In English, you don't need to worry about noun gender. But in languages such as German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. you do.
The Non-logic of it All
There seems to be little logic about the gender of nouns. Take the word for "sun," for example. In German, it's "die Sonne" (feminine), in French, it's masculine: "le soleil," and in Dutch, it's "de zon," a word of common gender, which is a masculine/feminine category.
On the other hand, "house" is neuter in both German and Dutch: "das Haus" and "het huis," but feminine in French: "la maison."
So, how can you learn the articles for all these nouns? Well, you can't get around doing it. But here are three ways you can make this task a little easier and stick better.
1. Auditory Memory
A language is a series of sounds. Even if you're just reading or writing, you're often silently "sounding out" the words in your mind.
Sound is a powerful tool for memorization. Don't memorize "Haus is neuter." Repeat "das Haus" a few times, focusing on the sounds that go together, in this case, "-s with Haus."
Later, when you're trying to remember the gender of "Haus," - the feminine or masculine articles will just not sound right with this word.
Similarly, if you say "la maison" a few times and remember that the "la" article goes with the "ai" sound, using the masculine article will not fit as well.
2. Visual Memory
Unless you only want to hear and speak a language, you'll spend plenty of time reading and writing it. These are excellent ways to get words, phrases, and structures into your visual memory.
Don't just memorize "soleil is masculine." When you write out "le soleil" a few times and remember the “e” in both the “le” and “soleil”, the feminine article will simply not look right with "soleil."
3. General Rules and Exceptions
There are no iron-clad rules about the gender of nouns. But there are general rules you certainly should add to your tools and each language has a few that can supplement your auditory and visual memory. (Following are just a couple of examples, it's by no means an exhaustive list.)
In French, nouns ending in "-e" are feminine, barring a few notable exceptions, such as "le problème."
In Spanish and Italian, nouns ending with “o” are generally masculine, those ending with “a” mostly feminine (with "el problema" [Spanish] and "il problema" [Italian] again one of several exceptions.)
In German, words ending in "-e" are mostly feminine; words that have the diminutive ending "-chen" or "-lein" are always neuter. For example, die Küche (kitchen), die Straße (street); and "das Mädchen" (girl), "das Sträßlein" (little street).
Learn to Trust Yourself
And once you've learned the general rules, you'll be able to apply your auditory and visual memory to the exceptions as well.
With time, you'll learn to trust your auditory and visual memory more and are on your way to building that wonderful, uncanny skill that we all strive for: a real feel for the language.
Let us know about YOUR experiences with visual and auditory memory!
Learning Swedish recently moved to the top of my language "to do" list. We'll be spending some time in Stockholm in the fall and that's excellent motivation for me.
Besides, I've always loved the sound of Swedish, in the Bergman movies, and most recently watching the three Swedish movies based on Stieg Larsson's popular novels, "Män som hatar kvinnor" (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and its two sequels.
So, I signed up for one month to learn Swedish with an online language program. Besides getting a good grasp of Swedish basics, I again experienced the advantages of learning a new foreign language online.
For me, three key aspects drive my language learning: 1. motivation, 2. figuring out how the language works, and 3. building vocabulary.
These three aspects apply to all four language skills: reading, listening comprehension, writing, and speaking. The Swedish online course that I followed did a nice job with all four.
Motivation
This is the engine that drives learning. To truly learn something, you've got to love your subject, and find ways, again and again, to stay crazy about it.
There's a lot of talk about "addictive" programs for learning. I'm not sure that's the answer. You've got to be addicted to the subject - in this case, the language itself. Then, at best, a good program will make learning the language a pleasure.
Figuring Out How the Language Works
Our brain is wired for language and we are definitely capable of figuring out how a language functions. Kids do this all the time. By listening to a language, and reading, writing, and speaking it, we become aware of grammatical patterns.
In addition, some of us like to check with a grammar book, to see if there's a rule that makes things clear. I, for one, don't memorize grammar rules. My favorite grammar books are very thin ones. The one I use for Swedish is a slim booklet called "Essential Swedish grammar."
Building Vocabulary
Some people like to start a language by memorizing lists of words, or even just practicing all the sounds of the alphabet. I find that boring.
I prefer to start with everyday phrases or short sentences, and to add relevant lists a little later. I want to see the spelling, hear the words spoken, say them myself, and even write out some of them.
