Let’s see shall we, night school in Bracknell or cultural immersion language course in cosmopolitan Barcelona? I’ll give you a second to cogitate over that conundrum shall I? Ok it shouldn’t be the hardest decision you’ll ever have to make - with opportunities to learn languages abroad becoming better and cheaper you’d be hard pushed to justify staying in your own country to learn a foreign language these days.
Indeed, in these days of time-starved young professionals the lure of killing two birds with the one stone is sometimes just too great. So now you can take your holiday and combine it with an intensive language course. There’s still plenty of time for all of the tapas and culture you need but also the chance for some practical application, a chance to better yourself and learn valuable new skills to facilitate what other globe-trotting plans you have up your sleeve. I start by taking my own example of a few years ago - working a job in central London I was offered an opportunity to rediscover my a-level glories with a work sponsored language programme, great I thought, envisioning myself back up to the old a-level speed in a few weeks and merely months away from carefree conversation on the days political issues in my chosen language.
Not so as it turned out, the motivation for a forty minute journey across a rush-hour London seems to wane somewhat on a cold December evening and I found myself wearing my language course like a millstone around my neck for the next few months, impeding my enjoyment, and of course, my appetite to learn. Now, if I’d have swapped those trying conditions with a sun-kissed European destination then I don’t doubt the outcome would’ve been much better and I’d have found the experience a lot more rewarding, not to say vastly more educational. I am not saying that everyone would have felt like me for the duration of the course but given the opportunity to learn the language intensively in a foreign country which would you prefer?
When learning Spanish in Barcelona, for example, your whole stay becomes part of the learning experience - whether you’re in your intensive class or ordering tapa from a local bar. The concept of cultural immersion is that with so many more stimuli, the language is bound to sink in a lot quicker. Classes are much more focused and a greater emphasis is placed on conversation. The beauty of it is all you then have to do is wonder around the city to practice these new skills and phrases.
Language schools such as Babylon Idiomas offer superb courses for a variety of levels of student and at varying levels of intensity. The focus is on providing quality teaching that can then be practically applied whilst out of the classroom. Many of the schools also offer certain extra curricular activities to further enhance the cultural (and linguistic) experience.
Mike McDougall has five years experience working as a travel writer and marketeer. He is currently working to provide additional content for Babylon-idiomas, a Spanish language school with an excellent presence in Spain and Latin America.
This work is covered by a creative commons license.
The first thing I discovered upon my arrival in Caracas was that I remembered much less Spanish than I thought I did. As it had been over five years since I had taken a Spanish course I guess I really shouldn’t have been surprised right? Who can really expect to remember much from a high school course that was mediocre at best? As I tried desperately to order a simple sandwich and something to drink, I realized that if I didn’t at least attempt to learn Spanish I would most likely starve after a week or so.
How exactly does one go about learning Spanish in a Latin American country? Seems pretty easy right? Well I assure you it is not, especially when your entire day is spent speaking English. Another obstacle that I quickly encountered was the very rapid way in which everyone speaks in this city. It is amazing how a sentence containing 10 words or so can come out sounding almost like one long word. Is that what English sounds like to people who don’t speak English? It is exceedingly difficult to learn words in another language when you are unable to decipher exactly where one word ends and another begins. This process is made even harder by the fact that most people here fail to pronounce the whole word anyway. There were many words that I was convinced I knew and was using quite frequently. Imagine my dismay when I found out they had whole other syllables on the end of the word. No wonder I had been getting funny looks from people on the street and in restaurants.
I eventually came to the conclusion that an actual course was needed or even better, a private tutor of some sort. The only way I was ever going to learn Spanish was by actually sitting down and studying with someone who could answer the myriad of questions that arose everyday. Sad isn’t it? Here I sit, living in a Latin American country and I am unable to pick up the language without resorting to private lessons. Some people seem to have an ear for languages and can pick them up simply by listening, too bad I will never be one of those people.
Gregory Newell is a web author who’s written about hot to learn to speak Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish then you might be interested in reading more.
Depending on the language you want to learn there may be thousands of books, CD’s or tools out there (if you’re lucky) to help you learn the language. Don’t run out and buy anything just yet.
