The Linguist - language learning should be fun

Free language learning for the Olympics.

Free Language Learning During Olympics

Vancouver based online language system offers free lessons leading up to the 2010 Olympics

West Vancouver, BC, Dec 18, 2009 -- West Vancouver based online language learning system LingQ (www.LingQ.com), is offering free language learning to all residents of British Columbia.

"We are excited about the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler," says CEO Steve Kaufmann. "That's why we are offering free language learning on LingQ to all BC residents, leading up to the games. We want to help people prepare to receive visitors from all over the world."

"Whether meeting French speaking Canadians or international tourists, BC residents will get more out of the Olympics if they are able to communicate a little in the language of our visitors," continues Kaufmann. "At LingQ we offer French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, as well as English for speakers of other languages! People can try as many languages as they want. Given that there are only a few months to go, though, sticking with one new language might be the wiser course."

In order to take advantage of this offer BC residents should follow these steps:

1. Email 2010 (at)lingq.com
   
2. Include your postal code in the email. (must be a BC postal code to qualify)
   
3. Your account will be upgraded to Basic Membership for 3 months. Hurry! This offer ends January 5th, 2010.

LingQ.com is an educational platform unique in its structured approach to natural language acquisition. LingQ as a Web 2.0 learning community, takes advantage of the Internet and new technology to enable people to help each other learn languages.

For more information please contact me personally by email.

Introduction to #Chinese at LingQ.

We intend to provide our newcomers with an encouraging introduction to the language they are planning to learn. I have drafted up some ideas of what this might consist of for French, Chinese and Japanese.

I look forward to comments. Is there anyone out there who wants to do one, either for these languages or for other languages?

Chinese can seem quite exotic when we first start out. No phonetic script. Everything is written in characters. Tones, wow! Can I really learn to sound like that? Let me assure you that Chinese is not only quite accessible, it has many features that make it easy to learn.

But first let's look at the difficulties. Yes it is all written in characters. I recommend that you use the romanized or phonetic script, pinyin, to help you get started. Lessons at LingQ are all in characters, but you can find pinyin converters on the Internet. Move your LingQ text to Print mode, where you can copy and convert them to pinyin.

If you are serious about Chinese, you should take the plunge and learn the characters. We do not have a specific character learning program at LingQ but there are many such systems available on the web. What LingQ offers is content and a way to get used to the language through a lot of listening, reading and word learning.

Tones, ah yes. It is difficult to remember the tone for each individual word. You just have to get used to the music and rhythm of the phrases. Like so much in language learning, focus on your listening first. Do not try to produce the tones until you have had a lot of exposure. Remember, though, that most languages, including English, have tones. It is just that in English, tones are used for emphasis in a sentence. In Chinese they are used to differentiate the meaning of words. You can do it.

Because of the tones, and the absence of a phonetic script, it can be a little difficult to get the hang of spoken Chinese, when you first listen to it. All the more reason to do a lot listening. Listen while reading pinyin on the screen. Then listen while reading characters. Then go away and listen, over and over to the same content. And don't worry about what you don't understand. If you have a favourite text or two, where you like the voice and the speaker and the subject matter, listen to them over and over again. The brain will gradually get the hang of it

When you start speaking, be confident that you will get better. Don't be afraid of making mistakes with the tones. You will gradually improve and never be perfect.

Now that the tough stuff is out of the way, let's get to reasons why Chinese is easy.

No masculine, no feminine, no plural forms. Nothing changes.

Verbs don't change. "I go today". "He tomorrow go" . With the addition of a word in front of your verb, you can easily indicate intention, or the future, or a range of tenses and moods that are so complicated in other languages. A little "le" behind the verb and it is the past tense. That's it. Verbs looked after.

Chinese is the original lego language. Words consist of two and sometimes three or more characters. Once you learn the characters, you can put them together to form compound words, in a great variety of combinations.  Often you can  take a stab at the meaning of new words, and they are quite easy to remember. There may not be any common vocabulary with languages that you know, but you can quickly build new vocabulary with your character "lego blocks".

Negatives are pretty straight forward. Usually the word "bu" or "not" is used. "I go", " I not go", "tall", "not tall", "yes", "not yes". You just have to remember that with things that happened in the past, you have to say "have not" as the negative.  "I yesterday have not go". Negatives looked after.

