greek” courses or books that could cost you quite a penny.



Speaking of your standard „Learn Greek” course, in the past most of them focused intensely on teaching grammar rules to the students, neglecting other aspects of the Greek language. This produced generations of so-called polyglots that would know every detail of the Greek language but whose reading, writing and speaking skills were only slightly above average. For this reason, in the latter half of the 20th century, most of these courses tried to open up the variety of exercises the students would have to complete, focusing on other aspects of the Greek language such as vocabulary increase, spelling and pronunciation.



Alternative ways of learning Greek



Besides taking free Greek lessons online or subscribing to the many „Learn Greek” courses out there, you could try some slightly more relaxing alternative ways of learning this beautiful language. Vocabulary games can be a great boost to your Greek word database and playing them could also be a means of relaxation between some work sessions. Although their main purpose is to improve vocabulary, you will also get a better grasp on Greek spelling and possibly pronunciation as well.





Articles about Greek in different languages:

The Fascination for Greece and the Greek Language (in English)
Lengua griega (in Spanish)
Langue grecque (in French)
Griechische Sprache (in German)
Lingua greca (in Italian)
Griekse Taal (in Dutch)
Греция и греческий язык (in Russian)
Língua grega (in Portuguese)
Fascinatia pentru limba Greaca si cultura Greaca (in Romanian)

Arabic Lessons Are Loaded

Please visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-ar-en to see the whole new set of cross-language Arabic lessons.

Arabic is spoken by roughly 270 million people in many countries mostly in the Middle East and Nothern Africa.

Translation for these lessons was done by a Syrian so some dialectic particularities may be encountered. Enjoy your language learning with InternetPolyglot!


A short history of the Arabic language



The Arabic language is spoken by roughly 220 million people spread along more than twenty two countries, from Iraq to as far south as Somalia, Sudan or on the Northern African shores of Morocco. Arabic is the language of Quran (which is the Holy book of Islam, an equivalent to the Christian Bible if you wish) and it is considered as an official language in Muslim states throughout the world. The history of the Arabic language starts in Saudi Arabia in pre-Islamic times, from where it spread hastily across the Middle East, Northern Africa and other locations where it is still spoken today.



Linguists have separated the Arabic language into three major categories. These are the following: classical or Qur’anical Arabic, formal or standard Arabic, and spoken or Colloquial Arabic. Among the three, classical Arabic is the form of Arabic that is literally found in the Qur’an, hence the category’s name. Quranical Arabic is only used in religious institutions and sometimes in education, but is not spoken in general. Formal Arabic on the other hand is the official language of the Arabic world and it is used in non-religious literature, institutions and so forth. Lastly, colloquial Arabic is the “slang” of the language, spoken by the majority of people as their daily dialect. Colloquial Arabic is different from area to area, more or less like any similar dialect of any other language.



Learn Arabic course



You can find a huge amount of free Arabic lessons online, as the fascination for this language has made many westerners interested in studying and teaching it. Most lessons will start off by teaching you basic sentences, how to write, how to count and with a scaling introduction to Arabic grammar. If you're absolutely fresh to Arabic, don’t fall in the trap of trying to learn too much at the same time. Take it slow as the Arabic language is not one of the easiest around to grasp. Focus on pronunciation and basic language rules first and then, if you think you got to a point where you can handle it, try what is perhaps the most fun part of learning Arabic: learning how to write.



If you want to try out a “Learn Arabic” course, you should complement it by finding a native Arabic speaker and asking him to help out with short conversations. Large Arabic communities can be found in most areas of the World and with Arabic being one of the official languages of the United Nations, there are more and more polyglots around that can speak it to perfection and help you out.



Improve your vocabulary while having fun



The technique of improving your vocabulary through fun games such as word games, puzzles, quizzes or language exercises can be applied to most languages and Arabic is no exception to the rule. Playing vocabulary games is a great way to memorize words and it also makes the overall learning process much easier. However, take note that improving your vocabulary skills requires constant attention so make sure you get a steady vocabulary increase each day.





Articles about Arabic in different languages:

Arabic Language (in English)
Una historia corta de la lengua árabe (in Spanish)
Langue arabe (in French)
Arabische Sprache (in German)
Lingua araba (in Italian)
Arabische Taal (in Dutch)
Língua árabe (in Portuguese)
O scurta introducere a limbii Arabe (in Romanian)
Краткие сведения об арабском языке (in Russian)

Articles in Arabic in dirrerent languages:

تأريخ اللغة الإنجليزية
جذور اللغة الإسبانية
عالم الفرانكوفوني
سحر اللغة الصينية
أشياء مهمة يجب معرفتها حول اللغة الألمانية قبل البدء بتعلّمها
لسان الشمس المتصاعدة
الحقائق حول اللغة الإيطالية
اللغة الهولندية، من بدايتها حتى اليوم
تعلّم الروسي - كيف و لماذا؟
نظرة خاطفة إلى تأريخ اللغة البرتغالية
السحر لليونان واللغة اليونانية
مختصر تاريخ اللغة العربية
تأريخ اللغة العبرية
جذر الحضارة
هندي - تأريخ وخصائص
جذور اللغة البولندية
تأريخ اللغة الرومانية
الحقائق التأريخية حول اللغة التركية
جذور وفروع اللغة الأوكرانية