1. First you should do some research. Research the books, and materials best suited to your needs. How do you do that? Well the easiest way is to go online and visit the largest shopping sites that sell books, CD’s and multimedia; customers often leave feedback on items they have bought. Read the feedback and quite quickly you should be able to determine what books or materials are best suited to your needs. On the other hand, you may not need to buy anything at all. Some libraries have a foreign language section and they will let you borrow their material for free. In addition, some websites such as speakingjamaican.com can also give you a free head start in the language or dialect you want to learn. If you are a student, who is in high school or plans to go to college, (or are already in college) you can ask a teachers’ opinion on what books/materials are best suited for learning your foreign language (of choice). Students could also consider taking the foreign language, of interest, as part of their curriculum.
Another very important point to remember when learning some foreign languages is that there are dialects and forms of the language and they vary by country or by region. You should decide which dialect you want to learn to speak. Here is a simple example: a dialect from “country A” may not be understood in country B, C or D even though it is classified as the same language. On the other hand, another dialect spoken in “country E” may be understood by all other countries. What’s a common reason that the dialect of “country E” is widely understood (by other countries)? Well it may be widely understood because all or most of the movies, music or entertainment might be produced in that country (country E), therefore the dialect is widely understood in all the other countries. A foreigner wanting to learn the language might be better off learning the dialect of “country E” since it is more widely understood. Another thing to remember is that, in some foreign languages, a huge variation in dialect should not be an issue because learning the standard form of the language should ensure that you are understood by all native speakers.
Ok other tips for learning foreign languages are:
2. Listen to foreign language music and watch foreign language television, even if at first the language all sounds like “one big long word.” By watching the programs, you’ll learn new words. Some words have a way of jumping out at you and sticking with you even if you initially have no idea what they mean. With time, you can learn what these words mean by asking a native speaker, asking at school or through self study. If you keep listening to foreign music or watching foreign language television, in time the “one big word” will begin to sound like “smaller word chunks” and eventually you should be able to tell where one word begins and another ends even if you don’t understand what the word(s) mean. Later on, you can investigate their meanings.
3. Most people spend their time listening to the sounds of their native language whether it’s the news, music or by chatting with friends. That’s how you learned your native language; by listening. Spend less of your time listening to your native language and try to fill as much of your world, as possible, with the sounds of the foreign language you want to learn. You can do this by listenening to language tapes, over and over again in the car. Try to be interactive and actively participate by repeating what you hear on the tape. Repeating the words helps both with pronunciation and memorization. The key is repitition. If you take a bus or taxi, invest in an mp3 player (tip: you can fit more mp3 material on a single CD) and make your own mp3’s if possible. If mp3’s are out of the question then opt for CD’s, computer software or cassettes.
4. Try listening to foreign language tapes at home also. It’s best to use headphones because you get the full effect of a native speaker speaking into your ear. Furthermore, with headphones you hear the nuances of the language alot better. In addition, if you decide to leave the room (or go outside) the headphones will still be on your ears and the speaker will still be talking directly into your ear.
5. Alot of the above methods involve listening materials. Listening and imitating is the way you learnt your native language as a child and is therefore one of the best ways to become proficient in a new language. But there are other materials you should use to complement your rigorous listening exercises. These could include books, flash cards, computer software. Books are especially important when the language, you want to learn, does not use the English alphabet (Roman alphabet). The written word would help in instances when there are words you have difficulty pronouncing, deciphering or understanding.
6. As mentioned earlier, another aid to learning a foreign language are movies. Foreign language movies with english subtitles are preferred. If you can turn the subtitles off (as you can on many DVD titles) then you can watch the movie with and without the subtitles to test your knowledge.
7. To learn a foreign language you have to completely immerse yourself in that culture for periods of time (whether through music, movies, television or by visiting a friend who speaks the language).
8. Visiting the country where the foreign language, you want to learn, is spoken is also a very good way to learn the language. Quite logically, the longer your visit the more you will learn. If you surround yourself with others who mainly speak the foreign language then you will be forced to learn and communicate in the foreign language.
9. Some foreign languages use a different alphabet system, different phonetics and the arrangement of the letters do not always follow the A to Z formula. Therefore, by learning their alphabet, phonetics and alphabet order you’ll not only improve your pronounciation but also be able to use a dictionary.
10. In time after studying intensively, you’ll begin to ask yourself “what is the word for such and such”. At this stage a small pocket sized dictionary becomes an essential tool. With a foreign language dictionary, you’ll be able to quickly find the word, commit it to memory and satisfy your mind’s curiousity.
11. Go over the basics from time to time. Never assume or tell yourself “I already know that so I can skip it.” You may be surprised to find that by looking at things from a new perspective you’ll gain new insight on something you thought you had already mastered.
