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...
During our recent visit to Switzerland, we had lunch at a restaurant in Saanenmöser, a town located above Gstaad in the Berner Oberland. My sister, who had eaten in the restaurant frequently before, had often enjoyed the filet de boeuf, and she and I ordered it.
My wife, who prefers veal, ordered the côtelette de veau. My sister had alerted us that the waiter would cut the meat to size in front of us, and we did not pay much attention to the quoted price per gram on the menu.
My sister and I selected a small piece each of the "filet de boeuf". My wife was a little puzzled, however, as the "côtelette de veau", which she had translated as a "veal cutlet", turned out to have a bone, therefore was actually a veal chop, and she selected the smallest piece.
A Delicious and Expensive "Veal Cutlet"
We enjoyed our meal (the picture on the left is not my wife's côtelette), but we were certainly surprised when we saw the check: The côtelette de veau, being 240g, including bone and fat, came in at sfr 50.40.
Compared to our two delicious, lean filets de boeuf of 120g and 140g, priced at sfr 33.60 and 39.20 respectively (and, while also expensive, we could accept their pricing), a sfr 50.40 côtelette de veau seemed out of proportion. (I should add that these prices did not include any sides, which had to be ordered separately.)
Swiss Pricing and Guest Choices
We paid our check, but after complaining by e-mail, I received the following explanation from the restaurant owner:
"Thank you very much for your mail concerning the veal cutlet for sfrs 50.40.Meat from veal is not a cheap meat. We pay a price of sfrs. 59.50 for one Kilogram of prime quality with fat and bone. For the cooking, salaries, service, special refrigerator and so on, we have a calculation of 3.5 multiplicator. For this reason the price for 100 gram is sfrs. 21.00. A veal cutlet has from nature (size of the bone) at least 220 grams. It is not possible to cut it thinner.
The range for a veal cutlet in Switzerland is between sfrs. 65.00 and sfrs 75.00. The quality of this “Swiss prime meat Grand Cru” warranted the documentary evidence of origin, is selected by the meat man in the slaughterhouse, and stays in minimum for 6 weeks adolescence. We know the name of the farmer who bred the animal. Lean filet de boeuf costs in this prime quality sfrs. 80.00 for one Kilogram. 100 gram costs with the same calculation sfrs 28.00. Fillet of beef can be cut even in less than 100 gram. The guest makes his choice like for the veal cutlet."
Beware of "False Friends" and Innovative Pricing Strategies
I could not argue with the owner's pricing explanation above. Although, for an American, the relative pricing between a côtelette de veau (with bone) and a lean filet de boeuf just does not seem right.
But did you notice that the restaurant owner also used the term "veal cutlet"? "Cutlet" and "côtelette" are indeed "false friends". You can find the definition for "cutlet" in various on-line dictionaries, but it is invariably defined as a small piece of meat.
The moral of the story: Pay attention to the prices per weight on the menu, especially in high-priced countries like Switzerland, and don't get fooled by "false friends" like "côtelette" and "cutlet".
With high meat prices, (especially premium veal) having the guest make the weight/size choice, may be the only way for certain restaurants to sell their dishes. But travelers better beware. These pricing strategies can quickly add up and surprise you unless you carry a pocket scale.
A recent exhibition of Paul Cézanne "The Large Bathers" at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts reminded us that in Scene 4.5 of our French 1 course our traveler Daniel learns about Paul Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence.
And as we did in our previous blog Heidelberg & Mark Twain, we believe that knowing more about the context of “The Story”, not only makes learning more interesting, but also more effective:
In Scene 4.5 we are practicing the French past imperfect tense with sentences such as
“Le peintre Paul Cézanne allait souvent au Café Clément.”,
“Oui, et voici la banque où il travaillait jusqu’en 1862.”, “
Paul Cézanne était banquier?”,
“Ah d’accord, je ne le savais pas!”,
“Paul Cézanne aimait vivre à Aix-en-Provence.”, etc.
By remembering the context of these sentences, you will be able to recall verbs and forms more easily, and can then apply them as well in different situations.
