Lovely sandy beach in Essex. Image by Christine Matthews via Wikipedia

Summer time is visibly obvious during these times already. I don’t know with your country, but since mine is a tropical country, the heat of the sun is honestly shining bright—more like scorching, for some time. This is also the time when classes are over, that’s why vacation is really on the go. This is also the same with your country right? Summer will be the perfect time to spend it on beaches, pools, and other exciting sporty adventures.

I cannot honestly blame you if you neglect all the learning and classroom stuff during summer because you have this most of the year. For ten months at least, we have been exposed to blackboards, notebooks, assignments and other school stuff; and summer is really going to be a special time to take a break. Yet, just like what you’ve read on the title, summer is the perfect time to learn English abroad.

I did not just say learn English here. I said learning English abroad. So for you to take advantage of the best of what other countries have offered to you, you are going to make English learning your excuse to travel abroad. You see, going abroad will not just teach or improvise your English skills here; it will definitely give you the perfect definition of what summer vacation really is.

When it comes to learning English, you have so many places to choose from: you could go to UK, Canada, and of course, the United States. Avail the English courses offered during summer and you will hit two birds in one stone: enjoying learning English as you improve such skill with numerous advantages, and enjoying having the best of vacation and gain even more numerous advantages. Our English language school is versatile as the flexibility of the learners; so if you are interested to integrate learning and vacation in one travel, we are radically willing to give you the proposals.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t wait for the next school opening to improve your English. Take the vacation moments while exploring your chosen destination while learning English. Make more inquiries in our site.

Yes, we have been convincing learners to choose to Study Japanese in Japan and avail the benefit that our language school is offering you.

 

Image via CrunchBase

But for the record, we have been revolving in the world of the Web. We rely so much in the Internet already, as what my brother call this era the Internet Age (in comparison to the Ice Age of before). Our phones are internet or Wifi-ed ready, we open our laptops and open our Facebook and Twitter accounts, we communicate with people through chatboxes and Skype nowadays, and we play our music in Youtube already.

 

So since we now live our lives to the kind of modernization level that we’re in today, let’s just live with it. And one of the things that young learners will really be enjoying the most in their Japanese language learning is to rely on Youtube.

 

Yes, before this article—or any article is being posted about people relying on Youtube to study Japanese, learners have been doing this already. And do you want to know some of the channels you might get some free extra lessons? Here are some short lists:

Relying on Youtube alone is really not our absolute recommendation to you. Of course, it really is a lot different when you finally have a formal training in our language school. We recommend Youtube as students’ additional method to improve their learned Japanese skills, but we greatly discourage to rely on it alone. There really is an edge when you get to Japan to master your Japanese skills. The school will not be your only teacher, but your immersion as well.

So if you want some more further details about what our language school in Japan has to offer you, always take the privilege to click on the hyperlinked text and get inspired to really learn Japanese in Japan.

Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami. Image by Marc Averette via Wikipedia

Learning English in a more versatile manner is not surprising anymore to learners. From time to time, I always get to mention how we become very innovative with the ways we acquire language learning since we are not limited to going to a language school only. We are even encouraging learners to even travel abroad to English-speaking countries and take our English courses in Miami for a comprehensive learning.

We are really grateful that language schools are built to assist us with our English language learning, but as far as innovation is concerned, we can explore more possible ways to learn English language; and the one thing we can really put into the top list is the use of social media for English language learning.

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other social media sites are very effective. Almost everyone who has the access to internet-connected computers will open Facebook or Twitter first before proceeding to their primary agenda. Of course, with these two social media sites alone, users can post or tweet their shout outs, respond to comments, write their notes, chat with their friends, exchange tweets with their favorite celebrities or famous icons, and the whole lot more! These social sites are more than just connecting people and communicate with your long lost friends. It goes even beyond the learning stage of foreign languages.

And one of the benefits of social media sites is that you can like, follow, or subscribe on the various English learning sites you can possibly find in the internet. Here in Abroad Languages, you can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to us in Youtube. In our Facebook page and Twitter accounts, you can avail the most recent updates with our blog site, find out the recent learning methods discovered, and update yourself with what our language schools has to offer for prospected students like you.

