Years ago when I wanted to stop smoking, I used a technique that is well-known to psychologists: “Commit publicly” or “Tell your friends about it.”
We've also described this technique in our blog 8 Zenhabits for 2013 Language Learning. (For me, the "commit publicly" technique worked well, as I haven't touched another cigarette since!)
In today's connected world, “telling your friends about it,” is done mostly on Facebook and on other social media.
Indeed, many language sites encourage you to post scores or other achievements on your own Facebook page. We wonder how many language learners are indeed posting their scores for their friends to see and whether it helps them stay motivated.
Recently we have seen an increased interest by parents of homeschoolers in our courses (see also the reviews by homeschool.com and mommymaestra.com). We wonder whether homeschoolers, or for that matter other language learners, are more motivated to learn, if they compete for scores with their friends.
Let us know your experience with "committing publicly" or "telling your friends about it" when starting to learn a new foreign language. Did it motivate you more? Did it keep you going?
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.
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.
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.
(Updated: Our site is free for all learners. You can play all Quick Games and Podcasts by just clicking on the link.
To play our courses, you do need to register. That way you can continue where you left off, once you return to the site. We don't run Ads.)
This month, GamesforLanguage ran a 6-Day Trial for any (or all) of our four languages: French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
All our users come to our site “organically,” either through a translation search of the indexed words or phrases of our program, by “word of mouth,” or through other site referrals.
We also sprinkled a few questions among our various games, and here are the results: How would you rate your language Fluency? Beginner: 63% Intermediate: 25% Advanced: 12%
How do you rate “Word Invaders”? (a word-order game) Too Easy: 44% Just right:16% Challenging: 36% Too difficult: 4%
Learning for me with Scene 1 was: Easy: 39% Hard: 3% Right On: 58%
As the “language fluency” question appeared with the first game, it received the most answers. The “Word Invaders” question appeared in the middle, and the final question at the end of the first Scene.
Some users either did not complete the first scene or skipped right to the next Scene after meeting their score goal, other players skipped the first game, all of which makes correlating the answers a little difficult.
We are somewhat surprised by the split in the Word Invader question, but are reassured that the majority felt our Scene 1 was “easy” or “right on.”
Most of the 63% of the users who came to our site in May and who are beginners found it easy to play and learn with our games.
We also realize that very few users are able to commit the time to learn and practice on a daily basis.
The maximum score reached during the six days for one language was 2,355 points in Italian, which brought the player to Scene 4, in Level 2.
We continue to invite feedback on our programs and games.
(Update: We wrote this post before our decision to make GamesforLanguage a free site for all. Our 300 Quick Games in French, Spanish, German, and Italian can be played online just by clicking on the link naming the language. For our 36 lesson travel-story Courses, you need to register. That makes sure you can continue where you left off when you come back to the site.)
Recently I subscribed to an online language course that uses an automatic subscription renewal.
I subscribed for one month to try out a new language and I set a reminder to cancel the subscription a few days before the automatic renewal.
When my reminder alerted me, I started looking and got annoyed when I could not find a place to cancel. I finally found the answer in the FAQs: write an e-mail to sales@company or send a short note via “Feedback” while logged-in to the site.
I was promised a confirmation within 48 hours, which indeed arrived just before the automatic renewal date. This experience was similar to ones I had at other automatic renewal sites: Quite easy to subscribe, but time consuming and often annoying to cancel!
Good for the Company
I have always been wary of automatic renewals, except for certain services, e.g. subscriptions to news, magazines, investment, or other services you need and value on an ongoing basis.
Although I understand full well the benefits of automatic renewals - FOR THE COMPANY - I believe users of an online language learning service should at least be given the option at the start. It should not be made obligatory.
(I love the picture above, which is part of the automatic renewal plan of the rockymountainrider.com monthly magazine.)
Motivation for the Learner?
But maybe automatic renewals are a good thing for a learner. Learning a foreign language as an adult requires ongoing motivation and encouragement.
Could it be that the automatic renewal charge that appears on your monthly credit card or Paypal statement provides another motivational push to log in again and continue learning?
We'd love to hear some comments and opinions on this question: Are obligatory automatic subscription renewals for online language programs a good thing or do they annoy you?
Why have we thrown GamesforLanguage into the mix of self-teaching language programs? It's the games, silly.
If you want to learn a language, you can find plenty of self-teaching language programs. They are available as books, CDs, DVDs, direct downloads, and online. Some well-known names are Assimil, Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Fluenz, Michael Thomas, Busuu, Rocket Languages, Duolingo, and others.
