Linguistic Gift Ideas 2013

Hello blog readers, this Friday we are entering the final few weeks before Christmas! Yes, Hanukkah is over and so are the modern inventions Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and I helpfully dozed all the way through them. Well, here I am, better late than never, in bringing you this year's Linguistic Gift Ideas.

The Gift Ideas Board

On my updated Pinterest board, I have lots of good stuff from cute French t-shirts to funny language guides and travel books. Please have a good peruse and root around the board, and let me know what you're giving for Christmas this year!

Follow Kerstin H's board Linguistic Gift Ideas on Pinterest.

Awesome FlashSticks landed in the Shop

Sticky word notes, they're my number one. In all honesty, these are a learning tool that always works.

If you want to give some as a gift or it's too much effort to make your own, someone has now invented FlashSticks: pre-printed Post-It notes in four languages and designed for your chosen learning level. I am genuinely excited to be offering packs of FlashSticks through the online shop on my website! They are pre-printed, colour-coded and really fun. SO recommended.

Order by 19 December for Christmas delivery in the UK, and by 14 December for delivery within Europe (all posting dates are on the Royal Mail site).

Amazon Link

And just in case you're buying something on Amazon for Christmas this year, please consider going through this link here for US/this one for UK and supporting my blog. It doesn't cost you anything extra, and I get a little commission from them. These links land on my book Fluency Made Achievable, but will work no matter where on Amazon you go from there. Thanks guys!

The Special Needs Child and the Foreign Language (by Sally Holmwood)

Sally Holmwood, tutor at Indigo Languages is establishing herself as a regular and always very welcome guest here on the Fluent Language blog. Her experiences working with young people of all ages, both inside and outside the UK school system make her views so profound, and Sally has a real passion for her languages to share with you. Today she is discussing a special group of people, often forgotten in the language learning world: Special needs children.

One Tongue, Two Languages

As well as working with languages, I support individuals with special needs in a wide range of settings. There is a wealth of information, on the internet and beyond, about teaching languages to children with special needs – and plenty of resistance from parents and school staff alike!

“My Child Struggles to Communicate in English - Why Teach Them a Foreign Language?”

Many parents I know of children with severe learning difficulties would argue against teaching a foreign language to a child that experiences considerable difficulty in speaking their own. I know two mothers of non-verbal autistic boys, for example. For the mothers, English is not their native tongue. They live in England and so speak to their sons in English. They believe that, as their children hear English all day, wherever they go, it might confuse them to hear a different language spoken at home. Such apprehension about introducing a child with a learning difficulty to a foreign language is not uncommon. Some parents and staff believing pupils’ time might be better spent focussing on building independence skills.

Using Language-Learning as a Stepping Stone

At Languages Without Limits, the rationale that we are all different is reason enough to introduce pupils with special needs to a foreign language. Seeing the variation between people from different cultures showed pupils that it is acceptable to be ‘different’. There is scope for revisiting useful basic language concepts when learning a foreign language too. The teaching of social and other core skills can be integrated into foreign language lessons, shifting the focus just slightly. (Read this twice because it applies to all learners, not just special needs ones. -ed.)

“But This Child Can’t Speak!”

We may believe the non-verbal child does not benefit from learning a foreign language - but can we really be sure? If you haven’t heard of Carly Fleischmann, the Canadian teenager with non-verbal autism, now’s the time to look her up! Watch her video below to see for yourself the stark contrast between her father’s assumptions about her understanding and what she herself wants to communicate! Carly, like many other non-verbal youngsters, now has an electronic communication aid – many of these can even be furnished with foreign language software!

David R. Wilson has compiled a list of resources that include guidelines on making foreign languages accessible to pupils with a number of special needs, who may need to learn in a different way to their peers.

A Time and Place for Everything – Including Traditional Teaching Methods!

Rudyard Kipling once said

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it!

We know that there are three learning styles – visual, auditory and kinesthetic (tactile) – and certainly some pupils with special needs learn better if they can ‘get stuck in’. Videos, games and songs and plenty of opportunity to get up out of their seat to act things out will enhance their learning experience – the more tactile, the better!

Take fruit. Teach the names – and even the signs – not just by showing a simple photograph or cartoon image as a visual aid. Embrace the wonder that is ICT. Even better still, bring actual pieces of fruit in for pupils to try and allow them to feel, smell and taste it. Make the most of stories like Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" – just think how this could be used to combine simple vocabulary with a brilliantly multi-sensory experience for children with special needs!

The Higher Functioning Special Needs Child

Let’s not forget the high functioning autistic learner either, who, like any of us, is highly motivated by things they really like. It may be the rigidity of maths or science that appeals. To others, like one young man I know, it is foreign languages. Excelling in school at French and German, he taught himself Russian at home. Foreign languages come complete with strict, non-negotiable grammar rules and a clear right or wrong answer for many questions. This can play to the high-functioning autistic pupil’s thirst for rigidity of routine. They may find such things easier to grasp than confusing abstract concepts found in other subjects.

