Asking for a Coke in Arabic

When I was pulling out a CD from my Michel Thomas Mandarin program, I noticed a reference to mhprofessional.com on the back cover. That's MH as in McGraw-Hill, the publishers. You can try out snippets of the other Michel Thomas programs at the website. Just search for "Michel Thomas" and you'll find the links on the product pages. I tried out the Arabic, linked here.

The Michel Thomas programs usually go a bit slow, so this isn't going to be the biggest jump start ever to your language learning, but if you want to get a sense for the feel of the program and whether these are people you could spend eight hours listening to it's worth a look, especially since the new programs are with people other than Michel Thomas and some are better than others.

And if I got it right, you can get your Coke with "Mumkin kola min fadlik."

What to do with your old language tapes?

In my previous post, I mentioned going to European Book Company, but not what I found there. I'd been looking for a multilingual bookstore and was sure there would be one in San Francisco. I just didn't know where. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to googling it, but when I did, there it was.

I'd gone to the bookstore mainly out of curiosity for what I'd find. The website indicated a lot of Assimil programs and I was especially curious about that. One thing I'd intended to get was Using Spanish, the Assimil advanced Spanish course, both for my long-term aim of speaking better Spanish and for the short-term aim of spurring myself to work more diligently at L'Espagnol sans peine. This I found right away.

Going through the foreign language section, I was quite surprised to find passen gentañ ar brezhoneg didorr - the cassettes for Initiation au breton sans peine! Needless to say, I grabbed them up. But what to do with cassettes these days? I got home and found my old cassette player didn't even work. And given that the tapes are old, I didn't want to be going about listening to them over and over anyway.

What to do with your old language tapes

Many of you will know this already. But for those who don't fuss with the computer so much, there's lots of great software out there for recording mic input (or line input if you're using a desktop with a decent sound card - I've got a laptop). What you need are:

1) 3.5mm Stereo Male To Male Cable

2) a full-size cassette player with headphone output (I have the Memorex MB1055 Full Size Cassette Recorder, which works for the purpose)

3) some sort of audio software (I use Audacity - free open-source - for editing and ARWizard - $25, has voice-activation, file-size controls, etc - for the recording, but you could just use Audacity for everything)

Follow these steps:

1) Set the computer volume controls for wave, all and mic around 80%. Mute all the other controls. Make sure any mic boost options are off.

2) Connect the 3.5mm cable from the cassette headphone jack to the computer mic jack.

3) Set the cassette volume at zero, hit play and turn it up until you're getting decent sound through your computer headphones.

4) Rewind cassette, start computer recording with your audio software and start cassette playback.

5) When the cassette is done, stop recording on the computer.

6) Use Audacity or other software to chop up the file into smaller MP3 tracks, usually one per lesson.

Using the steps above (with a shortcut here or there), I was able to get the first two weeks of recordings into the computer and split up into mp3 tracks, one per lesson, in about 45 minutes. Half an hour of that was waiting for the cassette to finish playing.

Note that for some, the instructions will provoke a "duh!" In which case, you already knew how to do this. Sorry, no great new secrets here. If the instructions are confusing to you, check the documentation for you audio software and sound card and play around with them. You'll figure it out.

Disclaimer: Use this information at your own discretion. multilingua.info and Confessions of a Language Addict are for general interest and provide no warranty or technical support for any computer information on these sites.

Talk Now and grammar

A hundred years ago, I had put to me a question that boils down to the following: "What's the last sound in the following French words - arbres, beaux, prends?" The answer, of course, is [z]. The trick is asking yourself whether that [z] is a sound you add where liaison is called for or a sound you drop when it is not. The problem is that you can take other French words like "est" and you wind up a different sound for the liaison. So the terminal consonant, though rarely pronounced, is indeed there at some level. Otherwise, it wouldn't be available when you needed to make a liaison.

So, how do you say "arbres"? It's arbrez and you drop the "z" if the next word starts with a consonant.