Learning A Foreign Language

The speed and consistency at which you assimilate a foreign language depends on a lot of factors, including:

1) Whether or not your mother tongue and the foreign language you're learning have a shared lexical family and glossary (Latin or Germanic languages for example)
2) Your own ability to assimilate new words and think in the new language, rather than translate everything in your mother tongue, translating everything to the new, foreign language afterwards
3) The amount of contact you're receiving with that particular language, externally (for example, English is a lot easier to learn than other languages for most foreigners, since they receive a lot of external contact with it from movies, computer activities, commercials and so forth).

Regardless of the fact that the language you're trying to learn fits into any of the above categories, make no mistake about it, every language is learnable if you follow a few important steps and if you invest a constant stream of time in the learning process. Taking medium to long breaks from learning will be extremely negative in the long run, since it will be harder to get back on track and "re-learn" what you've once assimilated. Think of learning a foreign language as taking care of a huge furnace. You need to place a huge amount of coal in it in order to get it started and then you need to keep the fire burning by constantly shoving medium amounts of coal. If you stop shoving and let the fire go out and the furnace go cold, you'll have to invest almost the same amount of work to get it back on.

So you might be wondering how to start learning a new foreign language, what should be the base point for the learning process. Well, some basic vocabulary will get you started with understanding and pronouncing the language as well as give you something to work with later on. Language learning games are extremely useful in this first stage, since the correlation between images and words will get them to print easier in your mind. Using flashcards is also a good option and although learning what "duck" is in German for example, might not be that satisfying, think about the fact that the whole game thing has a higher purpose. And if you're an adult, try getting past the inherent awkwardness and silliness of this first learning stage as it is proven to be one of the most efficient yet. And who knows, you might even have some fun while you're at it :).

After you're familiar with the new language, after trying out pronouncing what you've seen on the flashcards, or in the game (by the way, always keep a "mother tongue - foreign language" dictionary close to you, since you'll want to check on pronunciations often) you should start off with a couple of translated texts that you can compare. Don't worry about the subject, reading "Little Red Riding Hood" with the annexed translation will be equally helpful as reading a technical view on computer architecture with the relevant translation (actually Little Red might be even more useful, since it will be easier for you to relate the words). Try reading the foreign text, sentence by sentence and then re-reading it in the translation. While doing so, try and spot the similarities in grammar and sentence structure and focus on noun gender, and plurals. It's extremely helpful to get used to the new language's gender and plural system early on or you might get the "habit" of mixing them up, sounding funny at best.

The above-mentioned method of learning a foreign language might not necessarily be the one most appropriate for you. Still, it simulates the way we learn our mother tongue, which makes it easier for us, your brain adapting easier to the new learning process since you've "already been there and done that" once. If you're looking for alternative ways of learning a foreign language, be it Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish, Hindi, Polish, Greek and many more, you could look up one of the many sites out there offering free or paid lessons and tutoring services.

Learning A Foreign Language Through Educational Games

If you have children of your own, or if you have a little brother or sister that you've watched growing up, you might have noticed how they started learning your native language. The first words they usually speak out are the ones that they come into contact the most often, usually the name of their parents, parental appellatives such as "mama" or "papa" or "dada" and so forth. Later on, as they are encouraged to express verbally, their vocabulary base will consist of words that they meet in their "daily activities", which for most children simply include eating, sleep and... playing. This is where I actually wanted to bring the discussion to, learning a language through playing and especially through educational games that are specifically aimed for this purpose.

Since most children follow the above mentioned pattern when learning their native language many scientists claim that simulating the process at an older age can produce the same learning effects with a foreign language. The reason for this is that the brain already got used to that specific type of learning and it will adapt easier when confronted with a similar situation later on in life. That's why learning a foreign language through children's games has become increasingly popular among adults, despite the slight awkwardness of the situation. Flashcard games are such an example, a flashcard being a small piece of material with a picture of an item printed on it and a related word (or small text) describing the picture. The image-text correlation is extremely potent when having to memorize words. Using flashcards is a good way to start building the basic vocabulary for the language you're learning and it gives you a first contact with the language pronunciation (you'll need a dictionary for this of course).

Another great way to learn a foreign language is by playing computer games. Although most games are in English (and if you're reading this, you already know English I assume...) some computer games have translated versions for specific languages (mostly German, Spanish, French or Italian). If you can get a copy of one of these translated games it could be a great way to start learning that specific language and have fun at the same time.