While all programs help motivated learners improve their language skills, not all are equally effective for learning to understand, speak, read, and write a foreign language. An online program - including ours - won't make you fluent.
But it can help you acquire a good pronunciation and provide you with vocabulary and basic grammar, which you can then use and practice in real conversations. Just think about it: it's really hard to have a conversation if you have no vocabulary use and don't understand the words that you hear.
The GamesforLanguage learning Program has been designed to teach some essentials of all four (4) language skills. Games are a way for making language learning more fun.
But games - with their special ways to engage your brain - can also make learning more effective, as shown by researchers that study how people learn. For example, see Kathy Sierra’s Crash course in learning theory.
Entertaining digital games have auditory features (spoken language, sounds), visual components (text, colors, images, design), as well as kinesthetic elements (writing against the clock, clicking on moving images, etc).
By engaging multiple senses, digital games enhance a learner’s ability to recall and retain new words and expressions. Language learning is about message decoding and communication, and this is not a straightforward process.
Learning a language involves trial and error, a certain amount of confusion, but also plenty of insightful “aha!” moments.
Key Points
Three important points guide our development of the GamesforLanguage Learning Program:
1. Adults can learn a second language more rapidly online when they can relate words, phrases and grammatical structures to their native language. In this way their learning experience is quite different from that of children, who are able to acquire their first language without even knowing how to read and write. This notion is supported by observations of other learners and our own experience.
2. Learning with the help of a story allows you to identify with situations and circumstances you will encounter yourself. This makes the acquired vocabulary not only immediately relevant and useful, but also helps you to memorize it more easily.
3. Learning foreign languages as an adult requires an effort. Playing language games will make this effort fun. Memorizing vocabulary, phrases and sentences, identifying grammar rules and structures all occur "playfully," as you can test and improve your language skills during increasingly more challenging games.
The Program
The GamesforLanguage Learning Program may appeal primarily to teenagers and adults. However, we know that children who have just learned to read and write also enjoy the games.
Our Quick Games work for beginners with little prior knowledge of the foreign language and for anyone who wants some language practice.
Our Courses, on the other hand, are best for learners with some language background. While mid-beginners will spend more time on each scene of a course, more advanced players may be able to move through the scenes quite rapidly.
Throughout each of the courses, you'll accumulate up to 12,000 points by playing various language games. At the same time you'll acquire a working vocabulary of close to 700 essential words and many idiomatic expressions. At the end of a course, you'll also be able to read and understand the entire travel story, which consists of over 2,000 words.
The Structure
Each course consists of 6 levels, with 6 lessons (we call them “scenes”) per level for a total of 36 scenes. So far, the most effective approach has been for learners to do one scene per day (which should take around 15 minutes) and to review an earlier scene for extra recall.
Each lesson builds on the previous one and adds between 16-20 new words to your vocabulary.
The Story
Each scene has a dialogue or narrative of 8-16 lines, which we call “The Story.” It appears right at the beginning of each scene and once again at the end. At the beginning of each scene, the story challenges you to guess the meaning, based on the (English) introduction and context.
When you get to the end of the scene, you'll have learned all the words and phrases in the various games, and understanding “The Story” will now be easy. This is quite similar to what you would experience when arriving in a foreign country with some language background. (For the impatient player, a roll-over option provides the full translation right away.)
The 36 scenes of a course tell the story of a young man who travels to France, Italy, Spain, Germany or the U.S. From talking with his neighbor in the airplane, greeting his aunt who picks him up at the airport, asking for directions to a friend's house, to ordering food and drink, and chatting with friends, our travel hero uses lots of useful vocabulary. It provides a great start on learning how to communicate.
The travel story engages the learner, provides relevant vocabulary in context, and creates a framework that ties everything together.
A next blog post will describe the various games we are using in our program. Our games are not just individual learning clips, nor are they simply an enhancement of a conventional language program. The games ARE the language program. We'll add a summary table that shows the specific skills each game teaches.
Learning a language can seem like a lengthy, difficult process and, at times, it can feel like you’re wading through a sticky bog unable to get to the other side.
Like many, you probably focus on the end goal without thinking about – and acting upon – small tasks you can do each day that will help you reach your goal. While it’s good to practice every day to keep everything fresh in your mind, you don’t have to sacrifice other things.
