Learning a language generally involves learning four skills: listing/comprehension, reading, speaking and writing. We typically learn our first, native language by listening and speaking and then add reading and writing later in school.
When we learn other languages as adults we typically do so with "comprehensible input," by listening and reading, and we practice some writing early on as well (unless we use audio-only methods like Pimsleur).
When we learn a new language, we often neglect to truly develop our writing ability in that language.
Our language-learning efforts often focus only on trying to understand what others are saying and trying to be understood when we speak. As we advance, many of us strive to be able to read the newspaper in our target language.
When it comes to writing in another language, though, we often only reach the level where we are comfortable writing text messages, emails and short notes.
The Writing Challenge
There is a lot a language learner can gain by taking the time to practice writing. Obviously beginners will not be able to practice writing essays and articles yet. At the early stages, it is best to focus on writing simple sentences and paragraphs.
It is easy to receive feedback on short writing samples by using the app or website Hi Native for single sentences or the website Lang-8 for entire paragraphs.
When you are at the intermediate level, you can start to write longer texts. Composing an entire article requires a lot of thought. The task becomes less daunting when you start with an outline. One of the drawbacks of writing in a foreign language is that it is harder to find native speakers to offer quality feedback.
Native speakers themselves are often not highly skilled at offering constructive feedback on long texts, because they themselves may not have studied essay-composition skills and article-writing and editing skills. That means you may need to rely on a professional language teacher for feedback.
Your Language Learning Motivation
It is a good idea to consider your motivations. Some language learners will be more motivated to become skilled writers in their target language, while others will not.
Those who wish to study at a university in a foreign language, work at a professional level in a foreign language and integrate into society in a different language will be highly motivated to reach the highest level possible in their writing abilities.
Although those who do not have such ambitions will be less inclined to spend the time to improve their writing skills, that doesn’t mean that they should ignore writing practice altogether. After all, there is a lot to gain from writing practice.
The Benefits of Writing Practice
When you practice letter writing and article writing in a foreign language, you get a clearer picture of your limitations in grammar and vocabulary. As you revisit the texts you’ve written in a foreign language, it is easy see the progress you make.
Your past mistakes get cemented in time and you see at what point you learn to overcome certain mistakes that you habitually make. There may be a certain word that you continue to misspell, or a particular verb that you never seem to conjugate correctly.
Perhaps you notice a common trend of mixing up two words that sound alike or sound similar, such as it’s and its or affect and effect. By conquering these differences, you build a stronger grasp of the language you are learning.
Writing also allows you to focus on how to organize your thoughts and how you seek to logically draw arguments and conclusions. This is a challenge enough in our native language(s).
The extra challenge of doing so in a different language helps build up your skills in that language in ways that can spill over to your other abilities in the language, such as improved conversational skills and better reading ability.
Bio: Dimitris Polychronopoulos is the founder of yozzi.com, where he welcomes guest posts and guest interviews in his eight strongest languages: English, French, Greek, Italian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Yozzi is a platform where you can offer feedback to help others improve their writing skills in their target languages.
A recent post about German expressions that you may hear in Germany during the summer months includes the word “Affenhitze.” (Literally, it's “monkey heat,” or very hot, you get the picture.)
Talking about the weather is always a good conversation topic, especially when traveling. For many travelers from the U.S. to Europe (or vice versa), being able to correlate the Fahrenheit scale to the European Celsius is a mystery.
There are conversion charts, thermometers often show both scales as on this picture, and your smartphone will have an app for conversions of areas, weights, temperatures, etc. (And yes, there is the simple approximation: deduct 30 from ºF, divide by 2 to get ºC, or double ºC and add 30 to get ºF.)
But after reading this post, "approximate" won't do for you any longer and you can also impress your friends, by NOT using a mobile gadget. You'll now be able the make all conversions quite easily in your head by just remembering a few key numbers. And, feel free to forward the post to anyone who could use it! But first a little history.
Fahrenheit
The Fahrenheit scale was proposed in 1724 by the Danzi/Gdansk born, Amsterdam-based physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. Today Fahrenheit is used as the official temperature scale only in the United States, a few Island states in the Pacific, the Bahamas, Belize, and the Cayman Islands.
The scale is defined by two fixed points: • 32 ºF as the temperature when water freezes, and • 212 ºF as the temperature when water boils at sea level and a defined atmospheric pressure.
Just remember: On the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at 32 ºF.
Celsius
The Celsius scale, which the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius proposed in 1742, was actually the reverse of the scale we are using today: • 0 ºC as the boiling point and 100 as the freezing point of water, and • 100 ºC as the boiling point of water.
Read about the Celsius history, and how the reversal to 0 ºC as the freezing point and 100 ºC as the boiling point of water came about, in this Wiki entry. Just remember: On the Celsius scale, water freezes at 0 ºC.
But enough of physics.
The Fahrenheit/Celsius Correlation
We now know: Water freezes at 32 ºF and 0 ºC. Water boils at 212 ºF and 100 ºC.
The difference between freezing and boiling is therefore 180 ºF and 100 ºC on either scale. Dividing both differences by 20 (180:20=9; 100:20=5) gives you the first easy relationship to remember: Each 5 ºC correlates to 9 ºF
If 0 ºC = 32 ºF, then 5 ºC = 9 ºF + 32 ºF = 41 ºF You got the idea?
What would then 20 ºC be in Fahrenheit? Easy! Remembering that 4 x 5 ºC = 20 ºC, you apply the same logic to the Fahrenheit conversion: 4 x 9º + 32º = 68 ºF This leads you to the second correlation you may want to remember: 68 ºF correlates to 20 ºC Once you remember this one, it's not difficult either to calculate and even remember the next one 50 ºF correlates to 10 ºC
How do I know? Well, remembering that 5 ºC correlates to 9 ºF, you can either add 2 x 9º = 18º to 32º, or deduct 18º from 68º, both result in 50 ºF.
In the last few weeks European temperatures have often exceeded 30 ºC, and the 90s ºF are not unusual for many parts of the U.S. these days.
