Language learning tips

This section contains a collection of advice, suggestions, tips and techniques for learning languages. Most are based on my own experiences, while some come from other people.
Many of these tips, perhaps with some minor modifications, also apply to learning others skills, such as music.

Why should I learn a language?

There are many reasons to learn a foreign language, from working in another country to discovering your roots, through intellectual curiosity, romance, travel, and secret communication.

Why should I learn a language?

Learning a foreign language takes time and dedication. The reasons below may help to convince you to take the plunge, if such persuasion is needed. Some reasons are practical, some aspirational, some intellectual and others sentimental, but whatever your reasons, having a clear idea of why you're learning a language can help to motivate you in your studies.

Kolik jazyků znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem.
You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.
(Czech proverb)

Emigration

When you move to a different country or region, learning the local language will help you to communicate and integrate with the local community. Even if many of the locals speak your language, for example if your L1 is English and you move to the Netherlands, it's still worth your while learning the local language. Doing so will demonstrate your interest in and commitment to the new country.

Family and friends

If your partner, in-laws, relatives or friends speak a different language, learning that language will help you to communicate with them. It will also give you a better understanding of their culture and way of thinking.

Work

If your work involves regular contact with speakers of foreign languages, being able to talk to them in their own languages will help you to communicate with them. It may also help you to make sales and to negotiate and secure contracts. Knowledge of foreign languages may also increase your chances of finding a new job, getting a promotion or a transfer overseas, or of going on foreign business trips.
Many English-speaking business people don't bother to learn other languages because they believe that most of the people they do business with in foreign countries can speak English, and if they don't speak English, interpreters can be used. The lack of foreign language knowledge puts the English speakers at a disadvantage. In meetings, for example, the people on the other side can discuss things amongst themselves in their own language without the English speakers understanding, and using interpreters slows everything down. In any socialising after the meetings, the locals will probably feel more comfortable using their own language rather than English.

Study or research

You may find that information about subjects you're interested in is published mainly in a foreign language. Learning that language will give you access to the material and enable you to communicate with fellow students and researchers in the field.

Language is the archives of history.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Travel

Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on holiday you can get by speaking English, so there's no point in learning any other languages. If people don't understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such places, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary.

Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.
(Dave Barry)

A basic ability in a foreign language will help you to 'get by', i.e. to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your holiday.

Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.
The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.
(Ludwig Wittgenstein)

Studying abroad

If you plan to study at a foreign university, college or school, you'll need a good knowledge of the local language, unless the course you want to study is taught through the medium of your L1. Your institution will probably provide preparatory courses to improve your language skills and continuing support throughout your main course.

Secret communication

If you and some of your relatives, friends or colleagues speak a language that few people understand, you can talk freely in public without fear of anyone eavesdropping, and/or you can keep any written material secret. Speakers of such Native American languages as Navajo, Choctaw and Cheyenne served as radio operators, know as Code Talkers, to keep communications secret during both World Wars. Welsh speakers played a similar role during the Bosnian War.

Required course

You may be required to study a particular language at school, college or university.

Getting in touch with your roots

If your family spoke a particular language in the past you might want to learn it and possibly teach it to your children. It could also be useful if you are research your family tree and some of the documents you find are written in a language foreign to you.

Revitalising or reviving your language

If you speak an endangered language, or your parents or grandparents do/did, learning that language and passing it on to your children could help to revitalise or revive it.

Culture

Maybe you're interested in the literature, poetry, films, TV programs, music or some other aspect of the culture of people who speak a particular language and want to learn their language in order to gain a better understanding of their culture.

Most people in the world are multilingual, and everybody could be; no one is rigorously excluded from another's language community except through lack of time and effort. Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. They certainly make life richer for those who know more than one of them.
(Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word)

Religion

Missionaries and other religious types learn languages in order to spread their message. In fact, missionairies have played a major role in documenting languages and devising writing systems for many of them. Others learn the language(s) in which the scriptures/holy books of their religion were originally written to gain a better understanding of them. For example, Christians might learn Hebrew, Aramaic and Biblical Greek; Muslims might learn Classical Arabic, and Buddhists might learn Sanskrit.

Food

Perhaps you enjoy the food and/or drink of a particular country or region and make regular trips there, or the recipe books you want to use are only available in a foreign language

Linguistic interest

Maybe you're interested in linguistic aspects of a particular language and decide to learn it in order to understand them better.

Challenging yourself

Maybe you enjoy the challenge of learning foreign languages or of learning a particularly difficult language.

Sounds/looks good to me

Perhaps you just like the sound of a particular language when it's spoken or sung. Or you find the written form of a language attractive. If you like singing, learning songs in other languages can be interesting, challenging and enjoyable.

One language is never enough!

If like me you're a bit of a linguaphile / glossophile / linguaholic or whatever you call someone who is fascinated by languages and enjoys learning them, then one language is never enough.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.
If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
(Nelson Mandela)

Which language should I learn?

