Like German and French, Italian has full official status on the federal level in Switzerland: all laws and official documents have to be written in these three languages.
Romansh has "partial" official status, i.e. it is used on the federal level when needed for communication with Romansh speakers.
However, each Swiss canton and, generally, even each community can choose which language to use for its own official communication.
Italian is the only official language of the Canton of Ticino and one of the three official languages of the Canton of Graubünden.
Romansh is recognized as an official language only in the Canton of Graubünden, (the largest Swiss canton, but with less than 200,000 inhabitants, also the canton with the lowest population density).
According to an article about Swiss languages published in July 2016 by swissinfo.ch, German (both High German and Swiss German) is spoken by about 63% of the population, French by about 23%, Italian by about 8%. Romansh is spoken by less than 1% of the total population.
The Third Swiss Language: Where Italian is Spoken
Swiss Italian is spoken in the Canton of Ticino and in the southern part of the Canton Graubünden (see map of Ticino, left and map of Graubünden below).
The territory of present-day Ticino was annexed from Italian cities in the 15th century. With the creation of the Swiss Confederation in 1803, the lands were named Ticino, after the largest river in the area. To read up on the history of Ticino: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticino
The official name of Ticino is Repubblica e Cantone Ticino (Republic and Canton of Ticino). Because of historical ties, the people of Ticino have a strong cultural affinity to their Italian neighbors.
Ticino is the only canton where Italian is the sole official language. Over 87% of the people speak Italian as their native language, around 666,000 according to Ethnologue. (About 10% speak German, and about 5% speak French.)
In the Canton of Graubünden about 15% of the population speaks Italian (just under 30,000).
Please note: The numbers and percentages I'm quoting show some variation in the French, German, English, and Italian articles I consulted about Swiss languages.
Swiss Italian - Svizzero Italiano
Over the centuries, the Swiss Italian language has been influenced by the local Ticinese dialects and the other national languages, French and German. There are Helveticisms (words typical for Switzerland), differences in idiomatic usage and syntax, and loan words (not known in Standard Italian).
Loan words that come from French or German:
• To book, reserve (a room or table) Italian: prenotare. Swiss Italian: riservare. French: réserver.
In addition to Swiss Italien, a part of the population of Ticino speaks Ticinese, which is a group of dialect varieties of the Lombard language. For many Italian speakers, Ticinese is difficult to understand.
Ticinese has now been named an endangered language. (According to Ethnologue, there are 303,000 speakers of Ticinese in Switzerland.)
The Lombard language is also spoken in the Northern Italian regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, and Trentino.
The Fourth Swiss Language: Where Romansh /Rumantsch is Spoken
The Romansch language is spoken primarily in the southeast of Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden,where it has official status alongside German and Italian. (Besides the two spellings above, there are a number of other ways to spell the language.) Romansh is a descendant of Vulgar (or spoken) Latin.
In 2012, it counted just over 36 thousand people who called it their main language. At 0.9% of Swiss citizens makes it the least spoken of the four official Swiss languages.
The spoken Romansh language is generally divided into 5 dialect groups, which together form a continuum. Still, there are recognizable differences even from village to village. The most widely spoken dialect is Sursilvan, which is used by more than half of the speakers of Romansh. In addition to the 5 major dialects, there are a number of other recognized dialects.
Although they are closely related, the Romansh dialects are not always mutually comprehensible. For that reason, when speakers of different varieties talk with each other, they tend to use Swiss German rather than their own dialect. Apparently for Romansh speakers, identity is tied largely to the local dialect region.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, grammar and spelling guidelines were developed for the regional written dialects. Now, each of the 5 Romansh dialect varieties has its own standardized written language. Romansh is taught in some of the local schools.
In 2000 a bilingual high-school diploma was introduced in Graubünden. Since then, if they wished, students have been able to follow studies and graduate in Romansh/German or in Italian/German.
Pan-Regional Rumansch Grischun
There were attempts to create a unified written Romansh language in 1867, and again in 1958, but these did not gather much support during the early days. A main criticism was that such a created language would be artificial and destroy the Romansh cultural heritage.
Nevertheless, attempts to introduce the standardized Rumansch Grischun in local schools have continued. Finally, in 2015, a hesitant compromise was reached: This unified version of the language is not to be introduced before grade 7. As expected, both supporters and opponents are unhappy.
How do the Swiss Manage?
In researching this topic, it became clear to me that accommodating these four languages and various dialects remains a challenge for Swiss communities and their government.
Resentments between language groups continue to exist. And still Switzerland, a small country of only 8.5 million inhabitants, is somehow managing.
One key may be the autonomy that the individual cantons and communities have in choosing their official language(s), and how and where the languages are taught, etc.
Maybe direct and frequent voting gives the citizens a sense of control? Maybe becoming bilingual by the time they get to school let children become more tolerant towards other languages?
Whatever the reasons, it seems to work. And it reminds me that South Tyrol may have emulated the language success of its neighbor, as we wrote in a previous post: South Tyrol – A Multicultural Success Story.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's 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 right below!
In our previous post, we focused on the bilingualism of many Fribourgers. The German spoken in Fribourg is clearly of the Swiss German variety, with a few French expressions mixed in at times. (Indeed, as we explain in our post Swiss German Dialects: A Real Challenge for German Learners, there are quite a few variations of "Swiss German".) And while Swiss German is the generic label for the dialect, there are plenty of regional differences that a foreigner would only detect after a while. When you're traveling in countries where you speak the language, you may notice that both formal and informal greetings often vary from region to region.
For example, when we were traveling in Northern Germany a couple years ago (see our post: From Utrecht to Hamburg: Dialects and Travel Tips in Northern German), we first couldn't make out the informal greeting we heard everywhere: “Moin.” We first thought it was an abbreviation of “Morgen,” as in “Guten Morgen” (Good morning), but it was clearly used all day.
Digging a little further, we found that while “morgen” may be one etymological explanation for “Moin,” another one could be the Dutch, Frisian, and Low German word “moi,” meaning “beautiful” or “good.”
This week we are exploring a few Swiss German expressions we encountered while skiing in the "Berner Oberland". (Above picture of "Saaner's Loch)
“Grüezi” and a Swiss German Ear-Worm
To get a little taste of the Swiss German language listen to this YouTube Video of “Ja grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa”, a popular song by a Swiss group, The Minstrels, from the late 60s. It was the #1 song in Switzerland in 1969 for 10 weeks, made it to #3 in Germany, and sold over 1.5 million copies in 27 countries.
Mario Feurer, who wrote the song, grew up in Zurich. Even if you know some German, you'll have a hard time understanding the simple refrain. But if you listen to it a few times, you'll start distinguishing verbs, their grammatical modifications. You'll also pick up a few Swiss German idiosyncrasies.
The Lyrics, Standard German, and English Translation
Ja grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa (Ja grüß sie wohl, Frau Stirnimaa) (Hello there, Ms Stirnimaa)
Sagget sie, wie labbet sie, wie sind sie de so dra? (Sagen Sie, wie leben Sie, wie sind Sie denn so dran?) (Tell me, how's life, how's it going?)
Grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa Sagget sie, wie labbet sie, wie gaht's denn ihre Ma? (Sagen Sie, wie leben Sie, wie geht es ihrem Mann?) (Tell me, how's life, how's your husband doing?)
Quick note: There is no standard written form of Swiss German. Letters and letter combinations mostly just express the way words sound.
And while you'll notice how the verb forms and endings are different from Standard German and hear how the “n” and “m” endings are dropped, we won't try to explain much more. Just listen to the melody of the Swiss German language.
Swiss German in the Berner Oberland
This week the public schools in the canton of Bern have vacation, and besides a little French, we hear mostly Swiss German in the villages and on the mountain between Zweisimmen and Gstaad.
Even for us German speakers, some of the Swiss German we come across is a little hard to understand. Briefly: In general, the dialects spoken in Switzerland (collectively called Swiss German) belong to the Alemannic variety of German.
Greetings: “Grüezi” vs. “Grüess eech”
Grüezi is arguably the most well-known Swiss German greeting. It's an abbreviation of “Gott grüez i” or literally in German: “Gott grüß euch”. (May God greet you.)
A variation of “Grüezi” is “Grüezi mitenand,” with “mitenand” (“miteinander” - together) making it clear that the greeting is for more than one person. This greeting is used mainly in the Zurich area and in the east of Switzerland.