Paul Cézanne was Fortunate
There is not much mystery about Cézanne's life as a banker's son who became a famous painter and is seen by many
“to form the bridge between late 19th-century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism.” And “His father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne (28 July 1798 – 23 October 1886),[3] was the co-founder of a banking firm that prospered throughout the artist's life, affording him financial security that was unavailable to most of his contemporaries and eventually resulting in a large inheritance.” [Wikipedia]
Perseverance
It is interesting, though, that his path was not a straight line either: According to this biography, Cézanne's father initially opposed his artistic career; he started to study law, while also enrolled in the School of Design in Aix. The above link continues further:
In 1861 Cézanne finally convinced his father to allow him to go to Paris. He planned to join Zola there and to enroll in the École des Beaux-Arts.
But his application was rejected and, although he had gained inspiration from visits to the Louvre, particularly from the study of Diego Velázquez and Caravaggio, Cézanne experienced self-doubt and returned to Aix within the year.
He entered his father's banking house but continued to study at the School of Design.The remainder of the decade was a period of flux and uncertainty for Cézanne.
His attempt to work in his father's business was abortive, and he returned to Paris in 1862 and stayed for a year and a half. During this period he met Monet and Pissarro and became acquainted with the revolutionary work of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet.
Learning – Rarely a Straight Line
Cézanne was fortunate to be able to pursue his dream, but it's also clear that his life did not always follow a straight path.
Learning a language is also a path of many twists and turns. Relating Cézanne's story to learning French: You may have to try out various approaches before you are successful.
As banking or law were not for Cézanne, so the current language method or course you are struggling with may not be the right one for you.
Give it your best effort, but if it doesn't work, try out others – or learn with several simultaneously!
This was based on Scene 4.5 of our German 1 course and our conjecture that Mark Twain liked the name "Heidelberg" because Heidelberg in English means Huckleberry mountain.
Actually, more correctly, Heidelberg is an abbreviation of "Heidelbeerenberg" (huckleberry mountain).
Huckleberry Adventures
We found it interesting that Twain had stayed in Heidelberg with his family for several months in 1878.
Twain had unsuccessfully tried to learn German in 1850 at age fifteen. He resumed his study 28 years later in preparation for a trip to Europe." [Wikipedia: "Mark Twain"]
Mark Twain had published his novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in 1876 and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in1884.
A little further digging found several German sites which also describe his love of Heidelbeeren. He found them in the forests around Heidelberg and enjoyed Heidelbeerkuchen (huckleberry pie).
By the way, a similar confusion between a huckleberry and a blueberry also exists in German between a "Heidelbeere" and a "Blaubeere". (For further enlightenment, try this link.)
Heidelberg, Mississippi
So the character of Huckleberry Finn had already been well-established by the time Mark Twain arrived in Heidelberg, Germany in 1878, as the travel writer Lucy Gordan explains:
"Supposedly looking for a quiet village, where people didn't know him, neither of which fit Heidelberg because it was already home to active American and British communities, he arrived with his family on May 6 for the day and stayed three months.His biographer Justin Kaplan asserts Twain was aware that Heidelberg derived from 'Heidelbeerenberg', meaning 'Huckleberry Mountain', which may explain his affinity."
"Nobody really knows," writes Werner Pieper in his updated Mark Twain's Guide to Heidelberg , "what made Mark Twain stay in Heidelberg for such a long time. Maybe he was prompted by old dreams from the times he was passing Heidelberg, Mississippi, while working on the steamships? Did he plan to stay here or did he and his family just fall in love with this city?"
While the above allusion to Mark Twain's passing by Heidelberg, Mississippi, during his days as a river pilot may be compelling, a little further digging causes some doubts:
Mark Twain worked on a steamboat, first as an apprentice, then as a pilot during 1857 to 1861.
However, Heidelberg, Mississippi was only founded in 1882 by Washington Irving Heidelberg [google History, Town of Heidelberg] - and even more importantly: Heidelberg is not situated ON the Mississippi, but located in the State of Mississippi, southeast of Jackson, MS, and about 130 miles from the Mississippi river.
