A recent research paper: "Daily Online Testing in Large Classes" [published on journals.plos.org] shows that taking frequent short tests - or quizzes - can significantly boost learning.
This appears to be true for subjects such as math and science, which combine rote memorization with thinking skills. It certainly can also be true for language learning, which requires the mind to absorb complex material gradually, and in steps that build on each other.
Typically in a school environment, quizzes were and still are used after students have learned their material, both to test their knowledge and give them feedback. In our new, digital trial-and-error culture, quizzing and learning often happen simultaneously.
Every Game is a Quiz
In order to advance in a game, you have to provide correct answers and are told immediately when you're wrong. This kind of immediate and regular feed-back on detail - pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, grammar points, sentence structure, etc. - is exactly what you want when you're learning a language.
Games Engage the Whole Brain
Language learning tends to be a left-brain activity, but by involving several senses, you'll be engaging both sides of the brain. One way to do this is by playing video games that involve sounds, colors, movement, and various types of interactive play.
It's well-established that multi-sensory learning helps create the kind of associations that deepen your language memory.
Games Help to Maintain Focus
By tapping into the rush of pleasurable feeling you get from achieving small successes and mastering challenges, games help you focus on each step and encourage you to stay with the language - as described in this blog bost: Games and your brain: how to use gamification to stop procrastinating.
Accumulating points and badges gives you a sense of progress and motivates you to go on. Also, games can add humor to your learning (as text, images, sounds, etc.) and with it provide an extra level of fun and entertainment.
With Games You Can Practice All Four Skills Interactively
Digital games are versatile and can be structured to help you practice all four skills: listening, writing, reading, speaking - either individually or in combination. There are games to listen and repeat, others to record your voice, or write in the correct answer. Others still for constructing sentences, or identifying idioms.
Digital games allow for as much repetition as you want. If a game is hard, you can do it several times, if it's easy, you breeze through and continue with the next.
Games Can Teach You How to Learn
If you use games for language learning on a regular basis, you're also forming good learning habits. A language is acquired gradually and step by step, so trying to cram a lot of learning into a short time doesn't work for most.
Regular quizzing with games teaches you how to pace yourself and shows you the value of frequent recall and repetition.
The sudden, huge popularity of the gamified site Duolingo has put language learning with games in the spotlight. Other sites that consist entirely of language games, such as Digitaldialects, Mindsnacks, etc., and our Gamesforlanguage, are also getting increased attention.
In turn, social networks and communities for language learning - such as Busuu, Livemocha, Mangolanguages - have started adding games to their programs.
Last but not least, educational communities such as edWeb.net have groups where educators share new games, including language games. For anyone learning a language, this is all good quizzing fun.
You may have heard this French song: Et si tu n'existais pas before and always wondered what the lyrics really meant. Here is your chance to learn them and brush up on your French negations and conditionals!
For anyone who likes music, songs are a versatile and surprisingly effective tool for language learning. Songs support your language learning in many ways. They help you to:
• build your vocabulary and provide context for words and phrases • improve pronunciation • boost your memory • internalize grammar structures • distinguish word boundaries (see also our blog post Gibberish or language learning)
Si tu n'existais pas (If you didn't exist)
This 1976 song by the American born, French singer-songwriter Joe Dassin has become hugely popular and is one of my favorites. Dassin (1938 - 1980) was a talented polyglot and recorded songs in Spanish, Russian, German, Greek, Italian, as well as in French and English (many of which you can find on YouTube).
Below are the French lyrics, and you can find another English translation here.
The Lyrics of "Si tu n'existais pas"
Et si tu n'existais pas, Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais. Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi, Sans espoir et sans regrets.
Et si tu n'existais pas, J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour, Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts Naître les couleurs du jour. Et qui n'en revient pas.
Et si tu n'existais pas, Dis-moi pour qui j'existerais. Des passantes endormies dans mes bras Que je n'aimerais jamais.
Et si tu n'existais pas, Je ne serais qu'un point de plus Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va, Je me sentirais perdu, J'aurais besoin de toi.
Et si tu n'existais pas, Dis-moi comment j'existerais. Je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi, Mais je ne serais pas vrai.
Et si tu n'existais pas, Je crois que je l'aurais trouvé, Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi, Simplement pour te créer Et pour te regarder.
