A community in New South Wales is hoping to revive the local Aboriginal language. Menindee Central School, situated in the Kinchega National Park, is offering an 18 month course in Paakantji aimed at adults. The school has taught the language for four years. The main aim of the program is to get it accredited, so that graduate students can teach others and keep the language alive.
New research conducted at the Aix-Marseille University in France shows that baboons have the ability to identify words. By using different combinations of four letters, the primates are showing signs of being able to recognise which combinations of letters are real words and which aren’t.
They are “actually reading words much like we identify any kind of visual object, like we identify chairs and tables,” says the study’s lead research author Jonathan Grainger.
A testing area was installed into the baboon’s play area, with four touch screen computers. A mixture of real words and nonsense words were displayed on the screen, and the baboons had to touch either a green oval signs on the screen for the real words, or a blue cross to signal the nonsense words. The baboons were free to choose when they used the computers and for how long, but were given treats when they correctly identified the real words. The study concluded that the baboons identified the correct words three times out of four.
The researchers now believe that the ability to recognise words is related to object identification rather than spoken language skills.
Source: Science Journal
Maori TV are to re-launch a dedicated 100% te reo Maori channel, which is called Te Reo. From Monday 16 April, the channel’s weekday broadcast hours will be begin at 4.30pm, rather than 7pm, as it is at the moment. Te Reo’s weekend broadcast schedule will run from 7.00pm to 11.00pm.
The channel will primarily contain programming for children.
Korero Mai was the main language teaching programme to be aired on Maori TV, but the channel will be launching a new live daily Maori language show.
Te Reo is available only on digital and can be accessed via Freeview Satellite channel 24 and SKY channel 59.
A 15 year old from Glasgow has won a trip to Beijing in a Mandarin competition.
Ellie Koepplinger, who began learning Mandarin a year and a half ago, impressed judges in the Beginners category of the British Council Speaking Competition, held at the British Museum.
“It’s a beautiful language that’s full of cultural references and stories – there’s a history to every word and phrase. The way the characters are formulated is also fascinating. I want to become an international politician when I’m older and that means you will have to interact with China and the Chinese. The more people that learn Chinese the better-connected and richer Britain will be in the future. China is going to be a superpower and if we can speak their language it’s going to help us massively, so I think it’s great that the British Council is encouraging people to speak it,” she said.
Ellie will join winners of the other language ability categories on a trip to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.
One of the things which holds us back when practising a new language is making mistakes. We’ve all done it! Everyone makes mistakes when they’re learning, and (less often) even when they are fluent. The most notorious example is mixing up the Spanish word for “embarrassing” and saying “estoy embarazada” (I’m pregnant!) instead of “estoy avergonzada.”
My most cringe-worthy story is from when I was on holiday in Venice, Italy. I needed to send some postcards so asked the cutest guy I could find “Dov’è l’ufficio postale più vicino?” (Where is the nearest post office?) He raised his eyebrows and pointed behind me! Even though I’d made sure I had the phrase and even the pronunciation correct, I was standing in front of the post office!
The important things to note are that:
What’s the most embarrassing situation you’ve found yourself in when speaking another language?
I recently found The Brink of Something Else, the personal blog of Aussie traveller Camden Luxford, who is currently living in Cusco, Peru. Among other things, she’s transcribed a series of interviews with expatriates around the world, from Japan to Morocco to Kosovo. The blog is a fascinating read for anyone who’s interested in picking up and moving away (or if you’re already on the road).
Having already gotten a pretty good grasp on Spanish, Camden decided to attempt the second official language of Peru, Quechua. Variants of the language are spoken throughout the Andean regions of South America. I’d imagine it would be pretty difficult to find Quechua classes outside of South America, but this post tells us that it’s not so easy to find them there, either, even when a majority of the indigenous people speak it. Sure, you could pay the overblown tourist prices, but most people who have been proper expats are very loathe to do this. Check out the post to see how many avenues she’s tried so far.
She’s also written a great post on Matador about language learning plateaus and how to move on past them. This post is specifically about Spanish, but all the hints are worthwhile for all language learners, at pretty much every level. Apparently Camden’s plateaus happen a lot higher than mine (she flattened out while being able to conduct business meetings in her second language, while I’m happy if I can direct a taxi to my apartment), but she’s still very humble about her achievements.
I’m going to subscribe to the blog mostly for travel reasons, but here’s hoping she writes some more about language learning, too.
Image: quinet.
