If I had a job to cut down a tree, and I had ten hours to finish the job, I would spend the first six hours sharpening the saw.   - Abraham Lincoln

I don't think that those are the exact words, but President Lincoln highlights an important point in life and in language learning.  Preparation.  My father-in-law is a farmer and often says, "an hour in summer is worth two in winter."  He understands the importance of preparation.  In language learning, preparation is also important and should not be neglected.  We often get into the flow of life and forget to stop and reflect on how things are going or to take the time to plan for how we would like to have things go.  We just don't have the time. Or so we tell ourselves. But when we take the time to prepare, our time in lessons, in the community, at neighbors is more effective and we end up having a more rewarding learning experience and we have more fun!  Let me give a brief example:  Going to the store.  Unprepared, I just go to the store.  I get what I need, I pay and I leave.  But, if I take two minutes to think of a few things I  would like to work on, to write them down and then to rehearse on the way to the store, I will have a learning experience where unprepared, I would have just had a trip to the store.  So I pick a few things to work on, asking the name of something and the location of some product for example, and head off to the store.  In the course of my shopping, whenever I see a clerk, I practice my questions, maybe asking where the rice is three or four times.  Sounds crazy, but then I get to hear three or four responses to the same question.  All a bit different, but all leading to the rice, which of course I already know the location of. (Then I can head in that direction, even if I have no idea what they said) In roughly the same amount of time (plus two or three minutes) I will get the same job accomplished but will have also had a small opportunity for language learning.  Too often we see life as a lot of menial tasks we need to get accomplished so we can get on with the real work.  But just as life is lived and experienced in the menial, so language can be learned there also - with just a little bit of preparation. 

With that said, check out the newest handcrafted audio, "The Wood Cutter" a story written to emphasize President Lincoln's advice.

If you are like me, nearly everyone you talk to asks you about learning English, how to learn English and if you will teach them English.  Before creating this site, I created another site for Turks, and really for Turkish families, to help them navigate the internet in search of learning sites.  The problem for so many is that the internet is an unending source of sites dedicated to learning English and the vast majority of them are written in . . . English.  Which for many of the parents that want their kids to have more opportunity to learn the language, is no help at all.  The site   www.ingilizceogrenmek.org is written in Turkish and is a basic portal to learning opportunities.  On it they will find links to useful sites with summaries of the linked site and how to use it written in Turkish.  Anyway, it may be something to pass onto your friends and neighbors.  It, like this site is a work in progress.  You can also check out the English version - I wrote it first in English and then translated it into Turkish - at www.english4turkey.com

A few days ago I received an email from a friend I had directed to the site and he responded to my request to give suggestions and ideas for the site and I think the email has helped me improve the site.  Thanks. Feedback is such and important part of making this site better and more useful for all of us.  Keep the comments coming.

I just put a new article at the top of the articles page entitled, Life Long Language Learning: Its Way too Soon to Quit by Peter Pikkert a linguist, Turkish speaker and the author of another excellent resource the Field Manual for the LACE Method of Language Learning.  The article though is really written for those of you who have put in your initial focused time for language learning and are now on to bigger and better things, except for one thing - you still have a long way to go with your Turkish .  The article is part pep talk, part reality check and a whole lot of practical ideas of what to do now.  Go on over to the articles page and check it out.

Here is the first paragraph:

THERE ARE A COUPLE of common dangers students studying language on location overseas for
professional reasons face after their initial study period:

   1) they experience such relief at having passed the necessary exams that they would like to
      celebrate by immediately getting rid of all language-learning materials;
   2) because they can now officially be involved in work or ministry they believe their language
      will develop further without any effort, OR
   3) they are discouraged their level of language is not as high as they’d like and conclude
       they’ll not improve it further. they aim to work within the limits of their language ability.

Language learning is a lifelong marathon from which the vast majority of cross-cultural servants of the
church drop out way too soon—in fact, it’s always too soon to quit! As the church develops the need
to master the host language becomes more even important, for it takes higher levels of language to
train others than to do the teaching yourself.

Language learning can become one of the most satisfying things you will ever accomplish—if you
persevere long enough. So what can you do to stay engaged in the language and culture learning
process?

A new handcrafted audio was posted today called Squirrel Cop. It is my attempt to retell one of the funniest stories I have ever heard.  Have you had a bad day?  Today?  Ever?  Well if so, take a listen to the original story HERE. (The Squirrel Cop story starts at the 19:53 mark of the story. The story immediately following is crude and you may not want to listen to it.  FYI ) Then you can listen to my retelling in Turkish.  Besides being hilarious (the original), it is a good reminder that in order to gain experience, we have to make mistakes.  Dwight Gradin from PILAT (Program in Language Acquisition Techniques) says you have to make a million mistakes to master a language - so get started! 

Have you heard a great story lately?  Try retelling it and we will get it up on the website for others to enjoy as well. 

Have an Awesome Day!

With four, count them, four files in the "handcrafted audio" section of the site, we are up and running.  I hope to add a few new audio files daily.  I am also hopeful that I will be able to begin to get narrow listening files put together in the next month.  Those are a bit more labor intensive, so if you have any friends that you would like to record answering one of the questions (or one of your own), go for it.  Check out the "contribute" page to find out how. 

I learned a new Turkish proverb today:  Kaz gelecek yerden tavuk esirgenmez.  -You have to be ready to sacrifice to achieve your goals. 

Good luck