Fricatives

This sound is produced (or realised if we are to use the technical term) by a partial obstruction of the air stream so that air is forced through a narrow gap, causing a hissing sound. Most languages have fricatives, in English they include [f] and [z]. fricatives are known as continuant consonants because you can produce a fricative sound as long as you have air in your lungs.

Plosives...

Plosives: sounds which are produced by obstructing the flow of air from the mouth or nose, causing a build up of air pressure. When released this pressure causes an explosive or popping noise.

Examples of plosives in English are /p/ and /b/ - place your hand in front of your mouth and say “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper” - you can feel and hear the /p/ make a popping sound.

Plosives are also known as stops.

TRADUCCIÓN FUNCIONAL Y TRADUMÁTICA: ¿CHOQUE DE PARADIGMAS?

Today's guest blog is by Dr Elisa Calvo de Encinas, Lecturer at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville. Dr Calvo has also taught at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and has written several papers exploring issues such as employability and translator training. An English version will be posted soon.

Nadie cuestiona ya que las nuevas tecnologías aplicadas a la traducción están aquí para quedarse. Memorias de traducción, traducción automática, aplicaciones auxiliares y la presencia absoluta de la web en todo lo que hace el traductor profesional.

Como docente de traducción, intento preparar a los alumnos para que puedan abordar una futura ocupación como traductores con unas competencias profesionales adecuadas y, en esta línea, intento que aprendan en mis clases a “traducir” en un sentido amplio: no solo trasladamos palabras de una lengua a otra, sino que manejamos editores de texto, herramientas de gestión, memorias de traducción y una documentación traductológica exhaustiva a través de Internet.

El mundo académico de la traducción integró con entusiasmo hace ya tres décadas las teorías funcionales de la traducción (Reiss, Vermeer, Nord, Holz-Mänttäri, entre otros), precisamente porque era el discurso teórico que vinculaba definitivamente el análisis del hecho traductológico con la práctica real de la traducción profesional. El funcionalismo se aleja de las teorías traductológicas anteriores por dos factores esenciales: 1) contextualiza la traducción como acto comunicativo; y 2) presta atención a la función que la traducción ha de desempeñar en su contexto de destino, que puede o no ser igual al que tuvo el texto original en su contexto. Tal y como explica Šarčević (1997): “The era of modern translation began when the translator was released from his/her commitment to reproduce the source text, thus ending the predominance of thus ending the predominance of retrospective translation and sheer fidelity to the source text”. Como resultado, ahora se contempla la traducción como un proceso que se realiza en perspectiva: con el destinatario o receptor en mente.

Con la aceptación de este paradigma, se abre un nuevo papel para el traductor: no se trata de un intermediario estático obsesionado con el texto origen, sino que es agente activo de la comunicación: analiza el texto, su contexto, sus dificultades y sus condicionantes profesionales de manera crítica, para así decidir qué estrategias puede aplicar; aborda la traducción de manera abierta, desarrollando estrategias creativas para la resolución de los problemas y para que la traducción desempeñe la función deseada en su contexto meta. Es un trabajo que se aleja de los métodos literales tradicionales: a veces el traductor decide adaptar y explicar información; otras veces, opta por eliminarla; otras veces reformula un párrafo creando nuevas oraciones o uniendo oraciones que antes estaban separadas.

Los alumnos de mis clases de 3º de Traducción traen la lección bien aprendida: pueden intervenir de forma crítica en los procesos de traducción para así trasmitir mejor la función que se desee. Si les doy un mismo texto contextualizado en tres marcos comunicativos diferentes (con tres funciones diferentes esperadas en cada contexto de destino), aplican estrategias distintas y la traducción resultante es diferente de las demás. Sin embargo, hay algo que no encaja. Una vez que han asimilado esta capacidad de intervención crítica, introducimos el manejo de las herramientas de traducción asistida, en donde, como es sabido, las unidades de traducción se crean según signos de puntuación: se vuelve a una visión microtextual del texto, basada en sus oraciones; esto invita a centrarse demasiado en el segmento original y se tiende a dejar de lado la visión más global y funcional del texto; el estudiante está centrado en superar la dificultad técnica de la herramienta y deja en segundo plano el proceso traductor; se vuelve a una sensación de obediencia al texto origen (traducción literal) y el estudiante pierde la seguridad que había adquirido a la hora de tomar decisiones críticas y creativas en su traducción.