So get to know us more through our posts, tweets, and video selections in these three famous social media sites and discover how we can really assist you when you need some language learning inquiries. And oh, visit us in our website also. 

Closer view of a human thumb. Image by Dake via Wikipedia

For the past updates, jokes have been an essential tool to help learners learn language, especially to the younger learners. They honestly don’t want to embrace the boring side of learning, for God’s sake; any learner wouldn’t want that. So to add a humor to a learner’s journey –like you—we’re going to detail here some of the funniest English jokes and trivia that will both surprise and giggle you.

Trivia

• If you type in failure in Google, and select “I’m feeling lucky”, you will be redirected to the White House web page.
• The phrase “rule of thumb” comes from and old English law which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb?
• The dot on top of the letter “i” is called a tittle. Tittle is Latin and means that something is very small?
• The words silent and listen have the same letters
• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using only the letters on the top row of a computer keyboard.
• No word in the English language rhymes with “MONTH.” or the word ORANGE!!!
• “Aegilops” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order?
• The longest words that are reverse images of each other are stressed and desserts.
• A crocodile really does produce tears, but they’re not due to sadness. The tears are glandular secretions that work to expel excess salt from the eyes. Hence, “crocodile tears” are false tears

Jokes

• So English, I fancy you all agree, is the funniest language you ever did see.
• English might be the most widespread language in the world but there’s still no ham in hamburger, no egg in eggplant and neither pine nor apple in pineapple.
• The thing you’re looking for is always found in the last place you look.
• What did the man who walked into a bar say? Ouch!
• Why did the boy eat his homework? Because the teacher told him it was a piece of cake.
• What are two things people never eat before breakfast? Lunch and dinner.
• Why is the number six so scared? Because seven eight nine!
• If the plural of man is always called men, why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
• If we are the human race, then who is winning?
• If vegetarians eat vegetables then what on earth do humanitarians eat?!
• Some writing tips:

Exaggeration is a trillion times worse than understatement.

Rhetorical questions, who needs them?

When writing in English, contractions shouldn’t be used.

Stop using exclamation marks!!!

Amazing and hilarious, isn’t it? So if you want to know more about the versatility of the most universal language we have today, click on our “learn English at language school”section.

Church Street, Haworth With the Bronte Parsonage Museum in the distance. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The level of learning English is varied depending on the difficulty level of each learner. One learner may say that English is just a piece of cake, but for some, it is the most struggling encounter ever made. Regardless of the fact that English language is too easy or too difficult to learn, the issue is not really the language in itself—but the learners.

Let me give you this scenario: there’s this two kinds of learners who actually decided to study English abroad. One is a native English speaker from the wilderness of Texas who chose to learn British in the areas of England, while the second is a pure Vietnamese native who also decided in learning English in England. Both have the resources and even the intellectual to acquire English effectively. I’m not generalizing everyone here, but neither could be the best learner until one of them is consistent with their learning.

Let’s just say the one from U.S. is too familiar with English already that he views the learning to be very easy—too easy to the extent that he overviewed the basics, the correct pronunciation of words, proper usage of grammar, and other resources of vocabulary. “This is my native language already, why should I be mastering it on the first place when I am already knowledgeable with it?” for a person who thinks of English like this, he will only deprive himself from learning and improving English the more.

But for the second person we’ve mentioned, regardless of his limited capacity and greater time for adjustments, he still chooses to learn English and improve it—one simple lesson at a time. It may take time to master it—a couple of months, or even years may require—but he chose to push beyond his limits. In other words, he was consistent.

So which among these two learners become successful in learning and mastering English effectively? You know the answer already.

So it doesn’t really matter how skillful you are that you absorb English easily. Yes, skill is a factor, but oftentimes attitude is the key to keep the learning going. Like the title said, consistency is the right attitude to learn and master English. Mind you, it will take you far, as it will take you to your inspired dreams.

Think about it.

Alicante (Photo credit: Jose F. Caro)

Have you been interestingly choosing to learn Spanish in one of the target destinations in Spain? When it comes to learning Spanish language, Barcelona, Granada, or Madrid are the typical choices learners are choosing; but if you personally want to go to a Spanish place with a different cliché of society, choosing to learn Spanish in Alicante would make a good choice.

