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Understanding and better communication with other people are just some of the benefits of being multilingual.  If a person learns other languages in order to help promote understanding among his fellowmen, it is a feat that is possible by all means if one puts his heart and soul into it.One day I came across a quote from one of the greatest men in history, Nelson Mandela.  The former president of South Africa has once stated that

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to him in his own language – that goes to his heart.”

If we refer to that quote by Mr. Mandela, it is self-explanatory that what he said was simple yet it holds a great chunk of truth in it.  It is easy to communicate with another person by using a language the both of you understand but if you try to communicate with someone using his native tongue, you will be able to capture the person’s sympathy and have a higher chance of better communication!

Learning languages is one of the most important things people nowadays can do in their lives in order to improve themselves.  Our native languages may be spoken in many places in the world but we can’t be too assured that every person on the planet will be able to understand us or that we will be able to understand them.  A lot of people say that it is great to be able to communicate with one another through a common language but nothing compares to being able to speak to someone in his or her native language.

There are many reasons why we should learn foreign languages and the following are just some of them:

Being able to speak foreign languages can help you:

• communicate with more people
• travel with ease
• secure jobs which require the knowledge of other languages
• transact businesses internationally
• conduct research and gather information in their original context
• do volunteer work in various places
• understand the culture of the places where those languages came from
• teach the language to other people and help promote better communication in the world!

So what are you waiting for?  Learn languages and promote understanding in the world and with that, you may be able to help promote world peace too!

Learning a foreign language is both a remarkable and challenging experience, especially to those who will start from a scratch. Lucky to those who know at least two languages already, especially if one is his or her native language and the other is English. You can actually use your knowledge in various aspects: employment, education, travel, and even socialization. These aspects play a vital role for you to excel in your own premises.

Melisa Hirst wrote an article about “7 Things you should do to Improve Your Foreign Language”, and I believe in her recommendations. But to wrap up everything she enumerated, I make it into five. Now, here are five out of seven things to take note in improving a learner’s learned language:

1.- Spend time mastering your language skills

If you want to be the learner who will excel in your target language, you have to invest your time and effort to achieve such. Spending time to master your skills is not only limited to the few hours you spend with your teacher during your language classes, but continuously learning the language even in your leisure or free time. Listening to music and watching movies with your target language adds your knowledge about the language, thus you will have more to apply in a short span of time.

2.- Apply multimedia software programs

Are you familiar with Rosetta Stone and Rocket Languages? These are multimedia software programs that teach learners like you the basics of your target language and allow you to practice it through interactive activities and evaluation.

3.- Travel abroad

The best way to learn your target language is to learn it in a place or country where it is natively spoken.

You probably heard this several times already, and yes this is another option to improve your language skill. Visiting countries where your learned language is spoken triggers you to use your knowledge regarding your learned language, and this has definitely pulls up the motivation to put everything you’ve learned into practice. Besides, when you travel abroad, you will not just appreciate the language of the country you’d go into, but you will also understand its culture.

4.- Try also online language programs

Since Internet is already very rampant in every computer nowadays, it is also not surprising that learners by now are learning languages online. It can be in a form of free or paid websites that gives you day-to-day lessons, online dictionaries, translators, tutors via email, and more.

5.- Completely immerse yourself with your target language

I certainly agree that immersion is the most effective way to improve and completely learn your target language. In immersion, you will constantly practice and apply your learned language at all times—living it out even to the most basic lifestyle.

If you know any other ways to improve someone’s learned language, you may feel free to add up.

Translators play a vital role to the field of language especially when its job description has something to do with deciphering or interpreting texts and voices from one language to another. Translators are highly recommended on speech presentations, pre-recorded speech in dubbing, translations on books and poetry, and many more. You see, being a translator has always been rewarding, especially when you are fluent to high-demand languages, yet this profit requires endeavors and a high fluency level in at least two different languages. Remarkable, isn’t it?