French Nouns in the Song
In Dassin's song there are 14 nouns, here listed in the form they appear:
• un monde (a world) • sans espoir (without hope) • sans regrets (without regret) • l'amour (love) • un peintre (a painter) • ses doigts (his fingers) • les couleurs (the colors) • du jour (of the day) • des passantes (passers-by) • mes bras (my arms) • un point (a point, dot) • le secret (the secret) • de la vie (of life) • le pourquoi (the why)
Negative Structures
It's well worth internalizing the various forms of French negation, three of which appear in the song:
• Si tu n'existais pas (ne ... pas - not) • Que je n'aimerais jamais. (ne ... jamais - never) • Je ne serais qu'un point de plus. (ne ... que - only)
The Conditional "if-then" Structure
This structure is the backbone of the song. Of the 20 different verbs, 8 are used in the conditional tense. Memorizing the lyrics and singing them is a great way to internalize one of the common "if-then" (conditional) structures:
The "if-clause" (which comes up 6 times) is in the imperfect tense:
• si tu n'existais pas - if you didn't exist
The "then-claus" is in the conditional tense:
• dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais (*exister) - tell me why would I exist • j'essaierais d'inventer l'amour (*essayer) - I would try to invent love • je ne serais qu'un point de plus (*être) - I would only be one more dot • je me sentirais perdu (*se sentir) - I would feel lost • j'aurais besoin de toi (*avoir besoin) - I would need you • je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi (*pouvoir) - I could pretend to be me • je crois que je l'aurais trouvé (*trouver) - I think I would have found it
Just imagine, when you are memorizing the lyrics and singing along, you're practicing the language. How much fun is that!
And why stop here? Edith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" (see our previous post) is another great French song to add to your language learning repertoire.
I recently came across Sidney's post Learning through song made easy, which suggests four steps to improve both your listening and speaking (maybe even singing!) skills. It's fun AND effective and it not only works for Italian, but for French and other languages as well!
Are language games just for kids? The short answer is "no" and there are plenty of reasons.
Kids love to play, in fact most, if not all their learning in the early years occurs during play. So it's not surprising that educational games - especially those on tablets and smart phones - are pouring into the marketplace.
These games combine playing with targeted learning and include educational topics from geography, math, spelling, science, to native and foreign languages. Much research is being done about how children learn with structured games. A good resource for that is the Mind/Shift blog on www.kqed.org about Games and Video Games.
Kids and Language Games
There are numerous audio, video, and other “toy based” games and apps, which children play in their native language. With these, they enhance word recognition, pronunciation, spelling, and writing, etc.
And they play native or even foreign language games not because they want to improve their communication with their parents, siblings, and peers, but simply because such games are fun.
Why Language Games Work for Kids
Kids' language games teach basic vocabulary, often with funny pictures, cute sound effects, and "rewards" for getting it right. They feature droll or adorable characters, catchy music, bright colors, and require the young player to swipe, click, or move a word or image in order to progress.
Adults and Brain Games
Games and play are not just for kids, though. Adults also learn well with games. A well-established segment is the field of Brain Training. Lumosity has surged to becoming the dominant online presence, but there are plenty of other brain games available as well.
A few years ago Nintendo DS developed a series of Brain Age Games. There's also research being done in the area of cognitive improvement, especially related to the effect of video games on the brains of older adults. (see our blog post on language learning and memory)
Adults and Foreign Language Games
In 2007 Nintendo DS started a series of language games (My Spanish Coach, My Japanese Coach, My French Coach, etc.) But these did not seem to catch on.
Around the same time, Craig Gibson launched Digital Dialects, a website with simple, animated games for 30+ languages. Mindsnacks with its language learning games appeared in 2010 and added gamification (rewards, badges, etc.) and humor to its games.
When in 2012, Duolingo, then a gamified "crowd-sourced text-translation platform" (Wikipedia) took the Internet by storm, it became clear that language learning games for adults are here to stay.
Why Language Games Work for Adults
In contrast to children, adults typically do have a specific plan or need for the language they are learning (be it for work, travel, friendship, personal satisfaction, etc.). Moreover, adults not only have to develop the discipline and learning habits to keep going in the midst of their many other commitments and time constraints, but they also have to find ways to stay motivated.