Yes, our Spanish language school in Alicante is one diverse language school that you will not regret going to. It is an Alicante language school alright, but it’s more than just teaching Spanish as a foreign language.

What our language school in Alicante highlights is basically its courses. Yes, we know that there are other Spanish schools out there that offer Spanish courses as well. But our courses are incredibly designed with the goal of providing two very satisfying experiences in one: first, the effective learning of the Spanish language as well as an approach to the culture and the realities of The Hispanic countries, on the other hand, the holiday entertaining and personal enriching experience. We don’t just teach Spanish to learners just for the sake of learning. It is our goal and our immediate aim to allow the learners absorb the language by immersing them with the culture and lifestyle of the vicinity. As much as possible, we wanted the learner to learn Spanish language naturally, so that when he masters Spanish already, he will be as natural as a native speaker articulates.

And of course, what is a school without complete facilities right? Our language school is has modern and new facilities, equipped with a wide range of possibilities accessible for teachers and students. All our classrooms are air-conditioned, with computers all internet-connected for the benefit of our students. And since we’ve mentioned internet, the whole school is basically in a wi-fi zone to maximize a learner’s resources to improve his learning. Of course, we wouldn’t miss other school facilities and reliable reading resources to help learners learn Spanish more effectively.

So there is no reason why you shouldn’t choose our language school in Alicante as your Spanish language school. Besides, Alicante is one town worth discovering of its riches and beauty; so why hesitate? There is so much to discover indeed right? Make inquiries about what more could our language school offer you.

The logo is from the http://www.yale.edu/printer/identity/logos.html website.Yale University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“…A new study in the United States now suggests that it could be the language you speak that affects your attitude toward a range of healthy habits, comprising everything from diet and exercise to how much money you save for your retirement.”

Interesting topic, isn’t it? I just recently found an article entitled “Does this language make me look fat?” and I find it really very interesting. We can discuss what the article detailed later but the whole concept of it is that a person’s language can affect his or her eating and diet habits.

According to M. Keith Chen, associate professor of economics at Yale University, languages like Mandarin, Japanese, German, and even Estonian have no explicit future tense on their grammar are spoken by people who, statistically, are healthier and wealthier.

Quoting what the article posted by Daisy Sindelar, “”The Japanese have been saving [money] for decades, despite effectively negative interest rates,” Chen says.

“The Chinese save like crazy. Germans are known as big savers. All of the Scandinavian and Nordic countries are also invariant savers. So that was the first relationship [between language and behavior] that I was really interested in.
“Is it possible that if your language doesn’t force you to think differently about the future and the present, then it’s actually easier for you to save for the future, because, well, the future feels more similar to the present to you.”

In addition, he also discovered that “English, Czech, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Georgian, and other “strong” FTR languages, by contrast, scored more poorly in terms of overall physical and fiscal responsibility.”

Families that speak weak-FTR languages are 24 percent less likely to have ever smoked intensely — meaning more than a pack a day for a year. They’re 13 percent less likely to be obese. They have better grip strength by the time they retire. In numerous measures, they’re in better long-run health.

I don’t write this article to discourage learners to learn language in a language school like English or Russian. In fact, this study is even showing us that even the languages have its own cultural differences as well.

I’d like to personally ask you with your point of view. Feel free to comment.

A learning common (Photo credit: Mosborne01 via Wikipedia)

A very intriguing topic was posted recently by the Myanmar Times about English learning and teaching. Intriguing to the extent that it actually hits so hard on English teaching and in needs to be refurbished… it needs to be renovated… it needs to be overhauled!

The last word mentioned above was the definite description of how U Than Pe posted in the article. He said, “It is high time something is done about the deplorable level of English teaching in schools and institutions of higher education.”

Do you believe that the English teaching has been rusting already that it needs to be renewed already? Evaluating yourself, do you think your English really needs improvement? You might say that your English is not really that good at all that’s why you decide to learn language. But the problem according to the said author is the way English is being taught! How can learners efficiently learn English when in fact, the learning in itself is not efficient at all?

“Today’s young graduates produce horrible sentences in English,” strongly stated by U Than Pe. “If there was only one graduate of that caliber then he could be labeled a sloppy student and a fluke but when there are thousands more like him the blame must lie somewhere else. It is clearly a case of systemic failure of the first degree.”