What are the ºC/ºF equivalents of higher temperatures? Easy! Just add 2 x 9º = 18º to the 68 ºF (= 20 ºC) that you remembered from above and you'll get: 30 ºC correlates to 86 ºF.
Add another 5 ºC or 9 ºF and you get: 35 ºC correlates to 95 ºF.
The Fahrenheit – Celsius Table
Here is the table for the easy 5 ºC increments, and you can obviously interpolate among those. But as long as you remember the key relationships (5 ºC ~ 9 ºF, 0 ºC ~ 32 ºF and 20 ºC ~ 68 ºF) , you can always figure it out again easily.
It's summer now, but you may also want to know in the winter how cold -10 ºC is in Fahrenheit? No problem, right?
Here is a good one to remember as well: -40 ºC correlates to -40 ºF
By now, I'm sure you are able to figure out why this is correct.
The Fahrenheit – Celsius Formula
For the more mathematically inclined readers, here are the two conversion formulas which the mobile apps are using: ºC = [(ºF – 32 ) / 9] x 5 and ºF = ºC x 9 / 5 + 32
Some Final Thoughts
For those readers who use European cook books that include ºC temperature recommendations, it's worthwhile to know that 200 ºC is 328 ºF and 250 ºC is 418 ºF.
I've written these two conversion sets in each of my European cookbooks. Of course, as with anything, you have to practice a bit. And, if you are learning a foreign language, why not practice the conversion numbers in your new language?
To brush up on the numbers, just click on the French, German, Italian and Spanish number posts and games! As the Germans would say: You could “zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen” - which converts easily to “kill 2 birds with one stone”...
And please, forward this post to anyone for whom the Fahrenheit/Celsius relationship has always been a mystery!
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is 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 or below.
We are always surprised that “How to say 'song' in French?” gets so many hits on our Gamesforlanguage Dictionary! And those hits are in spite of the increased use and popularity of Google Translate, which provides the translation as well.
So we thought we would give those who are looking for the translation of 'song' a Quick French Language Game: La Chanson. Click on the link or the image above to play it. You'll learn also a bit about the Saint Bénézet bridge - which you may know under another name.
And for those who like to practice French with songs and want to learn more about the etymology of “song” and “chanson,” here are a few fun facts.
Singing the Song
It appears that the English “to sing” has its roots in the Proto-Germanic word “sengwan,” and the later old High German and Old English word “singan.” Variations in other Germanic languages over the centuries have led to today's German “singen,” Dutch “zingen,” Swedish “sjunga,” and Norwegian and Danish “synge.”
Chanter la Chanson, Cantare la Canzone, Cantar la Canción, Cantar a Canção
The roots of the French "chanson" go back to Latin. This is also true for other Romance languages: “canzone” (Italian), “canción” (Spanish), “canção” (Portuguese).
The Old French “chançon” derives from the Latin “cantionem” (song) and from the Latin verbs “cantare” and “canere.” The French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese verbs for “to sing” are all identical or close to their Latin root.
Song vs. Chanson
The words “song” and “chanson” clearly have different roots. This may not be surprising. Still, a recent article pointed out that “The English language is a lot more French than we thought,...”. What is interesting from the article's analysis and chart is the conclusion that of the first 200 most-used English words, Old Norse makes up 5-10% and Anglo-Saxon 85-90%.
Can that be the reason that the French or Latin terms never replaced the Old English?
The ear-worm quality of these songs lets you easily memorize key phrases and expressions. And when you hear them several times, you'll discover new words and grammar forms that stay with you.
But these are just two songs we like. You should find a few of your own. Listen to them, memorize and sing them, and your “chanson” (or canzone, canción, canção, etc.) will not remain just a bunch of foreign words to you!
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
We all know that children use games to learn how things work. They don't need to be taught how to play. They just do it. For them games are a way to explore the world around them.
Adults see games less as a means for learning, but rather as way to relax and being entertained or - as in this picture - as a family activity. By combining a travel story with games for language learning our courses both teach and entertain.
DIGITAL GAMES FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
For digital language games, the rules are often simple. The player gains points or advances for making the right match, and loses points or has to replay for getting it wrong. Graphics, sound, and gamification features add fun and excitement.
When Duolingo launched in 2011, the “gamification” of language learning started in earnest. Now there are hundreds of language learning apps available for iOS and Android mobile devices. Most online language learning programs now use games or game-like features.
Games for very young children often match a picture or sound, with a letter or word. Games for preschoolers teach them to recognize words, how to spell them, and how to sound them out. For school children, games can get more complicated. These often involve sentence building, spelling races, and grammar searches.
SECOND LANGUAGE GAMES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
More and more language games for children are being developed, both as web apps or as native apps, available from App stores.
Typical ingredients of second-language games are: • Flashcards • Fun graphics and sound • Simple rules, involving hit and miss • Rewards, in the form of advancement, points, trophies • Lots of repetition • Interactive play
Figuring out how a game works is all part of the learning.
Maybe adults are not as enthusiastic when they get the correct answer as the children in the picture above - but gamification features also help adults to stay motivated. An early feedback from an adult learner was: "I didn't even notice that I was learning. But I was!" And maybe that's one reason, children also like Gamesforlanguage.
GAMES FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING ONLINE
Our Gamesforlanguage courses and Quick Language Games were originally developed for adult learners. Banking on the wider use of WiFi, we decided against developing a mobile app. We are actually surprised by the number of children in school classes playing our courses and games.
This French Quick Language Game, for example, shows some of the games included with our free courses. (Click on the link above or the picture to play it!)
Through feedback, we have learned what works for all players: • The courses and games are interactive • The travel story appeals to older children (4th grade and up) who travel with their parents • The story sequel format with 36 (or 72) Scenes works well for children and adults • Text-based games practice individual foreign words, phrases, and sentences, as well as English reading and spelling • Foreign spelling is practiced with simple words • Travel-story podcasts advance listening skills
MANY DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING NEW LANGUAGES
It's clearly a good idea for children and adults to engage in all kinds of different activities to learn and practice languages. Digital games are just ONE tool.