In the western part, around Bern, it's more common to hear “Grüss eech,” which also means literally: Gott grüß euch. Indeed, here in the Berner Oberland, we've been hearing “Grüss eech” or “Grüess eech mitenand,” all over the place: when entering a restaurant, going into a shop, when sharing a gondola or chair lift with others. People even greet you as you're walking in the village.
In a restaurant: the verb “sein” - “sii” and “gsi” (or “gsy”)
Today, we ate on the terrace of a mountain restaurant. After greeting us “Grüess eech mitenand,” our waitress asked: “Was derfs sii?” - Was darf es sein? (Lit: What may it be? Meaning: What can I get you?)
When we finished our meal and she started to clear the table, she asked: “S isch guat gsi?” - Ist es gut gewesen? (Lit: Was it good? Meaning: How was the meal?)
Swiss German uses a shorter and older form of the verb “sein.” Instead of “sein,” it's “sii”, and instead of “gewesen,” it's “gsi.”
Meal time: “Ä Guätä!”
It was a beautiful, sunny day and the terrace was crowded. So, as is typical for many European countries, we shared our table with other restaurant guests.
We ordered “Röschti” (Rösti), which are fried potatoes prepared in a typical way in Switzerland. A meal of Röschti comes in all kinds of combinations: with a fried egg, with ham, with vegetables, etc.
Note also: The letter combination “st” (appearing anywhere in a word) is pronounced “sch.” The German word “ist” becomes “isch” (the -t is dropped)
We were served first, and when our meal arrived, our table neighbors wished us “Ä Guätä!” This is literally, “(Have) a good one!” and best translates to “Enjoy your meal!” The equivalent in Standard German would be: Guten Appetit! literally: Good appetite!
When we finished and were ready to leave, while our table neighbors received their meals, we wished them “Ä Guätä!”
Other useful words and phrases we heard
• Sali. We often heard teenagers saying “Sali” or “Sali mitenand.” - Hallo, alle. - Hi everybody. “Sali” is less formal than the greeting “Grüezi.” It comes from the French “salut” (hi/hey).
• Merci. The French “Merci” (thank you) has been appropriated by Swiss German as well, and you hear it alone or also as “Merci vilmals” - Vielen Dank (Thanks a lot).
• Uf widaluege. The German “Auf Wiedersehen” (Goodbye) has the Swiss German equivalent of “Uf widaluege,” and means the same, “luege” - sehen (to look).
• Ich lüt dir a. Probably a leftover from the old telephone technology of bells, if you want to say “I'll call you,” you'd say “Ich lüt dir a.” This literally means: Ich leute dich an, or Ich leute bei dir an (I'll ring you.)
If you're just learning German and are trying to understand Swiss German, don't despair. Even native Germans have a tough time understanding rapidly spoken Swiss German, even more so speaking it. But as with any language or dialect you want to learn, there are many ways to do it.
Here are three iPhone apps that will help you: Grüezi Switzerland (free), Schweizerdeutsch Lernen (in app purchases), and uTalk Classic Learn Swiss German (in app purchases). We have not tried any of these yet, so let us know what you think below.
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.
Ever thought about doing some language learning in Fribourg, Switzerland?
Visiting the town in Switzerland where I spent several years working in my first job, reminded me of my French language learning days. Fribourg or in German Freiburg (im Üchtland) is a bilingual city, and not to be confused with “Freiburg im Breisgau,” which lies in the Black Forest.
Pure immersion aficionados may well scoff at this: But working and learning French in a town where my native language German was well understood, had many advantages for me.
For one, I could always revert to German when my French instructions to the draftsmen in the structural engineering firm where I worked, were met with a doubtful stare.
Also, when the rapid French in a shop or restaurant was still beyond my listening skills, I could typically get a German, or Swiss-German translation, thereby generating “comprehensible input.”
CANTON FRIBOURG'S ROAD TO OFFICAL BILINGUALISM
The canton of Fribourg is one of three Swiss cantons that are officially bilingual. The other two are the cantons of Bern and of Wallis/Valais.
Fribourg entered the Swiss Confederation in 1481. Throughout the centuries both French and German were spoken in the region. For the canton of Fribourg the road to official bilingualism was a complicated one, with plenty of detours.
Since the early days, there have been various shifts. At first, German was the language used by the government (1483-1798).
Then between 1798 and 1856,French and German alternated.
From 1857 on, both languages have had official status in Fribourg, but until 1990 only French was legally binding. Since 1991 both languages can be used for a binding contract.
Only the two north/northeast districts of the canton (of a total of seven), are predominantly German- speaking. It's more likely that residents of those districts learn and speak French, than residents of French-speaking districts learn German. (A possible reason? Many French speakers may be reluctant to learn Swiss-German.)
At this time, around 63% of the about 300,000 people in the canton of Fribourg speak French, 21% speak German, and close to 4 % speak Italian (which is not an official language in the canton).
A few years ago, the “Day of Bilingualism” (Journée du bilinguisme/Tag der Zweisprachigkeit) was set for September 26 and coincides with the European Day of Languages to foster language learning and bilingualism.
In the public schools of the canton of Fribourg, students learn a second language from grade three on. In communities where German is spoken, students are encouraged to learn French as the second language, and vice versa.
Nevertheless, in spite of such efforts and policies to foster bilingualism, language differences remain a point of discussion and sometimes also of controversy.
THE CITY OF FRIBOURG
The city of Fribourg is right on the language border between French and German. About 40,000 inhabitants live within the city proper. This number increases to 60,000, if adjacent suburbs are included and to nearly 100,000 for the larger metropolitan area.
A few years ago, the completion of a new suspension bridge and the closing of the arched Zähringer Bridge diverted traffic from the neighborhood near the Cathedral and created another Fribourg landmark. (see picture)
Official city statistics mirror the language distribution of the canton as a whole. Still, it seems that there is a greater concentration of bilinguals living in the city, which may be in part because of the university.
The University of Fribourg (created in 1889) is Switzerland's only bilingual university. Both French and German are used as languages for teaching and for the administration.
In 2009, the Institute of Multilingualism was founded, which conducts research of how multilingualism affects education, the workplace, and migration.
Because the two languages intersect throughout the city, you'll find interesting signage in French, German, and also in Swiss-German dialect (which has no standard written form).
During a visit a couple of years ago, Ulrike had a tiny cameo role in a YouTube clip "We are Happy from Fribourg" by a Fribourg film maker. He used the Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" from the movie "Despicable Me 2", similar to what other Swiss cities have done. Maybe you can spot her at ~2.36 minutes into the clip, which also shows many images of Fribourg.
In fact, she was walking through the Farmer's Market where you can always find many delightful language tidbits. This time as well.
FARMER'S MARKET
On Saturday morning, Fribourg has a farmer's market that stretches from the City Hall Plaza down the Grand Rue. Vendors from the region as far as (French-speaking) Lausanne come to sell their wares. When I'm around, I spend an hour or so poking around and I always find some language learning opportunities.
Interestingly, the vegetable and fruit stands seem mostly set up by farmers that speak Swiss German.
For the first time in all the years, I saw a stand that sells snails. The “Schneckenpark” translates into French as “Élevages d'Escargots.” The above picture on the front of the stand explains both expressions: the raised, slanted boards of the snails' park.
Anotherstand advertises in typical German compound-word fashion: “HOLZBACKOFENBROT AUS BIO GETREIDE” and with the wordier French: “PAIN FAIT AU FOURNEAU DE BOIS & CEREALES BIO.” Both translate to something like “bread made with organic flour in wood-burning oven.”
Not all stands advertise bilingually. Some have signs that are only in French or only in German. When it's Swiss German, even I sometimes need the help of a local person.
Take the sign of a Swiss-German butcher: The word “Metzger” (butcher) abbreviated to “Metzg” presents no problem. But hey, how about “gglùschtig's ù säüber gmacht's”? To decode that, I had to dig deep into my Swiss-German language memory.
The word “gglùschtig's” means “tasty, a pleasure to eat” - not to be confused with the German word “lustig” (funny). I'm not sure about the double “g” and the grave accent on the “u.” Probably, it's a way to represent Swiss-German pronunciation.
The word “säüber” is as tricky as “gglùschtig's.” One could easily confuse it with the German word “sauber” (clean). But the letter combination “äü” suggests the sound of a word closer to the German “selber” (self).