Taking ten minutes here or there throughout your day is enough, especially if you incorporate the language learning process into your every day routine.
1. Change the language on your phone
You probably already know your way around your phone pretty well, so why not change the settings so it’s in your target language?
Seeing the language pop up every time you look at your device – which, let’s face it, is pretty often for most people – can help etch it in your memory, and the regular exposure will keep you thinking about it throughout the day.
2. Listen to a podcast
Most of us have some kind of daily commute, whether it’s to work or to the supermarket, which is the perfect opportunity to practice language learning.
Download some podcasts or get a good audio book to plug yourself into during this time and you won’t feel like you have wasted a single second of your day.
3. Read an article or news story
To familiarise yourself with the grammar and sentence structure of your target language, it's a great idea to read one or two articles in it each day.
They don’t have to be long; just a current affairs piece or something on a topic that interests you. To take this a step further, try reading the article out loud to get used to the sound of the letters and to practice your intonation.
4. Flash cards and post-its
When I was learning to talk, my mum stuck post-it notes with the names of objects all around the house to familiarise me with how words look and to encourage me to learn more vocabulary.
This is a great thing to do when learning a language, too. Of course, this method only really works for tangible objects – you can’t put a post-it on an abstract notion – but it is an effective revision technique as you will be looking at and using these objects on a daily basis.
5. Translate your shopping list
Practicing Talking of supermarkets, writing out your shopping list or your to-do list in your target language is another great technique to incorporate into the language learning process.
Practicing writing things out gets you used to the spelling and formation of words and, if youdon’t know the word for something you need, you can look it up and add a new word to your ever-expanding vocabulary!
6. Listen to some music
If you’re a music fan, weaving songs in your target language into your daily routine can be hugely beneficial as well as fun.
Most songs are written in a casual manner, giving you an insight into colloquial language. Plus, they are great tools for getting to grips with grammar and pronunciation, and they’re easier to memorise than dry blocks of text.
7. Have a dictionary on hand
Pick up a pocket dictionary and carry it with you at all times.
So, if you have a spare moment,you can have a flick through or, if you’re desperate to know what a certain word or phrase means in your target language, you can quickly look it up and add it to your new-found dialogue.
Or just check a word quickly online. Still, it will help you write down the word or phrase for reviewing later.
8. Play a language game
There are so many online language learning games now that there is bound to be one out there that suits your needs and you find fun. Alternatively, if you are a big gaming fan, you can change the settings on your favorite game to your target language.
There tends to be a number of conversations to move games forward and it won’t feel like you’re doing any work at all!
9. Sign up to a forum
The vast majority of countries have a range of forums on a various topics, from relationships, to writing, to computer programming like forosdelweb.
So, if you’re interested in technology and you’re learning Spanish, you might want to sign up to a site like this for a great way view interactions between native speakers, to get involved yourself, and to gain some industry-specific vocabulary - if this is what you are looking to learn.
10. Write about your day
This is one of my favorite daily techniques because you can easily begin to see the progress you have made after a couple of weeks if you keep all your ‘daily reviews’ in the same place.
You only need to write a couple of sentences about what you got up to, things you saw, and things you read or heard and it will keep the creative juices flowing in your target language.
If you do it quickly before bed you can review it the next morning to keep the language fresh in your mind for the rest of the day.
Bio: Lizzie writes for GEOS Languages Plus and other language school sites. Last year she went to LanguagesAbroad to learn Spanish in Spain where she realized that language learning has to become a part of everyday life if you want to succeed. In her spare time you can find her exploring Europe and further afield, watching nature documentaries, and drinking an obscene amount of tea.
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...
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.
Years ago when I wanted to stop smoking, I used a technique that is well-known to psychologists: “Commit publicly” or “Tell your friends about it.” 
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? 
(Updated: Our site is free for all learners. You can play all Quick Games and Podcasts by just clicking on the link. 
(Update: We wrote this post before our decision to make GamesforLanguage a free site for all. Our 300 Quick Games in French, Spanish, German, and Italian can be played online just by clicking on the link naming the language. For our 36 lesson travel-story Courses, you need to register. That makes sure you can continue where you left off when you come back to the site.)
Entertaining digital games have auditory features (spoken language, sounds), visual components (text, colors, images, design), as well as kinesthetic elements (writing against the clock, clicking on moving images, etc).
It appears right at the beginning of each scene and once again at the end. At the beginning of each scene, the story challenges you to guess the meaning, based on the (English) introduction and context. 