Twain visited the river a number of times after his pilot days, most notably in 1882 as he prepared to write "Life on the Mississippi" and maybe on his travels TO the river he came through the little town.
Maybe that's when he came across the name Heidelberg again. So whether he already knew the name Heidelberg or whether he related to it as a translation of "huckleberry" we'll never know.
But we do know that he liked his three months in Heidelberg, Germany, in spite of his continuing struggle with the German language.
And we'll explore in another blog post Mark Twain's love-hate relationship with "The Awful German Language" which he published as an Appendix to his "A Tramp Abroad" in 1880.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
If you want to learn to speak a foreign language, is it really important to practice aloud? My experience has been that although the benefits of practicing listening, reading, writing, and speaking overlap, each foreign language skill also needs its own practice.
Last year my husband and I spent a month in Barcelona. We had rented an apartment and found this to be a brilliant opportunity to practice our nascent Spanish in daily situations - such as shopping, banking, getting around the city, or socializing with locals in our neighborhood café.
Practicing Reading aloud
But Spanish wasn't the only language we "practiced aloud." One weekend, our nephew, his wife, and their 4 year old daughter Céline came to visit us. They live in Switzerland and are French-speaking, so for three days we conversed only in French. The first night, I was the lucky one to read a bed-time story to Céline. She wanted to hear Raiponce (Rapunzel, in French) and had brought her own book.
When I started, it was immediately apparent that Céline was not tired at all and I found myself reading to her aloud for close to an hour. In between bouts of reading, Céline peppered me with questions why Raiponce did this, or Raiponce did that. French is my 4th language and I'm fairly fluent, but let me tell you, discussing the story line of a complicated fairy tale with a chatty 4 year old can be challenging.
The next day, I felt the effects of my brief but intense immersion experience. My French brain was working in high gear: I found that words came more easily to me and the sometimes awkward French sounds flowed more smoothly.
Producing Foreign Language sounds
Practicing a new language aloud starts with sounding out individual words and phrases, but also includes repeating - aloud - longer sentences. These might not always sound perfect, but the effort to recreate the music and intonation of a sentence is excellent practice in itself. Producing the sounds of a foreign language is in part a mechanical process that involves position of the tongue, movement of the muscles in the mouth, and guiding your breath. Your mouth is definitely multitasking.
There are many audio courses, YouTube clips, etc. that teach pronunciations and the particular sounds of many languages. We find that imitating practice by recording your own voice and comparing it to the native speaker works best for us, and we have included this feature in all our courses. In addition, we often find that we can remember a sound better when we see the written word. That's why we have also a “Say it” section: You hear a word or phrase, are asked to repeat it, then see it written for a moment before you hear the next one.
Reading and listening are great ways to rapidly improve your understanding of a foreign language, but don't forget, practicing and speaking aloud will get you ready for conversations: they may be with kids about a fairly tale, or with peers about anything at all!
Finally, you can access our four language programs not only on your desktop or laptop but also on your iOS6 mobile devices.
Many of our users have been frustrated that while they could access our online program perfectly well from their new iPad, the audio did not work!
With the release of iOS6 (the most recent release of the operating system on mobile Apple devices), Apple iPhones and iPads now support multi channel audio in HTML5. We have now integrated this new technology, called the Web Audio API, into our games.
This means you don't need to go through the Apple store to use GamesforLanguage. You would want to have a good Wi-Fi connection. Just open your Safari browser and login to our site and start playing and learning.
While for us the screen on the iPhone is too small for certain games, Memory Game, Snap Clouds, Shootout, etc. may still work for some users. We prefer the regular iPad and iPad mini.
If you encounter any difficulties, write us! Some of the remedies are pretty simple, and it's always a good idea to first try again by reloading.
At this point we don't know yet when we can make Games4language also work on Android mobile devices. Android does not yet support the technology that now enables multi-channel audio to work on Safari in iOS.
Other Changes
Those of you who replayed some earlier Scenes may also have noticed the following changes: - An expanded Story dialog for the first Scene of German1 (with the other languages to follow). - All Scenes have lengthened games for more playing practice. - “The Story” now also appears at the end of each Scene by which time it will be easily understood. - Quick, short games teach articles, pronouns, noun genders, etc. right from the start, and in the later levels we added other fun games such as Shootout, Car Race, Moon Landing, etc.
