Reading in the target language should be an integral part of your language learning journey - and it should be one that never ends as life long language learners.  The importance of reading cannot be overstated.  However, if you pay attention to how you read in English (or your native language) you will notice that you do not read every letter, but rather skim through each sentence taking in whole chunks of letters at a time and easily connecting these chunks to words and expressions.  Our brains are quite amazing this way.  For example:  I tihnk the bairn is rlelay azmanig! Eevn tihs snectene is radebale.  Could you read that?  If your a native English speaker you probably could - I think the brain is really amazing.  Even this sentence is readable.  When we begin to read then in our target language, our brain, which is trained to take in chunks, will continue its ingrained habit and skip right along through the text - especially as we advance in our knowledge of the language.  I find that when I read in Turkish this happens a lot - even skipping through new words or long pesky words that I really cannot pronounce well.  Taking the time to read out loud then forces your brain out of its old habits and into pronouncing each and every syllable - the way we would if we were speaking.  This is a good way to "train" your tongue and your mind to work together with the new rhythms, intonations and sounds of the language.  It will slow your reading down - but done in chunks of 10 - 15 minutes a day,  "read aloud" time will be a a great tool to improve your overall fluidity in reading aloud, as well as to improve your general speaking ability.  Give it a try for a week and let me know how it goes.

Well today is my son Malachi’s 6th birthday so I will borrow a bit of a lesson from my observations of his learning of Turkish.  He has done quite well and amazes me with his ability to take in the language, process it and use it effectively.  We are no longer constantly amazed, but one observation that I notice and knew would be the case for all kids, is his ability to approach language learning without shame or fear or the thought of embarrassment.  It is this reckless abandon that I think we must all strive to step into as we learn language.  Linguists talk about something called the affective filter.  This encompasses all those things listed above and the “higher” the filter is, the bigger a barrier it is to effective language acquisition.  Children tend to have very low affective filters.  So, the tip of the bi-week is to become like a child.  Leave the pride behind.  Come to grips with the fact that we as language learners will be the town clown – for a while.  Good luck on the journey and remember, don’t take yourself – or your mistakes, gringo accent, or cultural faux pas - too seriously.   

This one comes from Dwight Gradin of the PILAT training course and is one I really love.  I love it for a couple of reasons.  First, it has no limits.  You can use it any where, anytime, with little preparation and at any level of language learning.  Second, it gives you the chance to hear a lot of different ways to say the same thing.  We all realize that too often we learn a set phrase for a situation and then use it to death.  Dumb/Smart questions offer the possibilities of hearing the many ways native speakers might answer the same questions.  In many ways, dumb/smart questions are a “live” version of ‘narrow listening’ as featured on this site.  So how does it work?  Basically you start with a question you already know the answer to.  Then ask a native speaker the question and listen to their answer.  For example:  Walk down the post office.  Walk around the corner from the post office and then ask the first person you meet, “Excuse me, but could you tell me where the post office is?”  Thank them and then pretend to go in that direction.  Then find your next victim.  Ask them the same question.  Listen to their answer.  Now go to the other side of the post office, or further away.  Repeat it over and again, listening to how people answer. Are there basic patterns?  Some special expression that is routinely used?  Another way to use dumb/smart questions is in strategic shopping.  I needed a new watch about a year into my time here.  I gave myself an extra half an hour and then stopped at every store that sold watches as I walked home, asking the same questions to each merchant.  By the time I stopped and shopped for a watch at my sixth or seventh store, I was feeling much more confident and had a better understanding of what was going on, the names of watch parts, and how sales people sell watches. 


In the initial stages of your learning, this can really help boost your listening comprehension.  Later, it can be a way to widen the scope of the language you use.  I have been stopped and asked directions twice in the last week.  Both times I felt like my Tarzanca was on full display.  This week, I plan to head out with my PAN notebook and ask directions a lot and write down the many ways that people give them to prepare myself for giving directions next time. 
 

Other topics:  a common known fact in the nations history; how something (that you know about) at the Pazar works;  reactions to current world events; a recap of the match (the one you watched last night); about procedures at your child’s school (to other parents);

 
Dumb/Smart questions do what I think we need to work hard to do in all of our language learning – they give us a chance.  When the pump is primed, things flow more smoothly, quickly and it sticks.  Good luck!

  Pronunciation is an important part of any language.  Often we sell ourselves far too short for far too many mythical reasons and give up early on improving our pronunciation.  It is of course not the end all of language learning, but I think for all of us, a goal to not sound “harsh” to the native ear is one we should work toward and can achieve.  One way to remove some of the frustration of that working on pronunciation can bring is to set aside set times for dedicated pronunciation practice.  In these times, you will not concern yourself in the least with comprehension or communication.  You are just working on training your tongue and your mind to the new sounds of the language.  Don’t set aside a lot of time, but 5-10 minutes of dedicated work on the sounds of the language will really help you fine tune and give yourself a lot of focused practice with out the worry of feeling like you are not understanding everything.  In linguists terms it will help reduce your “affective filter.”  In some ways it is sort of like basketball.  In junior high we did left handed lay-up after left handed lay-up in practice so that it soon became natural.  When game time came around, it was more natural and I scored more points.  Our tongues and minds need the same sort of repetition so that they too can begin to feel natural.  Below is a link to some practice drills and other ideas that you can do in your focused pronunciation practice time with friend or language helper. 

So I thought I might try something new and offer the "Tip of the Bi-Week."  Bi-Week because I am assuming now that I wont get around to doing it weekly.  Mostly it is for my own motivation to continue to think like a language learner, to explore new ideas and practice proven ones.  But I will try to post one every other week or so. Here is this weeks. 

Always carry a stack of 10-15 note cards with the expressions, grammar forms, proverbs, example sentences, etc. that you are currently learning written on them.  For example, in an earlier post about carrying a PAN with you at all times, I mentioned wanting to learn to ask the question, "How do you stay warm in this weather?"  I worked on it with my language helper, writing it in my big spiral notebook that I use for lessons.  Then I forgot about it.  Well, I looked it back up today, wrote it on a note card and put it with the other things I have been working on.  You can pull the cards out on the bus, while you are standing in line or while your wife is talking to you about something she thinks is very important (just kidding) and quickly review them.  It will help you to solidify what you are learning and lock key phrases in your mind.