April 25, 2018

Travelling corner: Brussels with kids

Brussels offers many interesting ideas for kids to have fun. We didn’t spend much time in Brussels, as we travelled to other Belgian cities, but here is a taste of what you can do in Brussels when travelling with kids.

There are many places where children will have great time: a large aqua park called Océade, the architectural symbol of Brussels, Atomium, parks, theatres and museums. So, where did we go? We often walked through the park Parc de Bruxelles, so our daughter played in the playground there. We went to the museum Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique to see the old masters, Pieter Bruegel and Peter Paul Rubens among others (probably more attractive for older children, aged 3+). You can also go to the puppets’ theatre when visiting Brussels; we went to Le Théâtre Royal du Peruchet to see “Three little pigs”. The passion and enthusiasm of the performance was contagious. We loved the performance and the little tour around their puppets’ museum.

Have you visited Brussels with your children? What are your recommendations?

Kinga Macalla

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April 4, 2018

It’s the way you say it… How to improve your pronunciation in a foreign language

Getting pronunciation right in the language you are learning helps you feel at home in that language.  It also helps you be understood by speakers of the language.  Below are a few tips on how to improve your pronunciation in a foreign language.

First things first

Learning a bit about phonetics will help you pronounce your new language better.  It is a good idea to learn (or keep a handy copy of) the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).  The IPA can be used to represent all the phonemes (the smallest possible units of sound) of human speech, so is a reliable guide to pronunciation.  Wikipedia has IPA charts for most languages.  Language textbooks also often have a pronunciation key at the beginning if the book and these are represented with the IPA (or sometimes with approximations in the reference language, e.g. the ‘j’ in Spanish is said to be like the ‘ch’ in the Scottish word ‘loch’. These are just approximations though and it is best to bear this in mind as they can be misleading.)

The spelling of many languages (not English!) represents the way they are spoken, so, if you are learning those languages, you know that when you read a letter or combination of letters, it will always be pronounced in the same way, e.g. ‘ui’ in Dutch (‘huis’ (‘house’), ‘tuin’ (‘garden’), ‘ui’/’ajuin’ (‘onion’)) will always sound the same, a bit like ‘oh’ in English (but not quite).

Communication is key

As we have been saying in many of these blog posts, you don’t have to do everything perfectly right from the beginning; what is important is making yourself understood.  This goes for pronunciation too.  Correct pronunciation does not necessarily mean having a flawless accent and sounding like a native speaker.  As long as you are following the right pronunciation rules and reproducing the sounds, you will be able to communicate.

Break it down

Break words down into vowel and consonant sounds, especially if there are ones that don’t exist in your own language, and say them separately, then together.  If you speak slowly at first, this will help you distinguish the sounds and pronounce similar-but-slightly-different words correctly (see minimal pairs) without getting them mixed up, such as ‘capello’ (‘hair’ (singular)) and ‘cappello’ (‘hat’) in Italian.

Get the mechanics right

Feel which part of your mouth (and sometimes nose) you are using when you try to pronounce each sound and, if you’re struggling, read pronunciation guides that tell you which part of your mouth you should be using (e.g. lips, teeth, throat) (or that tell you whether or not you should be using your nose, e.g. for the nasal sounds ‘en’, ‘an’, ‘un’, ‘in’ and ‘on’ in French).  Also read or observe where you should be putting your lips.  I will never forget my wonderment when I discovered that I could make a French ‘u’ sound by trying to say an English ‘e’ with my lips pursed!

Read aloud

Read everything you can get your hands on in your chosen language, and read it aloud.  This will help you get your teeth and tongue around the difficult words, as you can read the same passage again and again, fast or slow, broken down into chunks or single words, loud or soft, until it feels natural and flows.  You could read a play in this way to help you practise pronunciation with written sentences that mimic speech.  You can also try reciting poems and stories or singing songs.

Listen out for intonation

Languages have their own rhythms and stress patterns, a little like music.  Following these patterns will make you sound more like a native speaker.  Listen to the radio and watch films and television in your chosen language and pay attention to the intonation people use when speaking.  Repeat what you hear and try to match the stress patterns.  Ask a native speaker you know to help you; get them to pronounce words slowly for you to mimic and ask them to speed up the words and phrases as you get better at pronouncing them.  If you like, you can record yourself and compare the recording to native speech.  If you don’t know any native speakers, you can find a language partner online or through a local educational institution.

