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March 2, 2016

On Languages: Polish

What makes Polish SO hard?

It seems that Polish grammar is the one responsible for these rumours! Many people are led to believe that Polish grammar is impossibly complex and simply un-learnable, but truth be told, it follows a set of logical and regular rules.

Let us explain a few of the reasons why some people are put off learning Polish:
• Nouns can have three genders: masculine, female and neuter
• There are seven grammatical cases, which means that each noun and adjective can have seven different endings
• Verbs come in two aspects (English doesn’t have grammatical aspects)
• The pronunciation is just impossible!

Okay, this might sound like a difficult language to learn, but don’t worry. While some things may appear harder, some things are definitely easier. For example:

• There are no articles – people who learn English often struggle with when to use “a”, “an”, “the” or nothing at all. In Polish, however, you don’t have to worry about this, you just say the word as it is with no article.
• Word order is flexible – the case system means that syntax (that is, the word order within a sentence) is more flexible than in English. You therefore don’t have to worry as much about how to structure your sentences.
• Fewer verb tenses – English has 16 grammatical tenses! This is extremely difficult for most non-native speakers. Polish, on the other hand, has only 5 tenses (or 3 tenses and 2 aspects, depends on how you count). This means that what in English can be expressed in three different ways: “I read”, “I am reading” and “I have been reading” in Polish is reduced to a simple “Czytam”.
• Lots of vocabulary with Latin roots – you might be surprised by the amount of vocabulary that will be very familiar to you, for example:
Situation – sytuacja
Motivation – motywacja
Conversation – konwersacja etc.
• Phonetic alphabet – unlike in English, once you learn the rules, you can look up any word and know how to pronounce it based on its spelling.

As you can see, there are lots of areas where Polish is not so difficult (and perhaps even easier than English!). Yes, it may seem strange and difficult at first due to its phonology (i.e. the system of sounds) and grammatical structures that simply don’t exist in English, such as the case system or verb aspects. However, any language can be learnt with motivation and perseverance, and there will always be elements that won’t have an equivalent in your native language.

Written by Alicja Zajdel

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February 24, 2016

Travelling Corner: Scottish Tartan in Winter

We decided to visit Scotland for the very first time this winter. Yes, we wanted to experience as much rain, snow and wind as possible! Joking aside, it only rained for one whole day and two afternoons/evenings, that‘s all! (Obviously it rained at night, but we were sleeping like angles.)

Throughout our stay in Scotland, we felt a constant impression of mystery. It was very strange at first, but we got used to it. Maybe it was the wintry, foggy weather, lonely landscapes and large monumental buildings or perhaps this is the real charm of Scotland.

We first stayed by Loch Lomond and walked the east side of the lake. We walked every day and if some parts were flooded, we used the main road or we went up to one of the many forests that surround the lake. We were able to observe the lake and the way it changes depending on the weather: from clear blue to dark grey or beautiful white. The views were very absorbing so we stopped now and then to have a rest and admire the beautiful landscape. This was our time to slow down and be at one with nature: we had no set intention for each day; we simply followed our desires and feelings.

After this period of time being close to nature, we went for a trip to Glasgow. What a contrast! We could not find our way in this commercial city. We felt as if we were in a big supermarket and did not know how to escape. Fortunately, the Cathedral was a ‘wee’ bit away from all the sales and offers, so we went there. The Cathedral impressed us, but what struck our attention the most was the Necropolis, situated high up on a green hill, giving extensive views of the city. We spent some time there before going for lunch at the famous Willow Tea Room, recreated as designed and decorated by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1904. We wanted to visit a few more places, but the amount of people (many!) was somehow discouraging, so we headed back to our ‘Loch’.

Our loch became even more flooded due to heavy rainfall, so we decided to visit Edinburgh for a few days. We stayed in Morningsdale, a truly charming part of Edinburgh, full of small cafés (“bistros”), bakeries (“boulangeries”) and cheese-mongers (“fromageries”). Yes, many shops and cafés were French-named: C’est si bon!, Brasserie, Montpellier, name but a few. Every day we went to a different café on our way to the Old Town. What a wide range of places to eat, relax and meet friends! We then crossed the park and within minutes we were exploring the old part of town. We particularly enjoyed our visit to the Museum of Scotland which was an interesting design from outside as well as inside. They had a special entertaining programme for their visitors over the Christmas period and we really enjoyed listening to Scottish bagpipes and dancing some folk dances (yes, the main hall was full of dancing visitors!).