That way, my language learning brain is fully engaged. Whatever vocabulary I learn has to be part of a context or a setting that is meaningful to me.
So far, I've spent one month learning Swedish. I'm definitely still motivated and yes, I've figured out how the Swedish language works.
The program confirms that I've learned 380 basic words and phrases. That's a good start! In a later blog post, I'll talk about what program I used and how it specifically helped me build the four basic skills.
Do adults learn a second (or third) language differently from the way children learn their “mother tongue”? This is a question that continues to be debated.
We would argue “yes.” The difference arises from the fact that children begin to memorize the names, or “labels” of objects, actions, emotions, etc. at the same time they grasp the “concepts” behind such expressions.
An apple is a good example to illustrate the relationship between “concept” and “label.” Children learn at an early age that a real apple and a picture of it have the same "label" attached to it.
Picture Books
First books for young children are mainly picture books that show people, animals, fruits, cars, trains, clothes, etc.
By relating these pictures to items around them, and hearing their names (or "language labels") repeated again and again, children begin to understand the “concepts” that unite real objects and their pictures.
They begin to internalize the names/labels and eventually they will start to repeat them aloud.
New “Labels” for known “Concepts”
Now let's consider how adults learn a second language. They have already acquired the names (language labels) of the “concepts” in their mother tongue.
So, when they learn a second language, they have to learn NEW labels for the same concepts. Plus, they have to learn how to pronounce these new labels and how to connect them in a correct grammatical way so that they can communicate.
In other words, a young child learns its first language by first understanding and speaking, and only later reading and writing.
For older children and adults learning their second language, the sequence often changes: Reading goes hand in hand with understanding, speaking, and writing.
The “Learn a Foreign Language Like a Child” Fallacy
You may or may not be familiar with those foreign language courses in books that contain lots of pictures. They were replaced by DVDs, and now, increasingly, by online courses and mobile applications.
But even these online courses often use pictures, so that you can "learn a foreign language like a child.” In our mind that claim is a fallacy.
We're not arguing AGAINST using pictures to memorize new foreign language “labels,” as there is certainly evidence that pictures can help memorization.
We would argue that for adults - who want to express more abstract ideas - PICTURES of objects are less important than learning foreign words and expressions in the context of a useful conversation or a narrative.
In that way, you can establish a direct connection between the "concept" of what you want to say, and the new foreign language words/labels.
In our experience, one can best achieve such a connection by learning foreign words (i.e. linking labels with their abstract concepts) in the expressions of everyday language, or in the case of gamesforlanguage.com in the form of a story.
An Apple is not Enough
To illustrate again: You know the label for this concept in English: apple. In the four languages of our program we have learned: ein Apfel (German), une pomme (French), una manzana (Spanish), and una mela (Italian).
To express the concept of “I would like an apple” it will be more helpful to remember expressions and context than pictures. - Ich möchte (gerne) einen Apfel. (German) - J'aimerais (bien) une pomme. (French) - Me gustaría una manzana (Spanish) - Vorrei una mela. (Italian)
You'll be more likely to remember the concept of “I would like” (which a picture may only express with difficulty) and use it to ask for different items, if you recall the context where you heard, read, wrote, or said it. Ideally, such a context would be part of a real-life experience, and next best, part of a story.
To learn a new language and communicate effectively, you'll have to remember and apply hundreds (even thousands) of expressions such as "I would like." And when you do, you may even not be conscious of just having used a conditional or a subjunctive form.
PS: German readers may know Peter Bichsel's short story “Ein Tisch ist ein Tisch.” He humorously explores what happens when we start to “re-label” things - just because labels are just labels and you can change them in your own language, well ...
Last year my husband and I spent seven weeks in Spain, both to try out our newly acquired Spanish and to retrace the trip of our Spanish 1 traveler "David."
We started out in Barcelona (as described in our blog post), and then visited Granada, Seville, and finally Madrid.
It was great fun to use our Spanish in daily life - shopping at the open market, navigating our way through the city, visiting many of Gaudi's masterworks (see his Casa Milà on the left), making small talk with people we met as we went about our daily activities.