If you're not sure which language to study, here are some factors to consider:

Availability

Are materials and other resources available for the language you want to learn? Are there classes in your area? For the popular languages, like French, Spanish and German, this shouldn't be a issue, but it may be difficult to find resources and/or classes for the lesser-studied languages.

Usefulness

If you want to learn a language with a large number of speakers and which is spoken in many countries, the ones to choose in order of 'usefulness' are: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), German, Japanese, Portuguese and Hindi/Urdu.
This list is based on the number of speakers, the number and population of countries where the languages are spoken, the number of major fields using the languages internationally, the economic power of countries using the languages, and their socio-literary prestige.
For a breakdown of these factors see:
http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm
The languages with the most speakers are:

1. Mandarin Chinese (720 million)
2. English (480 million)
3. Spanish (320 million)
4. Russian (285 million)
5. French (265 million)
6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
7. Indonesian/Malay (230 million)
8. Arabic (221 million)
9. Portuguese (188 million)
10. Bengali (185 million)
11. Japanese (133 million)
12. German (109 million)

This list includes first and second language speakers. The totals are all estimates and each source gives a different figure. If you include people who speak them as foreign languages, the total for English would increase significantly.
Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the USA after English, with around 28 million speakers. The third most spoken language is Chinese - mainly Cantonese, with over 2 million speakers. Other languages with over a million speakers include French, German, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Italian.
For more details see: http://www.mla.org
Here's an illustration showing where the most spoken languages are spoken.

See a larger version of this image at:
http://www.pstranslation.co.uk/infog_languages.html

Difficulty

Each language presents you with a different set of challenges. Some languages have numerous verb conjugations, noun declensions and/or genders. Others might have irregular spelling systems, a variety of plural forms and/or uncommon phonemes or combinations of phonemes. Generally the more a language differs from your L1 or other languages you know, the harder it is to learn.
For English speakers the least difficult languages are probably: Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Portuguese, Romanian, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.
The most difficult languages for English speakers, and indeed speakers of most other languages, are Arabic, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.
Language Learning Difficulty for English speakers
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Language_Learning_Difficulty_for_English_Speakers

Languages in demand by employers

If you want to learn a language in order to improve your employment/promotion prospects then choose one that is in demand by employers. The list below gives you an idea of which languages are in demand and is based on job ads posted on recruitment sites. You can find links to the recruitment sites on the Careers using languages page.
Note: languages are shown more or less in order of popularity with employers.

Africa

English, French, Swahili, Arabic, Portuguese

Americas

English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese

Asia-Pacific

English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Malay/Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese

Western Europe

English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Finnish, Greek, Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic

Books on how to learn languages
Language courses, dictionaries, etc.

Links

MLA Language Map Data Center - information based on census data about which languages are spoken in the USA: http://www.mla.org/map_data
10 Best Languages to Learn Right Now (i.e. in 2010 in the USA)
http://www.toponlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/10-best-languages-to-learn-right-now/
BBC Voices - details of the languages spoken in the UK, with numbers of speakers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/

What materials and tools do I need to study a language?

Possibly the most useful tools there are for learning a language are writing implements, such as pens and pencils, and something to write on, such as paper or a notebook. You can use them not only to make notes and lists of vocabulary, phrases, etc, but also to practise writing in your L2.
The range of other materials and tools available to help you with your language studies is huge. From language courses and dictionaries, to mp3 players and portable translators. All of them can help you in different ways, and your language learning goals will determine, to some extent, which ones are most useful to you.
Below is a guide to the types of some of the language learning materials and tools currently available.
Language courses | Dictionaries | Grammars | Phrasebooks | Flash cards | Audio books | Recording devices | Sound editors | Electronic translators

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Language courses

Language courses come in a variety of guises, including traditional ones, all audio ones, CD-ROMs and online ones.

Traditional courses

The traditional ones tend to consist of textbooks containing dialogues, exercises, notes on grammar, and maybe cultural information. Accompanying cassettes, CDs and/or mp3s are often available.
Most such courses are intended for complete beginners or people with only minimal knowledge of the language. Intermediate and advanced-level courses are available for some of the more popular languages, such as French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Examples of this type of course include:

• Linguaphone - available for 100 languages and include all audio courses, explorer courses for those who just want to learn the basics, and in-depth courses for more serious students.
• Teach Yourself and Colloquial courses - these are similar and are available for a wide range of languages. They focus on teaching you everyday language, and introduce you to new alphabets or other writing systems where appropriate.
  

All audio courses

This type of course usually consists solely of cassettes or CDs, though some may also include a limited amount of printed material. All dialogues, exercises, instructions and explanations are recorded and the focus of these courses is teaching you to understand and speak the language.
Examples of this type of course include:

• Pimsleur language courses - the best-known audio courses. They are very good at teaching you authentic pronunciation and a manageable amount of vocabulary. They also give you a good feel for the language you're learning. The Level 1 courses are suitable for complete beginners. More advanced courses are available for some languages.