Most translators choose practice their fluency on their native tongue, since they likely have a higher degree of fluency both in its written and spoken language. Besides, it is good to make one fluent on his own language if he plans to become a translator. If there is one language a translator must get fluent to, it’s definitely his own language.

Now, how would a person become a translator? First, he or she has to decide what kind of language to translate from. If the person is a bilingual, this is an advantage. If not, he or she can start from the scratch. This may take a long way to run, but with full dedication and zeal in learning the longed language, learners can acquire the language in a shorter span of time. Simultaneously, most people require a language where there is a high demand and a high demand growth. As sited by Wisegeek as an example, “there may be tens of thousands of Mandarin translators, and only a small handful of Cherokee translators, it is still likely that it would be much easier to find work translating from Mandarin than Cherokee.” Yet, you can always choose to learn the language of your choice. It is indeed beneficial to learn those distinctive languages wherein you can decode it to your own language.

In translating another language, one must fully understand not just the choice of words used, but how these words are being used at all. For example, Good Morning in English is simply translated as Bonjour in French; therefore it is easy to understand due to its shortness and generality. But if the sentence is “May I know where is the library?” this is a bit different. If you know French, does the sentence “Puis-je savoir où est la bibliothèque?” correct and accurate? You judge.

Many translation jobs don’t necessarily require a degree; though there is a specialized degree to let your clients know a translator’s special skills. So if you are interested in this lucrative field, you can take these skills by starting to learn the art of translation. Besides, some organizations offer certification programs in specific fields of translation. This can be a fine credential to your advantage.

A new initiative full of youthful spirit is born, it is called Flashmob.

What is the Flashmob?

Flashmob (anglicism that referred to a “spontaneous multitude” ) is an organized action in which a big group of people telematically agree (by cellphone and the Internet) and suddenly gather in a public place to do something unusual and then disperse quickly: always to entertain, socialize with people around the world and above all have a great time doing something really original. Sometimes the nature of this activity may change focusing into political or advertising goals for example (SmartMobs, absurdmobs, Happening, ‘Lip dub’ …).

One of the particularities of  the Flashmob is that does not need to have the support of the common mass media (TV, radio, newspapers…) to communicate,  coordinate or act together, because their main communication system works through the social networks (which we referred in the previous article) as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.

Normal “ordinary” people spread messages  in their social networks and friends´ ones also, while these do the same to build a great chain of communication that is able to mobilize thousands of people from all countries (for example in the last Eurovision Song Contest this year 2010) via: Internet-connected devices, webs, forums, virtual communities, e-mail, blogs, chat, text messages, even mouth to mouth.

At first, the initiative came to focused local levels, however it has now become an international event completely.

Communicate with people all over the world to create a cultural, entertaining and original activities, besides being a good opportunity to learn languages and customs from other countries, offers a way to socialize with other communities with the main purpose of passing a good time in spite of all the critiques against a population severely prejudiced as virtual communities zombies.

So, if  you see by chance some strange behaviors among the pedestrians in your city (pillow fights, people who are “frozen” and do not move, others walking down the subway in their underwear all …) do not panic: Internet and social communities users from all countries take the streets ready to have fun.

The advantages of learning languages are endless. From one situation to another, learning foreign languages proves that there is no race, tongue or ethnicity could hinder mankind from reaching one another. Truly, there is no such thing as “big world” after all.

One of the latest fascinating stories of bridging the gaps is the issue of American students learning Russian Language. A news column reported just this January 30 that a student namely Alex Fischer finds the passion to learn the Russian language. According to the article, Fischer only started her learning on high school when she “took a history class and did a lot of European history— studied the tsars, studied the Cold War.” Until she gained interest that slowly grew over time, and now “Russian is pretty much of my life,” she explained.

This urging reflects the interests of her classmates as well, despite the knowing that only 2 out of 16 of them have been to Russia presently. Yet, this doesn’t hinder them from learning Russian language.

In comparison to the previous generation, the young people of today embrace Russian language differently. When Fischer explained her passion towards her learning, her parents’ response was “still in that Cold War mode.” It has only proven that this generation is different in terms of accepting Russian influences from the previous one.