We found that it's fairly easy to acquire new words, especially if they are items you can picture or point to. But it was more difficult to learn and use expressions that have an abstract meaning. And such expressions often include those little connecting words that are called prepositions (eg: to, in, for, by, off, over, about, etc.).
The Challenge of Prepositions
Prepositions sometimes provide a special challenge for language learners. That's because they often have several meanings and don't translate in a logical way into other languages.
For example, if you google the Spanish translation of the English preposition "to" in an online dictionary such as wordreference.com, you'll see that the ten "principal" meanings of "to" require 5 completely different prepositions in Spanish: a, hacia, de, contra, sobre.
Phrases with the English Preposition "to" translated into Spanish
• to fly to Madrid/to Spain - volar a Madrid/a España (a = to) • to go to the airport - ir al aeropuerto (al = to the) • to walk to the house - caminar hacia la casa (hacia = until) • along the way to there - por el camino hasta allí (hasta = until) • a vote of three to one - tres votos contra uno (contra = against) • to apply pigment to a canvas - aplicar pigmento sobre el lienzo (sobre = over)
Making Mistakes
Let me say at this point that it's perfectly okay to make mistakes, and even if you use a wrong preposition, people will usually understand what you're trying to say. In a conversation, folks can easily ask you what you meant and you can quickly correct misunderstandings. And this means you'll have the kind of feed-back that will help you to learn.
How to Micro-Learn
It's a great feeling to master an expression in a foreign language. Once you've got it, it's yours and you can build on it. So it's worth spending a little time learning common expressions that contain prepositions, and there's no mystery about how to do it:
1. Tackle each expressions individually. 2. Practice saying it until it stays in your ear. 3. Write it down, and/or read it, again and again, until you have it in your visual memory. 4. Start using it in conversations and in texting and emails.
Your new expression will soon begin to sound and look right. Once that happens, attach a rule to it. For example: in Spanish, going/traveling to a city or country always uses "a." Then, when you try to say, "I'm flying to England" - you'll know what preposition to use: "Vuelo a Inglaterra."
Traveling to France? Preparing for the trip may both heighten your anticipation as well as enhance your experiences there. Travel entrepreneur Rick Steves has called this "Prepare for Spontaneity."
A basic knowledge of the local language and culture are essential tools for navigating new places and meeting locals.
In our four language courses we are introducing the learner to various particularities of each language or culture. For example in our French 1 course our traveler Daniel learns about the "bouillabaisse".
Listen HERE to a conversation between him and his aunt. Maybe your French lets you understand how this traditional French dish got its name. If not, you'd certainly understand it by the end of lesson 33!
The 36 lessons - we call them "Scenes" - take our "hero" Daniel (and, by extension you!) for a three week journey to France, where you'll learn the language of daily French life.
For example, in Paris, you'll visit with relatives, take a walk on a famous square, order "un express" and "une tarte aux fraises" at a café. You'll buy a train ticket to Aix-en-Provence.
There, you'll ask directions to a friend's house, and on a walk around the city, learn about Cézanne's occupation before he became a famous painter. In Avignon, you'll take a bus to your hotel, and check in.
Later, after dinner, a friend will show you the famous bridge. (Who doesn't know the song "Sur le pont d'Avignon"?) For your last week, you'll return to Paris.
Each of the 36 lessons is based on a dialog and on part of the story. In each lesson, you'll play your way through a series of games, with which you learn and practice vocabulary, train your listening comprehension, practice speaking by recording and playing back your own voice.
You'll also get essential grammar and culture tips.
Your goal will be to exceed a target score so that you can move on to the next lesson and hear “the rest of the story.”
You'll also be challenged and often able to understand the meaning of the next dialog through the context of the story alone – similar to what you might experience living in the foreign country, or following an original French movie.
So, maybe, next time you're sitting in a French bistro and see the "bouillabaisse" on the menu, you'll give it a try and even know what the name means...
No matter what stage you are in when learning a language, think of "building" your skills, step by step. Words and phrases that you learn in context provide you with "building blocks."
Most people learn a new language to communicate with others.
To really understand a conversation and take part in it, you need more than just words or a series of phrases.
You need to understand how words and phrases connect to create meaning. Nothing does this better than learning language in what the linguist Stephen Krashen calls "comprehensible context."
The Context Helps You Remember
There's another reason for learning language in context. You remember words and phrases much better if you can associate them with a real situation.