Computer-aided learning

Various language courses are available on CD-ROMs and DVDs. Each course is different but they generally include dialogues, audio, exercises and tests. Some also include phrasebooks, dictionaries, videos, games and provide online and/or telephone support.
Examples of these courses include:

• Teach Me! - include CD-Rom with vocabularly and grammar exercises, a series of graded stories and a talking dictionary. An accompanying booklet contains the text of all the stories, and an audio CD includes the vocabulary and the stories. Available for over 40 languages, including Bavarian, Breton, Cornish, Manx, Occitan, Quechua and Romansh.
• Transparent Language - a range of language courses for many different languages. Their site also includes useful phrases, games, cultural information, articles, quizzes and proficiency tests.
• A selection of multi-language courses

The Bilingualizer

The Bilingualize helps language students read and enjoy texts written in their original language. It ads a discrete word-by-word translation under the original text for the comfort of the student: a great help to build up your vocabulary while reading what you like!

From:          To:

                                                    

Online courses

There are online language courses and lessons for just about every language you can think of. Many are free, while others require a one-off payment or a regular subscription.
There is considerable variation in the quality and quantity of the material available in each online course. Some of the free courses are excellent, while others are perhaps somewhat lacking in organisation and/or accuracy.
Links to online courses for many languages

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Dictionaries

Dictionaries come in a number of formats including bilingual, monolingual, illustrated, electronic and online. Bilingual dictionaries are perhaps the most useful ones for beginners and intermediate learners, while monolingual dictionaries, which are designed for native speakers, are also useful for advanced learners.
Pocket dictionaries are good for quick reference and easy to carry around. Larger dictionaries are better if you want more definitions, examples of usage, and information about pronunciation, grammar and possibly etymology.
Electronic dictionaries are available as handheld units, or as software. Handheld ones are portable, easy and quick to search, and often provide other functions, such as, text-to-speech, voice recognition and speech synthesis organisers, address books. They tend to be rather expensive though. Software dictionaries offer many of the same functions, and can be used on computers, PDAs and mobile phones.
More information about electronic dictionaries
Dictionaries for many languages are available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr
Online dictionaries range from simple lists of words, to sophisticated bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.
Links to online dictionaries for many languages

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Grammars

Grammars are useful reference tools and provide detailed information about grammar and usage. Some include exercises to help you practise the various aspects of grammar. Some language learners like to know exactly how the grammar of their L2 works and find grammars very useful. Others prefer to absorb the grammar through immersion without studying it formally.
Grammars for many languages are available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr

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Phrasebooks

When visiting foreign parts, a phrasebook can come in very handy. Phrasebooks that come with recordings of phrases are particularly useful, as working out how to pronounce them from the written pronunciation hints is not easy.
Phrasebooks for many languages are available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr

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Flash cards

Flash cards are a useful tool for learning vocabulary and grammar, if you look at them regularly. I found them particularly useful when learning Chinese characters. They might have a character, word, phrase or sentence on one side, and a translation, definition and/or notes on the other side. You can make them yourself, buy readymade sets of cards, or use flash card programs such as Anki, Mnemosyne and Supermemo.
Flash card programs are available from:
http://ichi2.net/anki/
http://mnemosyne-proj.sourceforge.net/
http://www.supermemo.com/
http://www.flashcardexchange.com

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Audio books

Listening to audio books in a language you're learning is a great way to improve your listening comprehension and vocabulary. If you can read printed versions of the books at the same time, even better. You could also use foreign audio books to learn a new skill or to learn about a subject that interests you through the medium of your L2.
Listen to more than 25,000 audio books programs. Choose from popular and informative categories. Join now and receive free MP3 player.

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Recording devices

A recording device of some kind is a very useful tool to the language learner. You can use it to record conversations, radio programmes, songs, classes and lectures. Such recordings can help you to improve your listening comprehension. You can also make recordings of your own attempts to speak your L2, analysis of which can help you to improve your pronunciation and intonation. They also provide a snapshot of your speaking abilities, which you could use a later date to assess how much progress you've made.
Recording devices come in the form of tape recorders, mini-disc recorders, mp3 players with voice recording facilities, and dictation machines. The most convenient are those which can be connected to your computer so that you can transfer the recordings, edit them and/or copy them to another device.
Some recorders require an external microphone, another useful tool for language learners, while others have built-in microphones. The quality of recordings is generally better with external microphones.
It is also possible to make recordings on your computer using software such as Audacity (see below), or sites such as Odeo.