The word “gmacht's” is easy and just means “made.” The suffix “-'s” (for “Gemachtes”) adds the idea of a “made” product.
So “gglùschtig's ù säüber gmacht's” would best be translated as: “tasty andhomemade (or self-made) products.”
LANGUAGE LEARNING WITH FRENCH & GERMAN SIGNS
With its medieval town center and old ramparts, the city of Fribourg is a great place to walk around and explore. When you pay attention to street signs or signs on shops and restaurants, you'll see some interesting words and language combinations.
French sign in a restaurant window: Les croûtes auf fromage
These are bread slices dipped in white wine, topped with cheese, (often also with cornichons and tomatoes) and grilled in the oven. The advertised prices and types of preparation indicate a substantial meal.
• la croûte – the rind • le fromage – the cheese
Gothard, Vacherin, and Valaisanne are local cheeses that are very popular in the region.
Street signs combining French and German.
One of the quarters of Fribourg is called “Schoenberg,” a German word meaning “beautiful mountain.” (Note that in the French spelling, Schoenberg is spelled with an “oe”, which is also an alternate spelling in German.)
One of the roads leading up to the quarter is called “Chemin du Schoenberg” (chemin – the French word for way, path.)
Not everybody loves this French specialty: Beef Tongue
German/French sign in a restaurant window: Rindszunge/Langue de Boeuf
• la langue, die Zunge - the tongue • le boeuf, das Rind - the beef • les capres/die Kapern - the capers
German speakers may notice a spelling error on the German sign: It should say "Rindszunge IN Kapernsauce".
Strolling through the city streets you'll see many signs that make you smile.
A favorite of mine is the one above the Rue des Epouses, which I described in a previous post 11 Language Clues from German and Swiss Signs. Look for item#11, if you need a translation of the French or the German, which is on the other side of the sign.
If you ever visit Fribourg and the Cathedral, or are looking for the above sign, you'll also pass by the bookshop Librairie "Bien-être" on one side, and the modern furniture store "Forme + Confort" on the other side of la Rue des Epouses.
In "Bien-être" you'll find all kinds of books (in French) about well-being, alternative medicine, etc. And - you can say hello to my sister Ingrid.
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.
The Italian Travel Memories expand on our GamesforLanguage travel-story based courses, which use the cities' real street names, places, restaurants, hotels, etc. We visited many of them ourselves and tell you a little more about each Italian city.
With this post we'll now cover the first city that our Italian traveler Marco visits on his trip through Italy. (Previous travel memories posts followed our German traveler Michael in Frankfurt, Daniel in Paris and David in Barcelona.)
The travel stories, which are the basis of our GamesforLanguage courses, use real street names, places, restaurants, hotels, etc., many of which we visited ourselves. In future blog posts, we'll provide additional details for the other cities our young travelers visit in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
Marco flies from Boston to Pisa. On the plane, he chats with a woman who sits next to him. Read and listen to the Italian Language Story: Il viaggio di Marco 1 - Sull'aereo.
Pisa is Marco's first stop in Italy, a university town with a long history, and known the world over for its Leaning Tower. Read and listen to the Italian Language Story: Il viaggio di Marco 2 - Pisa.
Visiting Pisa? Here's a short introduction to this historic Tuscan city to help start your own Italian travel memories. We'll follow Marco's discoveries in Pisa, for those of you who have done or are doing our Italian 1 course: Marco in Italia.
In our travel-story course, you learn everyday conversational language. We've added a few useful terms in Italian that will help you in your travels.
Quick Facts about Pisa
The city of Pisa is located in Tuscany, one of Italy's 20 Regions.
It lies near the mouth of the Arno River about 50 miles west of Florence and around 5 miles from the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. (Note: Italy is further divided into 96 provinces, with the city of Pisa being the capital of the Province of Pisa.)
Pisa's origins date back at least to the time of the Etruscans, 5th century B.C. Later, it became a Roman colony and rose to the status of an important port city. During the early Middle Ages, the Republic of Pisa developed into a powerful maritime nation, involved in lively trade and power struggles around the Mediterranean.
Pisa's decline was accelerated after the 15th century when the Arno River started to silt up. Now a quiet university town of around 90,000 inhabitants, the city of Pisa is renowned for its art and architecture.
[Please Note: PISA is also an anagram that stands for The Programme for International Student Assessment. That has nothing to do with the city. PISA is a recurrent study that measures the scholastic performance of 15-year-old pupils worldwide.]
Pisa Airport
Marco Magini is a young student who learned some Italian at home and later studied it in school. However, this will be his first visit to Italy. During his flight to Pisa, Marco chats with the flight attendant and with the woman who sits next to him - all in Italian. It's a perfect way for him to practice his language.
His flight lands at the Pisa International Airport, also named Galileo Galilei Airport, and the main airport in Tuscany. Marco continues to use his Italian as he goes through passport control. He explains to the officer why he is traveling to Italy and how long he'll stay.
Corso Italia and Ponte di Mezzo
Marco's aunt, uncle, and cousin Valeria live on Corso Italia, which leads through the city center, from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II to near Ponte di Mezzo.(see picture)
If you're in Pisa at the end of June, you could watch a traditional spectacle, the Battle of the Bridge (called "Gioco del Ponte") which takes place on the Ponte di Mezzo. Two teams battle it out: the Mezzogiorno (the neighborhoods south of the Arno) against the Tramontana (the neighborhoods north of the Arno). It's Pisa's most important annual event. (Find more information HERE .)
The centrally located Ponte di Mezzo takes you over the Arno River to the other side of the city. Standing on the bridge, you get a stunning view of the river bank and the shops and buildings there.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• la città - the city • la bocca - the mouth (of a river) • mezzo - central, half, halfway • il gioco - the game • il mezzogiorno - the south, midday, noon • la tramontana - the north, north wind
Travel Memories in la Piazza dei Miracoli
No Italian travel tips about Pisa without the Leanin Tower! It's just a 15-minute walk from Ponte di Mezzo to the Piazza dei Miracoli (also called Campo dei Miracoli).
The Piazza dei Miracoli includes a number of magnificent buildings: The Cathedral (begun in 1063), the Baptistry (built between 1153-1284), the Campo Santo cemetery (started in 1278), and the Leaning Tower (completed in 1350). The buildings combine Moorish elements (arabesques) with Romanesque colons and spiky Gothic niches and pinnacles.
Apparently all of the buildings on the Piazza dei Miracoli lean to some extent (which you can see on the picture above). They're constructed on soft soil composed of mud, sand and clay, which started settling soon after building began.
Because of its height, the Tower was most in danger of eventual collapse. It was closed to the public from 1990 to 2001, as an international team of engineers found a way decrease the lean and to stabilize the tower.
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• la passeggiata - a walk, stroll • 15 minuti a piedi - a 15 minute walk • l'edificio - the building • il campo - the field • il duomo - the cathedral • la torre - the tower • pendente - leaning • il campanile - the bell tower • la terra - the soil, earth
Borgo Stretto
On the way back to Corso Italia, Marco and his cousin Valeria stop at Borgo Stretto, a picturesque street with shops, bistros, and cafés, on the northern side of the Arno. There, Marco buys a travel guide.
Afterwards, they go to a café for an Italian-style coffee and pastry: Marco orders "un macchiato," Valeria "un cappucino," and they both have "una crema di mascarpone con i cantuccini." (And, if you are like us: Many travel memories come back with the food or drinks, we tried while there.)
Useful Italian Vocabulary
• il borgo - the borough, district (in a town), village • stretto - narrow, tightly bound • la strada - the street • i negozi - the shops • una guida turistica - a travel guide • un macchiato - an espresso with a "stain" of milk • macchiare - to stain, add a splash (of sth) • crema di mascarpone - dessert made of Italian cream cheese • cantuccini - twice-baked almond cookies, biscotti
Other Places to visit in Pisa
Piazza dei Cavalieri (Knights' Square): Historicallythe headquarters of the Order of Knights of St. Stephen, the square is located in Pisa's student quarter.
Banks of the Arno: A walking tour along one of the banks of the Arno River is especially beautiful in early evening.
Mural "Tuttomondo" by the artist Keith Harding: 1989, painted on the back facade of the church of St. Anthony. It shows 30 characters put together like a puzzle, each one representing an aspect of the world in peace.