Yes, there are ways to create associations to boost your memory. But to do this for every word seems impractical if you want to speak in full sentences.
On the other hand, if you can create a situation in your mind and connect certain phrases with it, you'll have the language ready when you need it.
For example, when shopping in a Spanish speaking country, the following phrases would be very handy: "Estoy buscando ...." (I'm looking for ...); "¿Tiene usted un/una ...?" (Do you have ...?); ¿Cuánto cuesta eso?" (How much does this cost?).
Now, you may need to learn the verbs, nouns, etc. individually, but will certainly remember them better when you recall the context of this sentence.
Listening to and singing foreign songs is another excellent way to increase your vocabulary, especially if a song's refrain stays with you. (For a post on a German song for learning, click here.)
Build Your Language With All Four Skills
To really absorb a word or phrase, you need to read and write each one of them, in addition to hearing and repeating the sounds.
Small children obviously learn just with spoken language, but don't forget, they'll spend years learning to read and write their first language. The same would be true for fluency in a second or third language.
For adults, reading and writing are highly effective tools for learning and practicing a foreign language. According to a post on the Lifehack blog post: "... it seems that writing anything down makes us remember it better."
Learning just with audio, leaves you clueless as how to spell many of the words. Should you travel to the country, you may experience quite a few funny or unwelcome surprises.
Grammar Holds Language Together
Learning words and phrases in context also provides another benefit: You'll absorb plenty of grammar without needing to memorize rules. The key is to pay attention. Your brain is wired to figure out and interpret the "grammar" of a sentence.
As a matter of fact, different areas of the brain seem to respond to various types of sentences.
A study at the University of Rochester suggests that "...humans rely on several regions of the brain, each designed to accomplish different primitive tasks, in order to make sense of a sentence... Depending on the type of grammar used, the brain will activate a certain set of regions to process it."
Just by paying attention, you'll easily notice how the language you're learning is different from English.
For example, things to look out for: Does your foreign language normally drop pronouns?; Are articles used and do they have gender?; How is the word order different?; How do you make a question?; How do you make a negative sentence?
Once you've noticed details like that, you'll see them again and again as you continue to read and practice. Also, when you do look up some rules, they'll start to make a lot more sense.
Intensive and Extensive Learning
It's not a bad idea to alternate short texts that you work with intensively, with reading longer texts rapidly or "extensively," where you only occasionally look up a word.
For a short text you can practice each word individually, listen to it, pronounce it, write it, and pay close attention to the grammar.
With a longer text, you would read freely and guess from the context what some of the unknown words mean.
Of course, you also have the option of watching short and long videos, or once you are up to it watch foreign movies.
The more clues the text or the video gives you, the better you'll be able to guess what it's about and the more you'll understand.
Use as many tools as you can for building your language with words, phrases, and sentences that fit together.
It's a great feeling to start taking part in foreign language conversations with friends and new acquaintances!
Are you learning a new language? Soon you may be eager to begin watching videos or TV programs, with no translation provided.
The goal of this type of immersion is to start processing language like native speakers do. It’s a fun and challenging way to learn. Your mind goes into full gear and you're pushing yourself way out of your linguistic comfort zone.
Immersion Learning
To make your immersion learning productive, you’ll want to become familiar with some of the essential elements of your new language. The following 10 basic grammar items are crucial for beginning to understand spoken language on TV. Using audio and written examples for each, I practiced these before starting to watch a Spanish telenovela.
10 Basic Grammar Items
1. Subject pronouns. (Are they always used or mostly dropped?) 2. Regular verb endings for first, second, and third person. 3. Definite and indefinite articles. (Are they used or not used?) 4. The 5 most common question words. 5. The 5 most common prepositions. (eg. the equivalents for: in, on, to, with, from) 6. The different vowel sounds in the new language. 7. The consonants whose sounds don't exist in English. 8. The common words that express negation. 9. The sentence melody of statements. (Practice to imitate the melody.) 10. The sentence melody of questions. (Practice these too.)
As your listening skills advance, you may want to add other steps. In the meantime, these 10 grammar steps will help you make the jump from sound as “gibberish” to sound as “words that have meaning.”