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Sound editors

Once you've made recordings, you might need to edit them. Various programs that enable you to do so are available.
I use Audacity to make and edit recordings on my computer. It's free, fairly easy to use and has a range of functions, including changing the volume, speed or tempo of sound files, cutting out silences and background noise, adding fade-ins and fade-outs, and multi-track recording. You can also use it to listen audio files, or parts of them.
Audacity of available from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Other free sound editors
http://www.moor-software.com/0.php?lang=English&page=blast.php
http://biphome.spray.se/baxtrom/soliton.htm
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
http://www.nonags.com/nonags/auedit.html
http://www.wavosaur.com
http://www.code-it.com/KISS_free_wave_editor.htm

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Electronic translators

Electronic translators are available as handheld units, or as software. Handheld ones are portable, easy and quick to search, and often provide other functions, such as text-to-speech, voice recognition, speech synthesis, organisers and address books. They tend to be rather expensive though. Software dictionaries offer many of the same functions, and can be used on computers, PDAs and mobile phones.

How can I find time to study a language?

"I'd like to learn a language, but don't really have the time." Does that statement sound at all familiar? If so then read on.

Carpe momentum - seizing the moment

During a typical day, there are usually times when you could fit in a bit of language study. Even if you only study for five or ten minutes at a time, it all adds up in the end. In fact it can be beneficial to spread your studies over a number short periods, rather than doing it all in one or two big chunks. The more often you practice and review material, the better you'll remember it and be able to use it.

Multitasking

If you commute to work or school/college/university every day, perhaps you could use that time for study. Other times you could use for study/practice include while preparing meals, washing dishes, doing house work, gardening, jogging, queueing, during your lunch break or at the gym.
The type of study or practice will depend on what else you're doing. In some cases you could listen to a lesson or two, or to other material such as songs, audio books, radio programmes, etc. In others you could practice reading and/or writing in your L2, or even practice speaking. If you want to practice your speaking in a public, perhaps you could pretend to talk on your mobile phone so that other people don't suspect your sanity and think you're talking to yourself.

Listen and learn

While working, maybe you could listen to online radio stations. Even if you don't listen to them very attentively, just having them burbling away in the background is benefical as it helps you to tune into the sounds and rhythms of your L2, and to pick up new words and phrases.

In a flash

Some language learners carry flashcards with them wherever they go, and whip them out whenever they have a spare moment. This can help you to learn vocabulary and grammar.

Putting your L2 to good use

Once you have reached an intermediate to advanced level in your L2, you might consider studying something else that interests you through the medium of the language. For example, if you're interested in the cusine of the country or region where your L2 is spoken, you could get some cookery books in the L2. This would enable you to improve your language skills, and to learn some new recipes at the same time.

 

Tips for Learning Languages & Suggestions for Studying

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First, never assume that the foreign grammar will be just like English grammar.  Most languages have genders assigned to nouns and agreement rules for adjectives that do not exist in English.  Word order might be completely the opposite, and certain verb tenses might be used in different situations.  Some languages never use articles, while other use them almost all the time.  You might have to learn what cases and declensions are, or how to conjugate verbs in the perfective and imperfective aspects.  Even punctuation could be different than what you're used to. But the most basic topics of grammar, like nouns or prepositions, exist in all languages and are used the same way by definition.  (i.e. a noun will always be a person, place, thing or idea no matter what language the word is in.)

When learning a new language, it is necessary to use the language everyday and study whenever you possibly can. For learning vocabulary, you could start by writing your "to do" lists in the language, or even giving commands to your dog.  Label household items, like the table or television, with the word in the language and start translating everything you see or read or hear into the new language. See how fast you can switch between the two (or more) languages in your mind.

► Reading & Writing

Reading a foreign language is usually the easiest aspect of learning. Unless you are learning a language that uses a different alphabet than your native language; in that case, speaking might be the easiest. Anyway, you can find lots of newspapers online in virtually every language, and many sites have language options, such as Yahoo. Some government websites have bilingual pages, such as those of Canada and Switzerland. Reading blogs, newsgroups or forums is a great way to learn slang and colloquialisms. You can also try reading some children's book to begin with, then moving up to regular novels. You might have problems finding foreign language materials at your library, but most bookstores have at least a few children's books in different languages. Project Gutenberg contains thousands of books (in several languages) online that you can download for free. Dual language books are also a great resource and can be purchased from Dover Publications at very cheap prices. I highly recommend using readers and translating as much as possible when you begin studying a language. Becoming familiar with certain expressions and ways of writing is very helpful with vocabulary acquisition and certain nuances of the language, such as idioms and proverbs.

E-mail pen pals is an option for writing and also learning about the little aspects of culture. There isn't much else you can do for writing unless you have a teacher who can correct your mistakes. That's why I study grammar so rigorously; I try to become perfect so that I won't need any corrections on my writing.  You can try some online translating services if you need a quick translation, but don't count on them to have perfect grammar or even the correct translations of some words.  There are also some online dictionaries for a lot of languages, such as WordReference (for French, Italian, Spanish, German & Russian) and LEO for German.

Some books you need to buy are a dictionary (preferably one with pronunciations for every word); a book of verb conjugations; and a grammar review. If you can find a dictionary with complete verb conjugations, then you can get by with only that one book because you can find almost all grammar online. Books of vocabulary may be helpful for quick reference, but I think it's more wise to get a cassette or CD of vocabulary so you know exactly how the words sound, such as Vocabulearn. However, for languages such as French, which slur most of the words together in a sentence, learning just the words might not help much. In this case, it would be better to listen to whole sentences.