12. Take breaks when necessary but don’t stay away too long because it’s easy to forget what you have learned.
13. Friends who are native speakers of the foreign language are also an essential resource. Try to be around them especially when they are conversing with others in their native tongue. Even if you don’t understand initially you’ll be improving your listening skills. One important thing you might come to realize when learning a foreign language is that some words even though they are spelt with a certain letter, that letter may fall silent when spoken in some countries while in other countries it is pronounced. Another important thing to remember is that although a word may be spelt with a letter and that letter has a particular sound in english, in another language that same letter may have a different sound. Those are a few of the reasons why being around native speakers can help improve your foreign language skills by leaps and bounds; not to mention the cultural tips you’ll learn which a book, CD, cassette or teacher probably won’t cover. Friends are also great resources because they can give insight and help you with the meanings and usuage of words.
14. Don’t tell yourself that you are too busy to study or learn your new language. Make the time. Excuses, excuses will get you nowhere.
The author learned to speak two languages using these techniques
http://www.speakingjamaican.com
I realize that we here in the United States consider ourselves at the top rung of the educational ladder, if only for the fact that so many foreign language
students are breaking their necks to come here to both study and live English.
But, on second glance, we should not deceive ourselves. On this board, we read
one teacher complaint after another pertaining to the impossible conditions of
Asian ESL schools, while we fail to remember – or, perhaps, admit – that right
here in the good old US of A, ESL instructors are pretty much in the same leaky
boat! In fact, was it not this very realization that originally induced so many
of us to leave our country to seek better professional pastures elsewhere? On
these shores, after having met the oft-times rigid academic and certification
standards of most US ESL institutions, for the mere sake of gaining employment
experience, we’ve often found ourselves accepting as little as $12 per hour for
part-time and $15 per hour for full-time employment. That, I would guess, is not
that far above the national poverty level for … say … a family of two. But,
provided one is willing to accept the all-too-often shoddy living standards of
an underdeveloped foreign land, not to mention the gross disregard of apathetic
management sources (with a salary to match), there’s ALWAYS employment to be had
… that is, until which time one finally decides enough is enough!
In the interim, we fans of the eslteachersboard.com are literally besieged by
critiques which become sadder and more desperate by the day. We KNOW all too
well what you are suffering, folks. It’s not exactly been a picnic here on this
side of the tracks, you know. What I have trouble figuring is WHERE one might
locate any regard for an ESL instructor as a “professional,” let alone his/her
financial needs as a human being. And if we residents of this more “sanctified”
side of the Pacific are forced to utter such concerns, HOW in hell can we dare
sit in condemnation of the lesser-developed ESL situations in Asia? After all,
is it not WE whom they are attempting to emulate? WHY, in fact, should we cringe
at the discovery of dishonesty and misrepresentation over there when right here
it’s so often identical? Once you’ve realized it’s pretty much the same on
either side of the Great Ocean, it’s a small wonder WHY teachers flit between
continents in search of their educational Mecca and, in many cases, eventually
wind up frustrated enough to seek other careers.
I, for one, love the theory of English as a foreign language – especially the
preparation of students for entry into American universities for pursuit of
advanced degrees. However, it’s the reality of it all that serves to disillusion
me no end. There can be no denial that ESL is a business. However, when such an
ambition becomes the sole purpose of a school’s existence, and academic and even
human values seem scarcer to come by, it’s high time to rise up and reform the
bloody system … or leave it! I pray that I’ll not eventually be forced to opt
for the latter choice. Amen.
Love to all,
The Arrogant One
About The Author
Ellis E. Seamone is an Veteran ESL teacher with 13+ years of experience. Ellis publishes articles at the http://www.eslteachersboard.com/ (free access to ESL resumes, jobs and materials). See more articles by Ellis by visiting: http://www.eslteachersboard.com/
Spanish for Kids, Spanish for Children, Teach Kids Spanish
Kids Can Learn Spanish! Spanish for Children
I just got a call from my two year old granddaughter. She wanted to sing “Los Pollitos” to me. You can find this children’s classic in most of the collections of songs that we are recommending.
It is perfect for hand gestures. These gestures are ideal for language learning because they imprint the sense of the words as the child recites.
The text is: (translation follows)
Los pollitos dicen pÃo, pÃo, pÃo
cuando tienen hambre,
y cuando tienen frÃo.