Learning Italian?When you get into a conversation with Italians, you have little time to think about the many particularities of the language: noun gender, different types of articles, prepositions, etc.
Here are ten easy rules that you can become aware of when reading, listening, or writing Italian. With time, you'll start recognizing items or patterns that follow these rules and they'll become automatic even when you speak.
These rules cover just a few Italian grammar points, but they're a start and easy to remember. You can used them to build on.
1. Nouns ending in -o are normally masculine.
• il ragazzo (the boy) • il libro (the book) • l'albero (the tree) Notable Exceptions: Feminine nouns ending in -o: • la mano (the hand) • la foto (the photo) • la radio (the radio), l’auto
2. Regular masculine nouns that end in -o change their ending to -i in the plural.
• i ragazzi (the boys) • i libri (the books) • i cavalli (the horses)
3. Nouns ending in -a are normally feminine.
• la ragazza (the girl) • la scuola (the school) • la casa (the house)
Notable Exceptions: Masculine nouns ending in -a: • il problema (the problem) • il cinema (the movie theater) • il programma (the program)
4. Regular feminine nouns that end in -a change their ending to -e in the plural.
• le ragazze (the girls) • le scuole (the schools) • le idee (the ideas)
5. Instead of il, the definite article lo (the) goes before masculine singular nouns beginning with z, s+consonant, ps, gn.
• lo zio (the uncle) • lo studio (the study) • lo psicologo (the psychologist)
Note: Feminine nouns starting with z, s+consonant, ps, gn, have the definite article "la". • la zia (the aunt) • la strada (the street) • la psicologa (the psychologist, f)
6. The definite article gli is the plural form of lo, instead of the masculine plural i.
• gli zii - the uncles • gli studi - the studies • gli psicologi - the psychologists
7. The definite article is used with possessive adjectives, except with singular nouns denoting family members.
• il mio libro (my book) • la tua amica (your friend, f) • i miei amici (my friends) • le tue case (your houses)
But: • mio padre (my father) • tua madre (your mother) • mio zio (my uncle)
Note: With plural family members, you use the definite article: • i miei parenti (my parents) • le tue zie (your aunts)
8. To make a sentence negative, put non before the verbal expression (incl. object pronouns).
• Non voglio mangiare. (I don’t want to eat.) • Non ho finito. (I haven’t finished.) • Non lo conosco. (I don’t know him.)
9. The preposition in (to/in) is normally used with continents, countries, regions, and large islands.
• in Africa (to Africa/in Africa) • in Francia (to France/in France) • in Toscana (to Tuscany/in Tuscany) • in Sardegna (to Sardinia/in Sardinia)
10. The preposition a (to/in) is normally used with cities and small islands.
• a Roma (to Rome/in Rome) • a Capri (to Capri/in Capri)
The first steps in language learning may be the hardest. It means getting a good basis in a language, so you can build on it and really enjoy learning more.
With “basis” I mean four essential things: 1. Mastering a number of essential phrases, expressions, and short sentences that you can use with native speakers. 2. Pronouncing these in a way that native speakers can understand you. 3. Learning the melody of the language (the up- and-down in sentences, questions, requests, etc.), so YOU can understand basic phrases. 4. Gaining an understanding of grammar that you need for communication (distinguishing past, present, and future forms, identifying pronouns, and choosing the correct form of politeness.)
Learning Castilian Spanish in Barcelona
No doubt, the most desirable and effective way to immerse yourself in a new language is by staying for some time a country where the language is spoken. But not all stories about language “immersion” are the same.
Here’s one of an American ex-pat couple, Rob and Lila, whom we recently met in Barcelona. The couple had moved to Barcelona a few years before and set up an international business that they’ve been running – in English - over the Internet. Lila already knew a few languages and learned Spanish easily by watching TV, etc., but Rob, who now speaks Spanish quite well, had to learn it from the ground up, word by word.
Dogs Can be a Great Asset
Over a glass of wine, and great-tasting “montaditos” (small, hot sandwiches), Rob told us about his “method” for learning Spanish. “Right from the beginning, my dog was my most valuable asset,” he said with a chuckle. He then told us that he went walking with his cute little pooch every day, morning, late afternoon, and evening - looking for Spanish conversations.