► Problems with Language Books

One problem with foreign language books is that the majority of them cater to the traveler who just wants to get by in the language and not actually speak it fluently. Another problem is that most books do not present the grammar in an order conducive to learning or even in an order that corresponds to the frequency of usage in the language. This is the major problem I see with high school and college textbooks. For example, the past tense of verbs is not even introduced until about the 6th chapter, so the student must speak only in the present tense for weeks or months! In addition, the sample sentences given in those books are so boring and pointless because native speakers rarely use them. If the books included more colloquialisms or slang words, as well as certain fixed expressions that are vital for survival in the language, then maybe more students would be interested in taking foreign language classes in school. But as long as school curricula continue to focus solely on form and not meaning, then students will only learn how to conjugate verbs or decline nouns, but never be able to actually speak the language.

Nevertheless, there are some books that are rather helpful for learning languages. You can find some cheap books on Ebay, although I would advise to actually look at the book first before buying it online. In my experience, books by Dover Publications and the NTC publishing company (now part of McGraw-Hill) are the least expensive and most useful, especially if you're looking for vocabulary books or short stories. I also love Living Languages (part of Random House) full language courses. Living Language's Ultimate Series is available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. The books are equivalent to two years of college level study, and there are also 8 hours of recordings, but you have to buy those separately. For dictionaries and grammar books, I recommend the Routledge series because they are so comprehensive. The dictionaries include the pronunciation of every word, plus plural forms of nouns and other pertinent information that most dictionaries tend to ignore. And the grammar books are available for a wide range of languages; however, the only drawback is that most cost around $30 USD. 

You can visit my Amazon store for books that I recommend in French, Spanish, Italian and German.

► Listening & Speaking

Listen to the language as much as possible. Listening is the best way to improve your pronunciation in addition to comprehension. This will probably be your weakest point, especially if you live in a country that has little access to foreign languages. There are many, many podcasts and radio stations available through iTunes or Realplayer or through their own websites, or just switch the spoken language feature to French or Spanish on the DVDs you already own. Don't rely on the subtitles to exactly match what is spoken though. The translations are more cultural than literal.

Yabla is perhaps the best language learning tool I have found online and it is not very expensive. It is online video immersion using real, authentic language. Subtitles and translations into English are provided on screen, and you can slow down the playback if needed. Currently it is available in French, Spanish and German.

As for podcasts, the Praxis language Pods are high quality and available in French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

If you just need the pronunciation of one word, try Forvo.

► Audio-Visual Programs

BBC Languages is a great site with free audio and video files. The Muzzy video program is designed for children and is available in French, Spanish, Italian, and German; but I'm sure adults can profit from it too. The Victor Ebner series is an immersion video method for learning French, Italian, Spanish, German and even Swiss German.  French in Action, Destinos and Fokus Deutsch are three great video programs for French, Spanish and German. 

I have used the French in Action videos and cassettes in my college classes, and I highly recommend them, though they are quite dated now.  Most college libraries have the videos, but I doubt local libraries would.  Every once in a while the tapes and textbooks are sold on Ebay, so I would suggest trying there first before spending $400 on them from the publishing company.  Better yet, the company that produces the programs, the Annenberg/CPB project, has all of the videos on their website that you can watch if you have a broadband connection (but only if you are in the US or Canada). You have to sign up on the website, but it's free and some of the transcripts are also available online so you can read along with the dialog.

► Slang & Informal Language

If you can find the scripts for the movies and televisions shows (try allsubs.org), then you can read along with the audio. This is a great way to learn slang and idioms. There are some books written exclusively for slang, such as the Slangman/Street series or the Streetwise series in French, Italian, Spanish and German. CDs or cassettes are available to use with the books. Tune up Your French and Tune up your Spanish are also available from McGraw-Hill, and a CD is included. Bertlitz's website has many downloadable audio files to go with the books. The Hide this Book series is written specifically for slang.

If you can afford to spend a little money, you can get some tapes or CDs of vocabulary or even CD-Roms that let you speak into a microphone to judge how well you sound like a native speaker. There are a lot of tapes that go with phrase books too that might be useful. The tapes that I would definitely recommend are of verb conjugations. Living Language makes some cassettes called "A Conversational Approach to Verbs" which includes pronunciations of all the verb tenses. This is very helpful since most other cassettes only include the present tense of verbs. You can check on Ebay or half.com for these tapes too, so you don't have to pay full price. Or you could try outlet book stores, such as Borders Outlet.

Listening to songs in the target language also helps with increasing vocabulary since rhymes are more easily remembered, and you can usually find the lyrics online. The site Lyrics Training is great for this.