For a linguist, it was a great pleasure to hear the Scottish rolled ‘r’ on a daily basis. Unfortunately we did not experience the other two Scottish languages: Scottish Gaelic and Lowland Scots. Gaston Dorren, the author of Lingo. A Language Spotter’s Guide to Europe says that the Scottish Gaelic is endangered and argues that it might be due to its spelling which is “wasteful, arcane and outdated.” This may be true, but we will have to re-visit this land to ask its own native speakers what they think.
References: G. Dorren, Lingo. A Language Spotter’s Guide to Europe, Profile Books, London, 2014.

Written by Kinga Macalla
Photos courtesy of Kinga Macalla

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February 17, 2016

Learning Languages – My Story

My name is Suzannah I am a PhD student in Translation Studies. I speak five languages (English, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish) and am learning a sixth (Polish). You may ask how or why I have learnt/am learning them and what I use them for. What I will say is that I use them all regularly and they are all a big part of my life. Actually, I don’t know what I would do without them. It may surprise you to know, though, that it wasn’t always like this. There was a time when I thought I wasn’t going to carry on learning any languages at all. In the end, my circumstances changed and I did carry on – and I’m very glad I did because it changed my life! This is my story.

Beginnings
I started learning French when I was little, thanks to my parents having got me to watch a bilingual video about an alien who comes to Earth and learns about human life… This video was the same story in French and English. It was easy to follow in French if you had watched the English version (and even if you hadn’t) and the storyline and learning material was very clearly presented. The best thing about it was that it was fun – it didn’t feel like a chore and I enjoyed watching it again and again. I was learning without even realising it!
Another early memory is that whenever we went on holiday, my parents always tried to learn a few words of the local language and encouraged my sister and me to try the food and appreciate the places we visited. I am very grateful to them for having done this because I believe they gave me a positive attitude to new languages and cultures and made learning about new people and places a fun thing to do. Of course, being on holiday helped make it fun! This attitude has definitely stuck with me.

School Time
We had French lessons at school from when I was 11 but I feel we only learnt a few set phrases and weren’t really given a love for the language. Nevertheless, I found I understood things quite quickly and did receive some encouragement from the teacher. The problem was, learning a language was not seen as ‘cool’ at my school and I actually hid my talent from my peers and pretended I found it as difficult and boring as they did!
I got a good mark for GCSE French and luckily decided to carry on to AS Level. I thought I was only going to do a year but, thankfully I had a very dedicated and enthusiastic teacher who encouraged us to nurture our talent and used interesting learning material like films and newspaper articles – real life material that real French people used. That made it more relevant to us and made us see that it was a living language. I carried on to A-Level and did well in it.
As A-Level students, we had the opportunity to go and stay with a family in France. My host mother was a wonderful lady, she was very supportive and was really interested in everything we did. She introduced me to literature and a theatre group she was involved in. We are still in touch today (almost 15 years later) and I have visited her numerous times.
I still didn’t think I was going to carry on with French and thought I was going to do English Literature at university. In the end I didn’t get the grades I needed to do English and decided to defer my university entry for a year and reapply. That meant I needed something to do for a year. A friend of my sister’s had just done a placement in France and suggested I do the same. She gave me the details of a language school and I contacted them. They signed me up for a three-month language course and a work experience placement. I enjoyed the life at my host family’s house less than the time before but I made some really good friends at the language school. A lot of them were Chinese and it was fun to learn about their country as well as learning French together. They even taught me a few words of Mandarin! At the time it was funny for me to think that we were able to communicate with each other through a language that was neither of our first languages.

University Life
Thanks to this placement, which improved my French a lot, I applied to do French and English Literature at a different University. I was accepted and spent three years there. The language learning experience depended on how committed you were to learning – there were resources available but you had to use them on your own initiative – but we did learn a lot about French culture and society, which helped us to understand the background to the language we were learning.
I spent my Erasmus year in Paris, France. Initially, I started a work placement but didn’t enjoy it so enrolled in a university. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made. If I had stayed on the work placement, I may have got disheartened but as I went to university I met a lot of people my age and made life-long friends. I was lucky enough to meet a group of friends who I spent every day with – you can say I was really immersed in French culture! It was a bit difficult following lectures in French at first but I had a trusty electronic dictionary which gave me the definitions of words I didn’t know and I soon got up to speed. My friends and I started a Spanish class together as well, which was a fun experience – learning a language through a language that was not my mother tongue! In the summer after my Erasmus year, I went to stay with a friend in Madrid and did a language course – for fun. That was great too because of the amazing people I met from all over the world. We had to use Spanish to communicate with each other so it really helped us learn.