(the kids make gesture of shivering)
La gallina busca el maÃz y el trigo;
Le da su comida,
Y le presta abrigo
(the kids make the gesture of Mom hugging her kids.)
PÃo, pÃo, pÃo
(the kids should ham it up, making a little chick face!)
Translation:
The little chicks say peep, peep, peep
when they are hungry
and when they are cold.
The chicken looks for corn and wheat;
she feeds them,
and she keeps them warmn
There are many reasons for wanting your children to learn Spanish. We want to help you find resources that will help you with Spanish for Kids.
Some parents are interested in preparing their children for life in today’s world where it is important to know more than one language. This is even more important in our hemisphere where it becomes increasingly valuable to know Spanish.
Other people think of the intellectual stimulation that learning a language provides. They think that they can give their children a an additional intellectual challenge in a painless way. Researcher in London, England have determined that learning a second language boosts brain power which remains throughout life.
Learning a language can be a source of pride and self esteem for the child who is fortunate enough to be exposed to learning outside of the classroom.
There are some parents who are concerned that their children grow up respecting the different heritages that surround them. Concerned that the nativist tradition of United States history is always present, many parents, not of a Spanish Speaking background, choose to prepare their children to accept and embrace the Hispanic culture they live alongside of.
Their reason to encourage their children to speak Spanish is based in part on the history of a previous group of Latin immigrants to the United States, the Italians.
“Some social critics were aware of the consequences of sudden assimilation. Mary McDowell, a social worker, wrote en 1904:
‘The contempt for the experiences and languages of their parents which foreign children sometimes exhibit… is doubtless due in part to the overestimation which the school places upon speaking English. This cutting into his family loyalty takes away one of the most conspicuous and valuable traits of the Italian child.’ She attributed the lawlessness of some of the immigrant children to their disrespect for their parents and therefore for all authority.”
(La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, Mangione and Morreale, p. 222)
Reflection on this same national history, and often more importantly personal experience, moves many Hispanic parents to keep their language alive in their children. They want to preserve their heritage for their children by giving them its most evocative and powerful manifestation, the language of their forebears.
Whatever your reason for wanting your children to learn Spanish, this site will provide resources to help you. You will find suggestions and experiences of others who share your interest; you will find songs and stories in Spanish that will enthuse your children with their learning task. A list of links to related sites will lead you to other resources. And you will find that the books you need for yourself and your children have been located and placed at your disposition.
¡Buena Suerte y adelante con su cometido!
Do the Parents Know Spanish?
Although most of us agree that it is a good thing for our kids to speak Spanish, most kids in the US whose parents were born in Latin American countries do not speak Spanish well.
Even if both parents speak Spanish at home, quite often the kids answer their parents in English. Look around at your Latin friends and relatives and you will see that most give up on teaching their kids to speak
Spanish. Chicano and Puerto Rican families seem to have a little better luck than Latinos from other countries with keeping Spanish alive in their barrios but even their younger generation is losing fluency in Spanish.
However, parents who want their children to speak Spanish can go against the current and set the stage for their children to grow up speaking Spanish. It is not easy. Most families fail in their resolve but it CAN be done. Take a look at our bilingual study. How to Get Your Children to Speak Your Language/¿Cómo Lograr que Sus Hijos Hablen Su Idioma? You can find it in http://www.leerespoder.com/comoeng.htm. This report will give some hints on how to improve your chances.
But it is most important for you to get your kids reading Spanish BEFORE they learn to read in English.
Don’t be afraid that it will hurt their English. Unless they are living in a closed Spanish Speaking Barrio,
their English will be perfect. They will absorb it on the playground and in the school. Your job is to keep the Spanish up!
Take a look at the fuller argument presented below for the importance of your kids learning to read FIRST in Spanish.
Finally, another idea for native speakers of Spanish: You may want to review (or study it for the first time) your Spanish. I found one reference for you. Sorry it is expensive; that’s because it is used as a textbook. But that will make it easy to use and will surely be complete. Take a look at Nuevos Mundos, Spanish for Native Speakers 2nd Edition, Workbook : Curso de espanol para estudiantes bilingues”
Whether or not the parents know Spanish will determine their strategy for exposing their children to the language. Obviously, parents who do not know the language well will not have native pronunciation.
If their children learn to read Spanish, they may not have the proper pronunciation. This is a tough issue. Some might say that pronunciation is not important for children. However, why not try to expose them to the correct values of the Spanish sounds. Parents should work on their own pronunciation to model as correctly as possible for their kids.