A study exists in this sense, where a young English boy that couldn't speak any language but his native one was invited to play a popular online PC game on a French server. Although he was extremely confused at first, the constant contact with the other human players in the game, combined with a natural correlation between what he saw on the screen and the game chat gradually helped him understand the French language. The game experience was almost like throwing him in the middle of say, Paris, with no knowledge of the French language. After living in a foreign environment, hearing and reading a particular language at all times and instinctively correlating words with actions and images one actually starts learning that particular language, a fact proven by the above experiment. This just proves that online educational games (well not necessarily educational ones, but simply "games") may yet become the future language learning centers of tomorrow. To the same extent, millions of players all around the world learn and perfect their English language skills while playing the numerous online games available today.

Of course, there are still "classic" educational games out there that you can try out. Some sites offer several such educational games for languages ranging from English, German, Spanish or Italian to Polish, Romanian, Turkish or Ukrainian (and many more). If you're thinking about beginning to learn a new language, these educational games might prove to be starting point that you need. Some are actually fun and quite addictive and they are a surefire way towards boosting your vocabulary in that particular language.

Some nice pictures

Hey! Since we have pictures on Internet Polyglot I thought you'll like some of them. Here are my favorites (so far):



http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1060140


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[New feature] Chat page

A new addition to the collection of Internet Polyglot features. If you like online chatting and also think that it can improve your language skills, please be welcomed to the Internet Polyglot chat page: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-chat.html

More images! Random word on home page.

A new feature has been added today: a random word on the home page. When you press an icon with two green triangles pointing to the right you see a randomly picked word in all languages of InternetPolyglot. And it has a picture too! It looks like this:


Now you know what is "to be sleepy" in many languages :) . Press the "Next" icon, learn another word and enjoy a fine picture.

Images in Lessons

Now some of the language lessons have images in them. There are only a few now but their number started growing and very soon almost all of them will have pictures that will help visualizing your learning process and make it more fun and efficient.

To take a look at the pictures go here: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-es-en or any other list of lessons and move your mouse over one of the icons of a photocamera. Voila, you'll see something like this:


It means that this lesson has images associated with its word translations. If you click on the large image that is opened in the popup, you'll enter the lesson. For example this one: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4602101010 and you will see that all words there have this camera icon. Move your mouse over it and enjoy high quality pictures that, we are sure, will improve your abilities to memorize more foreign words.

How to Memorize Words

One of the first steps we take when learning a language, be it our mother tongue as children, or a foreign language later on in life, is expanding our vocabulary by memorizing words (usually nouns and adjectives at first). Memorizing is done naturally when we're living in an environment that forces that particular language on us (such as our homes as children, or as visitors in a foreign country) but it can also be "forced" through several methods. The following article will try to present some of these methods that could help you learn how to memorize words faster when learning a foreign language.

Flashcards

Flashcards are the basic tools for word memorizing and although they are used mostly with small children, they can also be useful for grown-ups when learning a new foreign language. Basically, a flashcard is a piece of carton containing an image of a noun (usually nouns, although they can oftentimes contain colors, actions and so forth) with the appropriate word describing it and possibly, a small text that explains what the object is. They are a good way to take your first step into the vocabulary of the foreign language you are learning and they can be fun to use together with your children.

Using Mnemonic Links

A mnemonic is generally described as an abbreviation or a symbolic representation that helps humans memorize a certain "something" easier. Mnemonics are used to enhance and develop the assimilation of data into memory and there's no better use to them than in learning a new language. Since when you're gradually building your new vocabulary for the new language you will inevitably translate and think those words out in your mother tongue, you can use such a mnemonic to make this translation easier to memorize. For example if you've just learnt how to say "seaside" in the foreign language you're studying, imagine a picture of the seaside and then switch back between the native and foreign language words of what you're seeing. The image, which is easier to remember than a word, will act as an intermediate between the two languages.

Memory Enhancement Medication

There are several natural supplements out there that help you memorize stuff faster and for a longer period of time, as well as help with concentration during the learning process. Some of the herbs that are known to have a memory enhancing effect include Ashwagandha, Reishi, Ginseng, Bacopa, Mucuna Pruriens or Fo-Ti. Ginseng is one of the most popular in the list and it is widely used as a supplement in language learning classes as well as generally used by students before exams or during the school year. There are no side effects to these herbs but you might be allergic to one, so it is best if you visit your medic before taking any of them, asking if you are allowed or not to start a long or short-term memory enhancement plan.
There are also several vitamins and nutrients that could help out with memorizing new words, the list including: carnitine, lecitine, carnosine, choline, inositol, tyrosine and several others, but these are not the point of our discussion.


Visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com for word memorizing lessons and games.

New button in the menu

I've just placed a new button at the bottom of the left menu. The button looks like this:

My dearest Internet Polyglotter, if you like the site, if you think that using Internet Polyglot helped you in your language learning endeavor, if your vocabulary increased because of using of Internet Polyglot, you know what to do, right? :D

Let me tell you how your donation will be used:

1. We have long lasting plans to place pictures on the site so that words and translations have colorful, eye-pleasing images.
2. We want to have sound in our lessons.
3. We want to improve the game statistics - organize contests.

And lots of other cool things are waiting to make your language learning more efficient and fun. This donation will help make it possible.