In the world today when being able to speak in more than one language matters a lot for various purposes, it is essential to keep up and never get left behind with the trend. A lot of people are learning the English language for many reasons: some want to learn the language for educational, recreational and professional reasons, while others want to learn simply just to allow themselves to communicate in another tongue. More and more people from various parts of the world are learning English; China and India are keeping up with the rest of them!

The British Council has released new research on the English markets of China and India and the results show that more people from these countries are learning the language. India and China are the fastest growing economies of the world and the estimates found by the research carried out by Ipsos MORI show that in India there are nearly two hundred fifty million learners while in China there are about three hundred million.

The latest research demonstrates that the United Kingdom must respond to the growing demand of learning English but in a way that looks to the future and lays the ground for long-term sustainable relationships in learning the language with other countries.

The Chief Executive of the British Council, Martin Davidson, has said that the demand for English language learning is huge and it continues to grow with an estimated five hundred fifty million learners in China and India alone. The research addressed some of the most important pressing questions the English language industry in the next decade including not only who wants to learn the English language but also what form of English language services will be required as their populations and economies continue to develop.

Maya Menon, the Teacher Foundation Director in Bangalore, India has said that India is complex and it is grappling with many challenges yet today it is also a land with many opportunities. Providing access to the English language is important in creating a level playing field and erasing the years of disparities that many Indians have faced in educational opportunities. One of the key challenges to achieve such is to improve the proficiency of the four million teachers of the English language in India.

Gu Yuego, a professor and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Beijing Foreign Studies University has said that English continues to provide a window to the outside world for Chinese language learners from all walks of life. The shortage of qualified English teachers in China has created a blockage in demand yet this provides a great opportunity for UK providers.

The highlights of the research show that in India, there is a large and growing market for English language services. English is taught in all schools however the latest findings reveal that the language may not be taught well, the emphasis may be on passing tests and not on real understanding.

In China, a strong and growing market of English language learners exists particularly in major cities and more developed coastal areas. The market is currently dominated by adult learners but there is a continued growth among young learners.

Now that there are more and more people in these countries who will be learning English, solutions must be formulated on how to meet the demands. In the future when people learn English in order to meet the changes in the world, it is beneficial that we start planning ahead on how to propagate the learning and teaching of languages and anticipate what happens in time.

There are so many tools on the web which you can use for free in helping you to develop your language skills. If you are learning a language, it is essential that you know the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. You will be able to communicate effectively if you already know these basic skills and it will be your challenge to achieve language proficiency through them.

Speaking is one of the four basic skills and it is the productive oral mode skill. Like the other language skills, speaking is more complicated than it seems at first and it involves more than just pronouncing words. Speaking involves micro skills in which the speaker has to use the correct forms of words, pronounce the distinctive sounds, use stress and rhythmic patterns and so on and so forth.

Constant practice helps hone a language learner’s speaking skills. Learning how to speak like a native requires more practice and may require the presence of a native speaker in order to perfect their pronunciation. Podcasts, online tutors, audio tools and tapes are also available for pronunciation lessons either for free or for a fee.

I have stumbled upon a webpage which offers an animated speaking avatar that pronounces words with accents and intonations. I came across SitePal, which is developed by Oddcast, a company that is committed to creating a wide range of innovative avatars. SitePal was introduced in 2003 as an easy-to use and affordable speaking avatar solution that enables small businesses to enhance their web presence and improve business results with virtual speaking characters.

SitePal’s avatars are not really used for language learning but as interactive avatars which guide and inform website visitors about useful website content. There are several users on the internet who have said that the demo avatar is very useful in helping them develop their speaking skills while they are learning a foreign language.

The SitePal demo has a text box where the user can type a word; a language box where the user can choose which among the many languages the word is in; a voice box where the user can choose the avatar’s speaking voice;

In 2003, the company introduced SitePal, an easy-to-use and affordable speaking avatar solution that enables small businesses to enhance their web presence and improve business results with virtual speaking characters. With its ability to engage site visitors and reinforce a call to action, SitePal has been proven to increase site traffic, conversions, loyalty and sales. SitePal was named as one of the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 companies and a 2006 Product to Watch by Small Business Technology Magazine. SitePal has also been covered by numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Inc.com.

