I recently read an article written by Reid Wilson entitled Activities for Building Vocabulary Recognition and thought I would share the idea as a language learning tip.  Wilson, whose writing about the MP3 player in language learning was a big part of inspiring the Turkish Listening Library used this method on his journey toward fluency in colloquial Arabic but I think it is something we all could do as well.  Wilson had a few 30 minute blocks of time with his friend (they were exchanging English for Arabic instruction) and wanted to maximize the time.  What he did was to sit down with a friend and a recording device and have his friend share for two minutes about what he did the day before.  After making the recording, they immediately went back and began to listen through the audio together, one section at a time. After words and expressions were clarified, Wilson would immediately rewind and listen once more and then write down a note about the word and meaning.  In this manor, he continued through the entire two minute recording which took up the remainder of the 30 minutes.  That day, Wilson continued to listen back through the two minute recording.  At their next meeting, Wison again asked his friend to record a two minute audio of what he did the day before.  This created a narrow listening opportunity where much of the core of what he learned the time before was repeated and reviewed, but a lot of new vocabulary and topics were added in as well.  Overall, it seems like a great way to take control of the input and provide for multiple contacts with the new things you are learning.  There are lots of questions I can imagine you can ask of people to multiple times to get this kind of narrow listening opportunity.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  And check out the full article by clicking on the title above.

I recently came across an interview on the Livemoha Blog about the shift that is happening, effectively moving the journey of language learning away from the classroom and onto the internet.  I guess I would qualify this by saying that you can build a pretty great foundation in a language with many of the excellent opportunities that can be found online.  In fact, the highly motivated learner could really get pretty fluent with the language in the confines of their own home.  But that is not why we learn languages, so we can hang out at home.  We learn them to communicate, to enter into the heart language of another culture and by doing so open up a whole new world to our own lives.  We learn language so that we can go out and enter into the culture and life of our neighbors in the world.  And to really move beyond just the foundation, we have to get out their into the community, into the lives of the those who speak the language we are learning.Anyway, it was an interesting interview even if it was a bit promotional.  

In today's podcast I share about my first time sitting down and spending some time talking at the bookstore.  It was a great place for language learning and practice and  Serdar, Kerem, Göker remain great friends.  If you are ever in Kucukyali, make sure and stop by Reha Kitapevi under the Kucukyali Cami.  

As always, you can listen to the podcast at itunes or at podbean and of course be sure and download just the Turkish at the HCA Podcast page.  

I think a big fear many of us face when brining our kids along with us overseas, is that they won't get the language and will be forever an outsider.  Today I came across a list of tips that may be of some help.  I found the list at Exploring Abroad and they have a lot of great articles for language learners.  The citation for the article and information about how to get the entire booklet it was excerpted from is found at the bottom.  But here is the article:

Tips for Parents to Help Children Learn their Home Language and English

• Always talk a lot to your child in your language. Even when the child is too little to understand you should talk to them about what you are doing when you are cooking, writing, shopping etc...
• Teach your child nursery rhymes and songs in your own language.
• Tell your child stories in your language. Encourage your child to join in with the story telling.
• Talk to your children about what they did at playgroup, nursery or school in your language. If they use English words repeat what they have said using your language.
• Don't be frightened to use your language in public. If some people don't like it, it is their problem not yours.
• Make sure that your child knows the names of the different languages he speaks.
• Check that your child knows which language has which name.
• Take your child to concerts, plays, poetry readings, films etc. where they will hear people using your language.
• Try to make sure your children play with children who speak the same home language as they do.
• Find out if there is a community language school in your area where your language is taught. Your child might benefit from attending classes there.
• Try to find books written in your language for your child. If there aren't any try to make your own or ask someone else to help you.
• Make your child feel proud of your language.
• Don't laugh or tease your child because of her accent or if she makes mistakes.