Our 3-year-old granddaughter, for example, is taking French Skype lessons with a tutor several times a week. She loves to sing "un deux trois" and is very proud when she can surprise us with a new French word from time to time.
Adults have access to a large array of resources. They can learn AND entertain themselves with foreign movies, YouTube videos, etc. Or read books, foreign newspaper articles online about topics that really interest them – once they have mastered the basics of a foreign language.
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
An expanded version of this post is scheduled has been published on the British website Lingotastic.
Junilearning recently contacted us and suggested that their post, 6 Ways Coding is Teaching Kids Problem Solving, might also be of interest to our readers. Indeed, language learning and coding require very similar challenges and teach children valuable problem solving skills.
There are several benefits to being a polyglot and language learning can be fun and engaging.
Knowing multiple languages not only boosts your chances for employment, but it also makes you more open minded and appreciative of other cultures.
Also, being able to communicate with a broader network of people betters your chance of discovering new things and making new friends. Multilingualism broadens your horizons and opens the door to rich experiences no matter who you are and where you come from.
Whether you’re a student who is learning a new language at school or a professional whose career demands learning different languages, or simply a traveler who wants to talk to the locals in their language, learning a new language can be both exciting and exacting.
Although learning a foreign language isn’t always a cakewalk, it doesn’t have to be an uphill climb either. Thanks to the evolution of technology, we have access to multiple platforms and tools that make learning an appealing and a fun experience.
What’s more, a lot of these tools are free to use. You don’t have to shell out a single penny! And remember whatBenjamin Franklin had to say about pennies: A penny saved is twopence clear.
Keeping that in mind, I’ve put together a list of some free language learning tools that are totally fun to use. For more more comprehensive content and in-depth learning they all offer in-app purchase options.
Imagine being able to practice the language of your choice with its native speakers...Well, don’t just stop at imaging.
Go right ahead and practice Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, etc., with native speakers through voice chat on Lingbe app.
It’s easy to use and comes with a call button that instantly connects you with a native speaker who can help you practice the language of your choice. The best part: you get real-time feedback about your progress from collaborators who guide you and help you become more fluent.
And if you’d like to help other learners learn your mother tongue, you can collaborate with them for which you’ll receive not just brownie points, but some actual credit points in the form of lingos (practice exercises). More lingos you earn, better will be your chance at practicing.
English (US), Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal) - the list goes on and on to include over a 100 languages!
No matter which language you choose, HiNative helps you learn it in style. You can either upload audio files to get feedback on pronunciation or you can share pictures of those complex Chinese characters to know their meaning, or you can simply stick to the plain old Q&A format.
No matter which format your queries come in, HiNative’s learning community readily helps address them by providing pronunciation support, example sentences, grammar tips, and what not!
Not just that, you can also ask the community about different countries and their cultures. Whether you’re traveling to someplace or moving permanently, you can learn about the dos, the don’ts, and everything else by simply asking the people who are already there. If that isn’t convenient, then what is?
Mango Languages gives you access to 70 different foreign language courses and 17 different types of English language courses that are designed keeping in mind native speakers and their requirements.
All courses focus on four key components of communication: vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and culture. From Yiddish, Tagalog, Pashto, to Haitian Creole, Cherokee, Mango Languages has courses that make language learning an enjoyable process.
Besides the regular courses, there are some specialty courses that focus on specific learner requirements. If you don’t have time for an entire course and are simply looking for a short-term course to help you with a short trip abroad, then you can choose from a list of specialty courses available to suit varying needs.
Whether you’re a native speaker or a newbie learner who wants to improve vocabulary by learning new words, Lingo Vocabulary Trainer is what you need.
Lingo Vocabulary Trainer includes more than 100 different topics (business, education, nature, science, sports, tourism, etc.), different levels of learning, and statistics that help you gauge progress.
Lingo Vocabulary Trainer consists of more than 5000 words and helps you learn and pronounce words through images that help you memorize better.
What makes Lingo Vocabulary Trainer fun is that it allows you to collaborate with other app users through online games where you can earn some cool points!
Another noteworthy thing is the listen-and-type feature where you get to listen to an audio piece following which you’ll have to type what you heard to help better your listening skills
SpanishDict boasts of 10 million plus user base each month, making it one of the most popular Spanish language apps available today. It offers Spanish-English dictionary which provides examples, insights into regional usage, and contextual information.
SpanishDict helps you by providing audio pronunciation support and also comes with an autosuggestion feature that helps save time and effort.
If you don’t have access to the internet, you don’t have to worry because with SpanishDict, you can look up words offline as well. Also, you get to use three separate in-app translators to translate words and phrases.
What makes SpanishDict appealing is that it provides conjugation tables for all tenses for thousands of verbs and highlights irregular verb conjugations in red for ease of understanding. Besides, if you want to learn on-the-go, you can enable the push notifications to conveniently receive new words on your phone everyday.
If you’re the shy type and are apprehensive about approaching people to help you with learning English or bettering your English conversational skills, you would consider Andy a blessing.
Andy is an English speaking bot that converses with you and helps you learn new words, study grammar, and play language-learning games - all without being judgemental. From casual day-to-day interactions: greeting, chatting about your day, weather, etc., to daily lessons and tests, Andy comes in handy by catering to your English learning needs.
You can discuss about topics like travel, movies, hobbies, art, jokes, and curious facts with Andy and can also expect a detailed explanation on what is right and what is not when it comes to language usage.
And if at any point in time you’re tired of rigorous learning or are simply bored, you can take a break and play fun games available on Andy.
If you have trouble memorizing words and are working on building your vocabulary, Cram flashcards can help address your issues.
Known to be one of the most tried and tested learning tools, flashcards aid active recall - a mental technique that helps remember and recall answer to any given question through spaced repetition learning technique.
Cram puts to use the same technique to help you memorize better through effective learning and recalling of new words and their meaning. There are two modes - Card mode and Memorize mode.
The Card mode enables you to view and use the entire set of flashcards in a sequential manner. In case you want to focus on a few cards and hide the ones you don’t need, you can switch to the Memorize mode. Cram gives you access to a whooping 176 million (and counting) flashcards across various subjects, in different languages, which are free and easy to use.
