Nowadays there are an infinite number of people with the eyes on the emerging culture of social networks and virtual social communities. A recently world has been created and has very positive expectations for the immediate future on the different faces of the diverses societies and in different levels: personal, social, professional, leisure and entertainment, teaching and learning…
For some people, these social networks are tools, means of entertainment for others, and in most cases, a wide international agenda with contacts that can provide society in their daily lifes with an unknown number of benefits; the reason is very simple: frequently there is a bunch of new applications for these social communities which affects into the utilities that the users are allowed to do and that try to improve the services they offer according to that user´s demands.

To follow the life of your personal or professional contacts in social networks, while maintaining your address book up to date, is a great strength of social interaction and a good way to tie links closer. In many cases these interactions end up in business or social agreements.

For example:

Each employee of a big company handles a number of contacts that can be very beneficial for any other companion at some point or a particular project. So far, the exchange of such contacts was very complicated or very rudimentary, so a valuable contact may go unnoticed. Today, a social network of contacts, allows each employee to select that contact which best suits the job you’re doing. The use of the network of contacts ending with a positive impact on the management of projects and clients, influencing as well in the income statement.

The social media landscape offers a variety of resources and information, where people can discuss and comment on hobbies, interests and passions, while creating links with others who share the same.

Another example:
One book, one Twitter, is the book club that Jeff Howe, a professor at Harvard University and editor of Wired magazine, created in the social network Twitter. Around 8,000 people from over thirty countries, discuss the same literary work through the Internet. It is more or less like a global book club available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In abroadlanguages.com think that social networking can help a thing so vital today such as learning a second language, especially now that we are engaged by a virtual social subculture spread throughout the world and in different languages.

That´s why, now, you will be able too follow us on our Facebook and Twitter spaces also. We are adapting the use of social networks as a tool for all of you who want to learn a language no matter where you are or where you go.

Join to our community of friends

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/

Are you an aspiring learner who is interested to learn foreign languages? Or you the presently enrolled learner that seems to struggle in your language learning. If you are one of these people mentioned, you may perhaps ask this question to yourself. Does it really take so long to learn a foreign language? If it does take time, how long? If it’s not, why do some learners have a hard time learning it?

Some say that an average person takes a year to learn a foreign language for basic conversation, and five years for full fluency. But actually, it always depends on the person who is learning. The type of language, the surroundings, and the mediums and methods in acquiring languages are some factors that affect a learner in his or her language acquisition. Age of a learner also affects the language learning. Studies show that people aging 25 years older have hard time learning or adjusting to a new language. The theory about the new-language acquisition confirms that language learning becomes increasingly difficult when learners start to learn after puberty. While fortunately, some people just simple possess an incredible ability to learn foreign languages in a short span of time.

An article entitled “How Long Does it Take to Learn a Language?” discusses that most of the US government agencies use the FSI Absolute Language Proficiency Ratings in measuring an employee’s ability to use foreign languages in his or her job.  Incoming employees undergo evaluations through interviews by one or more trained testers who are native speakers. They converse the employee for several minutes and evaluate his or her pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. The result of this rating designates a particular degree of mastery of the language, and these are the following:

• Elementary Proficiency

The person is able to satisfy routine travel needs and minimum courtesy requirements.

• Limited Working Proficiency

The person is able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements.

• Minimum Professional Proficiency

The person can speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional topics.

• Full Professional Proficiency

The person uses the language fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs.

• Native or Bilingual Proficiency

The person has speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker.

The mentioned degree mastery of the language is numbered in ascending order. The lowest rating is 1 while the highest is 5. These ratings, like what the article confers about, can be modified by a plus or minus.

Learning a foreign language may seem procrastinating and slow in process, especially if learners tend to get impatient due to his or her learning development.  Though there are indeed factors that affect certain language learning, the given interest and love towards this language gives it a more pushing motivation in learning it. English may seem difficult to learn for a native Spanish speaker, but if the learner is decisive, determined, and the learner really loves to learn the mentioned language, there is nothing that can hinder him or her in acquiring such. It’s easier to learn a language that gives you interest than to learn it out of compulsion or obligation.

So if you are interested in learning the language that tickles your curiosity, why not learn it? The decision is yours.

The world approximately contains 5,000 to 10,000 diverse languages. Yet despite the large number of languages, modern technology breaks this barrier and enables people from different places and different languages to understand one another.

If only there could be one common language, the world could never get so complicated.

This issue is actually not new. Rumors about having a common language have already been discussed since long ago. A blog written on August 22, 2008 stated that English was this common language, since this language is the one most spoken around the world. Mandarin Chinese is the second, according to this blog, spoken by one million people.