Nevertheless, the value of the parents’ involvement in reading and singing in Spanish with their children more than outweighs the disadvantage of the child hearing their poor pronunciation. Much of the damage can be remedied by having the child listen to as much Spanish spoken by native speakers as possible.
So, in general terms parents can fall into one of three groups:
1. those who know NO Spanish;
2. those who know enough to read, even poorly;
3. and those who can model correct pronunciation for their children. All these parents should make sure their children HEAR a lot of good Spanish but obviously those parents who know no Spanish will be more dependent on recordings for their children to listen to. Try to find some good audio resources. Besides the tapes and CDs you might buy or take out of the library don’t forget the radio and TV. All parents should expose their children to ask much passive listening of Spanish that they can. In most places there are Spanish language radio stations. TV programs from the Univision network are very widespread.
All of the above boils down to three tactics that are valid for all kinds of parents and all kinds of kids of all ages and level of Spanish………
1. Passive Listening: Everyone should keep the Spanish radio on as much as possible. Keep the radio or TV on while the childis doing other things. It has to be the sea of sound that they swim in while they are beginning their study of Spanish. The child doesn’t have to concentrate on it; they will not be listening to try to understand. After a while they won’t even hear the radio but it will be affecting them. Little by little they will begin to anticipate the rhythm of the language, even before they understand they words. They will also begin to recognize certain words.
2. Pattern Response Drills: Those parents who know some Spanish can try to run through all the permutations of the new expressions that the child learns. For example, suppose your child just learned to say. “Pedro tiene cuatro años” rather than translating from the English incorrectly, “Pedro es cuatro”. Now to make this new element of the language stick, you should go on substituting different ages and the names of different people. The child will soon be able to say comfortably, “MarÃa tiene cuatro años.” “Juan tiene ocho años.” “Yo tengo tres años.” “¿Cuántos años tienes tú?” There are many examples of these drills in most language courses but the parent can generate them herself.
3. Encouragement: Don’t correct their Spanish when they speak. Don’t interrupt the flow of their conversation. Don’t make their speaking Spanish to be another homework assignment. It should be something special, even something “secret” in your family. Kids like the mystery and intrigue of having something special of their own. Their speaking Spanish should be a joyful, non-threatening experience. If they make mistakes in their grammar, correct their errors by using the same expression correctly a few minutes after. Don’t come right back at them with the correct form or they will begin to feel conscious of their expression and choke off their freedom of expression.
also………..
The Alphabet: If your child is coming up on kindergarten age,
you have a wonderful opportunity to teach him or her how to read in Spanish BEFORE they learn the alphabet in English! Why? I will be brief, hoping that you will catch the direction of my thought (and my practice, with both my children and my grandson!)
Spanish is completely regular. They can learn the vowels in one sitting.This is how Spanish Speaking kids learn: from “abecedarios”, the same as English Speaking children used to learn from primers. If your child learns to read (even if only simple words) Spanish first, in effect you are giving them a
great head start.
You can start the child reading the simple words like Mami, comida, mesa, Papi, muñeca, carro, etc. Basically you are giving them phonics without having to buy any expensive program.
You can do them no harm because, they will have a basis of the sounds that DO hold up for English; they will have achieved the satisfaction and boost to their confidence by your enthusisastic affirmation of the achievement when they read “Mami y Papi” and other simple phrases.
As they progress in English they will still have to deal with the irregularities of this language. However, they will have learned the consonants by applying them to completely foolproof regular vowels.
I said I would be brief. I am very convinced of the value of this method. I have no scientific proof, just intuition and my own experience. To work, you have to teach the child to read the alphabet in Spanish BEFORE they begin to learn in English. If they are already learning in English, it will confuse them. But if you get there FIRST, you will do them a great favor! to see a bunch of alphabet resources for you to choose from.
Toys and Games: Of lesser importance but still a possible beakthrough for certain children could be the use of toys and games (board games and others) as a way to sneak in some fun and variety into the learning process. See if Spanish Educational Toys would be useful for your child.
Computer Programs for kids If you or your child is computer savvy or if you want to combine math or science with Spanish you may want to check out the Educational Software for Children in Spanish: Reader Rabbit, Disney, Jump Start and many more…
Some First Recitations
A long time, universal, traditional favorite is “Pinpón”
Pinpón es un muñeco,
muy guapo y de cartón
(the kids smile for “muy guapo”,
and act stiff for “de cartón”)
se lava la carita
(the kids make the gesture of washing their face)
con agua y con jabón.