Games can therefore be an effective addition to any language learning program, especially because they are interactive and fun.
Because of their interactive nature, games are very versatile. They can easily combine humor and serious learning. (Think of the Duolingo Owl, or the Rhinos of the Mindsnacks games.)
Plus, games are nonlinear and dynamic, features which help in the acquisition of language as a complex tool for communication. When learners make a mistake or need to figure out a grammar point, they can easily replay a segment and get immediate feedback.
Games can also interweave a story line - which provides context - with vocabulary and grammar practice, while keeping the learner interactively engaged (a main feature of Gamesforlanguage).
Moreover, by involving multiple senses - visual, auditory, and touch - games stimulate association and sharpen memory. Last but not least, games are relaxing because they are fun and entertaining.
As language games for adults become more numerous and go mainstream, they join the "learning revolution," which Markus Witte (Founder and CEO of the language learning site Babbel) talks about in a recent blog post: The Learning Revolution: It’s Not About Education in Wired Magazine.
In his words: "A new trend is initiated by a whole new breed of learning technology start-ups that set out to make learning easier for everybody." Why not jump on this trend and play a few language games?!
A recent PBS NewsHour Report: "Can memory video games deliver on brain-boosting claims?" explores the question whether memory video games can improve and train the brains of older adults.
Cognitive Training and Video Games
While experts may still differ somewhat on the claims and real benefits of video games, there seems to be mounting evidence that they can indeed be used for cognitive training, though the results should not be overstated.
Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, acknowledges: “We do need better, more carefully controlled studies in order to make really strong prescriptive advice. That being said, in general, I think if you find these games fun, at least there's no clear evidence that they have detrimental effects, so I usually don't disrecommend them.”
Cognitive Training & Language learning
Anecdotes, common sense, or even personal experiences have long pointed to the It turns out that something as ordinary as speaking a couple of languages reconfigures the brain network in a way that positively affects certain things that brains do.grey-cell” benefits of learning a second (or third) language as an adult. This is also supported by brain research.
For example, a 2012 study performed by a group of researchers at the Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging at Lund University shows that language learning makes the brain grow. “There is a lot to suggest that learning languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape,” says Johan Mårtensen, one of the participating researchers at the university.
Or, research by Ellen Bialystok of York University in Toronto, Canada, who also concludes that bilingualism sharpens the mind. In an interview, conducted in 2011 for the British newspaper, The Guardian, Bialystok talks about the cognitive enhancement that many bilinguals experience. She states: “It turns out that something as ordinary as speaking a couple of languages reconfigures the brain network in a way that positively affects certain things that brains do.”
Video Games and Language learning
Combing language learning with Video Games should therefore be a natural marriage and a “no-brainer.” (excuse the pun!) If both activities enhance our brain and memory functions, those of us who like games would get a “twofer”: Having fun playing while learning a language at the same time.
Language learning apps, such as Mindsnacks and Duolingo, etc., and online language learning sites such as GamesforLanguage, Digital Dialects, etc., all use games and gamification as their main teaching tools and are getting increased attention. However, compelling video games that combine effective language training and pure fun are just starting to gain momentum.
So for all you language learners: If you find fun video games for learning a language – continue with them: They are unlikely to have a detrimental effect on your brain activities – and, just maybe, they will even boost them. And as an added benefit, you'll know how to communicate in another language!
Arriving at one of the world's great cities is always a thrill. If, in addition, you've made some effort to learn some basics of the local language, you'll have added another dimension to your experience.
And while you're exploring the city, you can continue to engage with its language. Here are 4 easy ways to keep on learning. I tried these out while recently visiting Oslo, Norway's capital. (image of Oslo's stunning new opera)
1. DECODING SIGNS WHILE EXPLORING ON FOOT
Oslo's Karl Johans gate (right) is a pedestrian way that sweeps through the city from Sentralstasjon (central station) to Slottet (the royal palace). It is lined by cafés, shops, office buildings, and is always bustling with activity.
As you stroll along this street, you meet a constant stream of visual language: signs on buildings and apartments; signs regulating car and bicycle traffic; advertising signs in stores,etc.