In fact, you will find that many of the games are even more fun to play on a tablet, as you can just touch the screen for the correct word or phrase.
When I retired, my wife and I decided to head to Europe for an extended stay.
Both of us were born in Austria. My wife had childhood memories of the Italian Alps and Venice, and I enjoy remembering a trip through northern Italy with friends. I was a teenager then.
Although neither of us spoke any Italian, we decided to spend five months in Rome and take trips from there.
We prepared with Pimsleur's Italian CDs. My wife was at that time still working as a free-lance editor for Pimsleur Language Programs. (During our stay, she was able to continue her work remotely.)
We searched online and rented an apartment in Trastevere, a charming medieval neighborhood on the other side of the Tiber. We were off to Rome in September.
Rome and Surroundings
We enjoyed Rome very much, improved our Italian by taking daily lessons with an Italian tutor, and explored the city and its surroundings on foot, by bus, and by train.
We came to realize that staying in a foreign place for more than just a few days has many benefits.
Not only can you visit the “must see” attractions (view from St. Peter's right) at your leisure, but even more importantly, you can start to experience the “vibes” of the city: the daily bustle on the streets and in the markets; the atmosphere in the neighborhood cafés and restaurants; the conviviality of the Romans' habitual late afternoon stroll; the pleasurable local night scene: in movies, theaters, concerts, bars; the activities at neighborhood squares and parks that function as community centers.
As in most European cities, you can visit many places just using public transport. From Rome, we enjoyed easy day trips by bus or train to Castel Gandolfo, Ostia, Frascati, Tarquinia, Civitavecchia, Villa d'Este, Hadrian's Villa, and others.
Still starting from Rome, several overnight train trips - to Pompei, Naples, Capri, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast - rounded out our Italian experience at that time.
Getting to Know a City
We still travel by car from time to time (e.g. see our blogs posts on our recent trips to Barcelona (w/ Gaudi's Sagrada Familia left), Southern Spain, Cornwall and London, Brussels. etc.).
However, we really like to stay in a place for at least a month, especially when we are in a larger city.
Besides our stay in Rome, we have also stayed a month each in Paris, Berlin, and Barcelona.
Recent one-week visits to Madrid and London were pleasant and filled with many activities, but they didn't allow us to absorb each city's character in a leisurely way.
We know Vienna, Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich and Brussels quite well, but there are still many other European cities on our current list, such as Dublin, Prague, Budapest, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, etc.
And When You Have Time...
So, if you have time on your hand, love other cultures and languages, and can afford it - you may want to forgo the “5 countries in 7 days” kind of trip. You may rather want to choose a country or even just a city to get to know in more depth.
Regarding “affordability”: We have found that renting an apartment is not only more economical than staying in a hotel in most cases, but also gives you more space and flexibility. In our case, it often provided an opportunity to invite friends and family for a visit!
(For the more adventurous travelers, there are also apartment/house exchanges, etc).
So far, we have limited our extended stays to European countries, but we are eager to extend our reach.
Still, unless we stay in countries where we speak the local language, it would mean that we should start learning another language. And that will be another project (and another story).
Every year starting in November, language learning companies offer numerous promotions and discounts.
While nobody knows how many such offers are regularly accepted worldwide, we can assume that there are many who make learning a new foreign language their New Year's goal.
Motivation Tips
There is no lack of research and literature that analyze and describe the challenges of achieving our goals. I recently came across a post on zenhabits.net. Here are some suggestions how this blog can be applied to language learning:
1. Start small. Many language programs overwhelm a learner with too many options and choices. We, at Gamesforlanguage.com, add 15-20 words with each lesson. The phrases of each lesson are part of an ongoing travel story. Learning these words and phrases should take about 20 minutes. If you get into a daily habit of committing those 20 minutes, you'll have made a great start. You can always add more time later.
2. One goal. Focus on one achievable and realistic goal. No, you will not speak a new foreign language fluently in a year - unless you are willing and able to commit considerable time and energy. Learning a new foreign language as an adult requires discipline and sustainedeffort. Completing the course you have purchased, subscribed to, or enrolled in may be your one realistically achievable goal.