Based on which language you want to learn and which language you already know, Idyoma connects you to other language learners nearby.
By using Idyoma, you not only meet new language partners but also get to build a network online by following your favorite partners. Idyoma focuses on language exchange between people.Besides practicing the language of your choice, you get a chance to teach your native language to other learners.
Idyoma enables you to check the location of your language partner and see if you have common people in your network, depending on which you can schedule real-life meetups. Idyoma is all about social learning and helps not just better your language skills, but also meet new people and make new friends.
With Beelinguapp, you can read texts in two languages side by side.
By doing so, you can compare the text of the language you’re learning with the text of your native language or the language you already know. This helps you understand the new language better by means of referencing.
What sets Beelinguapp apart is that it you can listen to text in any language using its high-quality audio, even when your phone is in the sleep mode.
The app lets you pay attention to what the audio voice is saying by highlighting the text in karaoke-styled animation. What’s more, you can use the audiobook feature to listen to stories in any language of your choice.
Soon to be available on iOS
So no matter who you are and what your language learning requirement is, there is an app out there to help you achieve your learning goals.
Thanks to technology, learning a new language is not as complicated as it used to be. Just a click here and a click there and you’re all set!
Bio: Sophia Sanchez is a passionate educator, a lifelong learner, a freelance writer, an avid reader, and an adrenalin junkie all rolled into one. When not working, she spends time networking and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Wordpress.
Disclosure: Gamesforlanguage has no business relationship with Sophia Sanchez or any of the learning app companies reviewed above, except for publishing Sophia's post on it's site.
At times we think that the “GamesforLanguage” name has two drawbacks, as some language learners could assume that: (1) Language learning games are more for children, or that (2) Gamesforlanguage.com is not a serious and well-thought-out self-teaching language program.
Our courses are based on our own extensive experience in foreign language learning, as well as a 20-year stint in writing and editing self-teaching language programs.
Each of our courses integrates several key features into one unique comprehensive language learning program: • A travel-story sequel of a young traveler visiting the country of his parents' family. • Fun games that practice reading, listening, speaking, and writing. • Everyday vocabulary, which is introduced, practiced, and then repeated in later lessons. • New words and structures introduced in every lesson, and familiar words and structures repeated from previous lessons. • Travel-related and culturally relevant vocabulary, dialogues, and expressions that are immediately useful on a foreign trip. • Grammar and structures that the learner can discover gradually. Brief comments and tips that clarify aspects of the target language and culture.
Language Learning Patterns
We know that learning a foreign language as an adult takes motivation, engagement, and commitment.
We also know that self-teaching online language programs are not for everyone.
Recently, a post on another language-learning site analyzed the learning patterns of its users. It prompted us to look at the learning patterns of our registered users.
We can distinguish a few characteristics, and we are not always "serious"! Some fun also helps learning!
The “0” Points Player
Now and then we see visitors who register and start a course, but then decide on the next screen not to continue. Maybe they expected another type of course or game, or thought they had to register for the Quick Games. (You don't.)
We are planning a survey of those players to better understand their reasons for registering, but not continuing with a course.
The Nibbler
About 15% of those that started a language play only a game or two. As each lesson starts with a story dialogue, they may have listened to the dialogue, but then stopped after the first game screens.
Maybe they expected a different game, pictures, or a video game. Or they just wanted to see what “GamesforLanguage” was about, without any real interest in learning a language.
We have also noticed that some “Nibblers” come back later to practice or try out another language.
The Voracious Player
Sometimes we see players who - in one stretch, after registering – play an entire level, or six lessons, often just beating the minimum score to move on to the next lesson.
Maybe these players are motivated by the fun aspect of the games to test their knowledge. However, we also noticed that they are unlikely to come back, to either improve their scores or continue.
The Finisher or Focused Learner
The Finisher plays through all or most of the games of the first lesson, though he or she may skip the Recording (as it requires the Flash Player which is not supported on smart phones or tablets).
Then, having met the score requirement, this learner moves on to lesson #2. These players seem to be interested in one language only.
They may also “nibble” sometimes by trying out another language, but then return to the language of their choice. These are the learners who are most likely to continue with their course.
Language learning is not a short sprint but more like long-distance running. After you cross the finish line, the feeling of accomplishment is sweet and will stay with you for a long time.
The Polyglot Player
Polyglot players go for at least one scene of two or more languages right away. From his or her scores we can speculate that this player may already know one or more of the languages.
Sometimes Nibblers also try out different languages. When their scores are high enough to let them move on to further Scenes, we can't distinguish them from Polyglots.
The Quick Language Game Player
Since our start, we have added over 200 Quick Language Games, which can be played without registering. These Quick Games are quite popular. But we don't see the names of individual players, we can only note which games are played and how many times.
How to Play, Learn and Practice
The “serious” learners are more likely to click on “How to Play and Learn” under “New Here?” on the Course Page. Below are a few key suggestions for effective learning and practice. These apply not only to GamesforLanguage, but also to many other online language learning sites:
• Play only one (1) NEW lesson per day, and - if you have 20-30 minutes - start by reviewing the PREVIOUS lesson, or at least the Dialogue of the previous lesson.
• Re-play any of the games of a previous lesson, for which you scored less than 100%.
• To get into the learning habit, PLAY SOME GAMES EVERY DAY. (Also note that the Quick Language Games can be played without logging in.)
• Don’t worry, if you don’t know the meaning in the “Balloon Words,” or “Say It” games. Just concentrate on the sounds and the melody of the language, while you repeat what you hear.
• Repeat the native speaker's words and phrases in any game whenever you can - BEFORE the native speaker, if you can, and AFTERWARDS to correct yourself.
• Practice your pronunciation with “Record It.” Keep recording and re-recording your voice until you feel that you're getting close to the native speaker's pronunciation.
• In the games, pay attention to the occasional abbreviations that appear directly behind the English word. They will tell you which form of the foreign word you should use.
• After completing a Level (six or twelve lessons) listen to the Podcast. If you don't understand a lesson perfectly, replay it.