Some of these are translated into English, but many are not. It's fun to guess the meaning of these signs, and armed with a small dictionary, you can decipher many of them.
Since many words and phrases pop up in various locations, you'll start to recognize and learn them.
For understanding Norwegian, knowing another Germanic language (such as English, Dutch, or German) is helpful.
An ad on a tram (right) reads: "ring billig til utlandet" "ring" (American: call); "billig" (same word in German: cheap), "til" (to/until); "utlandet" (close to German "Ausland" or Dutch "buitenland," meaning "abroad.") So we figured that the cell phone company advertised: "Cheap calls abroad".
Sometimes though, you have to chuckle at the shift in meaning. For example, a sign at an Oslo Parking garage (right) reads "LEDIG" (Vacant), That's harder to figure out: the German word "ledig" means "unmarried", and the Dutch word "leeg" means "empty".
Or, you have to be beware of out-and-out false friends: Norwegian "barn" means "children" in English.
2. LISTENING TO ANNOUNCEMENTS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Oslo has an excellent network of buses, trams, subways (T-bane), ferries and local trains that take you to practically any point in the city and to many towns in the surrounding county Akershus.
A 7-day all-inclusive pass helped us round out our sightseeing.Just for a start, we took the T-bane to the Holmenkollen hopp (ski jump); the tram to Vigelandsparken, an amazing open-air sculpture park (see a sculpture by Gustav Vigeland, left); and the ferry to Nesoddtangen (a village 4 miles south of Oslo).
Stops on trams, buses, subways, and trains are shown visually, but they are also announced aloud in Norwegian.
For me, this was a fun way to learn the correlation between spelling and pronunciation. Norwegian has many silent letters, plus a few letter combinations that are totally unpredictable for a native English speaker.
Listening to the names of stops, as well as to lengthier general announcements is a good way to get the music of the language into your ear. Moreover, everything is spoken in Norwegian first, and then in English, allowing you to double-check that you've really understood the meaning.
3. READING DUAL-LANGUAGE TEXTS IN MUSEUMS
Oslo offers a host of interesting museums, some housed in spectacular buildings, others tucked away in formerly private apartments.
Each exhibit provides well-constructed, colorful background stories - in Norwegian and English. As you read about the artists, the individual works of art, the history of the city, etc., you can have a language lesson to boot. From dual-language plaques, we learned about Munch's lengthy stays in Berlin and Paris and his bohemian life there (Munch Museum).
We read that Ibsen had lived abroad for 27 yearsand the reasons why he did his best writing outside of the country (Ibsen Museum).
We discovered that, when in 1905, the Danish Prince Carl and his British wife became King Haakon VII and Queen Maude of Norway (Hollenkollen Museum), they and their children became avid skiers (see the royal family, right)
To find out how a Danish Prince and his English wife become the founders of the current Norwegian Royal House, read our blog post Language Politics).
4. SPEAKING THE LOCAL LANGUAGE
Last but not least, it was fun to try out our practical, phrase-based Norwegian. We are far from fluent, but every time we made a purchase, ordered food or drinks, bought tickets, or asked for directions, we practiced the language we had so far acquired.
Waiters in cafés or restaurant were usually multilingual and when our Norwegian didn't suffice, they joined us in language-switching back and forth between Norwegian, English, German, and sometimes Spanish and Italian.
When you think about it, a city offers a lot of free and fun resources for language learning. You just have to become aware of them and use them as they come up. Keeping a 3"x5" spiral notebook with you to write down any new words or phrases you see or hear, will help you remember and learn.
More and more online language learning sites are adding games or game-like features to their course repertoire. And that is for good reason: Making language learning more entertaining can also produce better results.
All four language skills – listening/comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing - can be practiced with interactive games or lessons/exercises that have game-like features.
Some baby boomers and older learners may not (yet) be as used to learning with games as generation X, Y, Z, but it seems inevitable that the trend of learning with games will continue.
Clearly, Gamesforlanguage.com was created with the idea that learning a language with games can be fun and effective. But we have also learned that players should observe a few "rules" or practices to get the most out of our games. Here are our five (5) tips which are based on our own experience and on comments from our users. We have also incorporated them into our list of suggestions: “How to play and learn?”