Foreign language learning is nothing new to most people; most think of it is part of personal improvement and it is what most people invest their time, effort and money in, in order to achieve the ability to communicate with more people. There are so many ways to learn foreign languages some are traditional while the others are more up to date with the latest technological tools. Language learning through language schools, through online courses and software, and through other practical tools are just some of the many ways to learn a foreign language.

Learning languages online happens to be the most practical nowadays especially for people who spend a lot of their time in front of their computers. Most language courses and lessons online are free and are easy to understand. Aside from websites and software, are you aware that there are some people who are learning foreign languages through Twitter?

Twitter is one of the leading free social networking and microblogging sitesin the world today and it has millions of users. The service enables users to send and read other users’ one hundred forty-character updates which are also known as tweets. Twitter is being used not only to post updates but also to follow updates by other users.

Now how is it possible to learn a foreign language through Twitter? Search for users which offer language learning tutorials and tips! There are Twitter users who offer their language learning tutorials for free and there are some who promote their language learning personal websites, blogs, and services through their tweets.

How are you going to search for Twitter users who promote the learning of foreign languages? One of the helpful tools to search for users is to visit TweetGrid and type in what you want to search for example, “learn English” or other similar terms. A list of users and their respective tweets with the keywords you are searching for will show up and give you and idea on who you should check out or follow, and who gives the best lessons or services in language learning.

So is it really possible to learn languages on Twitter? Yes and no. The disadvantage with language learning on Twitter is that it is not recommended for total beginners. If you are new to language learning, don’t expect that you will automatically understand everything about the language. Some users will discuss vocabulary and grammar but you might have a hard time understanding it since the allowable one hundred forty character tweet is quite limited. You will be lucky though if there is a link to a site which explains the lessons further.

If you are one of those who already have a basic knowledge of the language you are learning, Twitter helps you enhance what you already know. Following the updates of users in your target language will help you exercise you comprehension skills of the language. If you have a hard time understanding words and phrases, you can send direct messages to the users you are following and kindly ask them to explain to you.

Twitter is the “in” thing nowadays, and maybe you should try out learning languages through it. If you have tried it out already, please share your experiences with us.

Learning foreign languages can produce various benefits for language learners and most of these advantages include something for personal gain. Foreign language learning must be sweeping the world like a storm-even beggars in India are learning foreign languages too!

A recent report has stated that beggars in India are preparing for the Commonwealth Games next year by learning new languages. Thousands of homeless people in New Delhi are aspiring for better business from foreign tourists if they can speak their languages.

Majority of the citizens of the Commonwealth nations speak English yet the beggars of Delhi are teaching themselves other languages such as Spanish and French.

The thousands of beggars who go with their trade at the streets of Delhi currently read from a set script. They are taught to speak in different tongues in order to beg effectively from thousands of tourists. Some of the gangsters who control the beggars, think that those who can communicate with the tourists will be able to beg more from money from them.

In a poor slum in the west of Delhi are beggar children with dirty and bare feet, torn shirts and matted hair learn new phrases in other languages at night so that they can tell heart-melting stories to tourists who are not expecting that the children are part of the vast organized crime network of the city.

Most of the beggars have had little or no formal schooling yet they are now learning how to say “I am an orphan, I have not eaten for days, I am ill and I don’t have money for medicine, please help me in the name of God.”

One of the beggars said that the trend to ask foreign tourists for money in their own money added a more personal touch to begging. Aside from that, beggars are also given training to identify the difference between currency notes to recognize their values.

Beggars are posted in different areas of the city such as famous tourist spots, traffic lights, and shopping centers. Once a Croatian visitor has said that he was shocked when a man dressed in rags approached him and asked him in English if he was French or German and then started saying “please give him money” in different languages.

The Commonwealth Games will be held in October in India next year. If you will be part of the said event, don’t be too surprised when somebody taps your shoulder and asks for money in at least three languages!

There are many foreigners who visit Switzerland not only for traveling to its amazing tourist spots but also for business, education, and many more. Most of the foreigners who speak fluent German often get shocked when they go to Switzerland – they find that they can’t understand what the Swiss are saying!