When asking questions in Chinese, it is more like a multiple choice test with two options. "You go, not go?" "you eaten, have not?". It seems a bit clumsy at first, but you quickly get used to it and wonder why other languages don't do this.

There are few other wrinkles that are best left for you to discover on your own, but none are difficult to remember, once we get used to them. Often there is a work around. One example is the way Chinese uses counters. Just like we say a sheet of paper, or a flock of geese, Chinese have specific counters for many things. But there is also a general counter "ge" and it will usually fill in if you don't know the counter that is normally used. I found that it is difficult to make a grammatical mistake in Chinese. You can almost say things however you want.

The key to learning Chinese is to learn phrases. Perhaps more so than with most other languages, be wary of the complicated grammar explanation. Focus on phrases and patterns. Save lots of phrases at LingQ and watch them appear over and over. When you first start with Chinese it can appear more difficult than certain other languages. Once you are over the hump, it is a delight to have entered this fascinating culture, one that appears so distant, and yet can become quite familiar and certainly enjoyable.

Introduction to #Japanese at LingQ

We intend to provide our newcomers with an encouraging introduction to the language they are planning to learn. I have drafted up some ideas of what this might consist of for French, Chinese and Japanese.

I look forward to comments. Is there anyone out there who wants to do one, either for these languages or for other languages?

Japanese is a flexible language. It seems that there are always a few ways of saying things, and each way conveys a slightly different tone. But you cannot really offend anyone if you stay with the simplest forms at first. As you become more familiar with the language, and have enough vocabulary, you can start exploring the world of polite language. Then as you start striking the right mood with your Japanese language, you start to feel as if you have arrived in this unique and rich culture. But to start with you just need to learn to understand.

Things may seem tough at first. Take the word for "I" for example, pronounced "watakushi". This really is quite mouthful for a beginner. Furthermore it is only one of several possible ways to say "I", each with its own mood or flavour.  On top of that, the personal pronoun is often left out. But do not worry, all these initial difficulties just fade away with enough exposure.

Japanese has relatively few sounds and therefore is quite easy to pronounce. However, this means that a lot of words may sound alike at the beginning. Again these are just initial difficulties and it is important not to let them bog you down.

Looking on the bright side, nouns do not have gender, no masculine or feminine. What is more there are no plurals really. You just kind of tell the number from the context. It all works fine, and we find that we do not miss the plurals. You just need to expose yourself to a lot of content. Do not worry if things seem a little unclear at first.

You will soon realize the importance of the little words that come after every noun or pronoun. They help  to direct traffic. Watakushi (I) can take a "wa" of "ga" if it is the subject  of the phrase But if it is the object of the phrase, it takes a "ni" and so on. I recommend you LingQ these little words to see how they work. That way they will always be highlighted in yellow on your screen.

It is a good idea to learn to read the kana or Japanese phonetic writing system fairly early. Each symbol represents a syllable. There are two parallel systems, hiragana and katakana. The hiragana is more useful. The katakana is for foreign words or words that represent sounds. I would also start learning characters, which is a whole job of itself. There are lots of helpful website on learning Japanese Kanji.

The approach to verbs in Japanese is unlike European languages. First of all the verbs come at the end of sentences. Once you are aware of this, the language will be easier to understand. Not a bad system, you always have to wait till the end for the punch line, so to speak.

There are fewer tenses than English. Furthermore, the verb forms do not change for person and this simplifies the learning of verbs considerably. On the other hand there are various form of verbs reflecting levels of politeness. Don't even try to remember the rules for what to use when, you will gradually get used to it with enough exposure. What is more the rules are really not hard and fast, and you will not offend anyone regardless of which form you choose.

Endings of verbs are extremely important. They determine the tense of verbs, the politeness level, and can convey meanings like "if" or "in order to" etc.. Verb endings also determine whether a statement is positive or negative.  Make sure you save the many forms of the verbs that you come across. You can tag them for later review in the LingQ vocabulary section. What is more you can search all of your saved LingQs by different endings. This will really help you get used to them.