After Graduation
When I graduated, I wanted to get a job using my languages so I applied for internships in Brussels, Belgium. I started an internship at a European NGO, where I would be speaking French and English. It turned out that they needed my Spanish too. Initially, I thought I was going to stay there for six months (you can see that this is a recurring theme!) but then I was offered a full-time job and ended up staying for six years!
Belgium has three official languages, Dutch, French and German (and an unofficial one, which is English!) I was curious to know what the signs I could see in Brussels said, so I enrolled on a Dutch course. I complemented my learning by listening to the radio and reading newspapers that were readily available.
After a few years in Brussels, I met a person who ran a theatre group in Antwerp. I started going to the theatre group every week, and it was there that I met my partner, who is Italian. I moved to Antwerp to live with him, which meant that I could practice Dutch all the time. I also learnt Italian through my partner and with his family. I had to speak Italian if I wanted to speak to them, and I did want to speak to them, so that was useful! I found I learnt Italian fairly quickly because it is similar to French and Spanish so I could already understand quite a lot. We have a lot of Italian friends and I speak to them all in Italian.
While still in Brussels, I met a few Polish people through work. We became friends and I realised I was interested in learning their language. When I moved to Antwerp, I decided to enrol on a Polish course, not least because I wanted to meet people in my new town. I also wanted to see whether I was capable of learning a Slavic language. I had learnt three Romance languages and a Germanic language so learning Polish was (and still is) a new challenge for me.

Back in the UK
I recently moved back to the UK and have carried on learning Polish. I am finding it a bit more difficult to learn than it was to learn the other languages I speak. This may be because I don’t have many people to practice with. Learning my other languages went quite quickly because I was able to practice with people around me and, in some cases, I had to speak because there was no other option! I think it is important not to be afraid of making mistakes and just speaking – but I am finding it a bit hard to follow my own advice in Polish at the moment!!

The Last Word
As you can see, my reasons for learning languages have been enthusiastic teachers and a positive attitude to language learning on the one hand and friendships and a desire to have new experiences on the other. Being in an environment that has allowed me to be exposed to the languages on a regular basis has definitely been beneficial to my learning. Speaking other languages has allowed me to meet lots of wonderful people but it has also been useful professionally. For example, I do translation work sent to me through people I have met abroad. The most important part of language learning for me, though, is by far the friends I have made.
I hope you can have a similarly positive experience with learning languages!

Written by Suzannah Young

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February 9, 2016

Learning a Language: Online and Mobile Language-Learning Tools

With the advent of widespread access to technology, it has never been easier to find resources to help you learn a new language. If you use the internet, you can find a wealth of tools to support your learning that are fun and interactive and don’t break the bank. It is also easy to take these study aids with you. You can use online tools to supplement your learning when you have a bit of free time, on your commute, when you’re having lunch or waiting for the bus, or when you are at home in the evening.
Here are some examples of what the web can offer you.

Online Language Exchange Platforms

Traditionally, it has been hard to find ways to practice speaking the language you are learning outside the classroom. Luckily, video conference tools like Skype have now made it easier to talk to people all over the world. The online platforms below give you the chance to practice your speaking skills by either putting you in touch with a teacher you can have lessons with online or letting you meet native speakers in a more informal setting. You can also teach the language you speak via the online platforms. You might even make friends!
Here are a few examples:

Busuu
The most popular language exchange platform
Price: Mostly free, $17 to unlock all features
Good for: Interactive learning, meeting people
Learning style: Read, write, interact, Speak on Skype, Peer-to-peer corrections
Pros: Community, Practice with native speakers and be a tutor yourself, also a language-learning app (see below)
Languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

My Language Exchange
Practice your second language with a native speaker who is learning your language
Price: Free
Learning style: Meet people from the online community, practise with a native speaker, membership required
Pros: MLE hosts your online practice with lesson plans, text chat rooms
Languages: 115+