Source: Bilingual Children: a guide for parents and carers, written by Foufou Savitzky, London Language and Literacy Unit, South Bank University, 1994. Copies of this booklet are available from Avanti Books, phone 01438 747000, emailavantiord@aol.com

I I have learned a lot about life from other people - regular people like you and me as well as the experts who write books and teach college courses.  I think there is probably a lot we can all learn about language learning from others as well.  I have it in mind to begin a new podcast called the Master Language Learner Interviews in which I will interview successful language learners, educators, researchers and an occasional polyglot* to see if we can't learn a few things from their language learning journey.  I have a short list of those I would like to find to interview but would love to hear your input as well.  So here is the challenge to you:  Do you know someone who has done really well at mastering a second language?  Send me their name and their contact information and I will look into setting up an interview with them so we can learn their tricks, be motivated by their success and grow as language learners.  Thanks!

Principle 5:  Rest increases absorption
I have not found a lot of research on this and frankly I haven’t yet looked.  I haven’t looked because I have seen how rest has helped me personally and have listened to others who have claimed the same.  And who needs hard evidence to be convinced that  we need to take a break.  But what is ‘rest.’  For language learners, rest is when we disengage completely from the language we are learning.  This is especially important for those of you who are expats living in the country of the language you are learning.  For those of you taking a semester long course in an American university - skip to the next principle.  If you are living in the language, if the majority of the people you know, see, pass on the street and interact with at the store every day only speak the language you are learning, then you are in need of timely rest.  It seems counter intuitive to say we should quit the language completely for a period of time and that this break will actually help us know, understand and use the language better.  But I think it is true.  I am not exactly sure what happens in our brain, but I see it as a sort of special concoction that is being mixed.  We put in a little of this grammar, a shake or two of social expressions, a whole lot of words and a bit of cultural learning too.  It is all being mixed around, a great murky mess and when we rest, we take the mixing spoon out of the pot.  Suddenly the motion stops and all the particles begin to settle.  Slowly everything settles down into its correct spot, the denser grammar on the bottom and the light layer of culture near the top.  We let it sit a bit and it all firms up and stays where it is supposed to stay.  That is how it has felt for me as unscientific as that all seems.  Even at the end of this summer’s three month hiatus back to the states, I felt like the rest has done me good.  Some things just felt more natural.  Now, don’t get me wrong, after a break of three months, there were a lot of things I just forgot, especially those newer grammar forms I was working on mastering right before we left.  But the break reminded me of the importance of rest.  But what is optimal or suggested.  I think two weeks per year.  Two weeks to let your brain take a vacation from the language and the culture.  And not just a break to the beach from formal studies or from the heavy language load that work may require of you, but where you still must engage others in your new language. Optimally, leave the country.  Go to the nearest English speaking country.  Go to a neighboring country’s beaches.  Just get out of the language and rest your mind and see what it does for you.

Speaking of rest, tomorrow I will post the final installation of this seven part series on principles for beginning language learners.  See you then!

Principle 4: Reading is indispensable
As a former high school English teacher, I am I suppose a bit biased, but reading is just one thing that every language learner who is serious about learning a language well must do and do often.  In a book, the learner comes across more input than can be gained from any other source of material.  Books can be picked up and put down on your time schedule, they can be easily dropped in a purse or backpack and can be read again and again.  Books never run out of batteries, never speak too fast and don’t mind being interrupted and asked to repeat something again and again.  Books inevitably cover the entire range of a languages grammar, carry the bulk of their message using the languages most used 500 or so words and can meet you at your level every time with just a bit of work.  Where to start.  The Archie comic book series, which is translated into most major languages, is written at the second grade level even though it is about high school kids.  The pictures prime the pump and help make the input comprehensible.  Young adult novels, kids serial books like The Baby Sitter Club books , The Hardy Boys, the Goosebumps series and Nancy Drew are all great sources of beginning reading.  Find books you loved as a kid.  Read all of the Narnia Books or Harry Potter.  Read anything really, but read often and choose things you love.

Visit again tomorrow for Principle 5: Rest Increases Absorption.