Language Trainers Blog

A big part of learning a new language is gathering as many useful vocabulary words as possible, and somehow keeping track of them so you can review them later.  It’s useful to group them in sets so you can associate them with each other, but how can you do this when everyone has a different use for a different word?

I make a note of all my new words in a small vocabulary notebook that has columns for the word, part of speech, pronunciation, meaning, and memory level.  The downside is that I can’t easily group words or put them in any order besides the one I came across them in.

Bambooapps has come up with a great make-your-own-dictionary application called Keep Your Word*. With it, you can create your own word lists with translations, and group them in whatever way you like.  If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can import others’ word lists.  Other great features include flashcard and quiz creation, and even Twitter integration.

There’s a great review on DigMo! which I would recommend reading as well – it has great advice for learners, parents, and teachers.

*Keep Your Word is unfortunately only available for Mac and iPod.

It makes sense that if a language learner has a negative attitude towards their new language, they probably won’t be as successful as they could be.  But what happens when the language you are learning has extremely negative connotations within your own community?

For many Indians living in KwaZulu-Natal, Afrikaans is the ‘language of the oppressor’, and the principal of an Indian school has gone as far as to say that the language is irrelevant for his pupils, and is petitioning for it to be removed as a language option.  He says a lot of his students do very poorly at the language, and they will never use it in their daily lives.

On the other side of the argument, another principal says that his school makes a point of being positive about the language, not referring to ‘the oppressor’, and his students do very well with the language.  (Full article from Times LIVE.)

My own grandmother was unhappy about me learning Japanese as a high school student, because of her association of the language with World War II.  I didn’t have these associations, so I was quite happy to learn the language (and was successful during the semester I studied it).

Can we affect our language success by changing our attitude towards the language itself?  I think it’s a definite possibility!

One of the most important things for language learning is listening to material, preferably native-speakers in real environments.  I’ve already mentioned podcasts and radio, but not that many people create their own listening material.  It can be really easy to take your new language everywhere you go.  Sometimes you just have to put a little bit of effort in beforehand.

If you are taking language lessons, an easy way to create your own audio files is to use a dictaphone or other audio recorder.  Many laptops and mobile phones have simple and easy to use recording software.  You can either record an entire lesson, and edit it later with free software such as Audacity, or ask your teacher to record specific examples for you, with or without translations.

If your recorder uses a file type that you can’t use on your music player, there are free audio converters (I use Switch) which easily change your files to something you can play on your media player or audio device.

You can even go one step further and transcribe your audio.  iTunes and other software allow you to edit your MP3′s lyrics so that the content appears on your iPod or music player as you listen.  If you haven’t written down what was on the sound file, you can listen and transcribe at the same time using software like Express Scribe.

Is there anything that works best for you?  Please let us know in the comments.

For regular note-taking and writing practice, everyone has their own preferences for paper – lined or unlined, spiral bound, A4, A5, 100gsm.  Then there are the writing implements – pens, pencils, markers.  Some people prefer just to record audio, or use a laptop or netbook.  Even with all of these choices, when it comes to specialist paper for writing Asian characters, it can be difficult to find what you want if you don’t live in a place with a large Asian community.

I’ve found a few online resources for downloading and printing your own character practice pages, and will list them below.  Please add more in the comments if you know of any!

Dr Lili Worksheet – Character worksheet with spaces for name and date.  Grid with horizontal and vertical internal lines.  Has room under each line for writing pinyin/notes.

Dofufa practice paper – Character practice paper with three different sizes of grid.  Internal horizontal and vertical lines.

Incompetech free online graph paper - Probably my favourite resource for printing paper.  They have a lot of different kinds of graph paper, as well as note-taking paper and a few options for Chinese and Japanese character practice.  Their graph paper generator allows you to choose the size of your paper, the size of the grids, and even what colour you would like to print in.  Try printing in landscape for even more options.  My favourite is the Chinese Character Guide (X-style), which has room for writing pinyin as well as diagonal internal lines.

Good luck with the practice!

One of the biggest problems with language learning is that it seems to take a long time.  Of course, if you want to become fluent in a language, it will take some time, as well as a lot of practice.  People are so busy these days that it’s no wonder they don’t think they have enough time to pick up another language.  What most of us don’t realise is that we do have a lot more time in our days than we think we do.  So where are these bonus minutes, and how can we take advantage of them.

A great way to maximise your learning time is to use an MP3 or other media player to listen to foreign language material while you’re doing otherwise boring or necessary tasks.  Record your language lessons and play them back, or find some learning material, podcasts, or pop music.  Listen to this material while you’re checking your email, doing the dishes, knitting, walking the dog, riding the bus, or working out at the gym.  Make your own language immersion environment.

Make use of any stationary waiting time (waiting for a train, at the bank, before meeting a friend) to look over notes or flashcards.  Try to review a few words each time you need to wait for something or someone.  And if you’re happy to read on transport, continue your learning on the train or bus as well.

If you are living in a foreign language environment, use it.  Take note of signs and language on your walk home, or when shopping.  Challenge yourself to read everyday items or advertising, and make notes of words to look up later.  Listen to announcements to check your understanding.

If you make a concerted effort to notice and use your surroundings, and maximise your ‘spare’ time, you’ll get in a few extra hours of language exposure a week, and they all add up!

When choosing a language class, it is not only important to consider the teacher, the location, and the material.