The article continues by stating that “in practical terms, the world simply will not adopt [Mandarin Chinese because of its] complex  writing and speaking system as a common language. It would also require the redesigning of all electronic systems, from the keyboard to the programs. Additionally, there are a myriad of cultural resistances, especially from the West and, indeed, other Eastern countries. It is, essentially, too complicated and will never happen in my opinion.” says the blogger.

Another reason for English being selected as the common language is because it has already been used as the international language by business people anywhere in the world, whether in Tokyo or Berlin. New York and London, having English as the official language have become the world’s main financial centers.

The issue of having a common language is not to mislay the native language of each nation that represents them. It was clarified that having a common language only makes communication a lot easier. They will be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and points of view in a simpler way, thus avoiding the tendencies of miscommunication. With a common language, perhaps there wouldn’t be any racial or ethnic discrimination. There is neither an American, European, nor Asian favoritism, because all races are speakers of one common tongue.

Now, the matter about English as the chosen common language is not just a perception of a single person. Facing the reality, English indeed is the most commonly used language. This statement is not intended to mortify non-English speakers, neither disregard their native languages, but to create a broader perspective that through better communication, there is a much greater chance to become effective and more successful, especially in the business context.

Discussing the preceding statements, the reality of having diverse languages still lingers in society. It has always been a fact that we do have so many languages. That’s why language schools are established, to make language proficiency possible. Their goal is to bridge the gaps of these diverse languages, enabling learners to be efficient in the near future. Regardless of lingual variation, the possibility to become effective communicators fulfilled the language schools’ purpose.

Through the language schools’ goal in allowing learners to learn diverse languages, they will indeed accomplish the local song we used to sing when we were young: “It’s a small world after all.”

Image by baldheretic via Flickr

Modern technology has been forwardly progressing from time to time. In the field of language learning, new and better methods are daily being discovered. Just like what Deidra Hughey wrote in one of her articles online, that there is a very good method to learn Japanese through the use of mobile language learning applications.

These applications, according to Hughey, help learners “speak Japanese in a shorter amount of time than the average learning programs, with little to no cost”. Unlike the usual language programs to which learners are “required to adjust to their styles,” language learning applications on mobiles allow students to learn Japanese on their own suitable and available time. And on top of that, these apps “don’t cost a lot money and they are entertaining enough to hold your attention and help cut your learning time down dramatically.” Interesting, isn’t it?

Now, one application Hughey discusses is Surusu. This application can be used by any mobile units with its spaced repetition system or SRS. Unlike other language programs to which learners are required to learn a particular lesson in a given time, Surusu can save sessions even if the students decides to log out of it for a while. The next time they log in, learners will just simply review their lessons and apply the system. The best thing about Surusu is that its pace is based on the learners’ performance and not its schedule.

Discussing Surusu’s features, Hughey portrays it as customizable because learners can add notes to the lessons while reviewing them. This app program to help the studen learn the words he or she has difficult with. For example: the program displays the least known word more often than the rest of the words, this helps the student advance quicker in its learning. Like what was conferred earlier, learners can review Japanese words as many times as they want. Likewise, if learners need to know further information prior than the term itself, they can just add in some definitions and sentences to fully understand how the word is being used. Lastly, the best part of Surusu is it’s free. What a benefit!

So are you interested in learning Japanese with your mobile phone? If you have an iPhone for yourself, then you can use other downloadable language learning applications. Embrace your suitable method in learning languages and see how incredible it is to learn other foreign languages.

An Asian decided to go to Europe for the purpose of enrolling in a Language School. After finishing her Bachelor course, she decided to learn a language abroad. It’s going to be her first time away from her parents, friends, and native country. She will go to a place where everything will be so new to her: the culture, the people she will mingle with, and the group of foreign people she will soon work with. She believes that enrolling in a Language School will help her get out from her shell—the shell of intimidation and immaturity.

Can you relate to this? To those people who will go abroad for employment or educational purposes, they will certainly undergo cultural and lingual adjustments. Traveling abroad may be enjoyable to many, but to some this is a whole new challenge, especially if they never had any experiences in other countries. Like the new graduate you read from the previous paragraph, she decided to enroll in a Language School abroad to break her language barrier. Language Schools are prepared to help students that undergo this culture shock and help them adapt to their new surroundings. These is why many schools provide a great variety of courses that can satisfy the needs of different people.