¿Es la teoría de la traducción funcional compatible con la realidad técnica de la traducción profesional actual? Desde mi punto de vista, no solo es compatible sino que es imprescindible. Pero requiere una fuerte adaptación pedagógica:

Las competencias informáticas no pueden enseñarse de forma aislada del proceso traductor: 1) ambas destrezas deben aparecer integradas en la enseñanza, para que los estudiantes no desvinculen ambos procesos. Se debe traducir con herramientas de traducción asistida, no solo aprender el funcionamiento de las memorias de traducción. Las decisiones traductológicas serán más realistas y el manejo de la herramienta será más experto por emular los retos que plantea al profesional. 2) el estudiante debe aprender procesos básicos de gestión de proyectos, que no solo le ayudarán a mejorar su desempeño profesional, sino que le enseñarán a no perder de vista la visión global y la función comunicativa completa de cada proyecto de traducción. 3) el estudiante debe aprender a identificar las variaciones funcionales de cada elemento que aparece en un proyecto de traducción, ir más allá de las palabras que presenta la memoria de traducción para comprender qué función desempeña un determinado fragmento de texto en el proyecto global. ¿es el segmento un título en un manual? ¿Una función de software? ¿Texto de una ayuda de software? Un mismo segmento puede requerir traducciones diferentes según el contexto, aún cuando la memoria de traducción nos invite a lo contrario. 4) el estudiante debe conocer las estrategias de revisión, que de nuevo, le ayudan a abordar el proyecto desde una perspectiva general que puede haberse perdido durante la traducción informatizada.

En conclusión: ya no es posible traducir sin ordenadores, ni tampoco aprender a traducir sin ellos. Esta realidad requiere una adaptación pedagógica que implica una nueva aplicación de las consolidadas teorías funcionales y un enfoque que ayude a entender al futuro traductor que su papel sigue siendo tan necesario y crítico como antes, si bien las estrategias pueden tener que adaptarse a cada proyecto y sus condicionantes.

Šarčević, S. (1997): New Approach to Legal Translation, The Hague/London/Boston, Kluwer Law

International.

Simple sounds...the phoneme

Phoneme: the most basic meaningful sound unit of a language. Every word can be broken down into a series of sound units or phonemes, and different phonemes can share similar characteristics which allow them to be grouped together, as we'll see in later posts!


Phonemes are not the same as letters. In English the letters of the alphabet are our way of representing these sounds. The group of sounds that make up a language are known as the phonetic inventory of that language. 


Phonemes are often represented by the phonetic alphabet and you've probably seen examples of these in a dictionary although you might not have been aware of it! Why not have a look at the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols for English.

How should you teach translation?

How should you teach translation? There's a good question, if there ever was one. As a student, in France, I was confronted to fairly "traditional" translation classes: we were given a literary text, and we had to translate it. Full stop. The linguistic challenges of the text were tackled, and working on a short story by Roald Dahl or texts by Iris Murdoch was certainly fun. But were these classes teaching us translation? No consideration was given to the context or the target reader, no critical analysis of the text was done with professional translation issues in mind. We translated, but that didn't make us translators.

Having now moved to the "other side of the desk", and teaching at Heriot-Watt University, where the courses are very much focused on translation and interpreting, I've had a chance to approach the question of translation classes from another angle – and with a renewed consideration for the purpose: the training of future professionals. Students come to us to learn a trade, not just language skills. Sure, they need to read (really, dear students: you need to read!). Culture is essential, humour and intercultural awareness is what raises us all above the level of Google Translation. But a good translator also needs, first and foremost, to know what's happening in the world – and to be familiar with issues which are the object of international discussions. Because these are the fields in which his professional skills will be needed.