Immerse Yourself

Listen to your chosen language as often as you can.  Listen to it actively or passively but do it regularly.  Without you even realizing it, your accent will improve as you get more used to the sounds in the language.  This is similar to when children learn to speak: they are surrounded by the language and spend a long time listening before reproducing the sounds themselves.

Resources

There are some great online and mobile resources to help you practise pronunciation.  Two websites, Forvo and How to Pronounce are online pronunciation dictionaries.  You can search for any word and hear it pronounced by a native speaker.

Apps can also help you train your pronunciation. Duolingo judges your pronunciation on how close it is to the original, and allows you to play around until you get an authentic sound.  Listen & Speak also has this feature.  These two apps give you full sentences to pronounce, whereas the How to Pronounce app gives you single words or phrases.  It can slow down words to help you hear each part of the word you should be pronouncing.  Languages pronunciation is similar to this.

Have fun practising!

Suzannah Young

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March 28, 2018

HAPPY EASTER!

Dear Readers,

We would like to wish you all a lovely Easter break. Whether you’re going travelling, visiting family or simply stuffing your face with chocolate (we approve of your choice), we hope you have a great time!

Please don’t forget that our spring language courses start soon and it’s not too late to join them!

HAPPY EASTER!

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March 21, 2018

Travelling corner: Weekend in South Devon

We booked this weekend completely and entirely spontaneously! We decided to go to South Devon which is only 2 hours away from Bristol, UK. We stayed in the small village of Malborough, just minutes away from Salcombe. In terms of walking, I recommend a coastal walk from the centre of Salcombe towards the beaches: North Sands and South Sands. On the opposite shore, there are beautiful bays with tiny beaches. In this area I also recommend exploring Hope Cove, Thurlestone Sands and Bantham Sands. If you have more time, you may want to go to Burgh Island accessible on foot at low tide and by tractor at high tide. I’m not going to say any more, just look at the pictures below!

What are your memories from South Devon? Let me know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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March 14, 2018

Travelling Corner: Tavira – Charming Little Town in Portugal

This charming little town is located in the South of Portugal. It doesn’t have its own beach, but you can easily go by boat to the nearby island Ilha de Tavira. I’ve visited the town on many occasions and below you’ll find my favourites of this place.

Cafes

Bica, galao, meia de leite… the Portuguese love drinking coffee and there are many cafes in Tavira to try them. My favourite café is the middle one on the main square. I go there every time I’m in Tavira. I so enjoy sitting outside, observing life going by and sipping espresso, perfect!

Fado

Fado is traditional Portuguese music. There are also Fado concerts in Tavira performed 3-4 times every Saturday (please check their website or FB page for the latest updates). I went to my first (ever!) Fado concert one Saturday and it was a very emotional and intense performance which impressed me hugely.

Castle, garden & camera obscura

Climbing up the stairs from the market square to the castle ruins, garden and camera obscura can be quite tiring on a hot day, but then the views are completely worth the effort. When I was walking in the garden this year, there were musicians playing and singing Portuguese music, an ideal accompaniment to the colourful flowers & trees.

Museums

If you had enough of the very hot weather, you may want to go to a museum to cool down and to learn something interesting. Tavira Municipal Museum is the main museum in Tavira where you can learn about the town’s history, architecture & art. You can also visit the science museum Centro Ciência Viva de Tavira to do some fascinating experiments, especially since the staff members are so kind and will make your visit truly amazing!

Main square

Tavira is very musical and festive. Every time I visit, there seem to be celebratory events with accompanying performances and concerts. The main square is at the heart of the festivities and I would highly recommend attending some of those events as they’re free and great fun!

Bus, train & boat

You can plan many little trips when you’re based in Tavira. There are good bus connections to many towns & cities. This year I tried to travel by train more often and I was amazed at how comfortable they are (wide train cars, air-conditioning and cleanliness). You can travel by train as far as Lagos or Lisbon and the timetable is available online. Boats are available for tours and also to the islands, e.g. to Ilha de Tavira.

What is your favourite Portuguese town or city? Please leave your comment below.

Written by Kinga Macalla

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March 7, 2018

Learning a Language: Learn Russian with BLS online & FREE!

