May 31, 2009
Just as athletes do warm-ups before a game, those who are going into a language study session can also be served well by doing some primary exercises. While not necessary (as with athletes), it gets your juices flowing and starts you on the road to learning. When you warm up, you get yourself in the proper mindset, well before the actual lessons begin.
Whether you’re taking formal classroom courses or doing private lessons on a language software, these warm ups should serve you well.
1. Vocabulary warm-ups
Recite sentences and phrases that you have learned in the past to get you refreshed on past lessons. If today’s lesson will focus on a specific topic, such as using a language for business, try to apply the previous materials you’ve learned in business, such as imagining that you’re a crowd of peers and contemporaries in your field. Don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild.
2. Grammar warm-ups
Think about the specific grammar lessons you’ve learned in the past. If possible, listen to songs and identify the grammar constructs they use in the lyrics. If you own a book in the language, you can lift sentences from it and then try rearranging it using the grammar structures you’ve already learned.
3. Visualization
Used by many athletes and successful individuals for mental preparedness, visualization can also help you in your language learning. Try creating an image in your mind’s eye of your success this session, learning new materials and using it effectively.
May 29, 2009
When you’re marketing to a foreign audience, you’re probably aware of the need to tailor your promotion both to their language and their culture, lest risk generating less-than-optimal results. As such, we’ve been seeing more and more websites who are trying to expand their reach beyond the English-speaking world take part in marketing initiatives that use language translation and similar technologies to their advantage.
If you own a website and hoping to broaden your customer base by taking on potential buyers in far-flung countries, here are a few things you can do to get there:
1. Custom websites in the foreign language. There’s no getting around it, you’ll need a custom website in the local vernacular to appeal to those you are trying to reach. Whether you do this through a full-on language translation job or a simple update using a translation software, a website will be one investment that will pay for itself many times over.
2. Local search engines. While Google, Yahoo and MSN rule as the search engine of choice for majority of English-speaking users, many web users prefer their local counterparts to the search giants (e.g. China). If you’re angling for a piece of the action in China, for instance, you’ll need to submit your site to the local search engines to derive the best results.
3. Web communities. If you want to sell in Germany, make it a point to participate in local discussion forums and other online communities to promote your site. Don’t wait for the customers to find you. Instead, find them, pursue them and do the best you can to get your word out.
May 28, 2009
When working to expand your vocabulary, keeping a record sheet can help facilitate major leaps in your skill acquisition, giving you an easy-to-check document for seeing your improvement. Even though they may seem like extra work, they really aid a lot in mastering words and phrases.
Format
You can format your vocabulary record sheet in any way you’d like. Personally, though, I like to use an Excel sheet with three columns: one for the word or phrase, one for the meaning (in my own words) and one with the word used in a complete statement. I keep the document synced between both my phone and my home PC so that I can check it any time I’d like.
During trips or long commutes, I like to open up my vocabulary record sheet for reviewing words I’ve previously studied. I find it a nice way to refresh your vocabulary, allowing you to go through some words you probably don’t get to use very often.
They’re also a nice handy reference. When you’re practice writing or speaking in a language, you’ll usually come across words that you can’t seem to remember but are right in the tip of your tongue. Instead of opening up a dictionary or a language software, you can simply refer to your more robust vocabulary record sheet to try and find the word.
Progress
Beyond the practice help, vocabulary record sheets are a great way of keeping track of your progress in the language. The more words you can write in there, the greater your experience in the language and the higher your skill level probably is. If nothing else, it gives you a gauge of how well your learning is going.
May 27, 2009
Have you tried a language translation software lately? If you have, you’ve probably noticed how capable of results they can turn up. While not as accurate nor as poignant as custom-written translations, software-generated documents are now able to turn up readable documents that do an average job. With more developments expected of the platform in the future, it’s very likely that they’ll only get even better over time.
The question then is: will it ever improve to the point that renders independent translation businesses obsolete?
Many language experts agree that the time isn’t likely to ever come (or should be decades if not centuries ahead). As advanced as language software technology has become, they don’t even come close to the quality of translations that humans can perform. Similarly, automated translation isn’t a particularly lucrative area, as say bioresearch, which means the level of linguistic research afforded it doesn’t even come near that given to areas considered more “vital” to society.
For the most part, you can expect translation companies to remain in business even after many years. As such, your organization’s translation strategies will need to continue taking that into consideration. Even though they are expensive, especially compared to the one-time payment value of a language translation software, they’re a necessary part of doing business.
May 26, 2009
When trying to gain familiarity with a new language, it’s crucial to get your practice time in. Without ample application, all the classroom sessions you do won’t amount to anything. Lessons, after all, only serve to introduce you to a vernacular – it’s the real-world use that reinforces it.
Some people say you can learn a new language even without formal lessons, books or language software. After all, we didn’t own a guidebook to learning to speak back when we were young. Would it still be possible to try and learn, now as an adult, a new language without a formal guide?
Personally, I think you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you do so. Young children are able to adopt languages early because the adults around them know that they’re still learning. As such, they did not need to learn to speak in order to be able to communicate. When they wanted something, they just cried – do you seriously think you can do the same?
While I won’t discount the possibility of learning a new language completely lesson-free, instruction gives you a good base to stand on. Those memorized phrases, mundane as they may sound, will come in handy, especially when you’re immersing yourself in a place where the only language spoken is the one you’re looking to learn. Using those simple phrases, you can get around, ask for help and provide information to those assisting you.
For the most part, I think it’s impossible to learn a new language without formal lessons as an adult. You’re welcome to try, but I reserve the right not to look at the resulting disaster.
May 25, 2009
During the course of learning a new language, it’s not uncommon for impatience to get the best of us. After all, getting a good grasp of something so foreign to your life can be a major task. However, you have to realize that the same difficulty has been faced by anyone who’s ever tried to learn to speak in a tongue other than their own.
Learning Pace
Most people will see a drastic advance in language learning during the early phases, as what usually happens with most any new skill. This sudden rise will settle into gradual improvements shortly after that. It’s important to note that this trend occurs with most anyone who takes steps towards learning a new vernacular – whether they do it through formal classes or a language learning software.
As such, it’s vital not to allow those moments when you seem to plateau frustrate you. While it may seem like you’re not learning anything new, these periods are usually the time that allows you to gain a greater grasp of those language facets you already know. Once mastered, they will be what allows you to reach the next level of learning.
Stick With It
Stick with those times when the lessons feel like a repetitive stream of words and you’ll be justly rewarded. You never know, the next big burst of improvement may just be a couple more days away.
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