So gone are the good old Lagarde et Michard; students now translate from The Guardian, The Economist, Le Monde, L'Express, El Pais, etc … They are given conference papers, they have to translate web-pages and most viciously, we even given them texts in pdf format (and ask for the translation in the same format, yes). Following the example of the excellent translation course at Pablo de Olavide, in Seville (check this space for Elisa Calvo's post, she teaches at this well-known Spanish university), students are now also given mock professional translation projects: they are organised in a team, one person is project managers, there are translators and editors, and of course, tight deadlines. They may even get a badly written text to tackle. Why ? Because there's more to translation than just words.

Fanny Chouc is a Teaching Fellow in French at Heriot-Watt University, and also co-organises career events on campus around translation and interpreting, in partnership with the ITI and Routes into Languages. She teaches on translation and interpreting courses. Follow the departmental blog and see what's happening in the School of Management and Languages on Twitter .

Nothing should be "lost in translation"

Good communication is essential for any business but it's even more important when it crosses linguistic and cultural boundaries. When communication breaks down or fails, meaning is not the only thing that can be "lost in translation", your reputation and business credibility also suffer.

Why run the risk with a poor quality translation that fails to make your voice heard?

The Spanish-speaking world is composed of 21 different countries, each one with variations in language and culture. That makes a professional translation service all the more important so that your voice is heard in new and emerging markets.

Millions of people speak a foreign language but a good translation involves more than just knowing the language. 

Translation is a specialised skill which requires:

• an advanced linguistic knowledge of both the source and target languages,
• an insight into the subject area of the document being translated and
• an in-depth awareness and understanding of the target culture.

That's why a good translation does more than communicate words, it expresses the ideas and nuances of a language that only a native-speaker would fully understand and appreciate.

For more information and a free consultation about how your company can benefit from the skills of a translator, contact me at www.paul-kearns.com

Phonology

Phonology: the analysis of the sound system of a language so that an inventory of sounds common to that language can be developed. Phonology also looks at how these sounds are combined within a language and this explains why people from different cultures struggle to pronounce certain words or combination of letters.

Google Translate: Friend or Foe?

In the world of translation and proofreading, we are often on alert for a “Google Translate job” – a document in which the dishonest or incompetent translator has made unauthorised use of machine translation or simply a piece of complete gibberish. And as translators, I’m sure we’ve all had occasion at one time or other to have a chuckle at the expense of some particularly nonsensical phrase turned out by this tool.

Why, then, in a recent survey of professionals at Proz.com did 42.9% of respondents dub machine translation “a translator’s foe”? Perhaps, despite its imperfections, they too are noticing a growing trend for requests for machine translation post-editing at a fraction of their normal rates.  And as often as we protest that computers will never replace human translators, lingering doubts remain....

But can Google Translate be used in our favour? I’m inclined to answer “yes”. To a certain extent. For example, inserting a single term generates a rather impressive bilingual thesaurus, of sorts, from which to draw inspiration. And at the end of a long day, brain frazzled, faced with a typo that changes the meaning of the entire sentence, that little “Did you mean?” is a most welcome contribution. Almost the freelancer’s equivalent of a helpful colleague, sad as it may seem. Nevertheless, while I appreciate that Google Translate has its good points, when it asks me “Would you like to contribute a better translation?”, I’m afraid the answer is still “No, thanks!”

Lisa McCreadie is a freelance translator based in Edinburgh, Scotland, working from French, Spanish and Italian into English. After graduating from Heriot Watt University, Lisa set up her own business and specialises in creative translation (music, drama, cinema, literature and marketing.) She has enjoyed many exciting opportunities collaborating with companies all over world. For more information or to contact Lisa, visit her website  or see her professional profiles at Proz.com and LinkedIn.  