Museo delle Navi Antiche (Museum of Ancient Ships): Archeological museum of ancient ships with nine well-preserved Roman ships, discovered during an excavation in 1998.
Marco's Next Stop
From Pisa, Michael takes the train to Florence. There he gets together with a friend he had met in Boston.
Have you been to Pisa and have more travel memories and suggestions? We'd love to hear from you! Register, or log in again and continue with the Italian 1 course.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's 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 right here!
It's been five years since we went live with our GamesforLanguage site. It's time to step back a little and have a look at how "fun and effective" our games for language learning really are.
GamesforLanguage started out as an experiment and family project: A college language teacher and language course writer/editor, a retired engineer/consultant, a computer programmer (our son) and his graphic designer wife put an idea into action:
Listen, read and repeat story dialogues, learn and practice vocabulary with simple interactive games.
We get feed-back that our games are "fun." But how effective are they for learning the 4 language skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing? And how much new vocabulary does a player learn and remember? We'll take a stab at some answers below.
WHO CAN BEST LEARN WITH GAMESFORLANGUAGE?
Language learners are a varied group of people. Players that come to our site (and have told us) range from 14 to 80 years old and come from diverse backgrounds. Some already know other languages, others are learning their first foreign language. And, some are not native speakers of English, but seek to improve their knowledge of English while learning French, Italian, German, or Spanish.
We have players of our courses that come back again and again, schools that have their classes practice with us, and learners that systematically go through all our Quick Games.
We also have users that try us a for a bit and then move on.True Novices may find the entry into and progression through GamesforLanguage a bit hard.
Learners who've had some contact with the language before (in school or college,on travels, through self-study) seem to do well.
They want to pick up the language again, practice vocabulary in an engaging way, and improve their listening and speaking skills. (The general range of our users is from beginner to low intermediate; in the Common European European Framework of Reference for Languages that means: A1, A2, B1.)
For adults, learning a language is more about persistence than cramming. We generally recommend that a learner do only ONE NEW lesson (Scene) per day and redo earlier Scenes or Games that have less than a 100% score.
Each of the Story-Courses teaches over 700 new words. Learners that practice fairly regularly and like the game aspect appear to make good progress.
But what kind of learning goes on, and progress in what?
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
GamesforLanguage provides useful tools for building listening comprehension. This may indeed be our strongest feature. We have audio for everything, from individual words, to phrases, to the initial conversations at the beginning and end of the lessons (Scenes).
When training to listen, our brains go into gear to find sound patterns. The more you listen, the better you start noticing the patterns.
You begin to hear what clusters of sound are typical for the language you're learning. You start to notice what sounds go together to make words, where words start and end, where sentences begin and finish.
It's important to hear individual words in isolation, as well as hearing them in the stream of phrases and sentences. When people speak rapidly, the sounds of individual words get "swallowed up", sounds change or simply get lost.
A goal is to understand the meaning of the sounds you hear, which happens bestwhen you get comprehensible input. Part of that is becoming aware of meaningful grammatical patterns. Are things happening now, or did they happen some time in the past? Is the statement a negation? A question, a request, an opinion?
There are various ways to practice listening with GamesforLanguage. Once you've gone through a Level (6 lessons), you can listen to the Podcast. You'll understand most of it as you've already practiced all the words and sentences. So now you can close your eyes and just listen. This is a powerful way to build listening skills.
Or if you also want to read what is being said, go back and play just the conversations, one after the other. You don't automatically get translations, but you can check, if necessary.
SPEAKING
You won't become fluent just by using GamesforLanguage. Well, no online program can make you talk like a native. To become a fluent conversationalist, you have to SPEAK with live partners, often, and about a variety of topics.
But GamesforLanguage does give you the tools to get started, to help you work on your pronunciation by having you SAY and INTERNALIZE phrases and sentences you can use in daily life.
You're encouraged to repeat everything OUT LOUD, every word, phrase, and sentence. By imitating the pronunciation of the speakers, you begin to attune your ear and to work your mouth to make the right sounds.
The clue really is to speak out loud, to repeat, and to repeat again. Sure, there are many ways to learn vocabulary - from using flashcard apps to writing out your own flashcards. These are good ways to review new words on the go, whenever you have a few minutes.
But to practice speaking, you have to schedule some quiet time for yourself and to use that to really focus on the sounds you're making!
The best tool for learning to speak may be finding a way to record your voice. Then playing back what you've said. You can do this with the words and sentences of the travel-story, then play back each sentence.
One of our young users learning Italian complained that she "hated to hear" her own voice. We agree, it does take getting used to hearing one's own voice, especially in another language.
It's worth overcoming your reluctance. You can improve your spoken language noticeably, just by spending 20 minutes, recording your own voice and playing it back. For example, do a sentence five, six times, and try to capture the melody of what's being said rather than saying each word distinctly, etc. To boot, close your eyes while you listen and talk. It really helps.
READING
Since everything is in written form, GamesforLanguage gives learners a way to start connecting sound to spelling.
With time, you'll start noticing patterns in how words are spelled in relation to their sound. That's just a start, though. Next, you'll need to find a way to continue to read texts that are increasingly challenging.
Learning to read in a foreign language is a wonderful achievement. It's a way to learn a ton of vocabulary. Once you know the written language, you have access to many resources in the form of books, stories, articles, comments, letters/emails etc. printed or online.
Most importantly, you can now chose, what really interests you, a key for staying engaged and motivated.In many programs, vocabulary is taught in groups of topics: Greetings, food animals, body parts, professions, etc. Some of our Quick Games do that as well.
But GamesforLanguage introduces words and phrases mostly in context by using a STORY. It's a different way and interesting way of getting into a language.
While it's important to learn specific vocabulary, we've always found that we remember words, phrases, and sentences better when we hear them in the context of a conversation or a story. That's why our lessons are, in fact, Scenes of an ongoing travel story. (Our German 2 course "Blüten in Berlin?" is a mystery-story sequel to the German 1 travel-story.)
WRITING
To augment GamesforLanguage's short writing games, we recommend that you keep a notebook on the side or create your own written flashcards with phrases and sentences.
The short writing game we have in each lesson is a fun and easy way to get started with spelling.
Two of our games - Word Invader and Shootout - ask the learner to build sentences word by word.
These require the player to choose the correct grammatical form for each word, such as feminine vs. masculine, the verb with the right personal ending, a present or past tense form, subject or object form, etc.
When playing, you also practice word order. Some sentences in other languages follow the English, many do not. German is a case in point, but Romance languages also have their word-order idiosyncrasies.
MEMORIZATION
Programs with Spaced Repetition Systems (SRSs) have become very popular. An algorithm keeps track of the words you learn and the mistakes you make.
You're asked to recall the words at a specific time. The goal is to get the words into your long-term memory.
GamesforLanguage does not (yet) have an SRS. We do have several memorization and built-in recall games, but the spacing is not personalized.
To really memorize new words, you have to do more than just play through a game once or twice. You have to make new words your own and start using them actively.
The vocabulary of our early lessons is on Quizlet, for those who like to practice vocabulary more intensively.
Another good method for remembering new words is to write them out (either in a notebook or on small flashcards).
In "Fluent Forever," Gabriel Wyner suggests that by writing out your own flashcards, you'll have a much easier time remembering words. He also says that he reviews his flashcards, in increasing intervals, for a full year before he stops completely. Even Polyglots need to review multiple times.
PARTNER SITES
We know that no program can be everything to everyone. We also use other sites to learn and practice our languages. With some sites we have established partnershiparrangements.
With other free sites like Lingohut we sometimes share blog posts and tips. Our revenue-share arrangements with selected fee-for-service sites or apps, which we mention in our Dictionary and Quick Games, give us a (small) benefit. They help keep our site otherwise ad-free and provide our users with learning options that we use and like ourselves.
PAST AND FUTURE GAMES FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
GamesforLanguage is a labor of love and totally free. For us, working on the site is a way to learn, discover, and do what we enjoy. It keeps us in touch with new insights about how adults learn languages that we can share with others.
Right from the beginning, we've been working with a wonderful team of native-speaker collaborators.
Since our early days, we've added a language-learning Blog that now has bi-monthly posts, as well as Podcasts of the stories, and over 200 Quick Language Games.
We've also continuously tweaked our Travel-Story Courses following input from users.