Fribourg University offers help to foreigners who are clueless of the Swiss German language with an innovative language learning aid. Foreigners can learn to understand what is going on in the Swiss German language and they may have fun while doing so.

The course in the university is called “Chunsch druus?” the Swiss way of saying “Do you understand?” The expression does not exist in Standard German that is why people who are fluent in German would not have any idea what it really means!

A German language student from Slovakia studying at Fribourg University, Michaela Keryova, has started to understand, or as the Swiss would say, she “chuunt druus”. She was pleased with her language learning success when she asked for information in Zurich and was answered in the Zurich dialect.

The language course aims to help people with everyday situations buy letting them survive through comprehending Swiss German, without necessarily learning to speak the language themselves. “Chunsch druus?” uses a wide range of modern media possibilities to help people learn and practice Swiss German. A kit is composed of a book in a practical travel guide format, a DVD, four CD ROMs, and a license that gives access to a variety of online materials.

The target people of the program are people who already know standard German and who want to get around in German-speaking parts of Switzerland said project leader Raphael Bethele who is a professor at Fribourg University’s Institute of Multilingualism. The target group of people includes the Italian and French speaking Swiss, and foreigners especially Germans who are living in Switzerland.
The course covers topics which are taken mainly from main life such as weather forecasts and new programs from Swiss television. One of the co-authors, Martin Müller explained that they didn’t want to use artificial material but rather to reflect the reality of German-speaking Switzerland. Swiss German is actually a misnomer, not all German-speaking Swiss speak the same language. Students of the course can choose between the four different variants of Swiss German – the dialects of Basel, Bern, St. Gallen, and Zurich. The language learners also have the opportunity to learn while having fun since the program is presented in an enjoyable way.

Summer is just around the corner and most of us would love to go on vacation and spend days basking under the sun. Summer is a time for relaxation, unwinding and refreshing ourselves and it is also a time for learning new things. There are so many things we can indulge ourselves in this summer and we may become productive persons while having a vacation!

We can choose to learn doing handcrafts, painting, playing instruments, surfing, balancing checks, learning how the stock market works, and a whole lot more. Yet, there is something else you could learn while you travel to a different place.

Where should you learn a new language this summer? There are many destinations you can choose from and each place offers a unique atmosphere and an interesting culture. Check out some of our partner schools and their summer offers:
• Learn French in France. Our partner language school in Paris has a French language program that combines language learning and the opportunity to work as an intern. The program is composed of two stages: the first stage is to take the French language preparation course; the second stage is to experience work in Paris and be in contact firsthand with native French speakers! One of the requirements of the program is that you should not be a complete beginner in French language learning. If you have already taken basic lessons in French this program could just be the one for you!
• Learn German in Austria. German is one of the most spoken languages in the world and you can learn it this summer in beautiful Vienna! The summer language program is targeted for young students aged from 12 to 17 years old in a summer camp setting where students can learn German through class lessons and other activities. German language lessons in Vienna are available in 2, 3 or 5 week programs. If you would want to be issued a Zertifikat Deutsch for young adults by the end of the program, just meet the requirements and qualifications and you’re all set!
• Learn English in Ireland. Dublin is a remarkable and interesting city and it also has an English language summer program for students aged between 12 to 17 years old. The program includes tuition, homestay accommodation, and a full itinerary of cultural, social, and recreational activities. The program has a minimum length of two weeks and takes place during the months of July and August.

Summer is a fun season and it will be more fun if you do something educational and enjoyable at the same time. Check out our summer programs and have a wonderful experience this summer!

We have already explored many aspects of languages here in our blog from language learning methods and tools, to language travel destinations, to tips in learning languages and almost everything which concerns languages. However, we better brush up on the basics and refresh our minds with the essentials of language learning.

Language learning can be defined as the acquisition or skills of knowledge of languages by studying, instruction, or experience. In order to learn or acquire a language and in order to become fluent in it, a language learner must develop the four language learning skills which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The four basic skills are related to each other by two parameters; the mode of communication (oral or written), and the direction of communication (receiving or producing the message).