Fantastic Guest Blogs are on the way!

I'm very pleased to say that over the next month or two I'm going to be posting some guest blogs written by language professionals working in different language fields.

The first guest blog post has been written by Lisa McCreadie, a freelance translator and interpreter based in Edinburgh and will be published on Friday 4 November entitled "Google Translate: friend or foe?".

Other articles will follow, and include posts from Dr Elisa Calvo de Encinas from the Universidad de Pablo de Olavide in Seville, and Fanny Chouc from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh...so keep an eye open for them!

Please comment on the posts and share your thoughts, feel free to share the link to the post with your friends and colleagues.

When is it too late to learn a language?

Recent comments from the Education Secretary Michael Gove highlight the sad reality that British children are just not learning languages at an early enough age to foster real language ability*. In most European countries speaking more than one language is the norm and it’s regarded as a fundamental part of education. Not here in the UK.

At what age then should kids be exposed to a foreign language? The idea that children get “confused” if exposed to more than one language in childhood is absolute nonsense. In fact the opposite occurs - such exposure helps develop a child’s cognitive and communicative ability. As far as language learning is concerned the earlier the better.

One of the issues this raises though, is the question: Is there a point of no return when it is just too late to start teaching a foreign language? For decades linguists have explored the idea that there is a critical period for language acquisition - a window of time where children have the best chance of learning a language as if it were their native language. When that window closes, language learning becomes hard work.

There can be no doubt that language acquisition becomes harder - but not impossible - as we move out of puberty and into adult life. The existence of a critical period is not clear. It may be that the critical period is broken down into chunks of acquisition which apply to different aspects of language, so that language learning is not a granite slab but a series of individual bricks that all come together over an extended period of time.

From an educational standpoint, language teaching should ideally start in primary school. Anecdotal evidence suggests that young children are more enthusiastic and less inhibited about using a foreign language compared to teenagers. However, there needs to be some cohesive policy that allows qualified language teachers to follow a defined course structure so that children build on what they learn at primary school when they reach secondary school. That requires policy, educational planning, teacher development and above all a recognition that language learning should start at an early age.

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15135560

What’s in a Word?

What is the basic building block of language? If you asked that question to 100 people it wouldn’t be surprising if the most common reply was “words”. In many cases we tend to think in term of a hierarchy of words, sentences, paragraphs - an almost automatic default which equates language with written language.

In fact language is built on sound. We learn our own language initially by forming sounds and developing speech and it is only when we have acquired that skill that we then develop our language ability by learning to read and write.

That’s where phonetics and phonology come into play - my least favourite aspect of linguistics, mainly because I’ve always struggled with them - but an essential part of language nonetheless. So every once and a while I’ll post a basic term along with a definition just to keep you - and me- up to date with the basics of the topic. Here’s the first one:

Phonetics: the scientific study of how speech sounds are produced, how they are used in spoken language and how those sounds are represented. This involves an examination of how we produce and classify speech sounds.

If you have a simpler definition, or an easier way of remembering what phonetics is all about, please leave a comment and share your knowledge.

Tune into Planet Word - it’s an eye-opener!

I’ve just managed to catch up on this week’s episode of Steven Fry’s new series Planet Word thanks to the BBC iPlayer. If you haven’t already watched it, it’s well worth it. Even if linguistics is not your “thing” Fry manages to make it interesting and even a bit funny.

This second episode raises some really interesting questions about language and identity and the preservation of minority languages. He takes a look at Irish, Basque and Occitan. There’s a couple of eye-opening comments about minority languages from someone at the Académie Française - note to self: is there such a word as “linguaphobic”?

The episode also explores the development of Global English or Globish - how the use of a lingua franca like English has spurred on globalisation but may also be contributing to language death because minority languages are seen as “going nowhere” (yes we’re back to the Académie Française!) Interestingly there was an article in the October / November issue of The Linguist magazine on a similar theme and it is an area of concern for many.