Italki
Choose a teacher online and schedule a lesson
Price: Pay by lesson
Good for: Interactive learning
Learning style: Live online lessons with professional teachers
Pros: You can define search variables
Languages: 70+

Easy Language Exchange
You can save your learning material with this platform
Price: Free
Good for: Interactive learning, meeting people
Learning style: Speaking to people online
Pros: You can save conversations and refer back to them
Languages: Several

HelloTalk
A language exchange app you can use like a messaging service
Price: Free to download, charges for extra features
Good for: Interactive learning, conversations on the go
Learning style: Chat by text or through short audio clips (like Whatsapp)
Pros: Conversation time divided equally, conversations are stored on your phone, translation and correction feature
Cons: Finding active partners can take time (depending on time of day and target language)
Languages: Over 100

Language Learning Apps

Language Learning Apps give you language exercises in an entertaining, bite-size format. They help you learn by using games and memory exercises, and you can set yourself targets and test yourself. They use a variety of learning styles, which can help you remember your newly-acquired knowledge.
Here are some examples of language learning apps, with a rundown of each one’s vital statistics.

MindSnacks
MindSnacks makes mobile learning games for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
Price: Free
Good for: Learning vocab
Learning style: Games, puzzles
Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese

Brainscape
Flash card-based learning with a free version or the option to pay
Price: Free to download, all lessons for $19.99
Learning style: Flash cards, writing tips
Languages: Spanish, Mandarin Chinese

Memrise
The Memrise community uses images and science to support your learning
Price: Free
Good for: Learning vocab
Learning style: Mnemonics, pronunciation guide, images
Languages: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Russian

Babbel
Playing games will help you learn vocabulary with this free app
Price: Free to download, then $11 monthly
Good for: Learning vocab
Learning style: Games, puzzles
Pros: Wide selection of languages, saves your learning on your online account
Languages: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

AnkiApp
A flash card app for iPhone
Price: $24.99
Good for: Learning vocab
Learning style: Flash cards, memory activities, beat the clock challenges
Pros: Create your own flashcards
Languages: Several

Flash Sticks
Create your own flash cards
Price: The app is free to download; ‘flashsticks’ can be bought from £4.99
Good for: Learning vocab and pronunciation
Learning style: Either buy ‘post-it note’ style flashcards or make your own with your phone camera
Pros: Fun and playful style, language newsletter sent to you if you sign up
Cons: Just vocabulary
Languages: British Sign Language, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Duolingo
The most popular gamification-based language learning app
Price: Free
Good for: Learning vocab
Learning style: Games, earn points for correct answers, beat the clock
Pros: Bite-size lessons, progressive learning
Cons: No explanations, no grammar content, not natural conversation
Languages: French, Spanish

LingQ
An app that also links you to a community of speakers
Price: Free version with 5 lessons and 20 word lists or full version from $10/month
Good for: Learning vocab, practicing with speakers
Learning style: Games, intuitive learning, community of speakers
Pros: A lot of languages offered, interactive
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and other languages in Beta

YouTube Videos

You can find a lot of video tutorials on YouTube just by searching ‘learn’ plus the name of the language you are learning. There are also educational channels dedicated to specific languages. Video tutorials can help you go over a grammar point, practice speaking and listening, get used to pronunciation and learn new words and phrases. The good thing about videos is that you can pause or go back if you need more time or want to hear something again. Most channels host several videos. It can be tempting to watch them all at once but try to limit yourself to learning one video a day, to make sure it is all going in!
Here is a taster of some videos to learn different languages:

Hindi
Korean
Mandarin Chinese
Turkish

Try Them Out

Now you have a few tools to keep you busy and which will hopefully make your learning more effective. Expanding the number of different ways you practice your new language will help you remember more and will make the process more stimulating. Good luck!

Written by Suzannah Young

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February 1, 2016

Learning a Language – A Few Tips

Learning a new language is an enriching experience – it introduces you to new ways of doing things, thinking about things and talking about things. It widens your horizons: it can make you attractive to a potential employer at home – or help you get that dream job abroad! Learning a language is useful if you want to travel, it can help keep your brain active and it improves your social life by letting you meet new, interesting people. If you learn a language, you will have access to new places, new sights and new sounds. And it doesn’t have to be difficult to do, if you make it into an enjoyable and intuitive experience. There are strategies you can use to help you remember what you have learned more easily. Here are a few tips to help your learning stick!