That was a bit pedantic, I know, but it relates to an issue I'm having with Talk Now Breton. Talk Now is a program that teaches a bunch of basic vocabulary through a computer game format not unlike a television game show. Yesterday, I zipped through the "First Words" section, in which we learned among other things that a boat is "bag." We also learned that a bank is "ti-bank" and a credit or debit card is "kartenn-vank." We didn't, however, learn that "vank" is a mutated form of "bank" and we didn't learn that "the boat" is "ar vag." Nor did we learn that in the phrase, "Pelec'h emañ ar malizennoù?" that "malizennoù" is the plural of "malizenn," whose mutated form is "valizenn" (like the French valise). This means that knowing "Pelec'h emañ an ti-bank?" (Where's the bank?) and "Pelec'h emañ ar malizennoù?" (Where are the suitcases?) and "Bag" (Boat) doesn't mean you know enough to ask "Where's the boat?" (Pelec'h emañ ar vag?).

I don't want to fault or single out Talk Now here. It gave me a good refresher for some vocabulary and a few new words as well. But it also reminded me on an important truism: In language, words do not exist in isolation. For French, you learn nouns with the article, that way you've got the gender built in. With Breton, it's trickier - you need to know, eg, "Bag/Ar vag" so that you'll know that "boat" is feminine because it changes after the article. Without both, you wouldn't be sure when and where it mutates.

Whatever language you are learning, it's a good idea to look for the quirks of the language that affect how words are used in combination with other words. That runs the gamut from verb morphology to knowing which prepositions come after which verbs to which measure words go with which nouns, depending on your language. If you're buying a program, be aware that however many words it teaches you, if it teaches them in isolation you've got some work of your own. And if you're making your own flashcards, lighten your load by finding out about some of this stuff first. It's a shame to master 800 words but not be able to use half of them correctly in a sentence.

In the Michel Thomas programs (I'm sure I've quoted this before), Thomas says that what you understand you'll remember. To make your grammar learning easier, eschew learning grammar per se. Instead, find functional sentences where you understand the relationship among the different components. In that way, you'll not just know vocabulary - you'll understand how to use the words of your language to express the things you want to say.

Learning, Understanding and Assimilating

The other day, the Omniglot mentioned MyLanguageNotebook, a free program for keeping language notes in your computer and online. I gave it a try while reading one of my Breton Spot stories. A few observations:

• The program is fairly easy to use. The interface is pretty clear. And since it's a notebook system, not a flashcard system, it's a little better for noting what you're trying to learn than flash card programs, for example.
• For me, the drawback with MyLanguageNotebook is with me, not the program. It works as advertised. But it doesn't work the way I work.
• Neither, unfortunately, do flashcard programs.
• Michel Thomas says that what you understand, you know and will not forget. Conversely, what you don't understand, you probably will forget.
• Whenever I set up a flash card program, take notes, etc, what I find is that the information I note divides into two categories: things I already know-and don't need to learn-and things I don't understand whose memorization doesn't help me. Unfortunately, MyLanguageNotebook doesn't remedy this. It just divides into things that I know and don't need to note, and things that confuse me so that I'm not sure what I should note down.

We sometimes hear about the "eureka" moment when what was unknown becomes apparent. When you research these moments, you find out that a lot of prior thought and observation went into preparing the mind for that magic moment when everything fell into place.

What I find, when I'm studying language - or anything else - is that I learn far more from making notes than studying them. The chief benefit, for me, is thinking things through till I've decided what's worth making a note about and what isn't. When I'm done, I can pretty much throw away the notes - they've served their purpose.

Making notes for Spot, I made some nice leaps in recognizing tenses and internalizing the "emphatic" form (he does run vs. he runs). But when I reviewed the notes later, I didn't get nearly as much out of them.

Two points that I'll offer from the mishmash above:
1) If you're looking for a program to store language information that's more free-form than the typical flash card program, try MyLanguageNotebook.