Other dog owners were easy to talk to, and of course, their conversations revolved around dogs. They talked about what kind of dog, the dog's character, funny little anecdotes, etc. At first, Rob said, he understood very little, but he'd go home and look up words in a dictionary or find them on the Internet. This way, he explained, he built up a stock of vocabulary, little by little.
Learning “Real” - Not “Textbook” Language
Another part of his “method,” he said, was to talk with homeless people in parks for a euro or two. “They were happy to pass the time chatting with me,” he added, “and I learned real language, not just textbook phrases.”
The next step for Rob was to have regular conversation sessions with Maia, a local friend, who very patiently corrected his Spanish and explained the why and how of certain phrases. “She was wonderful,” he said. “I would treat her to a cortado (an espresso with a dash of milk) and she would practice small talk in Spanish with me.”
For Rob, the hardest but most effective part of these sessions were the “language tasks” Maia prepared for him. She instructed him to go to the market or to various shops to buy specific items; or she asked him to go buy train tickets, make a phone call, etc.
Practice, Practice, Practice
The key to language learning is practice, practice, practice. Obviously, when you are living in a country where the language is spoken, practice comes easier. But even then you may have to develop your own strategies and systems to improve your skills. This is especially true, if you are living in an ex-pat community or working with colleagues in an English-speaking environment
Whether you follow Rick Steves’ suggestions, are using one of the many online language programs, or are learning new foreign words with vocabulary apps, consistent practice will eventually let you build your language “basis.
You’ll then find out what a great adventure it is to travel and interact with locals - in their language.
A recent article by Dan Hurley in the New York Times suggests as much. Hurley starts by describing a “memory game” where kids have to remember “which window a cat was in.”
First, it's in a window just before, then in a window a Level before, and finally in a window two Levels before. It's as simple as that: “The cats keep coming and the kids keep remembering.”
Working Memory and “Fluid Intelligence”
Apparently, the “cat game” is one of the games that some researchers say can improve “working memory,” which is defined as: “the capacity to solve novel problems, to learn, to reason, to see connections and to get to the bottom of things.”
All of us use “working memory,” Dan Hurley explains, for remembering telephone numbers, doing math in our head, understanding metaphors or analogies, for making sense out of language, etc.
The sum of the skills of working memory is what we call “fluid intelligence” (as opposed to “crystalline intelligence,” which is produced by long-term memory skills).
Long-term memory and “Crystalline Intelligence”
It seems clear to us that language learning requires long-term memory skills. You need to acquire a good store of vocabulary, grammar structures, and (foreign language) sounds in your brain to be able to communicate, and thereby enhancing your “crystalline intelligence.”
But “working memory” is just as essential. We, at GamesforLanguage.com look forward to research that analyzes the relationship between second language acquisition and improvements of “fluid/crystalline intelligence” in adults.
Language Fluency and “Working Memory”
Just learning words, with the many flash card games now available for phones and tablets, is a good way to accumulate a store of vocabulary, and rules for pronunciation and spelling.
But flashcards alone won't make you fluent. Fluency requires the ability to speak and communicate. And this, in turn, involves a “working memory” that is well-engaged.
A new language confronts a person with many “novel problems.” The learner will have to decode and use new grammar patterns, new sound combinations, to figure out the meaning of new words, and so on.
Language Learning Requires Practice
We can well imagine that real and continuous efforts to acquire and try out a new language will make you smarter by boosting your working memory.
As Hurley states: “practice improves performance on almost every task humans engage in, whether it’s learning to read or playing horseshoes.” However, the required practice is often the greatest hindrance to becoming proficient in a new language.
And as he cautions: “Just like physical exercise, cognitive exercises may prove to be up against something even more resistant to training than fluid intelligence: human nature.”
Language Games to make Practice Fun
Games can make language practice fun, and by taking the boredom out of the required language practice, you’ll improve your “working memory” playfully.
Will you end up being smarter by learning a second (or third) language? Hurley's article seems to suggest as much! But we're also looking forward to more research on that particular topic. In any case, if you start learning a new language now, you'll be ahead!
In English, you don't need to worry about noun gender. But in languages such as German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. you do.
No matter what stage you are in when learning a language, think of "building" your skills, step by step. Words and phrases that you learn in context provide you with "building blocks." 
different areas of the brain seem to respond to various types of sentences. 
attention to the grammar. 