Is the Special Needs Child the Better Language Learner?

We know that the pupil with special needs learns in a very different way to one without. We may have concerns that a child with special needs may not understand a foreign language, particularly if they are non-verbal, but that shouldn’t mean we exclude them altogether from the opportunity to learn. After all, Carly Fleischmann showed the world just how wrong people could be about the level of understanding of a non-verbal child.

The question of whether the special needs child makes the better language learner is a tricky one that brings me back to the diversity of all pupils, so much so that I am inclined to sit on the fence and say simply that we are all motivated by the things that interest us! We all deserve to be offered the same experiences and to receive support, where necessary, to make the most of them.

Learn One, Learn All!

The language learner with special needs may need to approach language learning in a completely different manner. Yet amongst the vast technologies that exist today, there are certainly many ways in which to offer them an experience of learning a foreign language that is meaningful to them. Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves from now on is not simply whether individuals with special needs should learn a foreign language, but rather how they should be doing so?

About Sally Holmwood

Sally lives and works in West Sussex, England. She splits her working week between individuals of all ages with special needs, and languages (specifically German and French). Sally loves to make time to travel the world when she's not working - sometimes Europe, sometimes even further afield! Furthermore, she is a big fan of great television: Sherlock, Bones, The Big Bang Theory and Doctor Who. Stay in touch with Sally on Twitter or Facebook.

**Note from Kerstin : Like Sally, I also believe very strongly that language learning should be open to everyone who wishes to do so. This is not an easy path for anyone, and her ideas of the learner with autism finding comfort in rigid grammar rules, or the tactile learning styles, should be an inspiration to us all. How do you bring more adventure into your learning styles?** 

Language learning with Yabla

Today I want to write an article introducing you to some software that might really go some distance to keeping you learning languages online. It's called Yabla, and online at Yabla.com.

What I like about Yabla is that the system is not in a specific learning method or a big method that you have to learn first. Instead, their special software is designed to make that target language video world accessible.

Here's how it works

The materials come from TV, film and music videos in the original language. The system gives access to native language videos and allows language learners to watch things in the original language, understand them, expand their vocabulary and quiz themselves on listening comprehension. So in other words, if you've ever wasted an hour on YouTube this is your thing.

All videos display in the Yabla player, which looks like this:

I've annotated this picture for you so you can work out what the different sections are about. We have

1. Control buttons. The coolest ones are "Slow" which slows the whole video down without sounding like it's creepy monster talk (i.e. it's pitch corrected) so that you can understand the native speakers better, and "Loop" which will run a very short section on a loop until you are ready to move on.
2. Subtitles. These are available in the language of the video (here it's German) and the menu language (here that would be English), but as you can see there is a little "Hide"/"Show" menu on the right hand side so that you can watch the video with or without subtitles.
3. Subtitle Lookup. Every word in the subtitles is clickable, and will show up in the dictionary once you click on it.
4. Difficulty rating. Yabla tells users how difficult it thinks the videos are and rates them from 1 to 5. For example, my French is good enough to watch a 4/5 video without any subtitles, but I want them on for 5/5.
5. Game. The in-video game is a listening comprehension exercise, asking you to find the missing word in any phrase contained in the video. Yabla regularly publishes the high scores so I'm pretty sure you couldn't resist if there's a bit of a competitor in you.
6. Dictionary. Yabla player searches various dictionaries, or Wikipedia, for every word that you click on in the subtitles. This way you get the benefit of several uses and you can see the word used in a sentence straight away.

Here are two of my favourite demo videos:

1. Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Himmel: Piggeldy and Frederick are cartoon pigs and they live and learn, and have done this for as long as I can remember. I used to enjoy them when I was little, and still enjoy them today. Suitable even for early learners (or 2/5 on Yabla's own difficulty rating).
2. Canadian Chocolate Seller - Chocolats: The lady makes chocolate. The video contains chocolate. I think now I'm hungry.

In conclusion, I think you guys should give Yabla a go. A 1-month subscription costs $9.95 and it's refundable within 7 days, so that you can test drive the system thoroughly. The system is great for:

1. listening comprehension: slow it down where you need to.
2. writing skills - take notes and compare them with the subtitles afterwards
3. growing your vocabulary - write down new words and quiz yourself or use the in-built Game and Flashcards features.

Yabla is available for learners of English, French, Chinese, German, Spanish and Italian.

Final message to Yabla: Where is the Russian version? I can't wait!

Final message to you: Fluent Language's blog is an affiliate partner and receives a small commission if you decide to sign up for a Yabla account, so thanks in advance if you do!

Kerstin's 4 steps to learning a language with Pinterest

If you have never heard of Pinterest before, get excited because this super-visual social network is actually a cool education tool. In today's blog post, we'll have a look at how the service works and what you can use it for when it comes to language learning. And of course I'll show you a few of my favourite boards!