As you remember, we introduced a new series of blog posts (see Spanish, French & German) where we teach you some useful phrases in different languages. Sounds amazing? And it’s RUSSIAN today!

Are you planning your ski holiday in Sochi? Do you travel frequently to St Petersburg? Do you dream of exploring Russian-speaking Ukraine or Georgia? If so, we would like you to taste & learn some essential Russian first. Below you’ll find a list of useful phrases in Russian (greetings, polite phrases, closed question words, numerals and simple questions & sentences). We also video recorded Anna, our Russian tutor, to help you with reading, pronunciation and accent (also available on YouTube). We hope you enjoy this series and that you’ll come and learn Russian with us! Good luck!

Which language would like you like to learn next? Let us know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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February 28, 2018

Travelling Corner: 50 shades of blue. Cornwall in winter.

Those who follow my travelling stories know that I often visit Cornwall (at least once a year) and I’m a huge admirer of the Cornish coast. My most recent visit to Cornwall was in winter and it was spectacularly beautiful. I experienced all kinds of weather which changed from minute to minute, so good shoes for muddy paths is a must (especially if you plan to do some hiking). But this was completely compensated for by the views of the ocean and lots of fresh air. We walked on the South West Coast Path in the areas of Gylly Beach, Swan Beach and Meanporth Beach.

Do you visit the same place every year? Please let me know in the comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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February 21, 2018

The Language Journey – Suzannah’s Story (in 6 Languages)

Hello, my name is Suzannah and I’m a linguist and freelance translator.  In this video, I answer questions about my journey to speaking 6 languages. I give one answer in each of the languages I speak: French, Dutch, English, Polish, Italian and Spanish. Firstly, in French, I talk about how I discovered I had a talent for the language and almost accidentally ended up spending some time in France and eventually studying French at university, which opened the door to me learning other languages – something I never imagined I would be able to do when I was a shy, quiet teenager. Then, in Dutch, I talk about the story behind why I started to learn other languages – mainly out of curiosity and thanks to friendships I made, as well as having the opportunity to live and work abroad.  I then give away a few tips on how to learn a language – or at least I explain what works best for me and how I have gone about learning each language – in English. After that I explain (in Polish) why I chose to learn Polish, my latest language: it came down to friendships again; plus, it was/is a fun challenge for me.  Then, in Italian, I talk about the advantages of speaking and learning different languages and what I like best about being able to speak other languages. Finally, in Spanish I reveal how I keep up my language skills and what I do to practise every day so I don’t forget them!  Bon visionnement! Veel kijkplezier! Happy watching! Bawcie się dobrze! Buona visione! Disfrutéis de la película!

Suzannah Young

We need your help! Suzannah, our multilingual student speaks 6 languages and we’ve recorded an interview with her speaking them (available on YouTube). But, we need your help with translations from Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish into English.

Leave your translations here below our blog post and we’ll then add them to our video as subtitles! Good luck 🙂

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February 7, 2018

Book Review: Silence by Erling Kagge

I read this book in one day and couldn’t to put it down because it was so fascinating. The book is written by Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge who once spent 50 days in silence walking across Antarctica. The author explores the idea of silence by answering some fundamental questions: what is silence? Where can we find it? And why do we need it? He finds answers not only in his solo travels, but also in his busy life back in Norway. The book is written in a poetic and philosophical style yet it never loses its attachment to realism. One of my favourite quotations is: “Being on the journey is almost always more satisfying than reaching the goal.” (p. 126)

Erling Kagge, Silence. In the Age of Noise. UK, Viking, 2017.

Written by Kinga Macalla

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January 31, 2018

A Day in the Life of an Interpreter – An Interview with Agnieszka Teixera-Vaz

Agnieszka teaches Polish at BLS. She is also a Polish-English interpreter, working in various settings: the police, the courts, hospitals, etc.  We caught up with her after a long day in the field to ask her what a typical day looks like for her.

Please tell us a bit about yourself

I am Polish, I have been in the UK for almost 7 years and I am a mum of 2 boys.  I have a BA and MA in Sociology/Social Sciences, an English College Diploma in Translation and Interpreting, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Training and Teaching.

How long have you been a translator/interpreter?

I qualified in 2009 and have worked since then, first translating online and then moving on to interpreting.

What type of translation/interpreting do you do?  What types of situations do you interpret in?