Recalling the past events of history, the Cold War happened when the United States and the Soviet Union exchanged blows from1945 up to 1991. The name “Cold War” got its name because they weren’t fighting “hot wars” such as using nuclear weapons and the like. Instead, they fought indirectly through the use of words to attack each other. Years passed and leaders were positioned on both countries but the war continued. The prolonged conflict between two countries continued for years, even when the Berlin Wall collapsed and the Soviet Union was recognized as Russia up to present.

The vast space between these countries gradually breaks through the acts of ordinary students—students like Alex Fischer who chose to overlook the past happenings between her race and the Russians. They continued to bridge the gap, “one language lesson at a time”. They neglected the negative side of history and preferred to make a difference. Presently, the number of students who learned Russian Language increases, news that the public must recognize.

Long before, a person can choose two options in learning another language: It is through attending traditional classes enrolled in either a language school or a university that offers special language courses; or through buying books, cassettes, and later CDs which they generally learn the language all by themselves. Since technology evolves to a higher level, new methods then are momentously discovered. These methods, not to mention online learning, is applied to learners who tend to postpone, reschedule, or even cancel their learning due to various personal reasons. Their lack of time, mediocrity, and even laziness diminish their motivation to pursue their learning. How can this be resolved? This is where online language takes its place.

 For just simply surfing the internet, you can now access to hundreds of websites offering free audio and video language lessons, podcasts, downloads, discussion forums, animation, and interactive resources. Some websites are even free and organized fit for learners who want to start their learning in their current language level. This can be a preparation for a higher level of language learning.

 Now, can you really learn another language online without jeopardizing your time, finances, and effort? Well, there are paid online courses learners like you can take advantage from. Not only will it provide you with quality teachers that offer you easy-to-learn modules, feedbacks, and suggestions for improving your pronunciation, it is the most modern way to minimize your expenses. In learning languages online, you can learn while doing something at the same time. It is the newest and easiest way to learn foreign languages without leaving your work, family, or other priorities behind.

 If traveling doesn’t fit to your budget to learn a foreign language, then you can take the option of finding your own email buddy. There are sites online that allows you to search native speakers of your learned language who are interested in assisting you through chats and emails on regular basis. This may take a little while but as you go on with it, you will not feel any boredom at all. You will not only meet new friends but you will learn your language without obliging yourself to learn it at all! By frequent conversations and exchanged emails, you will definitely have a greater possibility to learn the language faster and more comfortable.

 So what are you waiting for? If you are interested in learning your language on your monitors and surf the internet, learn it online. Not only is it the most current method to obtain language attainment but opens doors to meet new acquaintances from different culture without necessarily going to its native country. Practically speaking, you can learn more by just spending less.

More information: http://www.abroadlanguages.com/online-language-courses/

Image by leighblackall via Flickr

With a present population of over 4 million online language students, increasing at a rate of 30% annually, there is no surprise that new courses are being created in order to supply this increasing demand. With today’s lifestyle, students prefer to learn languages in front of their monitors rather than traveling abroad; even though some of them prefer to learn the basics online and prepare for their experience abroad. The reasons are wrapped up with the numerous advantages of learning courses online.

There are a great variety of online courses to choose from in the Internet. Among them, you can find online tools, audio courses, multimedia software, vocabulary and grammar exercises, and many other types. Learners will not only feel at ease on learning languages within their own comfortable locations, but they effortlessly learn this without the hassle of traveling or going to a local school. We all know the processes of traveling abroad, and this usually takes time, effort, and extra money. When learning languages online, students are free from all of these difficulties.

Because of the busy lifestyle people have at the moment, they generally find traditional language learning time-consuming and dreary. With the language courses online, students can freely learn languages within their own schedule. Even an aspiring parent who is interested in language learning can find time in a busy schedule to learn a new language. Parents can liberally learn languages while attending their children. The same applies to working students who desire to learn languages, but don’t have time in their busy schedules. After they finish their working and studying duties, they can sit down on their own respective computers and start the lessons. See how convenient it is?