1. Be mindful and pay attention to the spelling
When new foreign words first come up, take a moment to study them and memorize their typeface/appearance, especially when special foreign letters, accents, umlauts, etc. are involved. You'll have to recall the specifics later when you have to write them.
2. Limit the new vocabulary you learn daily to 15-20 words
It's easy to be carried away by easy games and just move on to the next set of new words. However, our brain is only able to handle so many words or expressions a day and move them from short-term to long-term memory. The number of new words one can learn a day may vary, but we suggest a range of 15-20.
3. Repeat the native speaker's words and phrases whenever you can
Learning to speak a new foreign language requires pronouncing the foreign words. This may feel awkward and strange at the beginning, but you have to do it as often as you can.
Some online language programs have recording features and you are asked to emulate the native speaker (see also 5. below). But don't even wait until you can record. Take every opportunity to repeat a foreign word, phrase or sentence, right from the start.
4. Play some games every day
Especially at the beginning it's important that you get into a learning habit. Set a time that fits best into your schedule. Just 15-20 minutes for 5 or 6 days in a row will be better than an hour or two once a week!
The daily practice will have you soon naming objects and activities in your new language. This way you are sure to move the new vocabulary into your long-term memory.
5. Record your voice and compare yourself to the native speaker
We have not been able to make recording your voice into a game. Some language courses are using voice recognition and voiceprint spectrograms to compare your voice to the native speaker's voice. This may be fun to watch, but can also be frustrating, especially at the beginning.
However, you can make your own game out of imitating the native speaker by acting the part with gusto. And you should really focus on listening and hearing the difference between your pronunciation and that of the native speaker. That is a sure way to improve.
Games for learning languages are evolving. There are many gaming features that can make them more challenging and exciting. Not all of them are make learning more effective, but more research will be needed to understand what the trade-offs are.
There are many different ways of learning a foreign language and each person has to find the one which suits him or her best. Personal tutoring has many benefits.
Using a personal tutor is a great way to getting a running start or accelerating your learning. If you have never considered this method, then here are 5 of the top benefits to think about.
1. Get Personalized Attention
One of the most obvious benefits of getting a personal tutor is that you get all of his/her attention all of the time. This is hugely important in any subject, but especially when it comes to languages. By dealing with your teacher on a one-on-one basis, you can increase your vocabulary and confidence very quickly. The amount of time you spend speaking is a vital part in the learning process and a group situation simply won’t give you the same number of opportunities to practice speaking.
2. Go At Your Own Pace
We all learn at different speeds. When you are in a big classroom, you run the risk of either falling behind the rest of the students or being frustrated at the speed they force you to go at. By using the personal tutoring approach, you can be sure that the pace of the teaching you receive is exactly right for you.
3. Concentrate on Your Weaknesses
No one learns a new language in exactly the same way as anyone else. We all have certain words or grammatical rules which seem to take longer to sink in. A personal tutor, however, can help you overcome your weaknesses by providing you the explanations and tips you need. As your tutor will be talking to you on a regular basis he/she will understand which areas you most need to work on in order to improve.
4. Focus on Your Needs
Another point to bear in mind when deciding how you are going to learn a foreign tongue is that we all have various reasons for learning and therefore not the same needs. You might be planning on moving abroad, need to learn a language for business reasons, or just be looking for an interesting new hobby. Each one of these reasons will lead to different learning needs, and a personal tutor can help you focus on those needs from the start and help you learn exactly what you want.
5. Find the Perfect Tutor
If you are going to get the most from your personal language tutoring then you will need a great tutor. The good news in this respect is that a reputable firm such as Language Trainers will give you access to a range of qualified native speaking teachers. This means that you can find the perfect tutor and learn in the best way possible.
Bio: Ivana Vitali represents Language Trainers. Language Trainers provides individually-tailored language training on a one-on-one or small group basis to busy people who need language skills for business, family and travel needs.
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!
Does your day look really busy, but you would hate missing your language learning fix?
Are you looking to boost one or the other of your new foreign language skills? (Even the Shuttle, left, needed some boosters!)
Learning a foreign language as an adult requires you to find those methods and routines that work best for you and that allow you to apply them - ideally - on a daily basis.