Pinpón dame la mano,
(the kids reach out their hand)
que quiero ser tu amigo
(the kids make the gesture of shaking hands)
¡Pinpón, Pinpón, Pinpón!
Translation:
Pinpón is a doll,
a handsome cardboard doll.
He washes his face
with soap and water.
Pinpón give me your hand,
I want to be your friend.
Pinpón, Pinpón, Pinpón!
Another favorite of our kids was “La Mar Estaba Serena”
Kids like this one because it is easy to follow. The repetition helps them learn the relation between noun and adjective as well as the vowels in Spanish.
The same verse is repeated by using all of the vowels in turn. It begins by the parent singing, “La mar estaba serena; serena estaba la mar”. (The sea was calm; calm was the sea.) Then either the parent or one of several children taking turns shouts out, “¡con A!”, meaning, “Let’s sing it with all “a” sounds”! And you sing, “La mar astaba sarana; sarana astaba la mar.”
“¡con e”! “Le mer estebe serene; serene estebe le mer”.
“¡con i”! “Li mir istibi sirini; sirini istibi li mir”.
“¡con o”! “Lo mor ostobo sorono; sorono ostobo lo mor”.
“¡con u”! “Lu mur ustubu surunu; surunu estubu lu mur.
You’ll find the kids really like this one.
English (sic!) As A Second Language
It might be interesting to do some “reverse engineering” and look at the world of those Spanish Speakers who want to learn English. Check out http:www.leerespoder.com
Reading in Spanish for the Parents
If you want to keep up your Spanish. Try to keep reading books in Spanish on a wide range of topics, la familia, la salud, los negocios, el niño, el adolescente, etc. A good source is http://www.bookslibros.com/LibrosEnEspanol.php
Good Luck! Your Kids will thank you!
Frank Gerace Ph.D has lived and worked in Latin America on Educational and Communication Projects. He currently teaches English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He invites parents interested in helping their kids learn Spanish to visit him at: www.bookslibros.com/SpanishForNinos.htm
As every Spanish translator knows, Spanish is a diverse language and can vary among speakers, depending on the region where it is spoken. There are many different regions in the world where Spanish is spoken and translators have to know how to deal with these regional varieties in their translations.
For example, Spanish spoken in Cuba is slightly different than Spanish spoken in Spain, which is slightly different from the Spanish spoken in Mexico or the Dominican Republic.
Because of the differences that exist in the Spanish of different regions of the world, Spanish translators have to know what audience their translation is intended for. However, as good as translators can be in understanding these differences, they might not know them right off the bat all the time, and therefore rely on help and translation aids to clear up any confusion they might have. This is especially true when translating slang terms and terminology.
One of the best translation aids to have is people who are from different regions so that you can ask them their advice and opinion on word usage or terms you might run across. However, sometimes translators are unable to find someone to help them out and have to use dictionaries or other written aids to help them out.
In the case where a translator has to go to a dictionary for answers, it’s good to have a series of dictionaries with regional words in them. One of the more well-known (Chicano) Mexican Spanish dictionaries available is The Dictionary of Chicano Spanish.
This dictionary, according to the preface written by a former governor of New Mexico, “contains the special colloquial, euphemistic, slang, and commonplace expressions of the speech of Mexican-American citizens in the United States, along with the spelling and pronunciation variants common to Chicano Spanish.”
While it doesn’t contain all slang terminology specific to Mexico, it does have over 9,000 “words and expressions not usually found in standard references” and it also has variant spelling for these Chicano words and phrases. The author has also included a very useful appendix listing 650 common proverbs and sayings, as well as a bibliography that you can use to find even more resources on the topic.
The book is less than 250 pages and while the latest edition was published over 10 years ago (1995), it’s still a great book to have in your Mexican Spanish dictionary collection. Also, you can find used ones for fairly cheap on Amazon.com, which make it a bargain dictionary to have.
Clint Tustison is a Spanish <--> English translator interested in helping businesses and translators better understand the translation industry. If you’re interested in how to improve your translation business or your relationship with translation companies, check out his website at http://www.spanish-translation-help.com
What’s the key to success in learning a foreign language? Surely it’s a genuine desire to communicate with other people. I can’t think of another valid reason. That’s why in general women are better than men at learning languages. If you’re a man and you want to learn a language, I’m going to tell you why you will find it more difficult than a woman and what you can do about it.