We decided early on to forgo the development of a GamesforLanguage app. Instead, we're relying on the increasing availability of free WiFi and the mobile-friendly design of our web-based program. And, we'll continue to add new content.
And while we're always thinking about ways to enhance language learning, we also believe that Gabriel Wyner is correct when he notes in "Fluent Forever":
"No one can give you a language; you have to take it yourself. You are rewiring your brain. To succeed, you need to actively participate. Each word in your language needs to become your word, each grammar rule your grammar rule."
We hope that our GamesforLanguage site is a fun and useful resource for anyone who wants to learn and practice French, German, Italian, and Spanish for free. We always welcome feedback and suggestions for improving and expanding our site, so leave a comment right here!
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.
In an earlier post, I wrote about Dutch Canal Boating. After a fun trip around Dutch rivers and canals, we said goodbye to our American friends. We then began the next stage of our European travels.
In the Dutch city of Utrecht, we boarded one of the fabulous European Intercity trains. It took us through Cologne and along the Rhine River to Basel. There we changed to a regional train.
On previous train trips we had always regretted that we could not access our website or google sights we passed by (without depleting our phone data allotments!) This time we still had our Webspot pocket WIFI we had rented for canal cruising.
We were also able to follow our train route on the iPad map and find information about the various castles we passed along the Rhine.
In Basel, the Rhine bends sharply to the east and for long stretches makes a natural border between Germany and Switzerland.
Initially, the train tracks follow the Rhine River Valley. At dusk we passed the well-known “Rheinfall of Schaffhausen” - the waterfalls of the Rhine at the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. (German students, don't forget to note the spelling of “Rheinfall” versus “Reinfall”! The latter means “letdown, failure, flop, disaster.” It is often used in wordplays with its sound-alike cousin.)
Überlingen at Lake Constance
Our destination that day was the city of Überlingen, located on one of the two major arms of the "Bodensee", (Lake Constance). (In Überlingen we met up with my sister, who had come from Switzerland.)
I had last been in Überlingen as a young boy with my parents. And while there was little that I recognized from that time, I vividly remembered climbing the bell tower of the St. Nikolaus Cathedral with my father. (see picture) As we neared the top, the huge bells suddenly started to ring, scaring me both with their powerful sounds and the vibrations they generated in the tower.
A good part of the city, including our hotel, is located on a sandstone cliff overlooking the lake. The 100 steps of the “Teufelstreppe” (Devil's Stairs) made it less than a 10 minute walk down to the lake. There, we found a “Promenade,” a wide walkway along the lake, leading to the town center with its restaurants, cafés, ship wharves, etc.
We were told that Überlingen has become one of Germany's favorite retirement destinations. That also makes it on of the oldest cities in Germany (in reference to the age of its inhabitants). The “seniors” we saw strolling down the Promenade, sitting in cafés, riding their bikes, or waiting to board a ship, all looked fit and active to us. (see picture)
While we were sitting in one of the cafés, we were surprised to see many bikers board a ship. We found out that there are several bicycle organization that organize tours along the “Bodensee-Radweg” (Lake Constance-bicycle path). It calls itself “Europa's beliebtester Radweg” (Europe's favorite bicycle path).
We often took advantage of the wonderful, warm fall weather and enjoyed people-watching while sitting in one of the many outside restaurants. There, we couldn't help but overhear conversations in various German dialects spoken at nearby tables.
Some German Dialects
Überlingen is located in Baden-Württemberg, the third-largest German state, which has close to 11 million in habitants. Stuttgart is its capital and largest city.
Two distinct dialects are spoken in the state, with various variants: the Alemannic dialect of Swabian and Franconian. Swabian is spoken in the southern part of Baden-Württemberg, up to the border of the neighboring state, Bavaria. Franconian is spoken in the west/northwest along the Rhine including in Mannheim and Heidelberg.
[Note also: The Swiss German language is another variant of the Alemannic dialect. And, Franconian can also be heard in the northern parts of Bavaria [Germany's largest state], around Nuremberg, Bamberg, etc. The most recognizable dialect of the state of Bavaria is Austro-Bavarian, spoken in the southeast of the state and reaching beyond the border into Austria in a continuum of local and regional variants.]
We also heard the very distinct Saxon dialects from regions around Leipzig and Dresden.
And how could I forget the Hessian dialect, spoken around Frankfurt and Bad Nauheim (the city where I spent most of my school years, and subject of an earlier post: Where “Bad” does not mean “bad”...)
You can see the various German dialects on the chart.
Der Bodensee
The Bodensee, or Lake Constance is thelargest lake in Germany and Austria. It is only a little smaller than Lake Geneva, Europe's largest lake, located on the border of Switzerland and France.
Lake Constance is also the huge water reservoir which feeds the Rhine, the second longest European river after the Danube.
The Rhine River begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, enters Lake Constance at its eastern Swiss/Austrian border and then leaves it again near Konstanz from the Lower Lake. (Note: It's the town of Konstanz/Constance which gave the Bodensee its English name.)
I have fond memories of the Bodensee, where I started first grade in the town of Friedrichshafen. It was in there that Ferdinand von Zeppelin established the first factory to build his famous dirigibles, the Zeppelins, around 1900. I remember going fishing on the lake with my grandfather.
Later, a sailing trip on the lake with my father, as we ghosted by the Mainau(see picture) at night, made me fall in love with sailing. On clear days you can see the Alps in the background, as in this photo.
This time, Ulrike and I took advantage of sunny weather and took several trips with the Bodensee's “Weiße Flotte,” the White Fleet of motor ships, with which you can explore the lake.
There are also two car ferries to take you across the lake: (1) Between Meersburg and Constance and (2) Between Friedrichshafen and Romanhorn (Switzerland). On this Bodensee-Schifffahrt site – yes, the word is spelled with three “f's” - you can download the “Fahrplan” (schedule) for the various seasons.
Our first lake trip took us to the Island of Mainau.
The Mainau
I visited the island first as a young teenager and remember that Iwas fascinated by its history. The island has changed owners many times over the centuries.In early years, it belonged to the Order of Teutonic Knights. Then, after falling into private hands, it was purchased in 1853 by Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden to serve as a summer palace.
Later, through inheritance, the island fell to the Swedish Prince Wilhelm, who in 1932, gave it to his only son, Lennart Bernadotte. He then owned it until 1974, when he transferred it to a foundation.
Currently, Lennart's oldest daughter Sonja and her brother Björn Bernadotte are managing the property. The island is a flowering paradise. Over 30,000 rose bushes of more than 1,200 varieties grow there, and many other kinds of flowers.
We were there at the time of a dahlia exhibition. Walking through the gardens, we saw stunning arrangements by local garden shops, which where competing for the exhibition honor roll.
The island attracts more than 1 million visitors a year and it serves as a favorite destination for weddings.
Another car trip took took us to the town of Meersburg.
Meersburg
Meersburg is located on the eastern shore of Lake Constance, at the midpoint between Überlingen and Friedrichshafen. We visited the Old Castle, which towers over the town, and learned that it is still the oldest inhabited fortress in Germany. (There is also a Baroque New Castle.)
The guide, dressed in a medieval costume, took us through the part of the castle that is open to the public and now a museum. It included the Knight's Hall (see picture), the Arm's Hall, the dungeon, etc.
She told us much about the castle's history and the various legends surrounding it. The castle dates back to the 7th century and the Merovigians under King Dagobert I.
In 1268, it became the seat of the Bishop of Constance until thebishops built the New Castle at the beginning of the 18th century.The Old Castle then came under the control of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The collector and business man Joseph von Laßberg purchased it in 1838.
For German literature enthusiasts, the castle is also noteworthy as the sister of Laßberg's wife, the famous poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, lived there the last 8 years of her life.
In 1877, Karl Mayer von Mayerfels purchased the castle and established the Medieval Museum. His descendants still live in the building during the summer months.
As in many of the towns along the Bodensee, there is a Promenade along the lake with pleasant cafés and restaurants. The small streets and squares bustle with boutiques, shops, and street merchants.
We just happened pass through when grapes were unloaded at the local winery. That was a colorful spectacle.
Other Sights along the Bodensee
There are many other places along the Bodensee that are worth a visit. I still remember the little town of Unteruhldingen where I visited the“Pfahlbaumuseum”(Stilt-Hause Museum) during my childhood. The stories the guides told us at the time were fascinating
This time, we did not visit the rebuilt village, but we could see the stilt houses from the ship as we docked (see picture). I've already mentioned Friedrichshafen. Wile more of an industrial city (heavily bombarded during World War II because of its airplane and bomb factories), the modern Dornier aerospace museumshows the various Dornier airplane models, engines, satellites, and products of the Airbus Group.