Some online courses can give you the opportunity to interact with other students, through chats, email, teleconferences and group discussions. A masters in secondary education allows you to improve your skills, since practicing is one of the key points for improvement. Also, some courses offer students the option of having online tutors in order to answer any questions they might have. With this, learners are motivated to learn more because they have the guidance that they need. Furthermore, some of the courses allow the students to download software that can be installed in their mobile phones so that they can practice any time they can.

These and the other countless benefits of learning languages online definitely promote the learners’ flexibility and choices about the courses they can enroll in. What more could a learner ask for? All the student has to do is to sit and learn! Please visit our online language course section, there are several courses offered for 10 languages, there is a possibility to subscribe for trial periods in case you are just curious to see how it works.

Image by Geir Halvorsen via Flickr

It is known that the Russian language is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, it is the most spoken native language in Europe, and it is the most widely spoken Slavic language. Like other familiar European languages, The Russian language belongs to the Indo-European language family and it is spoken in the countries of the Russophone. Its alphabet has thirty-three letters where twenty-one of which transmit consonant sounds, six have vowel sounds, and four have a combination of j and a vowel sound. Why is it that there is a growing need to learn the Russian language? What are the advantages if we know how to speak Russian?

Nowadays Russian is widely spoken outside Russia and it is used in various means. The following are just some of the advantages of learning Russian:

• The Russian language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It has international exposure being one of the functioning languages of one of the largest international organizations therefore it can be very useful when engaging in diplomatic and social matters.
• Russian is a means of international communication between the countries of the Russian Federation and the Community of Independent States which were former members of the USSR. Russian has a wide audience, it is the lingua franca of former Soviet Republics and majority of Eastern Europe, and being able to speak it will enable you to communicate with more people!
• The country of Russia has become open to the world and it has consolidated political, economic, and cultural ties with other countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It is quickly integrating to the global economy that is why it is advantageous to know its language to strengthen ties with the country.
• Many world-renowned literary works were created by Russian poets and writers. Famous people such as Tolstoy, Pushkin, Chekhov, Griboyedov, Lermontov, Turgenev, Akhmatova, Dostoyevsky, and a lot more wrote their masterpieces in the Russian language. It pays to experience the works of these masters in the original language to have a clear grasp of the context that is when the knowledge of the Russian language comes handy.
• Knowledge of the Russian language helps uncover the mysteries of the Russian soul. Having the ability to communicate in the Russian language will help you discover the history of the country, explore its culture, and befriend its people.

The Russian language is interesting and challenging to learn, and it helps you reap a lot of rewards once you are able to communicate with it. Learn Russian and explore the wonders of Russia!

Over the course of many years, many have learned foreign languages through foreign exchange programs where language learners spent a week or more in host families’ homes in other countries to learn languages and in return welcomed exchange counterparts into their own homes. Foreign exchange or swaps are considered to be among the best ways to learn languages and culture since the participants will be fully immersed in the natural environment where the languages being learned are spoken.

In the United Kingdom, foreign exchange programs are under threat from the new regulations of child protection. Exchanges are collapsing in the UK because many parents do not want to undergo strict criminal record checks which the British government is imposing for anyone who looks after a stranger’s child overnight.

Claudia Freeman, the head of languages at the Perse School in Cambridge, is one of the many language educators that think that foreign exchange is one of the most effective ways of learning foreign languages. Freeman stated that it is “absolute madness” to enforce the strict regulations and is worried about having to cancer trips abroad because of the child-protection legislation introduced after the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Freeman cites a letter from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families advising her that “host families in England involved in providing accommodation for foreign students on school exchange visits are strongly advised to undergo enhanced CRB checks … which become mandatory next year. This is in line with guidance to schools on volunteers involved in activities requiring an overnight stay”.