Realise how much you already know
Unless you are an ostrich, it is likely that you will hear and process lots of information every day, without even realising you are doing it. This includes words in other languages that are used all around you – just think of your local French restaurant, “Bon Appétit”, or the beauty parlour down the road called “Bella Donna”. You will be surprised how many words you already know in the language you wish to learn. Make a list of all of them – and you will see that you are not starting from scratch!
If you speak English and are learning a European language, and even if you are not, the chances are that there will be words that look like words in English – after all, the languages we speak evolved together from shared roots. An example of this is words ending in –ion(s) in English that have their equivalents in many European languages: congratulazione, imaginación, démonstration, Konversation. If you look for words you recognise, you will see that you already understand part of the text you are reading.

Relate it to things you like
Language learning is meant to be fun! So try finding out vocabulary that can help you talk about your hobbies or interests. You will remember these because they are relevant to you.
For example, if you like cycling, find out all the words for the parts of your bike and the words you will need if you want to talk about a race. If you like cooking, look up the words for the most common ingredients and cooking methods. If you like music, find artists who sing in the language you are learning and look up the lyrics online so you can sing along. If you like cinema, find your favourite film in your new language. Put the subtitles on if you need them – but in the language, not in English. That way you will know what they are actually saying and will pick up phrases. Read your favourite novel in another language. If you like keeping informed by reading the news, find the article you have just read in another language (European news websites like euronews are a good place to do this). You will understand as you already know the story – and you will learn new vocabulary.

Context is important
It is easier to learn and remember new words and grammatical constructions when you know why you are using them. Use the new words you have learned in context if you can. Making sentences about yourself with what you have learned will help the new grammar stick in your head.
A news article about a certain subject is a good way to pick up vocabulary about that subject. You will find you don’t even need to look up some of the words because you will recognise the ones that are similar to ones you have already learned.
You know that when you are watching a news item about farming or reading a novel, a particular style and vocabulary will be used, so you can work out some of what is being said.

Focus on what you know rather than on your mistakes
When you are reading or listening to a text, even if you don’t understand everything, you will be able to pick out words you do know. Focus on those and you will have the gist of what the text is about. In time you will build up your knowledge and the ratio of words you understand to those you don’t understand will increase.
If you are reading a novel, you will enjoy it less if you stop to look up every unknown word. Try to avoid this temptation and just keep reading and let the words sink in. You will still understand a lot of what is happening and you will find the experience more pleasant and less frustrating, which will make you want to learn more. Again, your understanding will improve with time.
When you are speaking, the most important thing is to communicate. You don’t need to worry about your mistakes as long as the message is there. The way to fluency is not being afraid to make mistakes. We all do it, even in our mother tongue, so it is nothing to be embarrassed about!

Look for patterns
Most languages are logical and have fairly regular grammatical rules. The language is not trying to catch you unawares! You will start to recognise the way words behave in specific situations and be able to predict what a conjugation will be, which case you need to use or what kind prefix you will need to use with which verb. Learning to spot patterns will help you feel at home in the language.

Immerse yourself in the language
You often hear that the best way to learn a language is by being in the country where it is spoken. But you don’t necessarily have to travel to be able to come into contact with your chosen language – sometimes you can even do it from the comfort of your own home! These days it is very easy to find radio, newspapers and even television in different languages online. Listen to the radio and watch videos to get used to hearing the language you are learning and read the news to get quicker at deciphering it. Find a conversation group in your town and go along – it is a way to meet people as well as perfect your speaking skills. Change the language on your phone and on your Facebook account – then you will feel like the language is really part of your life (and it is an easy way to learn without really trying). Use every chance you get to practise your new language!

Go with the flow
Learning a new language is fun. Do your homework but practise in unconventional ways too – ways that are adapted to your learning style. Use your newly-acquired skills anywhere you can!

Written by Suzannah Young

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January 13, 2016

Travelling Corner: Teaching in Indonesia

My adventure in Indonesia began in 2014 with a spontaneous visit to Sumatra. I remember, during one of my travels to New Zealand, flying over a lusciously green island and the pilots telling us that this was Sumatra. And since then, it has been in the back of my mind – this green, tropical, jungle covered island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. So, upon completing my University degree in October 2014 and fancying an adventure, I booked a ticket to Medan in North Sumatra on the spur of the moment. It has turned out to be an unforgettable experience which has influenced, and still keeps on influencing me, and which has led to even more adventures.