• Listen to the Podcast of the next Level and find out how much you can understand or guess, before you start a new lesson.
How About Fluency?
Few, if any, online language programs can make you fluent. The only way to become fluent is to TALK, to engage in as many conversations as you can join.
But online programs can be an excellent preparation. That's why we emphasize REPEATING ALOUD, and making use of the recording feature whenever possible.
Fluency not only requires sufficient vocabulary, but also the ability to combine words into phrases and sentences when talking with others.
Until online programs can truly generate interactive one-on-one conversations, teachers, tutors, language exchange or conversation partners (in-person or on-line) are the best way to become fluent in a new language.
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
My (first) retirement is now already a few years behind me. I was very lucky when we were able to sell the consulting firm I had co-founded. I was still in my fifties.
However, while I was looking forward to a less stressful life, I was also aware that retirement can have its own challenges.
I had read the usual books about retirement, how to stay busy, get or continue with a hobby, etc. Yes, I also had the typical list of house projects I never had time to complete earlier. But during the months leading to the day when I didn't have to go to work anymore, my wife Ulrike and I made plans for an extended stay in Italy.
Preparing for Italy
Both Ulrike and I already spoke several languages: German, English, French, and she also Dutch. These were languages we had either learned as children or young adults living/working in the respective countries. Italian was to be the first language we were going to learn as mature adults.
A few months before my retirement and our travels – my wife was working as a development editor at Pimsleur International at that time - we began using Pimsleur's self-teaching Italian language courses and completed all three levels of the program, 90 lessons in all.
This was an accomplishment. We felt quite smug about being able to understand basic Italian, but we also knew that the real test would come upon our arrival in Rome.
First Impressions and Lessons
We were picked up at Fiumicino by our landlord's driver. When we tried out our Italian on him it became clear immediately that his English was much better than our Italian.
Our first apartment was in a narrow street above a grocery/bakery in Trastevere (see picture of Romand and Guiseppe), and located just across the narrow street from a wonderful little restaurant, Le Mani in Pasta. (This restaurant is now listed on Tripadvisor as #27 of 327 restaurants in Trastevere.)
We became regulars there, and as the owners and waiters spoke very little English, it was great place to practice our Italian.
Seeing “Le Mani” everyday when we left our building, it was easy to remember that “la mano” (the hand) is one of the exceptions in Italian, as most nouns ending in an “o” are masculine. Other feminine nouns ending with “o” are: àuto (car), mòto (motorcycle), dìnamo (dynamo), ràdio (radio), mètro (subway), libido (libido), etc.
Fluency Realities
We also quickly realized, however, that we were far from being fluent in Italian. Yes, we had completed maybe 45-50 hours of learning with the Pimsleur audio courses. While we got compliments for our pronunciation, we still had to rely a lot on pointing and gesturing for buying groceries in our grocery/bakery or local market (see picture).
For several weeks, our vocabulary clearly continued to be insufficient. And to our dismay, at the beginning, the Italian on TV was an incomprehensible garble of words for us.
We were lucky to find a tutor who discovered quickly via a first test that our Italian spelling was atrocious. With Pimsleur's Italian audio course we had not learned how to read and write, and our spelling was automatically based on the French we knew.
The daily 2-hour lessons with required homework kept us busy learning for half the day. The other half we spent exploring Rome and its surroundings. We tried out our Italian wherever we could.
After a few weeks, the Italian TV garble dissolved into individual words that we began to distinguish where they started and ended. While we still did not know a huge number of words, we started to guess what words meant from the context. That accelerated our learning further.
Over the next months, as our tutor worked with us and monitored our progress, our confidence grew. We started to understand and enjoy Italian TV and movies, and increasingly conversed with shopkeepers and people we encountered during the day.
Language Learning during Retirement
There have been many research findings about the benefits of mental exercises for older adults. And learning a foreign language is near the top of that list - ahead of playing Lumosity games or solving crossword puzzles.
Learning a new foreign language as an adult takes effort and discipline. But our brain is certainly able to acquire new vocabulary and new grammar patterns through practice. And yes, we also experienced - although still far away from a Golden Anniversary - what a friend described facetiously in a guest post,French in Dijon:Fluency Realities with no "Lover Option"
In his words: “When younger people are sitting in bars discussing politics, love, and pop music with passion, we are getting ready for bed. Since my wife and I've been married more than fifty years, neither of us can go out and find a lover! In short:The quickest avenues to fluency are now closed to us.”
Acquiring fluency in a foreign language is certainly harder when you don't speak it all the time with your partner. That's true even if you stay in the country where the language is spoken. However, there are also many opportunities today to Progress Faster to Language Fluency.
If you can take advantage early on of one of retirement's key benefits: Planning your day and doing activities that YOU like – you'll never be bored. Then, if language learning is on that list, you'll open a new world to explore: articles to read, conversations to have, movies or TV shows to watch, planning a trip to a place where your new language is spoken.
Beyond Retirement – “Un-Retiring”
For me personally, learning Italian (and later continuing with Spanish and Dutch, see my post about P.M Tools.) also led to our starting up Gamesforlanguage.
Using my interest in languages and my project management skills, plus Ulrike's background in teaching and course development has given us a wonderful way of combining our passion with a purpose: Helping others practice languages we have learned as well, and sharing our experiences about language learning, culture and travel on our Blog.
And when we get a Thank-you note such as this one from a 80+ year old woman, who had completed both our German courses, we also know that it's never too late to learn and practice a new language:
"Thank you for such an interesting way to practice and learn German. I have really enjoyed doing this each day and am hoping to go to Austria in the Fall for a week at a spa. I liked the way you varied the learning process, also that you had a score at the end of each lesson, which, if not good enough, you could redo. Thank you again, M."
So who knows – once you start learning another language during your retirement – you may also discover reasons to “un-retire” again.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is 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 or below.
(updated 5/2021) Learning a new language is always an exciting project for me. I love trying out different language learning sites.