It can be quite important to think not just about the content of your language classes, but who you will learn with.  For some, working on their own is the best option, and for others, classes are preferable.  Personally, I need external motivation, so small classes are better for me (personal tutors are too easy to postpone with!).  Everyone is different, though, so here are some things to think about when choosing a language program or class:

One-to-one – This option is best for people who have changeable schedules (as tutors are often able to match their timetables to yours), those who prefer working on their own, or students who have very particular learning goals.  Obviously this will be the least cost-efficient choice, but for many people, the one-to-one attention is exactly what they need to get their language learning moving along quickly.

Two-to-one – Working with a partner can be beneficial in many ways, provided that both people are of a similar level and have similar language aims. The tutor will be able to monitor your conversations, and students often feel less pressure when they are speaking with someone who is at the same level as them.  Having a partner provides motivation to learn and attend classes.  Both students get a lot of individual attention, and there is someone to talk to about the learning material.

Small group classes – Small groups have similar benefits to two-to-one classes, with a little less individual attention, but often with a slightly lower price per person.  Again, everyone should be at the same language level, with similar needs, and, of course, be able to be in the same place at the same time.  For speaking purposes, it’s often good to have even numbers, although threesomes encourage students to have one-on-one time with their tutors as well as practicing dialogues with each other.

Large group classes – Large groups are often the best option for people who have budget limitations, or for companies with teams who have the same goals.  I find in these situations that students have less face-to-face time with their tutors, but if they support each other, they can have a lot of success.

Of course, Language Trainers provides all of these options, and even provides online classes for groups and individuals.  Everybody has different preferences for learning, though, so please let us know what works best for you.

Some people love it, some people hate it, a lot of people need it, and for many, it’s all they have.  But how many people celebrate the diversity that is the English language?  A staggering 2 billion people speak it to some degree, and the minority are native speakers.  It’s often claimed that it’s a difficult language that cannibalises words from everywhere, but to many, this is a sign of progress and something to be glad of.

The English Project has taken it upon themselves to designate October 13 English Language Day.  Because October 13 (in 1362) was the first time an English speech was used to open parliament in the UK, the theme of the first English Language Day is the often-confusing topic of legal language.  As even native speakers can find legalese difficult, it puts native and non-native speakers on more of an even playing field.

Check out the Ideas page to get some inspiration for how to celebrate.  Even if you’re not in the UK, you can participate by logging onto the website and filling in the survey.

We’ve all had that experience where we know we know a word, but we just can’t recall it.

An American study set out to reproduce this phenomenon to see if there was any difference between monolingual and bilingual speakers’ chances of having a ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ moment.

It has already been documented that people who only speak one language have fewer instances of words on the tips of their tongues, but researchers wanted to know if it was because people are sounding out words in their heads (and bilinguals have around twice as many words in their heads as monolinguals).

To study this, the researchers asked participants to name dozens of different objects (often with rarely-used names, like metronome and gyroscope), and counted the number of tip-of-the-tongue experiences (but only for those instances where the participant actually knew the word).  They found that monolingual participants had fewer occurrences, but that English-Spanish speakers had around the same number of tip-of-the-tongue moments as English-ASL (American Sign Language) speakers.

This led the researchers to believe that we’re not sounding things out in our heads at all (as ASL does not have sounds), but looking through a catalogue of rarely-used words.

Full article: New Scientist.

Many people choose a name in their adopted language, in order to communicate more easily with people who are native speakers.  If you decide to choose a new alias, it will show people you are eager to involve yourself in their language and culture.  It also helps conversation move more smoothly, as saying names in foreign languages and accents interrupts the flow of native speech.

I’m sure we’ve all seen a few adopted names that have made us giggle to ourselves.  So how do you choose a name that won’t be old-fashioned, odd, meaningless, or inappropriate?

Choose something similar to your existing name. This is not necessary, and sometimes not possible, but it will help both you and others remember what it is.

Get a second opinion. Talk to a native speaker you trust (more than one, if possible), and who can explain the name to you (or give you some more options).

Ask if your name “sounds right” - that is, it’s not obsolete or weird.  I was listening to a female friend choosing a Chinese name, and a Chinese guy remarked that he would never marry a girl who was called one of the options.  A name may sound fine to you, but it may be for the opposite gender.  Typically, only native speakers know this kind of thing.

Check for other meanings or connotations. Make sure you’re aware of any other meanings, or words that sound similar.  When my father was choosing an English name, he rejected several names because they sounded like unpleasant nouns in English.  In the end he decided not to have an English name at all, which of course he had every right to do.

Go with something you like! Whether it be unconventional or unusual, if it means something special to you, go for it.

Have you had to choose a foreign name?  How did you choose it, and were you happy with your decision?

October is National Poetry Month in the United Kingdom, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the beauty that language can create, whether it be in your native tongue or a foreign language.

This month is the perfect time to discover something new in poetry, whether you are an existing enthusiast or not.  These days poetry doesn’t have to be classical, or in rhyming couplets.  It can take the form of non-rhyming prose, haiku, performance art, or poetry jam.  It can be dramatic or serene.

For language learners, poetry can be a great inspiration, and it’s very fulfilling to be able to understand a poet’s original intention.  Try a couple of poems in your target language, and compare them to their translations.  Can you see any difference?  It’s always useful to bear in mind that translations of art need to be somewhat artistic themselves, and fail as poetic translations if they are word-for-word.

What are your favourite foreign language poems?