Sumatra is a tropical island, covered in jungle, and with a high humidity, the perfect place for diverse wildlife such as orangutans, rhinos, gibbons, Thomas’s langur monkeys, pythons, hornbill birds, honey bears, elephants and tigers (just to name a few) and breath-taking nature (giant leafy plants, huge trees, rivers and volcanoes). But what had the biggest impact on me, and led me to go back there as a voluntary English teacher, were the local children.

While visiting Bukit Lawang, a village bordering with the jungle, which was hit by the Tsunami in 2004, I went for a walk and met an English teacher in the village school, which has been funded by donations collected by a woman from Jersey after the catastrophe hit. It first helped people affected by the Tsunami as a medical centre, and then, when medical help was not urgently needed anymore, was converted into a school and kindergarten. This school had such an effect on me, that upon my return home, I signed up for a Master TEFL course, quit my job and spent the next months learning Indonesian and collecting contributions for the school, baking cakes, muffins and brownies for my colleagues. After 4 months, I was on my way back to Medan once again – this time, loaded with presents, books, stationary, and bursting with excitement.

The school is mostly run by local people, who cook and clean for the teachers, help with lessons, and also employ volunteers from the UK and Europe, who teach English to the children, ranging from 3 to 14 years, as well as to adults in the villages around Bukit Lawang on various levels. Children go there for free after their usual school, either on foot or by taxis, which are organised for them by the school. Older children come with their younger siblings, sometimes as young as 1.5 years old, and some are even eager enough to come every day. They are excited and often wait outside the school gates up to an hour before the lesson starts. When the time comes, they are then led to their classrooms, and sometimes, when numbers are high, they are split into several classes, often occupying the roof terrace, lying on mats laid out for them. When I was teaching with a girl from Australia, we covered topics such as ‘Underwater world’, ‘Opposites’, ‘Activities’, ‘Family’, ‘My Body’ and ‘Protect the jungle’. We have found that a combination of activities such as word searches or puzzles, and active games worked very well, and targeted all ages in the class (which sometimes varied considerably). We spent a lot of time on preparing handouts, so that children could collect these in their booklet, as we didn’t have an official syllabus to follow. I was also amazed by the sheer and clear talent the children displayed – one group of boys was really clever in organising themselves and thinking strategically, one girl was brilliant in drawing, even things she has never seen before, and some were just great in helping other children, or enjoyed helping teachers in a more responsible role.

In addition to the school children, the teachers also help out in the kindergarten. Children, as young as 1.5 years old, learn in a playful way to say and read their first English words, often through games, arts and crafts and songs. During my time there, we were teaching about the body, day and night, colours and jungle or farm animals. Children loved to sing the ‘Old McDonald had a farm’ song and a jungle song which the local trekking guides sang about orangutans. We have also introduced a daily greeting schedule, which consisted of greetings for different times of day and corresponding activities such as ‘eating’, ‘sleeping’, ‘playing’ etc. . Repetition, especially combined with fun, was a huge success with the little ones and you could often hear them singing or reciting the learned material after class!

The school also runs adult classes in the evening for local jungle guides, as well as local people working in bars and restaurants, who want to communicate better with tourists. I have taken a step further, and started taking English material with me when going out in the evening, often teaching several people working in the restaurant on various levels – from kitchen staff to managers. I covered aspects such as simple tense, greetings, weather and opposites, worked with pop songs and crossword riddles, and introduced as much free conversation as possible. Even in my last two weeks in Bukit Lawang, during which I was on holiday, I was asked for lessons by the restaurant staff.

Overall, my teaching experience was an unforgettable time, filled with wonderful children and local people, the amazing foods from the local market, interaction with local staff and parents, as well as the success of setting up a movie room and a movie night, as the nearest cinema was 2 hours’ drive away. But most importantly, it was a huge learning curve for me – seeing the joy and eagerness for learning in the children’s eyes, appreciating their talents and characters, and being a part of their lives, even if for a very short while.

Written by Dagmar Dworakowski
Photo courtesy of Dagmar Dworakowski
Edited by Alicja Zajdel

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December 19, 2015

Christmas around the world

A few examples of Christmas traditions from around the world!