I’m probably going to be accused of stereotyping men and women here, but time and time again studies have shown that generally, (there are always exceptions) men score higher in maths tests and women score higher in language tests. I’m not a scientist, and I don’t want to bore you with scientific detail, but my experiences as a teacher pretty much confirm the scientists’ view.
When I’m teaching a conversation class, it’s instantly obvious who are going to make the fastest progress because these are the ones who quickly get involved by asking questions. And more often than not, it’s the female members of the group that ask the most questions.
Women are simply more interested in human beings than men. They genuinely mean it when they ask “how are you?” Being wives and mothers may have something to do with it, I mean, they are conditioned by society to be the ones that care. Men, on the other hand, are less interested in people and more interested in things, notably, cars, computers, gadgets, etc.
If you are man reading this article, you have to get out of your macho cave and learn to be more interested in people. And swallow your pride when it comes to making mistakes. Women have fewer complexes about committing errors, because the important thing for them is to discover things about their interlocutors. We all learn by making mistakes, it’s a natural part of the process. Learning a language is not a competition – men sometimes see their limitations as a “defeat” so they prefer not to speak at all.
Winston Churchill once said, “jaw jaw is better than war war.” Learning to understand how other people think and what motivates them is the key to good communication, which can be even more difficult in a foreign language. So you guys, take a leaf out the girls’ book, and be more interested in the people around you!
Jon Lewis has a site about that helps students to improve their learning abilities, apprendre anglais, and a blog about learning English. The advice he offers is invaluable for anyone wishing to learn a language, not just French.
Aside from the possibility of living in Sweden or Finland (where Swedish is an official second language), or meeting someone important who knows to speak only in Swedish, you’re probably looking for other reasons to convince you to go through the trouble of learning it as a second language. After all, Swedish is not as widely used as Chinese, Spanish or English—it’s not even among the top 10 languages in the world—but knowing how to speak the language does have its perks.
If surviving in a foreign land is not enough of a reason for you, then it should be of interest that the Swedish language is one of the easiest to learn to those who fluently speak English. It is worth noting that Swedish has borrowed a lot from other, more popularly used and studied languages, such as French, German, and English, which may lend to the initial familiarity of the words to a first-time learner of the language.
Before borrowed words were included, however, Swedish has long enjoyed commonalities with most other Indo-European languages, particularly its closest kin—Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic. It is even said, that by knowing how to read in Swedish, one is also instantly able to read Danish and Norwegian text, as probably the main difference between the three languages is in the pronunciation.
Another good reason to learn Swedish, particularly if you plan to stay in Sweden for a long period of time and want to get on the native’s good side is that knowing their language will make it easier for them to open up to you, with you being a stranger to the country. Learning the native language is important if you find it important to make many friends while you’re there, as it is seen as a means of showing respect to the natives in many countries.
Convinced yet? Here’s another good reason: with enough practice and reviewing, you’ll be able to gain expertise of language rules within a year of studying Swedish. Also, even if you’re studying the language outside of Sweden, you’re sure to find others to speak in Swedish with for practice, with tens of thousands of Swedish language students enrolled at any given time. However, nothing can introduce you to the language’s melodic and expressive quality quite like a regular conversation with a native Swede. It is a language best acquired for more than just deciphering the manual of an imported car.
Ready to join the bandwagon? Before you sign up for Swedish classes, be sure to browse for aids on how to make learning a second language easier for you.
LearnMyLingo.com delivers a variety of quick language learning programs right to your desktop including Swedish and a free language learning guide, 8 ways to learn a language quickly and easily.
Based on my 15 years of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching experience, the statement “grammar teaching should be implicit, not explicit” could be argued both for and against. Whether to teach grammar as an extracted focus of ELT (English Language Teaching) or more passively as an inductive, integral topic has been the theme of countless debates on the part of institutions, professors, grammarians and language researchers for decades. Grammar is the branch of linguistics dealing with the form and structure of words or morphology, and their interrelation in sentences, called syntax. The study of grammar reveals how language works, an important aspect in both English acquisition and learning.
In the early 20th century grammarians like the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas and the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen began to describe languages and Boas’ work formed the basis of various types of American descriptive grammar study. Jespersen’s work was the fore-runner of such current approaches to linguistic theory such as Noam Chomsky’s Transformational Generative Grammar.