Personally, having watched the first two episodes, this is the type of series that can help foster a real interest in the practical aspects of linguistics. When the book comes out - and believe me, the BBC will end up bringing a book out - it would be the perfect Christmas gift to rouse someone’s interest in languages.

Is it worth sending your CV to translation agencies?

For new translators there can be no doubt that the hardest thing is to get your foot in the door and convince an agency to give you some work - unless of course you have a personal link to an agency through marriage, friendship or a previous business!

Usually a new translator will send out hundreds of CV’s to agencies and get a response rate of about 5-10%, of which a few might send you their terms and conditions and add you to their database, one or two might well ask you to do a test translation and then if you’re lucky you might get work from one or two agencies on a steady basis. Time consuming? Yes. Discouraging? Yes. Soul destroying? Yes, and all the while you still have to pay the bills!

The bad news is that most freelancers tend to go through the same nightmare, the good news is that those who stick it out tend to see some results in the long run. So is it worth even sending your CV to agencies in the first place? Is there a better way to break into the industry? Should the new translator use their time more productively to get better results?

The fact is that there are benefits of working with agencies - you have control over your work schedule because you chose the jobs you want to do (and in turn determine your own income level), you can develop excellent working relations with specific project managers, you don’t have to worry about marketing to direct clients in fact, you can even spend most of the time communicating by email without ever having to speak to real people! (Believe me if you’ve ever had a job working with the public that is a real positive point in favour of working with agencies!)

There are a few positive steps that can make this process slightly more productive:

Be selective

Get a “feel” for the agency by looking at their website. Do they look professional or do they have a slightly tacky look to them? What does the website say about them? For example, are they offering the “fastest turnaround at the lowest prices”? Do you really want to work for a pittance? Don’t fall into the trap of sending out mass emails to hundreds of agencies at the same time.

Be specific

Try to send a brief cover email with your CV rather than just emailing out CV’s to everyone. Show that you have at least know something about them - for example, what the agency specialises in and how you can help them. So, if you want to specialise in the arts why contact an agency that specialises in pharmaceuticals?

Be business savvy

Use common sense. If an agency prefers contact via an online form, use an online form. If they are looking for freelancers with specific qualifications do you have those qualifications? there is a balance between promoting your skills and wasting your time. Remember too that some agencies have a very bad reputation when it comes to project management, people skills or payment practices.

Most freelancers - regardless of whether they are translators, writers or web designers - find it hard to get a “foot in the door” so be realistic in your expectations. There are however, a few other steps you can take to encourage work to come to you, and these will be discussed in the next post

Sending your CV to translation agencies - Is it a waste of time?

Most new translators start off by sending out CV’s to translation agencies. This strategy is both time consuming and actually quite ineffective, many because few translation agencies actually pay attention to them let alone respond to them.

To be fair some agencies receive as many at 70 CV’s a day, ranging from nothing more than a blank e-mail with a CV attachment to “all-singing-all dancing” CV’s with colours, photos you name it! Responding to them requires a significant amount of labour, something that most companies cannot afford.

Of course, you could argue that agencies should invest more time in finding qualified linguists - after all every agency website seems to claim that they are “the fastest growing agency in the country” using only “the most qualified linguists”. Such claims are a ridiculous marketing tactic designed to attract clients who know nothing about the translation process. If such claims were really true all of these translation agencies would be industry leaders, there would be a massive shortage of qualified translators and agencies would meticulously check CV’s just in case they were losing a potentially amazing translator.

Despite claiming that they work with “thousands” of freelancers the reality is that most agencies actually work with a small number of skilled - but preferred - translators who are the first port of call when a job comes in. When this small group is working to full capacity or the source document is out with their translation speciality then the agency will look further afield and other translators might have a chance.

Sadly translation agencies seem to forget that many new translators are not necessarily new professionals but are individuals who may have spent decades working in other fields. As such their lack of experience as translators is outweighed by their knowledge of their specialist subjects.