ITALY
Unlike in any other country, Christmas presents are delivered by Befana, an old witch, who visits all Italian children in the night of 5th January, travelling the country on her broomstick. Being a good housekeeper, some say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. To some the sweeping meant sweeping away of the problems of the year. The child’s family usually leaves a small glass of wine and a plate of regional food for the Befana.
Another interesting tradition is Lancio dei Ciocci, which consists of throwing old crockery out the window at midnight on New Year’s Eve, symbolising the riddance of old negativity and evil. It is also common to leave doors and windows open in order to let good spirits in.

POLAND
Christmas in Poland, just like in many European countries, is celebrated on the 24th of December, known as Wigilia. It is a tradition to prepare twelve dishes, one for each of the apostles that accompanied Jesus during the Last Supper. As meat is banned on Christmas Eve, fish dishes are served instead, the most typical being karp. It is not uncommon to find one swimming in somebody’s bathtub in the days leading up to Christmas!
Before the dinner, families share Christmas wishes and opłatek (similar to a communion wafer), which is served on a small pile of hay, referring to the stables in which Jesus was born.

GERMANY
Germans are famous worldwide for their Christmas markets and advent calendars, but they also have some lesser known traditions. In some part of Germany, children write to the Christkind (‘the Christ child’), a traditional giver of gifts. In Nürnberg a young girl is chosen each year to participate in a parade as the Christkind. She wears a long white and gold dress, has blond hair and wears a gold crown and sometimes also wings, like an angel. She is responsible for the official opening of the Christmas market and visits old people’s homes and hospitals during the Advent.

FRANCE
The 6th of January is celebrated in France as Fête des Rois (Day of the Kings). A flat almond cake is eaten called Gallete des Rois in Northern France and Gâteu des Rois in the South of the country. A small charm is placed inside the cake and the person who finds it has to either buy a beverage for everyone around the table or offer to host the next king cake at theirs. This can extend the festivities through all of January!

SPAIN
Christmas celebrations in Spain start on the 22nd of December, with the launch of Sorteo de Navidad, a Christmas lottery, which takes place every year and is broadcasted on national television. There are long queues at the ticket selling points, even as early as a month before! After all, everybody is hoping to win the main price, El Gordo, literally ‘the fat one’.
On New Year’s Eve, during the countdown to midnight, twelve grapes are eaten, one for each stroke of the clock: that’s one grape per second! They represent the twelve months of the year and are meant to bring happiness in the upcoming year.

On this note, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! No matter how and where you spend it, we hope that it will be a time of rest, spent with family and friends. We would also like to wish you all the best in the New Year, let it be a year filled with love and happiness.
See you in January 2016!

Written by Alicja Zajdel

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December 2, 2015

Travelling Corner: Late Autumn in Wales

Late autumn in Wales is beautiful, it allows us to experience different weather conditions, from strong winds, pouring rain, unexpected morning storms to warm sunny spells. I was planning to travel around the Welsh coast and to have a very slow-paced, relaxing trip. But the reality was quite the opposite; I was rushing from one place to another soaking in the rain, fighting with strong winds and carrying too much of everything. But I could forget about all that within seconds when amazed by the calm steely sea or rough hazel-brown waves, mountains and hills covered in clouds, a whole pallet of colours on mountain slopes and astonishing architecture.

And my travels would not be the same without John Winterson Richards’s brilliantly written “Xenophobe’s Guide to the Welsh”. I have not climbed Snowdon yet, neither can I pronounce “Penrhyndeudraeth” correctly, so I will definitely come back to this magical land of contrasts and passion.

Written by Kinga Macalla

Edited by Alicja Zajdel

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November 24, 2015

Interview with Writer & Illustrator Ella Frances Sanders

As a linguist, I found your book particularly interesting. Was your work linguistically motivated in any way? Do you have an interest in translation?
That’s lovely to hear, thank you! I suppose in retrospect, the book was linguistically motivated without me necessarily realising—but I think Lost in Translation is often picked up by people with no experience in translation, or people who only speak one language, and it was important to me that the book crossed the boundaries and elusiveness that, for a lot of people, sometimes accompany faraway cultures or languages. It was important that people felt able to connect with ideas that came from a place other than the one they grew up in. My own interest in language and translation really grew alongside the book, because everything happened very back-to-front. I wasn’t planning on writing a book, but after a small blog post I wrote on the topic of untranslatable words went viral, it quickly became the plan—when the universe gives you an opportunity that seems far too good to be true, you take it.