All over the UK, schools that conduct foreign exchange are faced with the same issues. Freeman is having a hard time finding accommodation for teenagers from European countries who will be learning languages in the UK. Freeman said that the government seems to want to do away with school exchanges completely and schools are being pushed to study trips in youth hostels where there have been attacks and murders such as the case of 13-year-old Caroline Dickinson who was a Cornish teenager raped and murdered in a youth hostel in Brittany in 1996.

Sam Cunning from the Hall prep school in London is among the many teenagers who would want to learn and improve their foreign language skills. Sam and his class were supposed to stay with families in Lille in the next spring in order to learn French language and culture and in return will accommodate their hosts for an exchange visit. However, the said trip is cancelled said the school’s French language teacher Rob Clarke. Clarke said that about seventy parents need to be CRB checked which is just not practical. He also disagrees that new checks on host parents are necessary since in the past fifteen years of exchanges there have never been reports of any impropriety.

Foreign exchange programs have brought many changes in its participants and have made them learn more than just their target languages. Duncan Byrne, a language teacher at the Aske’s Boys School said that the most important thing about the foreign exchange trips is that the participating youngsters can make friends for life.

The new regulations might totally put an end to exchanges with host families and pave way to hostel programs which may no be totally safe. If and when the regulations will be implemented, there is little chance for the youth to be exposed to other languages and cultures without having to go through a lot of scrutiny.

What can you say about the new child protection regulations and their possible effects on foreign exchange programs? Share your views with us.

It is that time of the year again when people are feeling the magical air of Germany’s Oktoberfest. It is one of the most colorful and authentic German festivals that has captured the hearts of people from all over the world. It is also one of the best times to visit Germany’s lively city of Munich not only for the Oktoberfest but also for German language learning.

The Oktoberfest is not the only event that happens in the city of Munich but it is the most recognizable and popular event that has brought people to the city and even inspired other cities worldwide to recreate their own version of the festival. Munich is the capital of Bavaria and was founded in the earlier part of the twelfth century. The city has gone through a rich history brought about by various influences from different cultures. It became a developed city just a couple of decades after its founding and it went through many changes in culture, governance and architecture due to the Counter Reformation, Gothic Revival, the Renaissance and several wars.

Munich has recovered gracefully after the Second World War and nowadays, its local citizens enjoy a prosperous economy and a high quality of life. Unlike other cities in Germany, Munich has a relatively low crime rate and has a high employment rate. It is also a wonderful tourist and educational destination since it has a wide array of attractions and many notable educational institutions. Tourist spots, universities and German language schools are among the most in demand in Munich!

The Oktoberfest is by far the most attractive event in Munich. It begins at the end of September and it is one of the largest folk festivals in the world. It is a huge fair that occurs for a span of two weeks and it showcases a lot of colorful parades, live music, and Munich’s best beers. About six million people attend the Oktoberfest annually that’s why it is a very popular and important event. You could visit Munich during this time of the year and even hone your German language skills in a German language school! You would learn to appreciate the event more if you could communicate with the natives in their language plus, you will have the chance to become bilingual!

If you would like to see more of Munich aside from its glorious festival, you can learn more about German culture through its other famous attractions. The Cathedral of Our Lady or Frauenkirche is the most famous landmark of Munich and it can be found in the city center. If you have a thirst for knowledge and would want to be in one of the oldest and largest science museums in the world, the Deutsches Museum might just give answers to your questions. If you would like to visit the places where famous people such as Mozart, Wagner, Mann, Rilke, Klee, Brecht, and Kandinsky among others used to live and became inspired with their works, Munich has it all for you!

Munich also has parks and green areas such as the Hirschgarten, the Tierpark Hellabrunn zoo, the Olympic Park which caters different sporting events, and the Allianz Arena that holds exciting football matches. Munich is a wonderful place that has combined the traditional with the modern and it surely will be a great place to learn German.

Whether it is the time for Oktoberfest or not Munich is still very much worthy of your visit to learn more about the German language and culture. Learn German in Munich and find out for yourself why the city’s motto is “Munich loves you!”