The historic town of Lindau is located on a small island connected by a dam to a strip of land that allows Bavaria access to Lake Constance. The Lindau harbor entrance with the light house and its Bavarian Lion statue (see picture) is a beautiful sight. I remember it well from my youth when we entered or left the harbor on one of the white ships.
Traveling just a few miles further southeast, you'll enter Austria and will have reached the end of the lake in Bregenz, the capital of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
If you are an opera lover and happen to be there during the months of July and August, be sure not to miss the Bregenzer Festspiele. Most memorable will certainly be a performance on a floating stage in the open-air amphitheater. (But be sure to reserve your tickets early!)
On the other side of the lake, right on the border to Switzerland, lies Konstanz(Constance), a lively university town and for over 1200 years the seat of Catholic bishops.(See photo of Constance, with aview of the "Untersee" and continuation of the Rhine) The city has an interesting history.
Konstanz was refused entrance into the Swiss Confederacy in 1460, then joined the Swabian league and became part of the German Empire in 1871.
The city avoided being bombed during World War II by a clever ruse – it left the lights on and allied bombers could not distinguish it from neighboring Swiss towns. The large and well-preserved “Altstadt” (Old town) is dominated by the “Münster” (Cathedral).
Our stay in Überlingen and our various excursions along the lake brought back many vivid memories from my childhood and later vacations at the Bodensee. We can see why this region has become a favorite place in Germany for retirees. Austria and Switzerland are only a boat ride away. The cultural offerings in the nearby towns and cities are amazing. There are many things to see and do in each of the seasons.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
Paul Pimsleur developed his language learning method over 50 years ago. And, if you read on, you'll understand why taking a look at Pimsleur Unlimited is feeling a little bit like "back to the future" for me.
If you've ever used Pimsleur audio lessons for learning a language, you'll know how deeply the sound of words and phrases embed themselves in your brain with this program.
Young children also learn their first language through sound. They hear (and repeat) their caregivers' words, phrases, and sentences numerous times, begin to absorb the patterns of the language, and put all of this together to say what they want, and to understand others.
The Adult's Conundrum with Language Learning
When you learn a new language as an adult, you're in fact learning a new sound system, which runs parallel to the one of your native language (or to a second, or third, etc., if you speak more languages).
A problem for adults is that they may find it difficult to hear some of the sounds in a new target language. Why is that so?
Very early on, children's brains make it possible for them to hear ANY sounds of ANY language. As they focus on learning their first language, this ability narrows down to the sounds they listen to and use in their daily life.
This narrowing down of sounds heard continues through adolescence and adulthood and can be traced to the growth of our “categorical perception.” (We described this phenomenon in an earlier post: “Beyond Learning a Language Like a Child”.)
So, adults have to re-learn how to hear and produce sounds that are not part of the language(s), they use in their daily life. It can be done, but they have to focus and practice.
Before you read on, you may want to read my disclosure at the bottom. For these reasons I can't really provide an objective review of the German course(s). But by starting to use the Pimsleur Unlimited Russian app, I'm able to judge how the app works for a language that I don't know. (And I will report about my language learning experience with Russian in a subsequent post.)
What I know well: Pimsleur German Audio CDs
Obviously, I'm well familiar with the features that make a Pimsleur German audio effective:
Each unit's initial conversation has only one new word or phrase.
Later in each unit, new words are introduced in the context of what you know.
You hear and repeat new words, with backward buildup. (Singers call it "back-chaining.")
Comments on pronunciation issues are given as they come up.
A “spaced” recall schedule helps you move words from short to long-term memory.
You learn to make new combinations following a familiar pattern.
The speakers pronounce clearly, with a standard German accent.
You learn the sound system of German.
You learn basic German sound-spelling correlation in the Reading sections.
The units are downloadable. You can play them on your computer or mobile device.
But, no course can be everything to everyone. People have asked about these points:
There's no systematic introduction to grammar. There are only brief explanations.
Not enough vocabulary. Each unit introduces about 10 new words.
Most cues are in English, so you hear a lot of English.
You don't learn the spelling of the German words and phrases you hear.
Pimsleur audio does a very good job teaching the sounds and pronunciation to adult beginners. And most importantly, it asks the learner to SPEAK, REPEAT, and IMITATE. Good pronunciation can become a habit. Pimsleur gets you into the good pronunciation habit.
User comments, competition, online/app progress, etc. were certainly reasons for expanding the Pimsleur method, first to downloadable software, and now also to mobile apps.
What I'm discovering: Pimsleur Unlimited
To try out Pimsleur's "Unlimited" mobile app, I used the iOS app for German. To its traditional audio course, Pimsleur has added Flashcards, Quick Match, and Speak Easy exercises. (To date, Pimsleur has 8 languages in its Unlimited mobile edition: German, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese Mandarin, Japanese, and Russian.)
The core of the program is still the audio lesson, as described above. The added feature for "Unlimited" is that you can easily pause, skip back and skip forward when doing the audio. You can keep redoing a short (or longer) segment until you've got it.
With the Flashcards, Quick Match, and Speak Easy exercises you have new and different tools for quick language learning practice and recall of what you've learned.
Listening + Reading
Besides, you're learning to hear and understand, to say, and to READ words, phrases, and sentences in context. By learning to read beyond basic sound-spelling correlation, you're acquiring a powerful language learning tool.
Yes, children learn languages without first learning to read. By age three to three and a half, many children are highly conversant in their native language. However, they then spend years in school to learn to read and write fluently.
For adults, reading and writing in one's native language is part of daily life. When you learn new words in a foreign language, you automatically imagine how they are spelled. Without other information, you'll apply your own native-language, or other familiar spelling system.
By learning how German words sound and are written, you're training yourself to become a reader of German texts.
German is plentiful on the Internet in the form of news stories, social media streams on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (to name the most popular), ebook readers you can download, etc. Once you make a habit of reading German on a daily basis, your vocabulary will grow exponentially.
My Tricks With Russian
I'm a native speaker of German and taught college German for a number of years in the U.S. Right now I'm learning Russian from scratch with Pimsleur Unlimited. In general, my tricks for using the program with Russian are also applicable for German, or any other language. (I'm planning a more detailed review of Pimleur's Unlimited Russian for later.)
Whenever I start with a new online program or app, it takes me a couple of weeks to get into it and figure out ways I can optimize the resource.
The Pimsleur Unlimited mobile app is very easy to navigate, so you can hop around. Besides learning daily with new material, I go back and review. I love it that you can pick and choose what chunks to redo.
I go back a lot and replay parts of the course. For example, I replay the five last conversations, one after the other, just the conversations. Or I listen to one conversation again and again, until I've memorized it.
I replay an earlier Quick Match or Speak Easy, or several of them in a row.
A small notebook for each language is a constant companion for me. In it, I write down words and phrases, as well as brief grammar explanations that come up.
Even if I never check back to those particular notes, just the act of writing something out by hand, helps me to remember better. Writing out also makes me literate right from the beginning and teaches me the new spelling system as I go along.
From time to time during the day, I recall in my mind - without the app - the words or phrases I learned the day before. There always are a few moments of down time to do this. My little notebook helps me if I need a prompt.
I certainly follow Paul Pimsleur's Golden Rule for Success #4: "Daily exposure to the language is critical to your success, but don’t attempt to do more than one 30-minute Audio Lesson per day. You may repeat a lesson more than once if you find it helpful." (You'll find these rules in the downloadable PDF of Pimsleur Unlimited User Guide, see screenshot above.)
How Fast Can You Learn German (or Russian)?
Learning a language takes time and effort. (Whew, how many times have I said this in my life?) Becoming fluent in a new language as an adult cannot happen just like that in 10 days. Three months of total immersion, with an excellent tutor on the side, may do it. At least that was my experience when I learned Dutch, and later English.
Learning a language as an adult with a job, a family, and a social life means you have to squeeze language learning in whenever you can. And you have to keep your motivation up.
With Pimsleur you can get a good start and keep going. Most of all, you'll build some confidence in speaking. For many, having the courage to speak in a new language is the hardest part.