► Internet

Using the internet is the best way to expose yourself to authentic language. You should try reading blogs and forums in addition to the news so that you will understand both informal and formal language. Blogger, Livejournal, Wordpress and Typepad are all blogging sites, mostly in English but you can find blogs written in other languages, and over-blog is mostly in French. You can use search engines as a way to check your grammar, especially if you aren't sure of the word order or if a preposition follows the verb. Just type your phrase into the search box and see if anyone else has used the same sentence or to see what other similar phrases may exist. Also try Google Battle to see which phrase is used more often... though this doesn't necessarily mean it is correct!

► Radio & TV

Many radio stations all over the world let you listen to their programs for free online. Even if you don't understand everything, you will still be exposing yourself to the intonation and stress of the language, which is extremely important for learning proper pronunciation. Many television stations provide clips from their news programs, such as France2. TV channel sites also provide a lot of cultural information about the country that is the most up-to-date. 

Before You Know It (by Transparent Language) is a great flash card program that you can download for free to study words and phrases in several languages (with audio, of course). The language courses written for the Foreign Service Institute are in the public domain and most of the texts and audio files can be downloaded for free at the FSI Language Courses site. However, as there are no copyright restrictions on these materials, this means that publishing companies can copy the books and audio files and sell them for profit. Unless you absolutely cannot find the materials online or in a library, I would advise against buying FSI courses through online bookstores. (In addition, I am turning some of the FSI courses into HTML versions.)

I cannot stress enough how important the exposure to real, authentic language is! Do not rely solely on books because they contain constructed sentences that are not taken from real life. The internet is your best source of information on informal language and the way that people really speak (and write), which do not follow the grammatical rules you learn from books. There is an amazing range of language learning opportunities online, and not only from websites and podcasts. The internet may be your only option for learning authentic language and seeing the real culture of the countries that speak it, especially if you have never have the chance to visit those countries. My Realia section currently contains authentic objects, such as train tickets, brochures, menus, etc. so you can see the language as it is actually used.

WHY LEARN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

People must have a clear purpose in learning English. They must know why they want to learn English. The awareness of the reason for leaning gives you the right motivation and focus. English can be learned for several purposes. It would be a good idea to identify one’s reason to learn English in order to encourage oneself to continue learning English every time. Perhaps one’s purpose is more mundane, more down-to earth-concerned with daily life of a modest person. One may just want to run a supermarket selling a range of everyday products. Here too you will need to know English to deal with you mode valuable customers.

Whatever the reason you have to learn English, you will never regret to have done it. English is one of the moist widely language spoken around the world as well as the most taught. Many people learn English as their foreign or second language and it is the lingua franca of business. If you learn English, you will be able to get ahead professionally. Employers usually value their employees who handle many foreign languages. The following list shows some of the main reason why learn English language is very important today.

Reasons to Learn English

• Many books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, technology, sports, pop music and advertising have the English as the dominant language.
  
  
• In general, the universal language on the Internet is the English.
  
  
• The majority of the electronically stored information around the world is in English.
  
  
• English is one of the easiest languages to learn and to use for its simple alphabet, easy words, short words and easy plurals.
  
  
• You can travel to any English speaking country without the need of have a translator. Usually, if you don't know the language your trip would be hard and maybe you wouldn't enjoy it.
  
  
• Nowadays in the competitive job market it is necessary to speak English. So if you learn English you will have a better chance of getting a job that pays more.
  
  
• Learn English will help you to communicate with relatives, in-laws or friends who speak a different language. English is also helpful if you are going to move to a different country because it is a “global language”.
  
  
• A lot of educational information is in English; therefore to have access to this material or maybe communicate with other students it is necessary to have knowledge of English.
  
  
• It is necessary to learn English if you are planning to study at a foreign university or school. Usually many educational institutions will provide you preparatory courses to improve your English language skills but you have to have at least a medium level of knowledge.
  
  
• Many students from over 70 different countries, from Brazil to Japan, Morocco to Uzbekistan and all points in between, prefer to study English in UK members.

How Do Children Learn Language?

Language learning is natural. Babies are born with the ability to learn it and that learning begins at birth. All children, no matter what language their parents speak, learn language much the same way. This learning takes place in three basic stages.

Basic Stages of Language Learning

Stage One – Learning Sounds

When babies are born, they can make and hear all the sounds in all the languages in the world. That’s about 150 sounds in about 6500 languages! However, no language uses all 150 sounds. The sounds a language uses are called phonemes and English has about 44. Some languages use more and some use fewer.

In this stage, babies learn which phonemes belong to the language they are learning and which don’t. The ability to recognize and produce those sounds is called “phonemic awareness,” which is important for children learning to read.

Stage Two – Learning Words
At this stage children essentially learn how the sounds in a language go together to make meaning. For example, they learn that the sounds m, ah, m, and ee refer to that “being” that cuddles and feeds them – mommy. That’s a significant step because everything we say is really just a stream of sounds. To make sense of those sounds, a child must be able to recognize where one word ends and another one begins. These are called “word boundaries.”