When it comes to goal-setting in language learning, how do you measure your progress, or know you have achieved your goals? Do you define study goals as different from assessment goals? Here are a few different ways you can chart your language progression:
Study-based progress
Assessment-based progress
Which method(s) do you use to keep track of your learning?
Language learning is just one of the many things in life that you need motivation to do. Many people start with the best intentions, but it takes some dedication to keep going after the first burst of enthusiasm and visible progression. The beginning is often the easiest time, but how do you keep going after you’ve learned your first hundred words?
Looking broadly, motivation can come from one of two places – external or internal. I, sadly, respond best to external motivators like having to meet someone for a class, being assigned a homework due date, and studying for exams. Strong deadlines are important, and if there is no fear of a punishment (whether that be a failing grade, or just embarrassment or disappointment in myself), I find it hard to stick to a due date. Some people manage well with setting goals for themselves, and it tends to work quite well if you have smaller goals that add up to a big or distant achievement. Other forms of internal motivation include making timetables, giving yourself small rewards, marking your progress as you go, or withholding rewards until you have reached your targets.
Ideally, a combination of internal and external motivators would work best. Perhaps meeting someone for a language exchange once a week, while doing self-study three times a week will work. Perhaps denying yourself your favourite TV show until you’ve watched a show in your target language will work. Everybody is different.
I guess language learning is one of those situations where ‘you only disappoint yourself’ if you don’t keep trying, but it’s hard to be your own sole motivator. What’s your favourite or most successful way of finding motivation?
What is the minimum amount of language you should learn for a trip abroad, or a relocation? Is it the most common 100 or 500 words in a language? Is it a set number of phrases, or is there a set list? Reaching a ’survival level’ of language skill will mean different things to different people.
Of course, your requirements will depend on a lot of things. If you are going to a place where it is common for locals to have at least an elementary English speaking skill, you may only need to learn pleasantries in order to show respect and enthusiasm for their local culture and language. Many people are more than happy to hear a traveller say hello, please, thank you, and goodbye in the local language.
To go a little bit further than this, I would recommend learning basic numbers (1-10, 10s to 100, 1000, etc), excuse me/sorry, yes and no, this and that, the phrases how much and I want/don’t want [something], and words for basic food and drink (e.g. beef, chicken, rice, water, beer).
A very important question is, of course, Do you speak English? You could always ask in English, but, you’d be surprised at how much people are more likely to help you if you ask in their language. Also, it’s less confusing for them if the answer is no. You could also learn direction words such as left, right, straight ahead. The problem with knowing how to ask for directions is that you have to be able to understand the response! Although most people gesture with their hands, so it’s not quite so difficult. Oh, and don’t forget to learn the word for toilet!
If you have any special needs (e.g. dietary or medical), it might pay to learn some phrases associated with these (e.g. I don’t eat meat.). Because sometimes these things can be complicated, I would really recommend having a phrase book or a printed copy of the details in the local language as well. The same goes for emergency phrases like help and I need a doctor. Even if you never need them, it’s always safer to have a backup if people can’t understand you.
If you are short on time, don’t worry too much about small talk. Probably the best sentence to know is I’m from [home country]. Then wait for the inevitable ‘ah, kangaroos!’ or ‘Lord of the Rings!’
What are your must know phrases when you go abroad?
I have an upcoming trip to Europe, and will be spending a little bit of time in Italy. I’ve been there before, and had very very minimal Italian to rely on to get me around (surprisingly few Italians speak English, you know).
So today I was trying to think of as many Italian phrases as I could, especially for useful things like buying food and train tickets. I really couldn’t remember much, so I will definitely need to brush up a little bit before I go.
The funny thing is, whenever I couldn’t think of the words in Italian, the first thing that came to mind was the phrase in Mandarin, not English. Mandarin is what I’m learning at the moment, and it’s currently the foreign language I know the most of, so I think my brain is just shuffling through all the foreign words it knows, because it knows I don’t want English.
The same thing happened to me while I was living in Turkey, trying to speak Turkish. When I couldn’t find the words, my brain gave them to me in Cantonese, which at the time was my best foreign language.
I find it really interesting to see what the brain does, and what coping mechanisms it has (e.g. the time-saving strategy of not even bothering to provide options in my native language). Has anyone else had this happen to them with a third or fourth language?
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Wendy Wong Wendy is a full-time language teacher and curriculum designer, part-time blogger, and constant traveller. |
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