Why did you choose those particular words and languages?

The 52 words in the book were ruthlessly culled from a list of over 200 possibles that I compiled during my frantic research phase (I researched, wrote, and illustrated all the content for the book in less than 3 months). The final words were chosen for various reasons, but most of the time they simply seemed to be universal feelings or emotions, and many had great illustration potential. At one point I wanted to have 52 different languages in the book but ach, German has far too many great ones.

Do you have a favourite untranslatable word?

I think this depends, and changes. A favourite of mine from the book is the Japanese ‘boketto’, which is to stare vacantly into the distance and not really think of much—I find myself in this position far too frequently. A favourite that isn’t in the book is ‘ayün’, a word from the Mapuche language which literally means ‘dawn’ or ‘rising sun’. It equates to ‘love’ but carries all these nuances about illumination and beauty, and also invokes conscious speaking or action—it’s as complicated as it is beautiful.

You call yourself a writer out of necessity and an illustrator by accident. Would you like to expand on that?

A long story cut short, my apparent career as an illustrator was not entirely planned, while on the other hand, I have always written things down on paper—stories, life, people. My need to write often feels much more severe than my need to draw, although over time I’ve found that they complement each other wonderfully… more than I had ever hoped. I feel incredibly lucky to be in this position, where I can practice and develop both my great loves together.

What do you like most about your work? What’s the typical day like for you?

Most of all, I love the flexibility my work gives me in terms of time and location; during the last two years I have lived in Morocco and Switzerland, and have now settled for now in the UK, which is where I grew up. But inks do not travel well on airplanes, and I’ve found this out the hard way, so there are definitely some limitations when it comes to throwing yourself around the globe and keeping your work intact along the way. Sometimes coming and going from the same place is good—I try to note the beauty which lives in the monotony of everyday tasks. As for a typical day, I don’t think there is one. I certainly don’t keep a 9-5 schedule, because some days I want to work late, and other days I want to be up and working before the city has risen. But all days involve some illustration, some writing, some walking, and a lot of tea.

Can you tell us anything about your second book that you’re currently working on?

Well. I can tell you that it will be a companion of sorts to Lost in Translation, and that they will look splendid together on a bookshelf. It’s different, but in a similar vein linguistically speaking. If things go to plan, the book will go to print at the end of March next year, and then will be out in mid-September. I think I’ll allow myself to start getting excited soon.

Thank you.

To follow Ella’s lovely work visit her website.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Lost in Translation, you can do so here.

Interviewed by Alicja Zajdel

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November 4, 2015

Event report: Language Show Live, London

Language Show Live is an annual language conference, considered one of the biggest and most important events in the linguistic circles, bringing together language learners, teachers and professionals. As I am currently in my final year of undergraduate studies and the pursuit of employment is fast approaching, I decided to visit this year’s show, which took place between the 16th and 18th of October. I was only able to attend on the Saturday, so I prepared myself for a busy day, with a long list of seminars to go to and stalls to visit (I even managed to squeeze in a 30 minute Welsh taster class!).

At first I was a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the event, there was so much going on I didn’t know where to start! However, I quickly found my way round and the areas I was interested in. The event was divided into different sections, such as Careers Zone, TEFL Fair, Technology Zone and Primary Languages Base among others. Each section had numerous stalls with representatives of the corresponding institutions, ranging from British Council and the European Commission, to TEFL courses abroad and language resources retailers. It felt like everyone and everything language related were all under the same roof.

I attended multiple seminars, which were divided into three categories based on the topic: Teaching, Translating/Interpreting and TEFL. It was very interesting to find out more about some possible careers such as Public Service Interpreting or translating for the European Union. Hearing from professionals and their personal experiences of the job was a lot more insightful and informative than a simple career profile online. It was also a great opportunity to ask more specific questions. Whatever doubt you had, there sure was someone to answer it!

I would definitely recommend the event and I’m hoping to visit again next year. I believe it’s particularly beneficial for final year language students who are exploring different career options, but also for language professionals, for whom the event is a great networking opportunity.

Next year the Language Show Live will take place from 14th to 16th October 2016.

Written by Alicja Zajdel

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