2) Be wary of the idea that you can learn something you don't understand by rote learning; whether you're diligently deciphering with a grammar translation book or absorbing with Assimil, put the emphasis on finding a meaning or logic to what you're learning and the memorizing will follow almost automatically; do it the other way and you'll be like the guy who dreamed in French and wanted to take a course to find out what he was dreaming about.

Update: As I said above, I get more out of taking notes than reviewing them. But re-reading "Spot's Windy Day" with the notes alongside did speed up the process. If you do the re-read, revise thing a lot, this could be a good tool. Incidentally, I heard from Jim of MyLanguageNotebook below. If you've been using this program, he'd appreciate you uploading your notes. I put up my notes on Spot, so if anyone wants to know how to say "it was windy" or "the leaves swirled about" in Breton, today's your lucky day :)

Spaced Repetition Systems

What others are doing with SRS:

Right now, Edwin is making the move to Anki for part of his studies - based on the content he's working on at LingQ. However, he liked the simplicity of JMemorize. Josh at the Language Geek, meanwhile, is back to putting word lists into Anki, with a few tweaks that he hopes will help. Visit his page and you'll find lots about Anki, SRS and ideas for making it work. [Update: And here's a long review of Anki from the Cunning Linguist that I'd missed.]

The other day, though, David at HackYourLife.org had his own thoughts on what's right and wrong with SRSs. Basically, says he, the right algorithm for an SRS probably needs to be a lot more complex than a computer implementation of the Leitner cycle, because the number of cards you're working on and the periodic neglect of your flash cards both present variables that can throw your productivity, enjoyment and continued use of the system out of whack. As he notes, "life happens," and when it does the computer doesn't do the best job of recognizing what you really need to work on. This is especially the case, I'd say, from the enthusiasm angle, never mind the pedagogy angle.

When I was using Anki everyday, I thought it was great. When I missed a few days because life had gotten busy, it just wasn't the same when I got back. At first, I didn't go through all the cards for the session. Then I stopped using it altogether - not a conscious decision; it's just that the spacing between repetitions, as it were, got broader and broader till a couple weeks had passed.

SRS without a computer or flashcards? A makeshift approach:

Lately, I've been working on my own sort of spaced repetition program. It's actually a lot less sophisticated, though. My system is based on the Assimil text I've been using for Breton. Here's what I do:

• When I get up in the morning, I skim the previous day's lesson and read through the lesson for that day.
• At lunch, I do the lesson properly, reading the text and all the notes and doing the exercises.
• Then, at night, I reread the text for the lesson and skim the text for the next day's lesson.

All in all, I'm reading each lesson five times: two preliminary skims, a proper reading, and two confirmatory skims. Because four of the five readings are skims, the content sort of lulls its way into my mind without getting too tedious. The preliminary skims prime me for what's coming up, so for the careful reading I already have a pretty good understanding of what's going on and can concentrate on the elements that are most troublesome. The confirmatory skims assure that I'll remember most of what I've learned, but again without getting hung up on my studying.

Finally, at the end of the week, before I do the review chapter, I skim through the lessons a sixth and last time. In the past, I've really liked Assimil programs, except that I'd find myself going a certain distance, running short on time to truly work through a lesson or two, and then getting off track and having to repeat a week or two.

With this system, I'm spending 5-10 minutes in the morning, 5-10 minutes in the evening and 10-15 minutes at lunch. I'm actually spending more time than I used to with Assimil courses, but because of the way it's broken up, it's less trouble to squeeze it in. Most importantly, the Sunday re-read and review allows me time to review wherever problems crop up on a day when I have more free time. As a result, I can keep moving forward during the week in the knowledge that there's a system in place to catch things I've missed on a regular basis, not when all of a sudden problems start cropping up and I don't remember when I learned a particular point of grammar or series of vocabulary to recuperate it anymore.

All SRS all the time?

Whether spaced, or not, repetition can, of course, get repetitive. Even tedious. In the past, I've talked about the importance of using multiple materials and approaches to keep from getting worn out. And I hold to that. Outside of my Assimil schedule, if I have some free time I listen to music - for fun (see "From Studying to Living a Language"), take or gather material for "Language Walks", work through Breton verse and make sure I've understood trickier points of the language with the more grammar oriented Colloquial Breton. But using my new study routine, I'm finding the same thing that Anki offers at its best - a way of mastering old material and pushing forward into new material without getting bored by the old or (overly) confused by the new.