As you need them, add other resources, such as a basic grammar book (to figure out what some of the underlying patterns are), podcasts or audio books (to learn listening to rapid German), a browser extension, such as Lingua.ly (to help you read many different types of texts), or a flashcard program, such as Memrise (to practice various types of vocabulary).
Finding a language exchange partner, or a tutor via Skype can also be a powerful motivator. If you can, travel to a country or region where the language is spoken.
Putting in the effort is really worth it. Most of all, have fun! Viel Spaß!
Let us know your comments 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,Twitterand 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, 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.
Words are important building blocks of languages. Without knowing them you cannot achieve language fluency in any new language you are learning.
So it's no surprise that people often ask: How many words do I need to know to become conversationally fluent?
This question comes without a precise answer, because it depends on the language, and to an extent on your life situation, your personal, and professional interests.
Still, there are estimates. For example, the linguist and polyglot Alexander Argüelles apparently believes that the 2000 most frequent words are those that let you express everything you could possibly want to say, although often by awkward circumlocutions.
A Lingholic blog post suggests: "When you learn 90-95 % of commonly used words, you'll understand practically all everyday conversations. The last 5-10% you'll be able to guess just from the context."
Then looking at the size of foreign dictionaries and the claims of a number of studies, the post notes: “A vocabulary of about 3000 words (not counting for inflections, plurals, etc.), then, would be the number necessary to efficiently learn from context with unsimplified text.”
Of course, having a precise number is nice. But, how do I know how many words I've learned? Perhaps the reverse is true: When I understand most of everyday conversations and texts in a foreign language, I probably know between 2000 and 3000 words.
Knowing frequently-used words is essential and will help you understand, as does the context in which you're having the conversation. And yes, knowing at least some of the 13 body parts, shown on this drawing above, in your target language will be useful. You'll certainly come across many of them in your studies.
But if you're learning a new language, you've probably realized that “communicating,” i.e. participating in a conversation, is not that easy, even if you've practiced tons of words: You have to be able to LISTEN and COMPREHEND and then also to SPEAK.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Listening comprehension is learned with what the well-known linguist Stephen Krashen calls listening to“comprehensible input.” A lot of it.
Real conversations are often unpredictable in content. So listening to various kinds of topics you're interested in will help prepare you. Withtime, you'll start noticing and assimilating certain language patterns, even if there's a great variety in vocabulary.
Also, when you first start listening it will appear that the sound stream goes too fast. It's an experience most language learners share. I still remember arriving in Italy some years ago. Even after having completed three Levels of the Pimsleur Italian audio program (90 lessons), I could not distinguish individual words while watching Italian TV.
After several weeks, the rapid-fire Italian seemed to slow down for me. I was more and more able to distinguish individual words, then sentences, and finally to understand the context and meaning.
If you're a novice practicing listening comprehension, start out slow, with individual words, phrases, then sentences. Short audio stories are a good next step. Make sure you know the meaning of what's being said.
For the more popular languages, there now are free podcasts and YouTube videos available. Many of the free or fee-based online language programs have podcasts or videos as well (including GamesforLanguage).
LEARNING WORD ORDER and GRAMMAR FORMS
When you learn a foreign language, you're learning how to combine words in a new way that is meaningful in your new language. In other words, you're learning a second (or third, etc.) word-order system.
You're also learning grammar forms that don't exist in your own language. In English, you don't have noun gender, for example. French, Spanish, and Italian have two: masculine and feminine, German has three: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Or, the language you're learning has a different way of forming a question. A case in point: French has three ways to ask a question, and none of them follow the pattern of English. That means you're learning two different grammar systems that your brain will alternate between.
Dealing with two (or more) grammar systems makes a teenager or adult different from young children learning their first language. Between the ages of two and three or so, toddlers go from one- or two-word “sentences” to quite sophisticated ways of asking questions, saying what they want, telling you what they saw, repeating what they heard, teasing you, etc.
Despite some hits and misses, children seem to catch on quickly which words go into what order, and what grammar forms to use. Most amazingly, often what they say are new combinations, and not just sentences they've heard and are repeating. Children are able to do that because of their brain's powerful “learning mechanisms,” which allow them to assimilate patterns of usage though listening.
Pattern learning also holds for adults learning other languages. The more we're exposed to the patterns of usage of a language, the better we'll acquire them. However, compared to children learning their native language(s), adults' exposure to a new language - in a class, online, reading, or listening - is typically more limited. (Unless, you're “immersed” in the language in the country or community where it is spoken, etc.)
For becoming conversationally fluent, you need to develop two skills: understand what's being said and create speech that is meaningful and relevant.
READING
You don't directly need reading for becoming conversationally fluent. Children learn to speak in sentences years before they learn how to write them.
And in many countries there are still adults who can't read or write. In fact, I was shocked to read the following, when googling for “U.S. illiteracy rate”: “According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 21 percent of adults in the United States (about 43 million) fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category.” [April 29, 2020] Other sites give much of the same statistics.
Adults don't NEED reading to become conversationally fluent. But for most, reading is still the most practical way to accelerate their learning in class, with exercises and apps, or with online programs.
Furthermore, as soon as you're able to read news articles, blog posts, even books in your new language, you have several potential benefits: • For one, reading is another way to assimilate the word-order and grammar patterns of a language. • Also, reading will expand your vocabulary and teach you how to guess meaning from context. • Finally, by reading you acquire ideas and facts about topics you want to talk about. Everyday conversations don't stop at questions such as “Where are you from?” “What work do you do?” They are also very much about ideas, events, and if you're brave, about history and politics.
SPEAKING
I very much like the motto of the late Dartmouth Professor John Rassias, a effective promoter of the immersion teaching method: “Don't learn to speak a language, speak to learn it.” Speaking fluently can only be learned by actually speaking.
You won't learn to speak automatically just by doing lots of reading or listening. Yes, both will expose you to the characteristic word-order and grammar patterns of the language. Listening will train your ear to the language's sounds, which is essential when the sounds are quite different from your native language.
But, speaking a foreign language involves transforming your thoughts into specific sounds by training your vocal chords and moving your mouth in a certain way. It also means creating a stream of sounds that has the particular rhythm, pitch, and intonation, etc. of the language.
All of that has to be practiced aloud, typically by imitating native speakers. A teacher or tutor will be able to correct your pronunciation and point out different ways the tongue or mouth can produce the desired sounds.
Apps or online programs that have recording features are quite effective for improving your pronunciation. By playing back your own recordings and hearing how you sound next to the native speaker, you can work on making changes.
As a novice, start out slowly. Listen and repeat as often as you can. Don't be discouraged when you hear yourself for the first time. Memorize conversations, even act them out, mimic the native speakers – have fun sounding like a native!
FROM REPETITION to LANGUAGE FLUENCY
It's very hard to have a genuine conversation just with sentences that you've memorized. So how does one progress from a "low intermediate" level - where you canask and answer basic questions -to speaking freely about everyday topics? Certainly, repeating words and sentences aloud, and learning them by rote are essential techniques for a beginning learner.
But then, conversations with friends or exchange-partners who are native speakers, or a tutor who only uses the target language are the best way to improve your language fluency and conversational skills in your target language.
Talking with someone is a complicated back and forth that creates a context for words and sentences. With talking come all kinds of “filler words and sounds” that are normal for a casual conversation.
Participating often in such open-ended conversations will expose you again and again to the typical patterns of the language you're learning and prompt you to use these patterns yourself. So yes, learning 90-95% of words commonly used is an excellent language learning goal. And if you learn them in context, rather than as words in a list, you'll be building conversational skills.
Even if you understand all the words, you still have to decided whether someone is asking for something or telling you what you should do. You have to figure out how to formulate a question, express a reasoned opinion, or how to comment to a fast-moving conversation of your friends or family.
Getting to that level of fluency takes more than just words, it also takes much listening and many conversations on a variety of topics. And it takes friends and conversation partners to practice with.
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.
Postscript: A comment by a Reddit reader (where the Post had been listed) prompted us to add a section "Learning Vocabulary" in a revised version which was published by Lingohut as Learning Words and More for Language Fluency.
Setting easy goals helps you stay on track with any project. Here are 5 tips for your foreign language learning goals that you should try out.
It's crucial to keep going, especially at the beginning. And there's some good news: A survey published by the Boston Globe in 2014 showed that 76% of the people who keep their resolutions through February 1, will keep going.