Listening. Listening is the receptive skill in the oral mode; it simply means listening and understanding what we hear. There are two kinds of listening situations which we may find ourselves in: interactive listening and non-interactive listening.

• Interactive listening situations include phone calls and face-to-face conversation in which we are alternately listening and speaking, and in which we have the opportunity to as for repetition, clarification, or slower speech from our conversation partner.
• Non-interactive listening situations however, include listening to the radio, lectures, television, films, or sermons.

Speaking. Speaking is the productive oral mode skill. Like the other skills, speaking is more complicated than it seems at first and it involves more than just pronouncing words. The three kinds of speaking situations in which we may find ourselves in are interactive situations, partially interactive, and non-interactive.

• Interactive speaking situations include face to face conversations and phone calls in which we are alternately speaking and listening.
• Partially interactive situations include giving a speech to a live audience where the convention is that the audience does not interrupt the speech. However, the speaker can see that audience and observe from the expressions on their faces and body language whether or not he or she is being understood.
• Non-interactive speaking situations include recording speech for a radio broadcast.
• Speaking involves micro skills in which the speaker has to:
  pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough in order for people to distinguish them;
  • use stress and rhythmic patterns, and intonation patterns of the language clearly enough so that people can understand what is said;
  • use the correct forms of words;
  • use vocabulary appropriately;
  • put words together in correct word order;
  • make the main ideas stand our from the supporting information;
  • and a whole lot more.

Reading. Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode of language learning. It can develop independently of speaking and listening skills but it often develops together with them. Reading can help build one’s vocabulary that helps listening comprehension at the later stages of learning a language. Reading also involves micro-skills in which the reader has to

• decipher the script or establish a relationship between sounds and symbols;
• recognize vocabulary;
• figure out the meaning of the words;
• pick out key words which identify main ideas and topics;
• recognize grammatical word classes;
• recognize basic syntactic patterns;
• detect sentence constituents;
• and many more.

Writing. Writing is the productive language skill in the written mode. In a way writing is more complicated than it seems at first and it often seems to be the most difficult of the skills even for native speakers of a language because it involves not just a graphic representation of speech but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way.

The writer needs to develop these micro skills in order to be effective:

• use the orthography correctly including the spelling, script, and punctuation conventions
• use the correct forms of words
• put words together in the correct word order
• use vocabulary correctly
• make text coherent so that other people can follow the development of the ideasmake the main sentence constituents clear to the reader
  and a lot more.

Discovering, developing, and mastering these four basic skills in the language you are learning will be very important in order to achieve fluency. As you progress in learning foreign languages, you will little by little gain more knowledge of these skills and hopefully they will equip you with what you need in order to effectively communicate in a new language.

There has been a lot of different studies which show the relationship of languages and human brains. The learning of foreign languages at varying ages and their connection with brain structure continues to amaze people and helps them in achieving certain goals. However, there are also studies which show how brain structures may affect a person’s ability to learn foreign languages.

The researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered that an area on the left side of the brain that appears to be related to foreign language acquisition. The brain area demonstrates that some people are more naturally inclined to learning foreign grammar than other people regardless of their experience or age.

The area in the brain said to be related with this phenomenon is a five hundred fifty cubic millimeter structure found in the temples called the inferior frontal gyrus. The inferior frontal gyrus of humans is known to play a critical role in the production of speech; it is a highly convoluted and cytoarchitectonically diverse structure classically forming three subgyri. It is also well established that the left inferior frontal gyrus plays a key role in the cerebral cortical network that supports reading and visual word recognition. This area was found by the researchers at the University of Tokyo to be larger in the brains of people who scored higher in English grammar tests.

With emphasis that native and acquired languages are learned in different ways, researchers tested ninety-five people; seventy-eight of whom are junior high and high school students of varying ages and English studying experience, and seventeen foreign students who hail from non-English speaking countries, in order to give relevance to the study. The researchers discovered that those students with a left inferior frontal gyrus larger than their right tended to score better results on an English grammar test. However, there appeared to be no correlation with the spelling and vocabulary test scores.