One of the things the author stressed out why students are lacking excellence in English learning is because of the teachers. Oh, it’s always been the teachers. They will always be the one responsible for the rise or fall of a particular concentration. The author said, “English has been taught to the young tots by untrained, fresh graduates. Among these graduates were very few English majors. Those that were, were appointed as senior teachers. Primary kids got graduates who majored in subjects like physics, chemistry, philosophy and other subjects totally unconnected with teaching students of their age.”

I urge you to share your thoughts about this article. Do you agree with what the author screams? Of course, not literally, but he is pertaining something here. Let’s just clear things up since the beginning of this topic has been obviously laying down to you: do you think it is the appointed time already to refurbish or overhaul today’s English teaching already? Feel free to comment.

Italian Language Workshop (Photo credit: Context Travel)

Survival, I think this is the best word to describe the phrases learners are interested to know especially when they travel to a foreign country. When they choose to go to Italy, they really need to survive there; survival in a sense that at least, they know even a couple of words and phrases that they can use when they are in the country.

 

You and I both know that knowing just a bundle of Italian phrases are not enough to—well, survive in Italian-speaking countries. Nonetheless, it’s not bad to make a brief start through these phrases, right? Here are the phrases you need. At least you are able to learn Italian language, even just a bit.

 

These are the basics of all basic Italian phrases. Here are the more basic ones.

Parla inglese? Do you speak English?
C’è qualcuno che parla inglese? Does anyone here speak English?
Mi dispiace, ma non parlo bene l’italiano. I’m sorry, I don’t speak Italian very well.
So soltanto un po’ di italiano. I only speak a little Italian.
Come si chiama, Lei? What is your name?
Mi chiamo Martin. My name is Martin.
Le presento Caterina. This is Caterina.
Come sta? How are you?
Sto bene, grazie. I’m fine, thank you.
Piacere. I am pleased to meet you.
È stato un piacere conoscerla. It was nice to meet you.
Non capisco. I don’t understand.
Scusi, che cosa ha detto? Excuse me, what did you say?
Può parlare lentamente? Could you speak more slowly?
Capisco benissimo. I understand perfectly.
Buona giornata! Have a nice day!

Regardless of these phrases provided for you, I personally recommend you to have a formal learning at language schools. It’s easy to say these words for some occasions, but you don’t have to settle for these. You can choose to increase your knowledge by going to a real learning. Besides, you’ll never know where such learning will take you at all. It might take you in the global perspective.

brains! (Photo credit: cloois)

If you’re thinking that it is way too impossible for you to learn foreign languages, think again. Science can prove that you CAN actually learn foreign languages, and that is based on facts!

As what Telegraph posted, a learner’s brain can learn a new word in less than 15 minutes, according to scientists. Such findings will definitely rob many of the excuse that the learners can’t learn a foreign language, right? Well, think about many other excuses you can comprehend of, but a learner can scientifically learn languages at all. All he needs to do is to listen to a word 160 times over that period.

Yes, the fact was confirmed by Cambridge neuroscientists, as posted by the Telegraph. In fact, the process happens far quicker than previously thought.

It all confirms in an experiment. Dr Yury Shtyrov and his team made the breakthrough after placing electrodes on the heads of 16 healthy volunteers to monitor their brain activity. They firstly recorded the pulses generated when they listened to a familiar word. Then the volunteers were made to listen to a made-up word, over and over again. Initially the brain had to work hard to recognize the new word. But after 160 repetitions over 14 minutes, the new memory traces were “virtually indistinguishable” from those of the already familiar word.

So repetition is the key to aster foreign language learning. To sum up everything, the learner should just practice the target language and he will certainly master it in just a short span of time.

“Getting them to repeat the words would “probably extend the new neural networks” to the part of the brain tasked with speech,” quoting what Dr Yury Shtyrov had said.

So whether you study English abroad or learn Italian, French or Spanish in a foreign language school, don’t ever think that you cannot learn your target language. Our brain is capable of learning it, that’s just how it is. We are naturally incapable of bridging ourselves from our own native language to another.

You can browse more about what our site can provide you about foreign language learning. Feel free to explore.