Lately, I've enjoyed learning Brazilian Portuguese with LingoHut, one of our Partner sites – and like Gamesforlanguage – a completely free language learning site. (Click on the Homepage image, left, and hear Kendal explain LingoHut's mission.)
LingoHut currently (May 2021) offers you forty-five (45) different languages. And, if your native language is other than English, you can set the language with which you learn. You have many choices.
The vocabulary of each language is presented by Category and Topic, in the form of Vocabulary Cards, Flashcards, and Games. The words are said and written. There are no pictures.
LINGOHUT'S LANGUAGE LEARNING SET-UP
For Brazilian Portuguese, there are currently (5/2021) 125 Lessons that contain between 8 and 22 words or phrases each.
The Categories of the Lessons include: Start, Numbers, Directions, Colors, People, Time, Weather and Seasons, Antonyms, Body, Travel, Hotel, Around Town, Sightseeing, Shopping, Restaurant, Food, Beach, Vacation, Health, Office, Employment, Computer.
In each Lesson, you have Vocabulary Cards with Portuguese audio, the written Portuguese word or phrase, and a translation set to your native language.
The Lesson's vocabulary also shows up as a list just under the cards. This list can be downloaded and printed out. For a quick review, you can click on a word on the list to hear the audio again.
The Vocabulary Cards are followed by a Flashcard Game, with which you can practice what you learned and test yourself.
Other games in each Lesson for practice are the Matching Game (where you determine whether words or phrases and a translation match); the Tic Tac Toe Game (where you have to get 3 correct answers in a row); the Concentration Game (a traditional "memory game"); the Listening Game (where you hear, but not see, a Portuguese word or phrase, and then choose the English equivalent).
LISTEN AND SAY OUT LOUD
The Vocabulary Cards are great. You hear each word or phrase three times and are encouraged repeat it out loud. The cards continue to the next automatically. But you can also go back or forward one by one.
A key to learning a new language is listening and saying the words out loud. Because the cards advance automatically, you can close your eyes and just listen and speak, which is a powerful way of focusing on sound.
Another way of practicing could be to let the Vocabulary Cards play, treating this as a dictation, i.e. you write out the words you hear on a sheet of paper. (You can then check back for any corrections.)
THE DRIP FEED
Kendal calls the LingoHut mode of learning "the drip feed." What makes it work is exactly that: You acquire the sound, meaning, and spelling of your target language, gradually, in small steps.
The speaker pronounces each of the words and phrases slowly and clearly. This is perfect for someone who is in the early stages of learning a new language. You can try each word as many times as you want.
Remembering new vocabulary is an issue for everyone. The remedy is frequent exposure to the words you're learning and regular repetition.
A good way to get words and phrases into your long term memory is to go back and redo earlier Lessons. If you find some words particularly difficult to remember, write them out in a small notebook or on paper flashcards, and review these separately.
LEARN GRAMMAR INTUITIVELY
With LingoHut you learn useful words and phrases that allow you to communicate with native speakers. You do not get grammar explanations.
However, the human brain is wired to recognize and internalize language patterns. With frequent exposure to typical patterns of sound and/or spelling, you pick these up without much thinking about the grammar rules behind them.
By frequently hearing and saying different phrases and sentences in a new language, you become familiar with the wording of commands, statements, and questions, the gender of nouns, adjective-noun agreement, the personal forms of verbs, etc.
Once some of the patterns of your target language are lodged in your mind, you can easily check up on a grammar rule that would explain a structure that baffles you. The internet is a fantastic resource for that or, you can always get an introductory grammar book.
For checking words and idioms, I often use the free Word Reference site, a popular online dictionary.
PORTUGUESE and other ROMANCE LANGUAGES
If you know one of the other Romance languages, you'll notice that many Portuguese words are quite similar. That, of course, helps you to learn.
However, pronunciation is a different matter. For example, I've reached an upper intermediate level in Spanish. When I see Portuguese words, I can often figure out their meaning from Spanish. But when I hear Portuguese spoken, I have no clue (as yet) when the words are unfamiliar. The sound of Portuguese is very different from Spanish.
That's why the listening and speaking practice that LingoHut offers is so important.
LINGOHUT'S GLOBAL INITIATIVE
LingoHut's co-founder Kendal Knetemann left Nicaragua at age 13 as a refugee, fleeing the civil war in her country and coming to the United States without her parents. Her experience as a young refugee and the need to quickly learn a new language inspired Kendal together with her husband Philipp, a software developer, to create a free language learning site with free access to all learners.
As a native Dutch speaker now living in America, Philipp Knetemann has firsthand experience with learning a foreign language. That experience has guided him to build a platform that is user-friendly for language learners.
LingoHut was created in 2012 and since then Kendal and Philipp have been adding numerous lessons in (now: 2021) 45 languages. What makes the site particularly useful on a global scale, is that a learner has a wide choice for setting his or her language of instruction. (See a list below///)
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
Disclosure: GamesforLanguage and LingoHut have a non-financial Partner relationship, exchanging language learning ideas and tips. Learning with LingoHut and GamesforLanguage is free.
If you're learning Russian, Pimsleur's Unlimited app is a versatile option to consider.
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the then newly-released app for Pimsleur German. Since I'm bilingual in German and English, I couldn't talk about learning German. In that earlier post I described the app and its features. I also talked about the Pimsleur method in general.
This review of Pimsleur Unlimited Russian is a little different. Russian is a new language for me and my first Slavic language. The languages I speak all belong to the Germanic or Romance language families.
AUDIO LESSONS
The core structure of the course consists of 30, thirty-minute audio lessons, presented as Day 1, Day 2, etc., through Day 30. Each day shows a beautiful picture and gives you some brief cultural information (when you tap on the light bulb image). It's classic Pimsleur Audio.
You hear an initial conversation that adds one new word or phrase, which is explained. New words are introduced later in the lesson. Each unit's initial conversation has only one new word or phrase.
You listen to new words and repeat them with backward buildup. A spaced recall schedule helps you remember words and phrases over the long term. This direct audio training helps you to develop a good pronunciation. To learn Russian, I need some extra help, though. To learn difficult words and phrases, I've written up flashcards using 3"x5" index cards. Writing these out by hand helps me to memorize them. They also give me the chance to practice the words in a different way. I've started adding the Cyrillic spelling for the words, which is a good method for practicing the Cyrillic alphabet.