5 ways to create a quick language learning moment
1. READ 3-4 sentences ALOUD - preferably from an ongoing book you've been following. Reading aloud (or even in a whisper) gets you to work on your "mouth mechanics" - the way you need to move your mouth in order to produce the correct sounds. In the meantime, your brain is registering word order and an idiom or two.
2. Type or WRITE out (copy) a few interesting sentences from a book, magazine, Internet site, etc. Writing out a language is very different from reading it. You become much more aware of structure, spelling, endings, etc.
3. Take a useful sentence from a book or story, MEMORIZE it, and then write it out from memory. It can also be a famous saying. The sentence can be as short or long as you wish. Do this with 2 or 3 sentences, checking back to see if what you wrote was correct.
4. Doodle or DRAW 4-5 objects, such as furniture, clothing, fruit, items on your desk. Then write the name of each item in your new language. Maybe you'll have to look up the words. No-one has to see your drawing, unless you're a Picasso. But the act of creating images and labeling them is a great way to engage your brain.
5. LISTEN for a few minutes to your favorite foreign language song and follow the lyrics closely. Music is a compelling way to experience the rhythm and intonation of a language. (We had posted suggestions for French, German, Italian, and Spanish.)
Any of these 5 quick boosts will keep you learning. For steady progress, nothing can beat a regular learning routine, and these brief techniques can keep you going even in busy times.
Recently, I started a somewhat traditional online Swedish course and was surprised by how difficult the first few lessons were for me. And that was even though there were only 7 or 8 new words/expressions in each lesson.
Swedish is a Germanic language – and I speak Dutch and German fluently – but getting started with a new language (even if it's related to a language you know) is best done with small steps at first.
Learning Swedish made me a language learning beginner, again. It made me think about how beginners can best learn.
As readers may recall from an earlier blog post: my husband and I had used our Spanish 1 course in preparation for our stay in Spain last year. Spanish was a new language for both of us, and at first the going was slow.
But, the similarity of Spanish to French and Italian (languages we know) soon took us out of the “beginners” rank. What seemed to help was learning language in context, something we've built into our all of our courses.
I expect that I'll experience the same with Swedish: Yes, I'll find the language difficult to learn at first. But by practicing Swedish in context, and with "comprehensible input" (a notion popularized by the linguist Stephen Krashen) I'll soon no longer be a beginner. Besides, knowing other Germanic languages - English, Dutch, and German - will eventually boost my progress.
Early Feedback
Based on the feedback from users who responded to a questionnaire about our GamesforLanguage courses, we had concluded that our first few lessons were too easy.
Maybe some players had come to this conclusion because our games made the beginning lessons indeed seem easy. “I was learning, but it didn't feel like learning” was an early, typical comment.
Expanding Lesson 1
We therefore began expanding the first lesson ("Scene") of our German 1 and our Spanish 1 program, which initially consisted of three foreign dialog lines with about 16 new words.
The additional six dialog lines, however, stopped many beginners from progressing to the second Scene. Did they feel that learning a new language was too steep a cliff to climb? We decided to wait for more feedback before expanding the French and Italian scenes.
What makes Gamesforlanguage.com different?
By learning a language (Swedish) that at first seemed to have fewer similarities with languages I already know, I put myself again into a beginner's shoes (for the 5th time, actually). I experienced first hand the difference between a typical language program and GamesforLanguage:
Rather than teaching and drilling lists of words and short expressions (hello, good-bye, thanks, how are you?, I am fine, thanks, etc.) GamesforLanguage deconstructs, practices, and reconstructs the dialog of a story beginning with Scene 1. Words and expressions, as in the examples above, come up as well, but later and always within the context of "The Story."
Indeed, the learner is immersed in real life, every-day language right from the start. While those with some background in the language will find the program easily accessible, beginners may need to slow down and add an online course like Duolingo to get momentum.
We invite your feedback
We love comments and feedback! So, if you have tried our course or have experience with other language courses, just add your comment below!
A recent research paper: "Daily Online Testing in Large Classes" [published on journals.plos.org] shows that taking frequent short tests - or quizzes - can significantly boost learning.
There are many different ways of learning a foreign language and each person has to find the one which suits him or her best. Personal tutoring has many benefits.
Does your day look really busy, but you would hate missing your language learning fix? 