Do note: What I talk about in this post seems best suited to Assimil. But I think it could work with many Colloquial and Teach Yourself programs. However, with those texts that have 3 or 4 conversations in a chapter, I'd do a conversation a day, not a chapter a day. As always, language learning is all about what works for you. But if you're convinced that you've got a good and thorough textbook, only you're not managing to take advantage of all you think it has to offer, you might want to give this approach a try.

Michel Thomas Mandarin

Lately, my focus has been on Breton. And I've felt good about how much I'm actually putting into it. But I've felt bad about letting my Mandarin slip. So when I saw that Michel Thomas Mandarin was finally out, I decided to have a look.

The store where I was shopping only had the two disc set and, not knowing how the program would actually be, that was just fine. So far, I've just about finished the first disc.

I've been wary of the Michel Thomas programs made after his death. And the Michel Thomas Italian Vocabulary program, though using something much like the Michel Thomas method, lacked the Michel Thomas style. This could have been a good thing - Thomas was not the most patient man by the time he got around to making the programs. But the Italian program seemed to wander, had the occasional mistake and, worst of all, was relentlessly encouraging in spots. If, as Thomas always said, the responsibility for learning is with the teacher, you don't need to compliment every right answer with "exactly" or "correct" or whatever - you can just move on. Especially since they used native speakers as the "students" to make sure pronunciation was modeled correctly.

The Michel Thomas Mandarin set is taught by Harold Goodman. Goodman isn't Michel Thomas, either, but there's something in his manner that fits this program more into the original mold. His manner is dry, the student responses are followed with the next item,not phatic chatter. And his story about the little old lady who decided Chinese verbs should have only one form, told using a "Chinese person speaking English" accent, leaves you with the impression that Goodman can be every bit as insensitive as Thomas. As with Thomas, I'm not sure I'd like to be in the cabin next to Goodman for a long ocean cruise, but for purposes of getting the nitty gritty of a language and moving on, this is what we're looking for - memorable and to the point.

Goodman is not a native speaker of Mandarin, so the course is co-narrated by Jingtao Deng, who seems nice enough, but also keeps things moving. In addition, the set comes with a card explaining the tones and tricks for remembering them. And the first seven tracks of the first CD are dedicated to understanding what you're getting into with Mandarin and getting a handle on the tones. As a result, the course starts a lot more slowly than the typical Michel Thomas course. But that's okay, because with a language as different from English as Mandarin, getting a firm foundation is important.

In the time I've been studying Mandarin - is it two years already? - I've used Pimsleur, group lessons and a private teacher. In that time, I've picked up a lot. And forgotten a lot. But the tones have always been a horrible problem for me. I won't say that Michel Thomas Mandarin has me speaking fluently and fluidly with perfect tones, but it's given a much better understanding of how to make them and how to keep them straight. I'm at least getting them right in the exercises, if not in real life, and that's a start.

Michel Thomas Mandarin makes use of the building block approach to start putting words and sentences together. While this is mostly review for me, I think it's pretty well sequenced. As with the other courses, if you want to learn conversational phrases and start chatting right away, you're better off with Pimsleur. But for getting a sense how Chinese goes together and how you can start putting it together, the course doesn't look half bad.

If you're brand new to Mandarin and want to learn on your own, I would recomend the Pimsleur Basic set to get started talking and Michel Thomas Mandarin to get a better idea what you're doing and lay the foundations for real communication in Mandarin. If you already know some phrases from travel or talking with friends, but don't have a good sense of the language, Michel Thomas Mandarin is definitely worth trying.

Christmas Shopping and Language Learning

For the Language Geek^TM(x2?) in your family, the Cunning Linguist has some gift recommendations, along with links for some discount offers. Check it out for yourself or your loved ones.