You have at least a three-in-four chance to reach your language learning goal by year end. So, what should you be taking into account?
“Learning a Language isn't always easy”
Languages Around the Globe blogger Brian Powers recently pointed out in a post with the above title that “for most of us learning a language from scratch isn't always a walk in the park.”
For many language learners that may even be an understatement. Based on school experiences, some may feel that they are “just not good at learning a foreign language.” Others get discouraged when they don't progress fast enough. And some just give up because they get bored and can't stay engaged.
While you may have some strong beliefs about learning a foreign language, you should keep the following in mind: • If you were able to learn your native language, why shouldn't you be able to learn another language? • Were your expectations for fast progress unrealistic? • Couldn't you overcome boredom with more interesting and engaging methods?
Motivation
Surveys show that “keeping up the motivation” and “not enough time" are the two principal difficulties that learners listwhen learning a foreign language.
The excuse that there's “not enough time” may also hide other reasons. Most adult learners are usually quite motivated at the outset, only to realize that real progress is slow and takes more time and effort than they had anticipated.
Also, there are different levels of motivation. The need to understand and speak a new language may be different for someone who has a new job assignment and career in a foreign country, than for someone who intends to travel there for a short vacation. But “keeping up the motivation” is certainly a difficulty that cannot be underestimated.
There are few things (if any) in life we can learn half-heartedly. As children we seem to learn many things playfully. Still, it takes us quite a few years to fully acquire our first language. The same is true for complex skills such as playing an instrument or doing various sports.
One's motivation to learn is likely both genetic (“wired” for language, music, walking, running, winning, etc.) and environmental (copying, competing with, encouraged by siblings, friends, parents, teachers, etc).
As adults, the goals and challenges we set ourselves arise from various sources, family, friends, jobs, as well as our own feelings, interests, desires, fears, etc.
Being aware of our motivation for achieving a goal is often not as simple as it sounds. But for any long-term project - as learning a new language clearly is - knowing your motivation is essential.
If you want to “spark” your language learning motivation, have a look at an earlier post of ours HERE.
Engagement
What does "engagement” mean in this context? To be “engaged” implies that you do more than just attend a language class once a week, listen to a couple of CDs, take online lessons once or twice per week, or open a vocabulary app or a course book from time to time.
It means that you have been hit by the language bug and are getting involved with the new language in many different ways. Maybe at the start, you'll watch a foreign movie with subtitles or read dual-language books. Then you'll graduate to reading newspaper articles and books on topics that interest you. You'll watch TV and movies (without subtitles!), regularly listen to audios and podcasts, and meet people to talk to, either in person or online.
(Talking with native speakers is really the best way, and many believe the only way, to practice speaking and to improve your fluency.)
There are lots of ways to make language learning more interesting. If you're planning a trip to a country or region where the language is spoken, you can start learning about its culture, history and politics. If you love the country's food and wine, great – there's another entry point for making new discoveries.
Just think how engaged you are with any activities you enjoy. The more you can connect the target language with those aspects of life that are fun to you or you feel passionate about, the more engaged you'll be, and the more fuel you'll add to your motivation. If you've read this far, you may already know what my five tips are about:
Tip #1 - Know exactly, WHY you want to learn a new Language!
The reason for learning a foreign language has to be strong enough to keep you going when things get tough, as they invariably will.
It's no secret that the stronger the need, the stronger the motivation to keep learning. So take a good look at WHY you really want to make it a 2017 goal.
Write down the reasons and the benefits and attach them to your fridge or somewhere else where you can see them daily.
People's reasons are always quite personal. They differ from individual to individual: A job opportunity and/or moving to another country, a new partner or family member, exotic travel plans, etc. all will bring different urgency and time considerations with them.
Tip #2 – Determine what engages – or what bores you!
Determining what engages or what bores you is essential. This has both to do with the way you learn and with what keeps you interested.
For some,attending live language classes, being motivated by peer pressure, etc. is the way to go. Others learn well on their own, with language books, CDs/DVDs, apps, online programs or tutors.
The earlier you find ways to connect your learning and practicing method with your areas of interest, the better. That's also why the first few months of learning will be the hardest. Without knowing the language basics and having sufficient vocabulary, your choices will be more limited.
Finding the right venue or program will take some careful consideration and will also depend on #3 and #4 below.
Tip #3 – Research what's offered online and in your neighborhood
What is offered in your neighborhood or community in language learning resources will depend greatly on where you live.
In person language courses will often only be available for certain languages, but you may be able to find private tutors if you can't find any courses.
Many public libraries have language courses on CDs or DVDs, or they may have online courses for download.
Even many fee-for-service online programs have free trial offers. Take advantage of them until you find a program that's a good fit for you.
One note of caution: Don't get caught by the marketing hype. Learning a new language as an adult takes work and effort. But the right teachers and tutors can make a huge difference in how you learn. That's also true for online learning programs that keep you learning and practicing.
Take your time, if you can, and find one that keeps you going and engaged.
Tip #4 – Determine the time/resources you can commit
If you're setting a goal for this year, you may already have a deadline or a commitment. You may even have a budget and/or time allocated for learning.
If you can spend 3-4 weeks in an immersion-style course in a language school, good for you. You'll make great progress.
If you learn best in language classes and you can find one in your community, great as well. (You'll certainly want to figure out what extracurricular language activities you should add.)
If you're a self-learner with a limited budget and/or time, you should plan when and how you're going to learn.
Experience has shown that daily exposure to the target language is key: 15-20 minutes every day will be more effective than 2 hours once a week.
So, whether learners are taking classes or using CDs, DVDs, apps or online programs, they should allow for daily connection with the language they are learning.
During the early stages, this may be just learning 5-10 new words a day, playing a language game (such as GamesforLanguage offers), doing a lesson, reading a page in a book (ideally aloud), listening to a song, recording yourself reading, etc.
Later, with the basics behind you, you can plan reading online articles, books, and watching movies and videos, etc. of topics that interest you.
Tip #5 - Set some reasonable expectations
Depending on the language you're learning, basic fluency should take between 500 and 1000 hours of study.
This is according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). For further opinions, read up on a discussion on Quora.
So, unless you plan to study 10 hours a week for the easiest language, you're not likely to reach conversational fluency by the end of the year.
What about Benny Lewis' promise “Fluent in 3 months?” The answer is: if you use his single-minded approach and immersion strategies, you could get there.
And indeed, all of his techniques and hacks are very useful – IF YOU PRACTICE THEM REGULARLY AND CONSISTENTLY.
However, most of us will not be able to do so. We therefore need to tone down our expectations and set goals that we can really achieve.
Here are some realistic goals that may work for you: • Take a class and complete it, with all the required homework, etc. • Learn with an app or online course, and plan the number of lessons you want to complete each week, and the number of words you want to learn and review daily. • Read an easy novel in your target language after three or four months. • Be able to watch and understand a foreign movie without English subtitles after 9 months.
It's very easy to be too optimistic at the beginning. Don't overestimate the time you have available or are willing to commit. Start slowly and get into a learning habit. Then add practice time.
Eventually you want to do something in your target language DAILY - learn/review vocabulary, play a language game, do a course lesson, read a chapter of a book or article, listen to a podcast, watch a movie, etc. - anything that really interests and engages you.
And, if you do so, your language skills will certainly grow (as the acronym above implies!)
Learning a foreign language as an adult is a big challenge. You need to stay motivated and put in the time.
Your efforts will show best if you have regular and frequent exposure to the language. To do that, engage with the language in as many ways as you can. Start making it part of your life!
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
Besides German and French, there are two other official Swiss languages: Italian and Romansh. (See also our previous post: Language Learning: German and French in Fribourg, Switzerland)
Swiss Italian is spoken in the Canton of Ticino and in the southern part of the Canton Graubünden (see map of Ticino, left and map of Graubünden below). 
The Romansch language is spoken primarily in the southeast of Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden,where it has official status alongside German and Italian. (Besides the two spellings above, there are a number of other ways to spell the language.) Romansh is a descendant of Vulgar (or spoken) Latin. 
of Fribourg is called “Schoenberg,” a German word meaning “beautiful mountain.” (Note that in the French spelling, Schoenberg is spelled with an “oe”, which is also an alternate spelling in German.) 
the headquarters of the Order of Knights of St. Stephen, the square is located in Pisa's student quarter.