So is it worth even sending your CV to agencies in the first place? Is there a better way to break into the industry? Should the new translator use their time more productively to get better results? 

5 Tips for Beginners Using Social Media

The use of social media is seen as a key element of business development for many professionals. Yet many small business owners often see the time required to develop and maintain social media sites such as LinkedIn or Twitter as a major obstacle to their use.

How can you effectively manage all the different social media sites without getting “maxed-out”? Well, there’s lots of advice out there, but here’s 5 tips that I’d recommend:

• Have a plan

Very few businesses need to use everything that’s out there. So it’s important to think about what you want to achieve with social media. Do you want to attract new clients, keep existing clients informed, follow market trends or establish yourself as a bit of an expert in your field? Pick the social media mix that best suits your goals.

• Learn, learn, learn

It’s far better to use one or two social media formats and use them well, than have poor blanket coverage of everything that’s going. So if you want to use Twitter, for example, take some time to learn how to use it properly and get the most out of it. Look for blogs that can give you some hints and tips about improving your use of different sites such as http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

• Dedicate time to participate in social media.

“That’s just the problem I don’t have time!” I can hear the screams. Random participation can send out a negative message to your audience, so set aside specific dedicated time to maintain the profiles you set up. This can be as little an 10 minutes twice a week or one morning a fortnight.

• A little (but often) goes a long way.

While many professional bloggers post as often as once a day, let’s face it, the rest of us humble mortals can only probably manage 2 or 3 posts a month. If your readers see a regular pattern in your activity they will continue to follow you, but there’s nothing worse than looking at a blog month after month only to find that there’s no new posts.

• Cross post where possible

You don’t have to spend hours posting different items on each site you use. It is often possible to adapt or reformat posts to several social media sites at the same time. There are some great tools out there - like Tweetdeck - which allow you to do this. Often a comment on your Facebook business page can direct readers to your blog etc. So if you have some good, regular content spread it round the sites you use, that way whatever form of social media your client is using they can pick up on it.

Do you have any good suggestions about using social media effectively? Why not leave a comment and share it.


You can find me on some popular social media sites:
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER (3)

While it is true that learning a new language takes time and a real sense of commitment, the whole process can be made easier when you work smarter not harder - thinking about the language learning strategies you are using.

In this post we want to look at a memory tool that can help you learn more in less time - a mnemonic. Mnemonics are memory aids that involve using a rhyme or phrase to jog your memory. Let’s look at an example:

Problem: You are trying to remember which French verbs use  être in the past tense (passé compose) rather than avoir.

Solution: “Dr & Mrs P Vandertramp”. In this case each letter of the phrase represents the first letter of a verb that uses être:

Devenir

Revenir

Monter

Rester

Sortir

Passer

Venir

Aller

Naître

Descendre

Entrer

Rentrer

Tomber

Retourner

Arriver

Mourir

Partir

Mnemonics can be used in a variety of ways - why not leave a comment explaining what your favourite memory trick is!

Translators Needed for World Trade

Once more we read that small and medium sized businesses are losing because too few of them are exporting overseas. Failing to plan an export strategy, lack of confidence and - surprise - poor language skills are among the reasons why some SME's shirk back, according to a report in the Financial Times.

How long will the UK moan about poor language skills without actually taking positive steps to solve the problem? English may be known as the language of international trade, but it is foolish ignorance to think that "everyone speaks English".

The economy needs to look outwards and more businesses must look overseas to succeed. That means employing more linguists in the long run, and using qualified translators and interpreters in the meantime.

Pragmatic Failure - The Test for Language Learners

In the globalised world where English is regarded as a lingua franca (at least by most native English speakers), it can be easy to spot the native from the non-native speaker. Sometimes the accent is the give-away because it is often the hardest thing to achieve - as most of us who have learnt another language will appreciate.