Out Italian Language School in Viareggio makes learning languages possible to the elderly. It organizes Italian Courses for Seniors dedicated to mature people of all ages. The mentioned course is visualized for learners to study several cultural activities, including free guided tours to different main sights on selected times throughout the week. Through this, learners can have fun in a pleasing and relaxing environment while learning Italian languages. This is also one way of getting to know other people and meet new set of friends.

If all language schools will promote not just the excellence of language learning but also the adjustments and comfort of every learner, they will certainly persuade aspiring students to enroll in their respective language schools. Likewise, if learners are satisfied with the schools’ accommodation, they will surely recommend this language school to his or her friends, word of mouth is the best marketing strategy. In that way, the school’s credibility will increase, and more learners will be encouraged to learn languages. And the best of it, Language Schools aid learners in their maturity and development, thus helping individuals become better persons.

The moment I read an editorial related with this topic, it amused me. Could it be possible that women are more competent than men in terms of language learning? If you are a woman reading this article, it will probably compliment you. To men, however, this may serve as a fact and a paradigm at the same time because this is based on the experience of one person.

Jon Lewis, a teacher and adviser to language learners, concluded such details. As a teacher, the scientific reality that  men score higher in mathematics and women in language tests are proven through his experiences—seeing how his students perform in his classes. During  conversational classes, his female students are often the ones who participated more and were particularly involved with the class, because they asked more questions and talked more. In this regard, women are the ones who are perceptibly progressing. Why do you think this is?

“Women are simply more interested in human beings than men”, Lewis stated. “They genuinely mean it when they ask ‘how are you?’ Being wives and mothers may have something to do with it, I mean; they are conditioned by society to be the ones that care. Men, on the other hand, are less interested in people and more interested in things, notably, cars, computers, gadgets, etc.” Do you agree with this statement?

This article is not intended to discriminate men and appraise women. In fact, this will challenge both genders in excelling their learning progress. Constructive competition will rise to both men and women, and eventually, they’ll discover that their “competition” becomes the key to unleash both potentials. Since men excel more in analysis and women in comprehension, both genders are contributors to one another.

What do you think of this article? Does Jon Lewis express his perception fairly? Feel free to respond and articulate your point of view.

Image by Dru Bloomfield - At Home in Scottsdale via Flickr

The success of language learning is not developed overnight. With its gradual, step-by-step methods, a learner will undergo different levels of obstacles and challenges. Sometimes, learners will attempt to suspend their learning because it appears like they are not moving forward or improving their language skills. And even by trying out different methods, sometimes, they are still not motivated to learn and just decide to call it  “quits”.

If you really want to improve and learn a new language, you need to work hard. After a while you will see that the effort has worth your while. This post is dedicated to one person who has made a difference and is an example to language learners out there, Joanne Lee. Out of her eagerness to learn, this champion overcome all of her language barrers and has achieved her goal with excellent results.

The Herald-Mail issued an article about a current event where a youngster by the name of Joanne Lee, who presently,  is the frontrunner of the Washington Country Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. The thirteen-year old student, is famous for earning prestigious trophies by winning the Spelling Bee in her sixth, seventh, and eighth year. On June 2nd of this year, Joanne, together with the other 274 contestants across United States, will represent the Washington County Public Schools on the mentioned Spelling Bee.

This may sound ordinary compared to other brilliant students, but Joanne is no ordinary apprentice since English is not her native language.  Joanne’s mother, Hsiu-Hsueh Schubel, was an immigrant from Taiwan to the United States in the 1990s. Naturally, Hsiu-Hsueh was not a good English speaker when Joanne was still a toddler, so she wasn’t able to teach English to her daughter. Instead, she allowed Joanne to speak Mandarin Chinese around their house and her daughter started developing bad habits when trying to speak English.

Because Joanne resides in an English-speaking country, Hsiu-Hsueh had to expose her to a foreign language class in her younger age. And when Joanne started to go to school, she had to double her learning skills by taking up special English classes.

Sounds easy right? But it’s not. Even if children are generally absorbable to what their environment teaches them, you have to consider the attention span these children can contain, particular on traditional classroom set ups. In Joanne’s case, she enables herself to learn both basic classroom lessons and extra English language classes—all at the same time. Usually, she may result only as an average pupil in school, but her results are even remarkable. She excels so much with her language lessons to the extent of lifting her up to the present level she is in right now. Isn’t it amazing?

This is actually great news to those who look at language learning a tedious fad to study. But if only learners could entail this as a stepping stone to great success, then they will pursue such learning. See how rewarding Joanne’s effort has been, when her mom says: “[Joanne] had to go through this language barrier all by herself, it made me very proud of her.” Her efforts were never counted in vain. Instead, it made her into a champion.