Chomsky, who studied structural linguistics, sought to analyze the syntax of English in a structural grammar. This led him to view grammar as a theory of language structure rather than a description of actual sentences. His idea of grammar is that it is a device for producing the structure, not of a particular language, but of the ability to produce and understand sentences in any and all languages. Since grammar is the means by which we can understand how a language “works”, a definitive study of language grammar is essential to language study.
Strictly explicit grammar study however, and even grammar-focused lessons are often not communicatively based. They can therefore be boring, cumbersome and difficult for students to assimilate. The strict teaching of grammar / structure, except with students of the Logical – Mathematical or Verbal – Linguistic multiple intelligences, can be frustrating and highly ineffective.
Grammar teaching should be implicit
In the early 20th century, Jespersen, like Boas, thought grammar should be studied by examining living speech rather than by analyzing written documents. By providing grammar in context, in an implicit manner, we can expose students to substantial doses of grammar study without alienating them to the learning of English or other foreign language. I also agree with this implicit approach of teaching grammar. The principal manner in which I accomplish this is by teaching short grammar-based sessions immediately followed by additional function-based lessons in which the new grammar / structure is applied in context.
The hypothesis is that adult language students have two distinct ways of developing skills and knowledge in a second language, acquisition and learning. Acquiring a language is “picking it up”, i.e., developing ability in a language by using it in natural, communicative situations. Learning language differs in that it is “knowing the rules” and having a conscious knowledge of grammar / structure. Adults acquire language, although usually not as easily or as well as children. Acquisition, however, is the most important means for gaining linguistic skills. A person’s first language (L1) is primarily learned in this way. This manner of developing language skills typically employs implicit grammar teaching and learning.
Grammar teaching should be explicit
This does not exclude explicit grammar-teaching entirely, however. Some basic features of English language grammar structure are illogical or dissimilar to speakers of other languages and do not readily lend themselves to being well understood, even in context. In cases where features of English grammar are diametrically opposed or in some other way radically different from the manner of expression in the student’s L1, explicit teaching may be required.
Aspects of English language grammar that may offer exceptional challenge to EFL students include use of word order, determiners (this, that, these, those, a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at, by, for, from, of), auxiliaries (do, be, have), conjunctions (but, so, however, therefore, though, although), interrogatives, intensifiers (some, any, few, more, too) and distinctions between modal verbs (can, could, would, should, may, might, must). Phrasal verbs also present considerable difficulty to Spanish speakers learning communicative English.
Some students also are logical or linguistically-biased thinkers who respond well to structured presentation of new material. Logical-Mathematical and Verbal-Linguistic intelligence learners are prime examples of those that would respond well to explicit grammar teaching in many cases.
Based on my English language teaching and on my second and third foreign language learning (L2, L3) experience, an exclusive approach using either implicit or explicit methodologies is not as effective as utilizing one or the other of these approaches as required. Although it is essential to teach elements of language and develop communicative abilities in our students, there is no one best way to introduce and provide practice in them. Young learners have more natural facility in acquisition, while adults may benefit substantially from more “formal” language learning. Learning styles and intelligence strengths are also a significant factor.
There are many generally accepted ways of introducing the sounds, structure and vocabulary of English, including colloquial forms of conversation and the four basic communication skills. Grammar provides for “communicative economy”. Grammar teaching should be implicit, or explicit, as teaching / learning conditions may dictate helping to minimize the student response teachers fear most, “Teacher, I don’t understand.”
Note: Academic references for this article are available on request.
Related language learning and teaching articles in this series available online include:
“Learning a Language: 6 Effective Ways to Use the Internet”
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=76453
“Six Quick Tricks for Learning a Language”
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=72718
“What’s the Strangest Thing you’ve Ever Eaten?”
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=81349
“What Makes a Person Intelligent?”
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=81350
Teach English in Colombia: Grappling with Grammar, Gold, Guns, and Guayaba
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=85995
Try This for Perfecting Past Tense Pronunciation Practice
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=86780
7 Steps to Better Business English: Choosing a Business English Training Program
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=81697
English Only in the EFL Classroom: Worth the Hassle?
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=89180
Prof. Larry M. Lynch has taught EFL, published ELT articles as an expert author, presented at numerous TESOL conferences and trained teachers in the USA, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Panama and Spain. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape from America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. At present he teaches at the Universidad Santiago de Cali in Cali, Colombia. To get original, exclusive articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website or information on TEFL presentations, specialized teacher training programs or conference speaking engagements contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