However, even the most accomplished language learner will experience what is known as pragmatic failure and that’s a serious fault because it can have dramatic consequences.

Pragmatic failure takes place “whenever two speakers fail to understand each other’s intentions” (Blum- Kulka and Olhstain, 1986). Thomas (1983) described it as “...the inability to understand ´what is meant by what is said´”. It does not spring from a lack of knowledge about how to handle the ‘technical aspects’ of language such as grammar, syntax of phonology but from failing to understand how language may be used in a social or societal context.

In other words, we might see an error in grammatical structure, word order or pronunciation as part-and-parcel of the language learning process, and let the error pass because “we know what you mean”. With pragmatic failure what is said may be grammatically correct but come across as harsh, rude or inappropriate - not because that is the intention - but because the learner is unaware of how a native speaker uses the language.

Examples of pragmatic failure would be asking someone about a taboo subject or failing to understand the meaning of a colloquial metaphor. In some cultures it is inappropriate to ask someone how much money they earn, so raising this topic may be perceived as vulgar in some cultures while completely acceptable in others.

For the language learner, it is essential to have more than a purely linguistic knowledge of the languages you speak - a deep cultural knowledge of the countries where those languages are spoken is important, which is why it's good to spend time visiting the countries themselves. Thomas (1983) proposed that “linguistic competence” must be composed of both “grammatical competence” (i.e. knowing the syntax, phonology and semantics of the language) and “pragmatic competence” (knowing how and when to use language correctly.)

This “linguistic competence” equips the learner to convey the correct meaning and sense of the language so as to avoid giving the wrong impression. So pay attention to the way language is used, put things into context, watch native speakers and observe how they use language. Become culturally aware and this will help you to avoid pragmatic failure. 

References:

Blum- Kulka, S and Olshtain , E. (1986): “Too Many Words: Length of Utterance and Pragmatic Failure”, SSLA 8: 165-180.

Thomas, J. (1983). Cross-cultural Pragmatic Failure, Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 91-112

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER (2)

Last time we spoke about the way in which successful language learners work smarter not harder, by thinking about how they are learning - they develop strategies to make the whole process easier.

Learning Spanish, for example, could be easier than you think, especially if you consider what you already know. You actually more than what you might give yourself credit for!

There are many words that are common in both Spanish and English because both languages have their origins in Latin (this is the case with Spanish more than English) and the English language has also been influenced by French, which is also a Latin based or Romance language.

Some Spanish words look very similar to English ones (these are usually known as cognates*). In some instances the only difference is an accent mark in Spanish – which affects the pronunciation of the word more than the meaning. Here are some Spanish words - the English equivalent is obvious!

chocolate  área  gas  melón  hotel  teléfono

This is especially true with words ending in –al where the meaning is the same in both languages: animal, central, hospital, personal are a few examples.

You can also understand the meaning of a lot of Spanish words simply by changing how the end of the word is spelt:

Replace –ción with –tion

circulación = circulation

identificación = identification

vacación = vacation

Replace –ario with –ary

aniversario =  anniversary

itinerario = itinerary

vocabulario = vocabulary

Replace –dad with –ty

comunidad = community

publicidad = publicity

universidad = university

So the next time you look at a Spanish newspaper or website look out for words that could be cognates and check them in a dictionary – you’ll be surprised at how much you really know.

*Just a word of caution. Some words are known as false friends because they may look the same as an English counterpart but they actually have a different meaning. The good news is that only a minority of words are false friends!

Learning a Language? Work smarter not harder Part One

When it comes to language learning many people are put off by the level of commitment required to be a successful learner. After all, it does take a lot of time and effort to master a language well enough to communicate.

People commonly refer to “easy” or “hard” languages to learn, but the reality is that no language falls into either these categories. There will no doubt be aspects of a new language which are similar to our mother tongue but there will also be many differences which might require a bit more work on our part.