It’s not exactly words, though, that children are learning. What children are actually learning are morphemes, which may or may not be words. That’s really not as confusing as it sounds. A morpheme is just a sound or sounds that have a meaning, like the word mommy. The word mommies, however, has two morphemes: mommy and –s. Children at this stage can recognize that the –s means "more than one" and will know that when that sound is added to other words, it means the same thing – "more than one."

Stage Three – Learning Sentences
During this stage, children learn how to create sentences. That means they can put words in the correct order. For example, they learn that in English we say "I want a cookie" and "I want a chocolate cookie," not "Want I a cookie" or "I want cookie chocolate."

Children also learn the difference between grammatical correctness and meaning. Noam Chomsky created an example of this difference in the sentence “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” Children will know that although the sentence is grammatically correct, it doesn’t make sense. They know that green is a color and can't, therefore, be colorless!

Language Development

Language develops at different rates in different children, but most children follow this pattern:

Birth
When babies are born, they can already respond to the rhythm of language. They can recognize stress, pace, and the rise and fall of pitch.

Six Months
As early as four months, infants can distinguish between language sounds and other noise, like the difference between a spoken word and a clap. By six months, babies have begun to babble and coo and that is the first sign that the baby is learning language. Babies are now capable of making all the sounds in all the languages of the world, but by the time they are a year old, they will have dropped the sounds that aren’t part of the language they are learning.

Eight Months
Babies can now recognize groups of sounds and can distinguish one group of sounds from another. They can tell where one group ends and another begins. That is word boundary recognition. Although they recognize these sound groups as words, they may not know what the words mean.

Twelve Months
At this point, children are able to attach meanings to words, and once they can do that, they can begin to build a vocabulary. They begin to mimic new words they hear and by the time they are twelve months old will have a vocabulary of around fifty words.

Eighteen Months
In order to communicate, children must know how to use the words they are learning. In this stage of language development, children are able to recognize the difference between nouns and verbs. Generally, the first words in a child’s vocabulary are nouns.

Twenty-Four Months
At this stage children have begun to recognize more than nouns and verbs and understand basic sentence structure. They can use pronouns, for example, and know the right order of words in a sentence and can create simple sentences like "Me cookie?" (which means "May I have a cookie?")

Thirty to Thirty-Six Months
By this age, about 90% of what children say is grammatically correct. The mistakes they make are usually mistakes like adding -ed to irregular verbs to form the past tense. For example, they might say "I falled down" instead of "I fell down." They have learned the grammatical rule to form the past tense by adding -ed to a verb, but have not yet learned the exceptions to the rule.

Further Language Development and Gifted Children

Children continue to expand their vocabulary and develop more complex language. Their language use really doesn’t completely resemble adult language until they reach around age eleven. That’s when children are able to use what are called although-type sentences. Those are sentences that show a concession: Even though the man was tired, he kept working. Young children would be likely to say “The man was tired, but he kept working.”

Verbally gifted children often go through these stages more quickly than other children. Some go through the stages so quickly that they seem to skip right over some of them. It is not unusual for a gifted child to babble and coo and then be relatively silent. By age one they are not mimicking words and by age two they are not using even simple sentences. They may be saying "ma-ma" and "da-da," and a few other words, but not much more. Then suddenly, at 26 months, the child begins speaking in complete, grammatically correct sentences like a three-year-old. Other verbally gifted kids may be using sentences like “Me cookie” at age one. And some six-year-old gifted kids are using sentences like “I still love my Grammy even though she doesn’t know how to use the computer.”

The advanced language development of gifted kids may be one of the reasons that some of them are able to learn how to read before they turn five or even before they turn three.

 

If you're a first-time language learner, you know that emotional ups and downs come with the territory. When you understand a concept or begin to comprehend the language, you may experience feelings of exhilaration. However, these are often followed by moments of frustration and discouragement, during which you might feel as if you will never master the concepts and attain the ability to understand and communicate effectively. Below are some time-tested, research-verified approaches that will help mitigate potential frustration and will increase your ability to succeed in language learning.

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1. Set realistic expectations

It is natural to feel uncomfortable in a language class. You're used to being in classes where the mode of communication -- the language of instruction -- is a given.

In a language course, however, it is the mode of communication itself that is the focus of instruction. For this reason, a language course is different than most other courses you will ever take. Not understanding and making mistakes -- things that are negative learning indicators in other courses -- are a very natural part of the language learning process. Accept the fact that you will not understand everything. In fact, at the very beginning, you will not understand much at all.
Remember that during the initial period of adaptation your ear and your mind are adjusting to the sounds and the rhythm of the language. Though you will not understand all of what is being said, you will be amazed at your increasing ability to make sense of the language. Remember that the only way to learn the language is through practice, practice, and more practice; in the course of practicing you will make many errors … and you will learn from them.

