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.

Why use a professional translator? Execution yards and Barf Washing Powder - that’s why!

At a time when businesses are facing budget cuts, pay freezes and tough markets, it’s easy to feel that passing on translation work to staff who “know a bit of Spanish” is a cheaper option that using a professional translator. Well beware - it may be cheap in the short term but it can be very costly in the long run. Let me explain by illustration:

Imagine the horror of reading that you are in a prison with an execution yard! That’s how a booklet for Russian prisoners in Lincoln Prison* described the exercise yard according to a recent report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Would you wash your clothes with Barf Washing Powder? That’s the offer on one of the latest ads in the English language section of the European TV channel Euronews.

These two examples just indicate how a single word can change the entire meaning or intent of what is said. Think of the effect of such a misunderstanding on one of your products. Multiply that by the amount of money wasted on advertising that error and again by the cost of correcting it. Now you see my point. We often use the phrase “lost in translation” to indicate that communication has broken down in the translation process, but actually translation produces the opposite effect - it opens doors, overcomes linguistic and cultural barriers, making it easier for you to sell your products or services.

It may cost more, but after all you’re paying a qualified professional to do the job right. Just because the office junior knows how to surf the net, would you let them design your company website? Of course not, you’d pay a professional web designer. Well why let them translate your company information for potential clients worldwide? Professional translators invest heavily in their education, often having spent several years living in the foreign country itself, and follow a program of Continued Professional Development which covers both business and IT skills as well as a specialised knowledge of the topics they translate.

More than that, they have a native-like knowledge of the languages they work with, and here in the UK professional translators only translate from the foreign language into their native tongue, so they are aware of the cultural nuances of the languages in question. That’s why I can tell you now - the ad for Barf Washing Powder was done by a non-native English speaker, because a native speaker would have understood in a flash the connotations of the word barf.

So the next time you want a document translated, think twice before reaching for the phone. Use a language professional. Better to be pound wise than penny foolish.



*Prisons: Execution yard is lost in translation, The Independent, 18 November 2010

Building a National Language? The Plight of Gaelic

A recent report by the Royal Society highlighting concerns over the development of the Gaelic language claims that every year up to 860 individuals need to become fully bilingual in order to halt the decline of the language. This news presents me with a moral dilemma - as a linguist it pains me to see the decline of any language since it also represents a cultural loss to mankind, another part of the intercultural patchwork of humanity unravelling - but as a Scot I am also tempted to think “So what?”

In recent years there have been huge steps forward in the development and promotion of Gaelic language learning, largely due to the fact that the Scottish Nationalist Party is in power. That in itself makes the whole process quite suspicious and - characteristically SNP - more to do with political ambition rather than educational or cultural reasons. However, despite these advances the general uptake of Gaelic has failed to stem the decline of the language, and that in part may be due to other factors.

Firstly, the concept of Gaelic as the “language of Scotland” is more of a romantic notion than a historical reality. It was only the language of the Western Isles and the Highlands. The majority of Scotland’s population actually spoke Scots or Lowland Scots as it is sometimes called. While some people class Scots as nothing more than a variation of English, it was a language in its own right which developed alongside English until James VI of Scotland became James I of England and moved his Court down to London. From then on English became the language of social mobility and prestige and Scots became less popular among the educated rich. The language went into further declined after the Act of Union in 1707.

So really, the majority of Scots today have no real affinity to Gaelic but they still do preserve some Scots dialect in their regional variety of English - with words like bairn (child), gleckit (stupid) or tane (taken). There is seen in the great variation in the vocabulary of cities like Glasgow, Edinburgh of Dundee for example. That being the case, why even bother to learn Gaelic? Should we not be trying to develop our use of Scots? That’s something the SNP seems to have neglected and for good reason.

You see to go down the road of independence you must have a strong sense of national identity. To develop the concept of national identity you need to develop national symbols - like a national anthem, national symbols and of course a national language. (Although initiating small changes like having a Scottish Government instead of an Executive also contribute to this end because it develops a sense of legitimacy.) Herein lies the problem. To develop a national language you have to control some specific steps - all of which take time - and the first step is to develop an acceptance that Gaelic is a language of prestige, something worth learning, and that’s just not happening!

Secondly, in a globalised world of international trade, should we really be devoting so many resources to learning Gaelic? At a time when the Scottish economy is struggling, when there is such a lack of modern language uptake among school children and young adults, when we need to develop export and trade links abroad in order to grow our economy, is Gaelic really a priority? We need to look outwards not inwards.

And thirdly, language learning in itself does not produce bilingualism in the academic sense of the word. At its most simple level bilingualism can be defined as the ability to speak more than one language. However, it is actually a very complex and diverse condition, and the majority of advance proficiency language learners might never develop true bilingualism. So what is really required is that at the very least, up to 860 people per year have to be brought up speaking both Gaelic and English from infancy to adulthood so that both languages are acquired at a native or near-native speaker level. Quite a mean feat under the current circumstances.