Tag Archive: Learning Languages

September 4, 2019

Getting back to learning languages

Where do you start with language learning when you’ve had a break? Yes, returning to language study is exciting, but can be confusing as we don’t know how much we remember, if we have the right resources or enough motivation. I’ve prepared some ideas to inspire you to get back to language learning at basic level and more advanced levels. I’ll refer to all four skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Basic level

I think I would start really simple. Going through the alphabet, numbers, colours, simple verbs, and greetings. I would try to find simple videos (even for kids) where you can listen to the basics. I would read loudly some simple stories or phrases. To refresh vocabulary, I would prepare or buy  flash cards or a memory game. Then, try to imagine a conversation and use those phrases/words again. A good idea to practise writing is to write down the already memorised words/phrases, e.g. to practise writing months, days of the week, seasons. What sources should I use? I would useonline or self-made materials, unless you have some printed textbooks which you enjoy using. I wanted to refresh my French and use my secondary school textbook, but it didn’t work as it was too childish. I still enjoyed reading some texts from it, though. I have a friend who is raising her child bilingually (French and English) and when she speaks French I listen carefully and occasionally repeat what she says. I bought a book of French phrases which I read out loud, re-write and memorise (the book review is available here).

More advanced level

If your understanding is fairly good, then you have many options for how to refresh your language skills. My main advice would be to follow your interests. Let’s start with reading. I would choose a novel (maybe a translated novel, as usually it’s an easier read or maybe one you’ve already read in your first language), a scientific publication in the area of your expertise, or a magazine. I would try to read as much as possible without a dictionary (unless to check 1-2 words). Now listening. I would try to find a YouTube channel that provides some interesting videos or interviews, or you can follow your favourite sitcom/series if they have dubbing in the language you are learning. When listening, take notes of the phrases/words you found useful or didn’t understand. Once you’ve checked them in the dictionary, re-listen to the video to have a better understanding of them. Writing: Join a FB group or follow someone on FB/Twitter/Instagram and try to read their feeds and publish comments. If that sounds like too difficult a task, maybe consider writing an email or a text message to a person who speaks the language you are trying to learn. Now speaking. Join a conversation club or create one. Ideally you would have at least one native speaker to correct your speaking and provide some valuable feedback. If that doesn’t sound too appealing, then consider repeating loudly somebody’s speech in the language you’re learning (sentence after sentence).

How do you get back to learning a language? How do you maintain your language skills? Please share your comments below.

Kinga Macalla

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October 5, 2016

On Languages: Spanish

Spanish is spoken as a first language by more than 427 million people throughout the world and around 21 million people are learning it.  It is the second most common native language in the world.   It is the third most studied language in Europe, with 19% of school pupils learning it as a second or additional language.  Its speakers can be found in South and Central America, Europe and Africa.  Given this diversity of locations, there are also many varieties of Spanish spoken.  In the UK you will most likely learn Castellano, Castillian Spanish, as in the Spanish of Spain, but there are other varieties of the languages and ways of pronouncing it.  You are also free to choose which variety you learn, perhaps if you have a special connection to one or other variety.  Teaching and learning materials may be slightly more difficult to find for them but the internet will be of great help here.

Vocabulary
Spanish is a romance language and so shares much cognate vocabulary with languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian.  Unlike some of these languages, though, following several centuries of Arab rule in the Spanish peninsula, 8% of Spanish vocabulary is derived from Arabic.  This can be seen, for example, in words beginning with ‘al’, such as ‘alfombra’ (‘rug’) and ‘almohada’, (‘pillow’), and also one of the words most associated with Spain, ‘aceituna’, ‘olive’.  Many place names in Spain and ones that have been transposed to Latin America reflect Arab roots, such as Guadalahara (river/valley of stones).

Pronunciation
Spanish is a phonetic language, so once you have learned the sound each letter makes, you will have no problem reading words aloud or spelling words you hear.  Spanish has some letters that do not feature in the English alphabet, but most of the sounds do exist in some form, such as ‘ll’, which is a ‘y’ sound (‘sh’ in some parts of Latin America) and ‘n’, a ‘nyuh’ sound, found between some words, such as ‘phone you’ in English.  One sound that is more difficult is ‘j’ (‘Jesús’, ‘jornada’) or ‘g’ before ‘e’ and ‘i’, (‘gestión’, ‘gimnasio’) which is pronounced a bit like ‘ch’ in the Scots word ‘loch’.  Depending on which variety you choose to learn, the pronunciation can be slightly different.  In some parts of Spain, ‘c’ and ‘z’ make a ‘th’ sound, but in other parts of Spain and Latin America, they are pronounced ‘s’.
The stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, and when the stress is somewhere else, the word is usually spelled with a helpful accent over the syllable to be stressed (guanábano, habitación, inglés).

Grammar
Again, Spanish grammar depends on which variety you choose to learn.  The main differences between the varieties is that some use the ‘tú’ and ‘vosotros’ forms to mean ‘you’ (singular and plural respectively), and others use ‘vos’ and ‘ustedes’ for the same groups, and the associated verb forms change slightly.  For example, ‘you have’ can be ‘(tú) tienes’ or ‘(vos) tenés’.  There is also more use of the present perfect in Castillian Spanish, whereas other forms tend to use the preterite (similar to UK and US English…).

Why Learn Spanish?
As Spanish is such a widely spoken language and the countries where it is spoken have influence in the world, speaking Spanish can give you a competitive advantage in business, give you access to popular culture such as film and music, enhance your travel experience across the world (you will be able to speak to the locals!), give you a head start in learning other romance languages, help you understand our not-so-far-away neighbours, and let you have fun!

Written by Suzannah Young

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