2. Break study time into smaller chunks

Research shows that language students learn more effectively and retain more when they study frequently and for shorter periods of time than if they study infrequently for extended periods of time. Try to study each day, and whenever possible, several times a day. This means, for instance, doing a few homework exercises each day rather than doing all homework assignments the night before they are due.

In addition, there are many otherwise mentally "idle" moments during the day when you can work in some studying. For example, you can review vocabulary while eating breakfast, recite the alphabet while showering, count your steps as you walk between classes, name as many object as you can in the target language on your to way school, take your vocabulary flash cards with you on a road trip.

There are many moments during the day when you can squeeze in a few minutes of practice time. Through the repetition of material, it will be come increasingly familiar, until it eventually becomes an automatic part of your language repertoire.

3. Learn vocabulary effectively

Vocabulary is the most essential element of communication. The more words you know, the more you can say and understand.

The absolute best way to learn vocabulary is through the use of flash cards that you make yourself. Purchase a set of 3 x 5 index cards and cut them in half. (This makes them small enough to carry everywhere.) Write a vocabulary word on the front and its English definition on the back. As you learn more information about each word (e.g. plural forms of nouns, principle parts of verbs), you can add these to the cards.

There are many ways you can use flash cards as a learning tool. To help you learn and remember noun genders, for example, you can color code the nouns by gender, either by using colored cards or colored ink. When studying, organize words in meaningful groups (e.g., by noun gender, in thematic categories, regular verbs vs. irregular verbs). Shuffle the cards or groups, so that you use the stack(s) in a different order each time. Use the cards in both directions: first look at the foreign language words and try to recall the English definition. Then shuffle and look at the English definitions and attempt to remember the foreign language words. Flash cards offer many possibilities. Take advantage!

4. Practice language actively

Whenever possible, speak the language aloud rather than reciting it silently to yourself. Say vocabulary words out loud, read passages in the text aloud, do pronunciation activities orally and not just mentally. Write out the answers to activities rather than gliding through them in your mind. Read aloud entire sentences in an activity rather than just reading a fill-in response. Transferring language from your mind to your mouth is a skill that requires a great deal of practice.

5. Do homework conscientiously

In the course of a conversation, it is not practical to look up noun genders or fret over verb tenses. But homework offers you a golden opportunity to practice your language skills in a deliberate manner.

When doing your homework, you have the luxury of time. Look up words and genders you don't know. Refer to charts and other resources available to you. This will reinforce the material and eventually it will become automatic. If you never look things up or simply guess, you will be strongly reinforcing errors and you will never learn proper forms and words. Read instructor feedback on homework and ask clarifying questions when necessary. Maximize the utility of your homework to your learning.

6. Form study groups

Meet regularly with classmates to work together on homework assignments, to learn vocabulary, to study for tests, or just to practice speaking the language. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to language learning. Learning with others helps decrease knowledge gaps and gives you opportunities to actively discuss concepts and material covered in class, thereby increasing the chances that you will remember it. You will benefit from the knowledge and abilities of your classmates, as they will from yours.

7. Identify your learning style

Each person has his/her own learning style and everyone learns at a different pace. Try not to get frustrated if someone else in class seems to be progressing more quickly than you. You might find that you have a knack for grammar but have difficulty with speaking. Or you may find that you understand things perfectly in class, but when it comes to the homework assignments, you feel lost. Strive to identify your own personal strengths and let these help you in your learning process. If you are a visual learner, for example, write things down and try to associate words with images. At the same time, strive to identify your own personal learning barriers and make efforts to overcome them. For example, if you tend to be quiet in classes and often refrain from participating, force yourself to sit at the front of the classroom.

8. Maximize your language exposure

If your ultimate goal is language fluency, as it is for many students learning a language, then it is important to know that you will become more fluent more quickly if you increase the amount of contact you have with the language. You can start by simply practicing the language with a classmate outside of class. You can befriend native speakers in your community or attend a local foreign language conversation hour, if one exists. Rent a movie in the target language, or listen to authentic audio or video online. (Many foreign television and radio stations have streaming or archived audio and video programs).

Remember that you won't be able to understand everything, and you might not understand much at all at first. Nonetheless, these experiences will make you increasingly familiar with the sounds, rhythm, and intonation of the language. Increased exposure to and active practice with the language will help you develop skills more quickly.

9. Spend time on task

Use the time you have in class each week to work on your language skills. This means not only attending and paying attention in class. If you finish a partner activity early, use the time to try conversing with your partner in the target language on a related topic. Or work on your written homework. Or study the weekly vocabulary. If you finish a lab activity early, attempt trying some supplemental activities, work on the week's written homework, or explore some cultural sites. If you are in your language class, you should be doing something language-related. Make the most of the time you have to maximize your learning.

10. Communicate with your instructor

Take responsibility for your learning. Communicate with your instructor any problems that may be interfering with your learning or any specific difficulties that you are having with the material. Seek help immediately when you need it. You might be surprised how easily such difficulties can be resolved. Also, be proactive about making up missed work. Not only your grade, but also your success at learning depend on it.