3. Examine your motivation. Write down the reasons you want to learn a new foreign language. Maybe you plan to travel to a foreign country, you have a friend, spouse or relatives you want to communicate with, or your education or business interests motivate you.
4. You have to really, really want it. The above reasons have to be strong enough for you to commit the energy and time needed to make real progress. If you can stay excited about your choice long enough to reap some benefits, e.g. reading an article or a book, watching a foreign movie or video, chatting with a friend, etc., your feeling of success and accomplishment will then carry you along. But if you have just been “seduced” to learning a new language by an unrealistic promise such as “Speak a language in 10 days,” or other slick marketing ads, think again. You have to stay excited about your goal and continuously fuel your enthusiasm.
5. Commit publicly. Today there are many ways to do that. Many online language programs let you post your progress scores on your Facebook page. If you are into blogging, you can report your experience and progress. You can tell your friends. And, especially if you have friends that speak the language you are learning, let them know.
6. Get excited. See also 4. above. The more you learn, the more opportunities will open up for you, whether reading on-line blogs or articles, watching foreign movies or videos, linking up with online chat rooms, or preparing for your trip. You need to find your way of visualizing the benefits of achieving your goal.
7. Build anticipation. You may want to start today: Buy that CD course you saw in the mall, enroll in the Adult Ed course your local college promotes, or subscribe to an online course you saw advertised. But hold it! First do some homework: What kind of materials do you enjoy the most? Where and when can you commit the time? Before work? After hours? At home? In a class setting? At work?, e.g. during a lunch break? What is your budget? Think it through, take some time and make your choice deliberate.
8. Print it out, post it up. (Right from the blog): “Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (Exercise 15 mins. Daily.), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and at work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal to keep your focus and to keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal also helps,” e.g. a picture of you friend, spouse or relative, or of the foreign country you want to visit, etc.
Even if you have followed all the above tips and have carefully set your goal, you'll need to find ways to keep going when your enthusiasm starts to wane. In several of our future blogs, we'll apply the "20 ways to sustain motivation when you are struggling" to learning a foreign language.
Learning a language should always be fun - even if you need it for your job or for school. So, lighten up your approach and look out for ways to learn and chuckle!
Here's a nonsense poem (with unknown origin) that's built on opposites and oxymorons. German speaking school children love to recite it and delight their parents with such nonsense lines.
Memorize these rhymes and you'll easily add up to 25 new words to your German vocabulary!
DUNKEL WAR'S ...
Dunkel war's der Mond schien helle, Als ein Wagen blitze-schnelle Langsam um die Ecke fuhr.
Drinnen saßen stehend Leute Schweigend ins Gespräch vertieft, Als ein totgeschossner Hase Auf der Sandbank Schlittschuh lief.
English Translation
[It was dark, the moon schone brightly, When a car drove lightning fast Slowly around the corner.
Inside, people were sitting standing up, Remaining silent, in deep conversation. As a shot-dead rabbit Was skating on the sandbank.]
Watching these pictures without explanation would make you speculate for hours what could possibly create the stripes and colors. Fortunately there are scientists who can explain such mysteries, i.e. translate the mechanics of nature into language that we can understand:
“Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with melt water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside.
If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe. Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice grinds downhill towards the sea. Antarctica Frozen Wave Pixs - Nature is amazing!
The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air.”
Fortunately learning a new language does not have to be like deciphering the mysteries of nature. There are many language programs that will make it easy for you to get started. And then it is up to you to expand your basic understanding by listening, reading, writing, and speaking more and more!
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." 
many 
If you want to learn to speak a foreign language, is it really important to practice aloud? My experience has been that although the benefits of practicing listening, reading, writing, and speaking overlap, each foreign language skill also needs its own practice. 
When I retired, my wife and I decided to head to Europe for an extended stay.
lessons with an Italian tutor, and explored the city and its surroundings on foot, by bus, and by train. 
We still travel by car from time to time (e.g. see our blogs posts on our recent trips to 