In the next couple of weeks of learning Russian, I'll start looking at some basic Russian grammar. I'll then better understand the word order of some sentences, and why some of the endings change.
READING LESSONS
There's a tab for Reading Lessons on the audios. There are nine Reading Lessons which can be accessed from Day 2 to Day 10. (No Reading Lessons after Day 10.)
Together, the Reading Lessons take you through 320 Russian words or phrases. The first 200 help you to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, letter by letter, in the context of words and short phrases. The last 120 items are for practice.
The words in the Reading Lesson are not translated and many of them are never taught in the Audio Lessons. However, you hear the correct pronunciation of every word, phrase, and sentence you see and tap on, and thereby learn the correlation between Cyrillic letters and their sound.
DO THE READING LESSONS WORK?
I did all the Reading Lessons in two days (about an hour each day). By the time I reached the practice lessons, I was pretty good at sounding out most of the words. My pronunciation wasn't perfect, but it was close.
I was amazed how quickly I could figure out the sound of individual words I had never seen before. It's also been fun to see a familiar word here and there and go "Aha - that's how it's written!" That doesn't mean that I can now read texts in Cyrillic. Reading for meaning is a whole different world. It's the next step and something I'll need to practice a lot.
FLASH CARDS, QUICK MATCH & SPEAK EASY
Each lesson has three specific review exercises, Flash Cards, Quick Match, and Speak Easy. You can do any of the review exercises whenever you want.
For the Flash Cards, you hear the audio and see a written version of the new words and phrases of the lesson. At the bottom of the card, you have the option to check "Show Transliteration" (which shows you the words in transliterated spelling). Otherwise, you'll see the words written in Cyrillic. (You can even go back and forth between Transliteration and Cyrillic script on each card.)
In the Quick Match exercises you get an English sentence, audio and written. You then choose the correct match for the Russian, either in Transliteration or in Cyrillic. (If you wish, you can toggle between the two.) Once you tap on an answer (even if it tells you it's incorrect), you'll hear the audio.
In the Speak Easy exercises you practice and engage in the conversations of each lesson, by listening, reading, and finally taking the role of one of the speakers. The conversation lines are in Cyrillic, and you can add the Transliteration.
Together, these exercises help you memorize the words and practice your pronunciation. Once you've done the Reading Lessons and know the Cyrillic alphabet, the Flash Cards, Quick Match, and Speak Easy exercises are a great way to start practice reading for meaning.
I like all of these exercises. They give a quick review, they're fun to do, and are a way to stay engaged.
LEARNING ON THE GO
Playing your language program while you're doing something else: driving, running, cooking, washing dishes, etc. is definitely convenient. I sometimes listen to Italian or Spanish while cooking, now that I'm on an upper intermediate (B2) level in those languages.
But when I start out with a new language, I have found that I do my best learning when I'm alone, when I've put time aside, and can really focus on the learning itself. I can listen without distraction, repeat words aloud as many times as I want, stop and write myself notes, create my paper flashcards, etc. This is where I'm now with learning Russian.
Then, once the words and sounds are in my brain, playing them again while my mind is half on something else will be okay too. I also know that I'm still a long way from being able to understand Russian conversations. So for now, I have to listen and learn with focus wherever I can find some quiet time with my app.
CAN YOU DO 30 LESSONS IN 30 DAYS?
Maybe I could, if I were relearning a language I had taken in school or college. But for Russian, I've not been able to do a new lesson every day. I've had some interruptions (holidays, travel, flu). More importantly though, I've found the need to go back to earlier lessons and review sentences that I find hard.
The key to learning Russian, or any other language for that matter, is doing something every day. It could be redoing a lesson, or part of one. Or it could be going back and playing some of the Flash Card, Quick Match, or Speak Easy exercises.
I have now finished just over half of the course. I feel I'm well-launched into learning Russian. My pronunciation is pretty good, I know the Cyrillic letters, I'm starting to recognize some words, and I can automatically recall some of the basic words and phrases.
Most of all, I continue to feel motivated. The more I'm learning, the more I'm getting excited about learning more.
COST
For more information about Pimsleur Premium and Special Offers, go to Pimsleur.com
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
Disclosure: Ulrike Rettig was the Development Editor/Author of Pimsleur's German Levels 1, 2 and 3, written during the time she worked for Pimsleur Language Programs (owned since 1997 by Simon & Schuster Audio). She left Pimsleur in 2010. GamesforLanguage has no business relationship with Simon & Schuster Audio, other than receiving the German and Russian Unlimited apps for free.
2016 has been another fun and adventurous year for GamesforLanguage. We know that learning a language as an adult is challenging.
Not everybody has the time, discipline, and opportunity to learn foreign languages the way Benny Lewis does. (But his language hacks are worthwhile to study and apply.)
In 2016 we attended a language conferences in Montreal, where we met many of the well-known polyglots and language aficionados. (The #5 Blog Post below was a direct result of that conference.)
We continue to enjoy writing on our Blog on a weekly basis, drawing from our own insights and struggles with learning foreign languages.
Maybe not a surprise: While we also write about our travels and related language experiences, our 10 most popular posts in 2016 relate to language learning.
One surprise: Our post about "La Paloma: Learning Spanish with a song," which we published in June 2013 was our 3rd most read blog post in 2016.
This post was our #10 in 2015. How automatic are your numbers, in any foreign language, when you need them? Numbers may be something you really have to practice a lot to get confident using them.
We have always found that even when traveling in countries where we don't speak the language (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, etc.), it's good to at least know the numbers from 1 to 100.
Numbers also came in handy when shopping in small stores or paying the bill in restaurants.
Most numbers you'll see are in digital form. You'll rarely need to spell them. But you do need to understand them when they're spoken. And to learn them, it helps to see them written out.
Many of the English and German numbers from 1-12 are related and have a similar sound, even though their spelling may be different.