At the moment, I do mainly court work, where I assist a non-English speaking person throughout the court process. Other places include prisons, police stations, probation, social service meetings, hospitals, etc.

Do you work full time as an interpreter or do you combine it with another job?

There is no such thing as “full time” – sometimes you work 60 hours a week, and sometimes you have a few days off….

Do you have to travel to do your job?  What’s the furthest you have had to go?

Yes, I travel to all the courts in South-West England and South Wales. The longest time I had to commute was about 3 hours one-way.

Do you always interpret face-to-face or have you done telephone interpreting too?

I have done telephone interpreting too. But face to face interpreting is much more my cup of tea as I believe a message is conveyed better when you can see somebody’s facial expressions, other body language, and you can hear tone of a voice clearer than on the phone.

How to you keep up-to-date with the fields you are interpreting for and the language related to them?

That is absolutely crucial. I learn every day and update my vocabulary range constantly. This is actually one of the perks of the job – you never stop learning.

Please can you describe a typical day when you have an interpreting assignment?

I normally prepare for my working day the day before – I need to make sure I know where I am going and what is expected of me.  I print out the documents and read any additional documentation.  If it is a hospital appointment I try and refresh the specific vocabulary I might need to use. To check location, I use Google Maps to make sure I know what the building I am going to looks like, to make it easier to find.  I check the time of commute and plan my travel accordingly.  I buy tickets online if I have to catch a train.  In the city, I cycle everywhere so I am independent of traffic, which is amazing in a busy city like Bristol.

Where did you learn to be an interpreter?  How did you get into translation/interpreting?

Having obtained my qualifications in English, I went on to study interpreting and translation. It was a 1-year course which involved lots of practical classes where you train your brain to think quickly, to store long utterances, to remember many details at the same time, etc.  We were also taught some specific techniques for note-taking, common symbols, etc.  I had to pass 4 exams in translating and interpreting both ways (Polish into English and vice versa).

Online translation offers great flexibility – that tempted me in the first place.  I worked as a manager of a busy educational institution but when I got pregnant I knew I would have to slow down. Translation allowed me to work around my child’s routine; I could stay at home with my son while earning and being professionally active.

What do you like best about being an interpreter/translator?

At the moment, with court work, I mostly enjoy knowing that I can help a fellow citizen in difficulty. Interpreting sometimes borders on support work where you are somebody’s first point of reference in a stressful situation.  The job also offers flexibility.

What is your least favourite thing about your job as an interpreter?

Defendants you are supposed to support changing their plea in the first half an hour of a 5-day trial you were booked on. Your whole week gets cancelled and you have to make sure you get other projects quickly to ensure you actually work!

What is your favourite thing to translate?

Scientific publications on subjects related to psychology, sociology, childhood studies, etc. Being personally interested in a subject definitely helps when translating.

Do you have any tips for anyone who is considering a career in translation/interpreting?

Make sure you work with more than one agency to build your calendar – you are technically self-employed and you are responsible for ensuring you have enough work.

Don’t get frustrated when things don’t go as planned – there are a lot of cancellations or, on the other hand, last minute bookings when you are on your day off. Be prepared for that and just accept it as part of your work dynamic. If you get stressed by every cancellation or change, you will not enjoy your professional life.

If you struggle with a specific term, be it in hospital or in court – simply ask for clarification. We are only human, and it is not possible to know everything about everything!  It is much better to admit that we are not familiar with a term and get an explanation than to translate incorrectly!

If you are more interested in written translation, become part of translation boards like ProZ and invest your time in building your profile there – this will result in more job offers.  Always be realistic about the amount of work you can do in specific time-scales – bad quality translation might lead to negative comments on your profile and long-term loss of income.  Make sure your work is proofread if you translate into a foreign language – you might feel the text is perfect, but a native speaker can always “polish it”, making it feel as if it was originally written in the target language.

Invest in good software – it will speed up your work, correct your mistakes, remember all previous projects and so on.  Also, get some training in how to use said software – there is no point in spending hundreds of pounds on a programme that you don’t fully exploit.

How do you relax when you are not working as an interpreter?

I teach Polish! 🙂  And spend time with my family and friends.

What are your ambitions for the future?

To be happy 🙂 And for my boys to be good people 🙂

Thank you!

Agnieszka Teixera-Vaz was interviewed by her student, Suzannah Young

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