The results of the test however has not made known whether the size of the inferior frontal gyrus is either the cause or effect of increased grammar ability.

Kuniyoshi Sakai, an associate professor of neurolinguistics who led the study has said that by spending more time with those who find language learning difficult and objectively assessing individual aptitude, basic teaching methods should be improved.

The results of the test were published in the U.S. science journal Human Brain Mapping.

One of the many options to learn a foreign language is to go abroad and be immersed in the country where it is spoken as a native language.

Here are some tips you should consider if you plan to learn a foreign language abroad:
Go on the trip alone. Being alone will encourage you not to speak your mother tongue all the time but to use the language that you are learning.

• Live with a host family where you are the only guest foreign student. You will be fully immersed in your target language as you speak and hear it day in and day out with the people around you.
• Arrange for one-to-one lessons with a competent and sympathetic native speaker of your target language. If you are into group lessons, make the most of them but also sign up for one-on-one tutorials so you will be able to understand and learn more.
• Speak only in your target language with everyone even with acquaintances who share the same nationality with you.
• Watch local television, read local newspapers, and listen to local radio. Language immersion means being submerged into your target language in all aspects.
• Get interested in the local culture. Knowing more about the local culture will help you to become more appreciative of the language that you are learning.
• Try to make perfect pronunciation. When you are ready to speak your target language, try to pronounce words in the best way you could and in the way they are supposed to be pronounced.
• Find books in your target language about a topic you love or about your interests. Read them slowly and write down the words you don’t know for further study.
• Make friends with the locals so you can practice your language skills with them. As much as possible try to avoid co-nationals so that you will not be tempted to speak your native language with them.
• Always carry blank flashcards with you and write down all the words you don’t understand. Make it a point not to sleep unless you have translated and understood all the flash cards you have made in a day.
• Find out the most common expressions or local slang words in your target language so that you will learn how to speak like a native!

There are more ways for you to make the most of your stay abroad as you learn a foreign language. Just keep in mind that you should never lose motivation to learn your target language and always persevere until you can achieve your goal! Enrolling in a language abroad program has its own advantages and disadvantages but if you are really interested to pursue it, look beyond those pros and cons and know how to make the most of it!

We have written several articles about language learning programs connected with sports, this is our second article related with soccer and foreign languages. Football (which is also known as soccer in some parts of the world) is one of the most popular sports on the planet and it has a wide following of fans. One of the most popular teams in the world today is Arsenal of the English Premier League.

Arsenal has an innovative educational and football program, the Arsenal Double Club. It offers a range of subjects to the youth together with football coaching. The Double Club programs are presented in schools as after school clubs and during lesson time. The aim is to raise the ability and confidence levels in various school and education subjects.

The Arsenal Double Club has a language program set with primary schools that teaches children modern languages such as Spanish, French and German. The basis of the language lessons is football; children learn languages through songs, interactive DVDs, workbooks, memory games and even Arsenal top trumps with the details in the foreign language the children are learning.

The foreign language learning module goes like this: forty-five minutes is allotted for language learning, afterwards the children have a forty-five minute football coaching session. Upon completion of the module which lasts for six to eight weeks, the pupils are invited to take a tour of the Emirates Stadium which is the home of the Arsenal Football Club.

The British government is set to make foreign languages a compulsory part of the curriculum in the next few years. Language learning has been neglected recently but programs such as this one may change all that. The earlier children learn languages, the easier it is for them to absorb them. Arsene Wenger, the manager of the football club, has said that “the more you learn about the language, the more you can understand and penetrate the soul and roots of a culture.” Well said from a man who is fluent in French, English and German and also speaks some Spanish, Italian, and Japanese.

The children love the program since they get to learn languages and play football at the same time-and the coaches and players of the football club are also part of the process! The project has helped language teachers develop their skills in a cross-curricular approach by learning languages with their pupils. Then the football stars teach the children football skills but in order to do that, the children must speak the target languages with them while playing football exercises and games.

This program is very helpful in promoting language learning and sports among the youth. If other football clubs and sports teams create programs such as this in various parts of the planet, there’s a better chance that more children will be able to learn languages and communicate with more people.