The German numbers from 13 to 19 use the same model as English, by combining the lower number with the suffix “-zehn” (-teen), so “dreizehn” is thirteen, etc.
The numbers beyond 21 (that don't end in a zero) often cause confusion, especially when you want to remember a phone number.
They deviate from the English model and invert the digits: So 45, forty-five, is vierundfünfzig and 54, fifty-four, is fünfundvierzig.
Maybe it's not surprising that a very similar post explaining the Spanish numbering system was our second most read post.
Indeed as with German for most English speakers, the Spanish numbers from 1 to 15 are not difficult to learn as many of the English and Spanish numbers are related.
The numbers 16 to 20 are a little trickier as they use the inverse English model by placing the prefix “dieci-” in front of the single numbers, e.g. “dieciséis” whereas English uses the German model and places the single numbers in front of the suffix “-teen” as in sixteen.
The numbers 21 to 99 use the English model although a Spanish spelling revision made 21 to 29 a little more tricky: You have to remember some accents on veintidós (22), veintitrés (23), and veintiséis (26) and the binding “-i-” that has replaced the “y,” which still is there in the numbers above 30 , e.g. treinta y uno (31).
As in English, once you know the Spanish numbers 1-9 and the round number 20-90, then 21-99 are a breeze.
We wrote this post in June 2013 and it has been one of our most read post ever since.The German version of La Paloma has been a favorite of mine since I was a child.
At that time I neither knew anything about the origin of the song nor that “la paloma” means “the dove.”
I thought that “La Paloma” was a sailor's song, as sung by a famous German actor Hans Albers (Here is a YouTube clip.) and later by Freddy Quinn and many others.
When I heard the Spanish version for the first time, I was intrigued and wanted to find out more.Not only is the melody wonderful, but so are the original Spanish lyrics.
Listening to the amazing voice of Victoria de los Angeles is a great way to both practice your listening skills and pick up some typical Spanish constructs.
We don't quite know why this post made it to a third place in 2016. (Maybe it was due to a 2015 post that linked La Paloma to Cuba, and to Bizet's opera Carmen.)
This is a very personal post by Ulrike, in which she explains how she keeps current with the 6 languages she speaks (and a couple of others she is learning).
While she always keeps her little Notebook handy, it's also clear that even she can't keep up with every one of those habits for every language she speaks or learns.
However, just doing a few of them consistently will reap big rewards. Also you will want to concentrate on those that are most appropriate for the level you're at.
For example, watching foreign movies without subtitles may be boring and counter productive, if you don't understand much in the foreign language yet.
It's up to you to try out and adapt the habits that work with your lifestyle, skill level and time you have available.
Are any of these habits part of your language learning? What works best for you?
This post was motivated by the talks of several speakers at the Polyglot conference in Montreal in July 2016.
We were especially intrigued by Jimmy Mello's idea to read a book that he already knows well in his native Brazilian Portuguese (he uses a translation of Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), when he starts with a new target language.
By taking the same story every time, he can focus on the sounds of the new language, while already knowing what many of the words mean.
And when we say “story,” we mean any narrative, which may cover sports, history, politics, etc., i.e. anything than interests you and keeps you engaged in the target language. (That's also why Gamesforlanguage's courses use the format of a travel-story sequel.)
Using “stories for language learning” means that you are not just learning words, but their meaning in context.
The Polyglot Symposium - renamed Montreal LangFest - will take place again in 2017, on the last weekend in August. The event will appeal to anyone who loves language and is involved in languages in some way (teachers, students, adult self-learners, parents raising bilingual kids - or wishing to, etc. as well polyglots). Check it out. We'd love to see you there!
The way human memory works is a fascinating process. Clearly, the brain doesn't just shut down when we sleep, it keeps working on what we learned and experienced during the day.
A PsychCrunch Podcast by The British Psychological Society alerted us to studies about sleep and memory recently done by Swiss scientists. They had come to some interesting insights.
For example using MRI technology, they looked are the core stages of memorizing vocabulary and why sleep is so important for vocabulary retention. "Hearing" recently learned vocabulary again during certain stages of sleep, will consolidate these new memories.
There are no practical ways yet to replicate such tests at home. However, other research seems to confirm that reviewing foreign words and phrases BEFORE you go to sleep will also enhance your memory of them.
If conversational fluency is your goal, what are the crucial techniques for getting there? Why is it important to say everything out loud rather than silently to yourself?
The simple answer is that to learn to speak in a foreign language, you have to speak. That's easier said than done. The question is how you can get yourself speaking enough so that you feel totally comfortable in a conversation.
But is just speaking enough? How important is reading for fluency? For many, reading will boost their vocabulary (especially if they start using these words in a conversation), and will provide them with interesting topics to talk about.
Learning a language can be fun, and there are many reasons for that. But when life is busy, sticking with your language project takes time and effort.
And sometimes it's hard to stay motivated.
From Jeremy Dean's ebook "Spark - 17 Steps That Will Boost Your Motivation For Anything," we gleaned three tips that apply especially to language learning.
Don't just jump into any old program, be self-aware as you plan your learning and implement your plan. Dean has some interesting ideas that can be easily applied.
Figure out coping skills that help you along. Dean suggest "modelling" yourself after someone whose coping skills fit your own situation.
In Spark we also found a couple of easy, practical tips that work well for creating a language learning habit. See if you agree.
There are lots of reasons for taking a language time-out. Once you lose your enthusiasm for learning a language, taking a time-out is really a good thing.
This happens to all language learners at some time or another.
When it happens to either of us, we see it as a time to reassess, to find new inspiration, and to look for new resources. The language won't go away, but during our time-out we'll find a new way to approach how we learn it and to get our motivation back.
Happy New Year and make learning a new language one of your 2017 goals!
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here.
Learning a language generally involves learning four skills: listing/comprehension, reading, speaking and writing. We typically learn our first, native language by listening and speaking and then add reading and writing later in school. 
Those who wish to study at a university in a foreign language, work at a professional level in a foreign language and integrate into society in a different language will be highly motivated to reach the highest level possible in their writing abilities. 