One handy aspect of Japanese is that questions usually end in the little word "ka". It is sort of like a verbal form of the question mark. Really quite convenient when you want to ask something.

Of course, there is a lot more to Japanese, but that should help to get you going. From time to time, it may be useful to refer to some of the Japanese language resources you can find on the web or a small ( I repeat small) grammar book. But do not try too hard to remember all the rules. You will get used to the language gradually. As with most languages, initially the obstacles seem insurmountable. Do not try to nail things down when you start. Just be confident that with enough listening, and by LingQing key words and phrases, the picture will start to become clearer. Good luck.

Introduction to #French at LingQ.

We also intend to provide our newcomers with an encouraging introduction to the language they are planning to learn. I have drafted up some ideas of what this might consist of for French, Chinese and Japanese.

I look forward to comments. Is there anyone out there who wants to do one, either for these languages or for other languages?

French is, to my ears, a lovely language, with its pleasant nasal sounds. In a way, part of what makes it pleasant is the fact that not only living things, but all objects, have to be either masculine or feminine. This is called gender. There is no rhyme or reason for the gender, except that the Romans did it. There are rules to help you remember which things are masculine (words that end in consonants for example) and which are feminine ( words that end in "ion" for example), but there are exceptions, as with most rules. You can find these rules on the Internet but it will be hard to remember them. It will just take time to get used to all of this and you will continue to make mistakes. Don't worry about it. I still make mistakes with gender and I do not worry about it.

Gender seems to influence a lot of things in French, but the good thing is that getting the gender wrong will have little affect on meaning. In any case you will need to focus on listening and reading and understanding at first.  You will notice that words will have a masculine form and a feminine form. You will gradually get used to it by doing a lot listening and reading, and especially by saving phrases when you create LingQs.

French verbs, with all their endings, can seem a challenge at first, but I can assure you get used to them. You need to realize that the form of the verb, that is to say the endings, change with each person. "Je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent". Since one of the delights of French is that letters are often silent, you may not hear the fact that the endings are different. This is great since you can fake it a little when you speak. 

But there are other problems. There are many irregular verbs. So when we talk about going somewhere, we get "je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont". Nowadays it is easy to Google "French verbs" and find tables with all of the forms of any verb you want. So I will not give any more examples here.

There are two very important verbs in French that are used to form the past tense. The verb which means "to have" , "avoir", and the verb that means "to be", "etre".  The French do not say "I ate". They say "I have eaten"  "j'ai mangé".. They do not  say "I went". They say "I am gone" "je suis allé".  Just be aware of it and watch as the forms of some of the verbs change. If you are confused you can ask on the LingQ forum.

I recommend that you save every form of the verb that you come across at LingQ. Each form is a different tense or person, and the phrases that come with it are different each time. Do  not be stingy with your LingQing. The more you LingQ the better you will learn.

A few more comments and you are on your way. To ask a question in French you can either reverse the word order, much like in English, or use the pattern of "is it that you are going?" "est-ce que vous allez?".

As for saying "no" in French, the French are not happy just saying "I am not". They like to add another negative word. So they say "Je ne suis pas". Watch for the double negatives.

There are lots of French grammar resources on the web, or you may want to buy a small grammar book. Refer to these resources from time to time, but don't spend too much time trying to memorize rules. With enough listening, reading and LingQing things will start to seem clearer and clearer. Eventually, even the grammar rules will make sense.

Introduction to #LingQ

There has been a little discussion at this blog about LingQ. Here is a draft of three part introduction to LingQ that we are thinking of making available to all newcomers to LingQ, in audio format, and in the learner's language. Once the content is decided we will of course translate it all. Comments welcome.

Introduction

Welcome. You are about to embark on an enjoyable journey of language learning and discovery. LingQ is different from most language learning systems. At LingQ you will not do grammar drills and exercizes. Instead, most of your time will be spent on things that are easy to do and effective, such as listening, reading and gradually increasing your vocabulary.

As someone who has learned a lot of languages, I cannot stress enough that language improvement is gradual and unpredictable. You cannot be a perfectionist, at least not at first. The kind of people who are successful language learners are people content to wander in a fog, bumping into the odd tree, or tripping on the odd stump.