What is Pinterest?

I usually describe Pinterest as an online corkboard, a place where you can store things you come across on the internet, get them organised and come back later. The unique thing about it is that it's all visual, so every link that you put on there (it's called "pinning") will be shown image first.

Pinterest is a powerful social network too, allowing you to "repin" anything anyone has put in there before, to like pins and to send them to others.  There are even social pinboards, where you can invite many others to contribute.

Why should I bother with Pinterest for language learning?

There are a few reasons why I think this service is one of the coolest tools for language learners:

• The social boards are fantastic for using the pinning powers of people who have the same interests as you. 
• The visual basis means that you can scroll easily and select from a large set of resources quite quickly.
• The focus is often on language in use, rather than just courses and exercises, and it really gets you motivated to see beautiful quotes and infographics.
• It lets you get more creative and find more source material than most other language learning websites. 

How I use Pinterest

Just a few examples of creative Pinterest use for you here, so you can get involved straight away.

Verbotene Liebe is a German soap opera posting character profiles for their fans on Pinterest. I've been using these regularly for practicing introductions with my early German learners. This way we can combine a good story with early language learning. Take this lady: She's married, but divorced? The two men have the same last name?! You what?!? Those Germans!

Next up, I've also had treasure hunts around the web. Students received a list of items to find and pin to a shared board.

And finally, there is nothing like a cool image or infographic to get everyone interested and give you something to come back for (I recommend the lastminute.de blog for great ones in German, by the way).  Who knew Germany was so pretty?

And here's what you do

Fancy getting into Pinterest now? I recommend that you start with the following steps: 

1. Search for your target language, combine it with a few other keywords.
   
   Good searches for French would be français, apprendre français, french learning, french, langue française and any specific topic you want to look up (passé composé for example).
   
   
2. Follow me on there - my boards are guaranteed to have some inspiration for you and you can get busy with repins to your own boards straight away
   
   
3. Follow relevant pinners in the target language - for example dictionary publishers, native speakers and other teachers
   
   
4. Install the Pinterest browser extension for your own browser and try it by pressing "Pin It" next time you find a resource you like

3 noteworthy techniques for remembering vocabulary once and for all

Welcome back, Fluent readers, hope you are enjoying a spectacular day. Today, let me share three tricks with you that can boost your memory - without brain surgery! 

The following three techniques might seem counter-intuitive - there's talk of switching off or going back to school! But there is a lot to be said for considering your own productivity levels and best hacks before you set off learning something.

In this article, I'm sharing three ways that were very successful for me for learning languages in the past 20 years. Which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments! 

1. Be accountable and smart with your lists

This one is for the times when you feel like putting in the graft of language learning - and so you should! 

Vocabulary lists are crammy and annoying and remind you way too much of high school, but you know what? That part of your teacher's methods wasn't all bad. Surprise pop quizzes and learning words by rote have their place, because the method establishes important routines and reminds you that language learning requires accountability.  It also has an even more important use: applying your words.The reason no one ever managed to learn a language from someone who points at stuff and names it is that this taught them zero about making sentences.

So when you are writing a vocabulary list and doing your own revision, here's what you need to do: 

• Commit yourself to knowing at least 90% of all the words in your list before you move on to another
• Ask someone else to quiz you on this so you don't cheat
• Keep lists in a file for repetition after a set a mount of tim  after a few weeks
• Write down the prepositions and other connections that go with a particular verb. For example, don't just study the German word "auf" but connect this knowledge with the cases it corresponds to.

2. Build strong associations

This technique is as old as the hills and still completely under-appreciated because it just feels contrary to instinct. So let me surprise you by saying: yes, it works to remember a word through a really complicated picture or idea. The trick is to make it something that makes you smile.

For example, a student and I once tried to find a good way of relating to the French word for cloud, which is "nuage". We decided that, since the word sounds a little like "new age" in English, we could think of hippies...in a cloud.....of smoke! Since then, I have been completely unable to forget the word.

3. Relax already!

The best way of remembering is when something's fun or relaxing. We have seen this in students successfully using music, poetry, art and stories for their vocab. Want an example? What do you think of when I write #thicke? Gotcha. Think of Fluency MC - relax, repeat, remember. It works. But the key to making things stick with this technique is that you must follow the most important rule to get the best results: 

Know your limits!

Repeating what you learn is great, but it's based on not trying hard. As a result, you have got to take the "relax" part very seriously. Make sure you don't try to push towards ambitious goals - one word per song will be fine, after all you weren't really trying anyway. Repeat a few things that you really love, not 1000 things that you feel indifferent about. 

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I hope you found at least one tip above that will rock your world, and if you did you might enjoy my upcoming book: The Ultimate Guide to Language Skills.

Got any better ones? Leave me a comment here or say hi on Twitter or Facebook. Can't wait to meet you (in pixels).