While the Cunning Linguist has some top-notch offers, there are cheaper alternatives. LeTutor has a nice bit on his favorite language tools - pen and paper!

Hello Anki

The other day, some Language Geek mentioned switching to a new flashcard program, Anki. It's a pretty nice program, with two great things going for it. And these two things go to the heart of some big problems language learners get into:

1. Stop relearning what you already know! Too often, when getting started with a language, there is the temptation to keep studying something that you've already learned because you're not 100% confident about it but it feels good to fuss with something you're 90% positive about. The other day, I got a flashcard set (Accent on Iraq) and started flipping through it. Boy do I know the first four cards (30 or 40 words and phrases)! And I keep meaning to get out another card, but I'm not sure I'm ready to file away the first and I'm not sure how many cards I want to carry around.

A lot of language learners keep reviewing chapter 1, lesson 1 or track 1 until they know it perfectly, and by the time they get to chapter 4, lesson 4 or track 4, they wonder if they're ever going to really get anywhere with the language. With a good spaced-interval flashcard program (one that brings up your weak areas often and your strong spots only every few days) you can't fool yourself about how you're doing, either by going too fast without learning or going too slowly without truly pushing forward. Anki and similar programs keep you on task.

2. You do have to study, and that means finding the time. The second great thing about Anki is that you can sync with an online account so that you can practice anywhere you can get an internet connection. Physical flashcards are nice, but you have to carry them and organize them. And you have to physically pull them out of your pocket and put them back in. It doesn't sound like much, of course, but an awful lot of people who try it get bogged down.

Anki, sitting there one the internet, can be pulled up while you're waiting for a call back, minimized when the call actually comes, and given back the focus the next time you've got a minute or two. It really does provide a way to use pointless surfing time on actual language learning.

The Language Geek already wrote a pretty good plug for the program, so I'll leave off here except to remind that whatever your language program/learning plans, you can only make progress by working on the things that still give you trouble while moving forward from those that you have mastered, and that can only happen if you make time to do the learning in the first place. So however you're studying and whatever you're studying, make sure 1) that you're really moving forward and learning and 2) that you find an approach that fits into your real schedule.

Update: Having used Anki a few more days, I'm even more pleased with the ability to sync from computer to web to computer. If you've had bad luck with online or computer flashcard systems before, this really is worth a look.

Assimil, Ling-Q and "natural" language learning

The other day, Steve provided a short summary of the Natural Approach by way of explaining why he set up LingQ the way he did. The most important point, I think, is that language acquisition and language learning are not always the same thing. Often, in fact, there's a world of difference between them.

Learning a new language can be frustrating. The most discouraging experience is turning from one's textbook to an example of the actual language. At such times, we may try to retreat into familiar material and to the use of familiar constructions. This can feel reassuring, but it doesn't cause us to stretch and grow and become proficient in the language. This sort of "language learning" actually fits a rather sharp but apt phrase I once heard - "the perfect approach to pretending to learn a language."

When you start learning a language, a certain amount of your efforts will be with pretend language, almost inevitably. This was also the case with your own language - almost every culture has a form of baby-talk that downplays distinctions between problematic phonemes and simplifies tricky structures. However, if you want to be a grown-up sooner rather than later, you've got to deal with grown-up language fairly early on.

Assimil is probably the best program widely available once you're ready to leave behind pretend language. I don't recommend their beginner courses for absolute beginners in a language unrelated to any other they've studied. But they're great for starting to confront the language once you've got a little bit of background. The problem, of course, is that the 2nd or 3rd time you've read a lesson, you're no longer stretching.

I won't say that LingQ is the end-all, be-all solution, because nothing is. But with the variety of texts for study that it should ultimately admit, it looks like it will be a great place to cross the bridge from pretending to learn a language to actual language acquisition. That, at least, has been my experience with the Spanish texts available there now. If you're looking for a handy book to practice with, the overpriced Assimil is still often worth it. If you're looking for something to skim on your computer screen, meanwhile, have a look at LingQ.