This willingness to explore and embrace the unknown, not talent, is what separates the happy linguist from the frustrated learner. Don't worry about how to pronounce each word. Don't try to master each lesson, and all the new words. Just plan to enjoy the journey. It will all come together before you know it, if you just put in the time.

The more time you spend the better you will understand the language. Soon a number of things that were difficult at first, including the pronunciation of the language, will seem easier.

Language learning is a gradual, and natural process. You will steadily acquire new habits, the habits of another culture and language. Enjoy yourself!


Listening and reading

Spend most of your time listening. Once you have chosen an item to study from our Library, download it. Listen often on your iPod or MP3 player. Listen wherever and whenever you can, while doing other chores.

At first try to listen many, many times to the same content. As you progress you will not need to listen as often to each item. And don't wait until you fully understand one lesson before moving on to the next lesson.

Reading is another powerful learning activity. When you read at LingQ,  save as many phrases and words as possible. This is called LingQing. You need to a lot of it, take my word for it.

Listening will help you in your reading, and the combination of both listening and reading will help you remember words and phrases faster than any other activity.

Remember, don't try to be a perfectionist. There are a lot of words and phrases that you will not get no matter how often you listen. It does not matter. You are getting used to the language. Things will eventually become clearer.

Keep listening and keep learning!


LingQing

Language learning is a journey of discovery, and the milestones on that journey are marked off in words.  LingQ will help you learn words, and will keep track of your progress as you reach each milestone

A few words of advice.

Make a practice of saving a lot of words and phrases. LingQ words and phrases. LingQ the different forms of the same word. LingQ words that you think you know but are not sure about.

Try to review your new words in Flash Cards when you first receive them in your dailiy email. If you fall behind, or can't remember them, don't worry, though. You should be saving so many LingQs that you cannot possibly nail them all down. You will meet them again and again if you keep listening and reading.

The more LingQs you save, the more words are going to be highlighted in yellow in future texts. You will find that this is like a visual trigger that helps you learn these new words. Remember you need to meet words often to really get to know them.

When you want to speak and write, sign up for discussions with tutors, or submit writing for correction by our tutors. Get to know the people in our community.

Happy LingQing.

LingQ, #mobile learning, and established language centres

As language learning evolves to a more mobile learning model, language schools at universities and elsewhere will have to evolve. Of course, we at LingQ will continue to evolve and develop.

I have always felt that LingQ was a natural for cooperative programs with existing language schools in this new changing learning paradigm.

It can be an opportunity for a number of things to happen.

1) Students can access a great deal of content and use LingQ's functionality.

2) Students can participate in an online community of language learners.

3) Students can tutor in their own language and exchange content and experience with other learners.

4) Members of LingQ can find out about these schools. Once people reach a certain level studying on LingQ in their own country, they may want to work on their language in a more intense environment, especially if the school is in the country where the language is spoken.

5) Language schools can teach how to use LingQ and other resources on the web.

I am sure there are more examples. I would be interested in hearing the views of others.

Connecting LingQ to the #iPod, any advice?

We know that we have to move LingQ onto hand held devices. At present LingQ can be accessed by an iPhone or iPod touch but the screen is hard to use for many of our functions.

Which functions are most useful to have on an iPod or similar device?

We are planning to facilitate exporting of lists so that people can use any flash card system they like on an iPod.

What else? Is there anyone out there who develops for these devices?

Как учить языки на LingQ

Как учить языки на LingQ. Это страница уроки.

Como aprender idiomas con LingQ (en español)

Un video sobre LingQ en español. Este es la pagina Lecciones a LingQ donde se puede leer, escuchar, salvar palabras y frases y mas.

Why people learn languages (Mark Rosenfelder) or, language learning and golf.

Thanks to Kevin, I was  sent to the following article called "Why and when people learn languages."  by Mark Rosenfelder. In this article Mark says the following:

"Languages take immense effort to learn, and people will only learn them if it's socially or economically inescapable."

My reply is that it takes an immense effort to learn to play golf well, very few people succeed, and yet many people continue to play golf. The whole point of LingQ is to make language learning enjoyable. So that people can just keep doing it. Unlike golf, people will almost certainly improve.

Read Mark's article, there is a lot there that I agree with.