Different learners struggle with different aspects of language learning and this is down to several factors:

• ·         Motivation (“My boss says I need to learn Dutch go get that promotion”)
• ·         Previous educational experiences (“I was never good at French at school!”)
• ·         Existing knowledge (if you’ve mastered French, for example, then Italian should be relatively easy since they are both Romance languages)

However, you can make great progress by working smarter not harder. Successful language learners don’t necessarily spend more time studying the language than you or me. They do however, tend to spend more time thinking about how they will learn. By taking time out to consider different learning strategies, they end up working smarter not harder, and with good results.

Over a couple of future blogs I hope to mention some strategies you can employ to make your language learning for successful. 


Do you have any suggestions about what works well for you? Why not add a comment and share your ideas. Some of your suggestions may feature in future blogs!

20 March - International French Speakers Day - 20 mars - La Journée Internationale de la Francophonie

Félicitations a tous ceux qui parlent le français!  Aujourd’hui c’est la Journée international de la Francophonie. Bonne journée a tous!

Hope that’s right! Yes today around the French-speaking world people will be celebrating the French language in different ways, and hopefully, having a lot of fun at the same time.

As much as we might have hated studying French at school - a fault more to do with the way it was taught rather than the subject itself - it is truly one of the most remarkable world languages . I say that despite my own poor grasp of French!

So here are just a few facts to ponder*. It might just move you to take up those French night classes at your local further education college, or stir your love of French culture, or if nothing else motivate you to enjoy some French food and wine!

1.     There are an estimated 200 million French speakers worldwide

2.     There are just over 96 million French-speakers in Africa 

3.     French is an official language in 32 member states

4.     It is the 2nd most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union and one of the three “working languages” of EU institutions

5.     French is the 3rd most widely used language on the Web

6.     The French-speaking zone accounts for 19% of world trade in goods

Do you speak French? Why not leave a comment and share with us your plans for French Speakers Day? If you’re not a native French speaker, you can even leave a few tips about how you learnt French.

*Source: http://www.francophonie.org

If you've ever faced Spanish bureaucracy, watch this...

In most countries dealing with a Government agency is a pretty thankless task, and that is especially true in Spain where red tape is almost a national passion.

So here's just a little bit of humour the next time you have to deal with officialdom:

I've also been told it's the same in other countries, so it's not just a Spanish thing!

Learning Spanish in the New Year? 4 Tips on How Reach Your Goal

As a professional linguist language learning is something I'm keen to promote, and a New Year presents new opportunities to learn new skills. How can you reach your goal?

Have a reason to learn - Some people start every New Year with the same old list - eat healthier, go to the gym, learn a language - only to fall back into their old routine after a few weeks. So it’s important to think about why you want to learn Spanish. There are many possible reasons - to get a better job, to travel, to enjoy the culture of the country where the language is spoken, to communicate with family members who don’t speak English.

Try to clearly define why you want to study the language, what you want to do with the language (speak it, write it, just read it or all three?) and how you can achieve this - will you learn at home with books and CD’s, assist a class or use a private tutor?

Visualise - Create a mental picture of yourself using the foreign language according to the reason why you want to learn - you could be sitting in a restaurant ordering a meal, watching a foreign language movie or making a business presentation, but allow yourself to dream about this vision - make it as real as possible and you’ll feel motivated to keep learning.

Enlist a friend - It’s always easier to fulfil your goal if you have a buddy to work with, so why not convince your partner, spouse or best friend to team up with you. You can help motivate one other. Why not arrange to meet up with fellow students once a month for a coffee and a revision session, or create a wiki or forum where you can all share ideas and tips. If you live in a university town there may be foreign students who would be happy to spend half an hour a week for conversation practice.

Mix ’n’ match - Language learning should be fun, so mix learning with pleasure. Do you play football or enjoy painting? Look out for foreign language websites on those subjects and you’ll be surprised at how much you can actually understand. Some of your favourite websites might have pages translated into the language you’re learning. By focusing on topics that you enjoy learning you take part of the hard work out of learning.