Waking Up With a New Language

Imagine waking up one day with the ability to speak fluently in a new language. With language learning programs, classes and tools touting their success rates and often times promising the seemingly impossible ("Learn in only 10 Days" (Pimsleur), "Learn a New Language in 4 Days" (Fluency Fast), "Learn 200 Words a Day" (200wordsaday.com)), any language learner has probably dreamed once or twice about waking up fluent without doing much work. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding one Croation girl's sudden ability with a new language were not ideal, to say the least. The 13-year-old girl suffered brain trauma and had been in a coma for 24 hours before waking up with the ability to speak in German, a language she was learning. However, she could no longer utter a word in her native tongue. Rumors suggested that she was "fluent" in German, although prior to the accident had only moderate skills in the language. A miracle? Nope, just an exaggeration. In this Discovery News article, the possibilities surrounding language and brain trauma are explained, and the results are in: the only way to learn a language is to actually learn it. So next time you are tempted to get out the Cliff's Notes and cram 500 words a day into your brain, remember - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

Find the article here:

Coma Victim's Language Ability Explained

Reading Lips...A Method for Learning the Sounds of a New Language?

Professors Yukari Hirata and Spencer Kelly of Colgate University have uncovered what could be the key to better learning when it comes to discriminating sounds of a new and unfamiliar language. One major challenge that occurs when individuals attempt to learn a new language after the "sensitive period," when language is most easily attained, is that the brain is not as open to hearing and understanding new sounds. This requires teachers to use additional methods to really help their language learners discriminate between the strange sounds and tones of a new language. This study, conducted by Hirata and Kelly, found that the lips and mouth may play a crucial role when it comes to picking up these new sounds. Whereas teachers often use their hands, big expressions and interactions to illustrate the meaning of new language, this could prove to be distracting for new language learners, at least in the beginning. "When it comes to learning speech sounds in a new language, it may be best to first focus attention just on the lips and mouth before taking in the entirety of a visually complex social interaction," says Hirata.

You can read more about this research here:

*Colgate Professors' Research Sheds Light on Foreign-Language Learning

A Whole New Hand-Held Way to Teach

In an age where children spend nearly 55 hour a week watching television, texting or playing video games, it seems only natural they'd want to continue to interact with media in the classroom. But how do teachers feel about this? Are cell phones a cause of disruption in class, or a useful mechanism through which to provide additional educational content? Nintendo is making a move, arguing that their hand-held console, the Nintendo DS, can be easily and effectively used as an educational resource in the classroom. In fact, Nintendo's General Manager says that getting the Nintendo DS into schools in Japan "is maybe the area where I am devoting myself [the] most." So what does the future hold? Could this be a chance to explore a whole new side of self-directed learning? Or will teachers flip at the thought of a hand-held platform in the clutch of every 4th grader in the world?

Read the article here: Nintendo to Integrate the DS into Classroom Education

We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Big Change for Language Education in CA Schools

On behalf of the CTLA Executive Director Lorraine D'Ambruoso:


ATTENTION WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHERS:

Assemblymember Warren Furutani has returned with his bill - AB 2446. This bill, if passed, will enable students to substitute Career / Technical Education courses for world languages and the arts to meet their high school graduation requirement in this area. We need to become as unified as possible in opposing this bill. Please contact your Assemblymembers ASAP and request that they oppose this bill. Time is critical here.

A special appeal to our colleagues from district 55, representing Long Beach, Carson, Lakewood and Wilmington, etc: PLEASE be sure to contact Mr. Furutani and inform him that you oppose this bill since it takes away a key 21st. Century Skill to enable California's students to compete in the global economy. Legislators respond much more favorably to messages that come directly from their constituents, so it is critical that you contact him. His e-mail address is Assemblymember.Furutani@assembly.ca.gov. DISTRICT OFFICE:4201 LONG BEACH BLVD., SUITE 327, LONG BEACH, CA 90807 TEL: (562) 989-2919 (562) 989-2919

If you do not know who your assembly members are, simply go to http://www.legislature.ca.gov and type in your zip code. And voilà! you will have your contact information. If you have sent a letter to CTA, just modify it for Furutani, or your own Assembly member. If you have time, please cc all the members of the Assembly Education Committee.

Please do this ASAP. And if you need ammunition to support your request, just go to the CFLP web site and download Duarte Silva's new policy brief on the academic and economic benefits of world language and culture education. It is a very powerful and compelling case for world language instruction, and it will have more than you could possibly use.

But if you need more, visit the CLTA web site and read the article Advocacy Chair Nicole Naditz wrote "Skills for the 21st Century" which is also a valuable resource. No, I have not provided a template. We cannot make it seem as if we are all sending the same letter, which tends to happen with sample letters!

Thank you,

CLTA Advocacy Committee

Lorraine D'Ambruoso

Executive Director, CLTA

1636 Fruitwood Ct

San Jose, CA 95125

(408) 264-6996 (Office)

(408) 448-5356 (Home)

Seeing Language Through Google-Colored Goggles

As The Irish Times puts it, "word is getting out about translation," especially when Google is involved. Google has announced its latest application, Google Goggles, a visual search engine that works with Google Translate to "read" an image with foreign language text and translate it instantly. This is reminiscent of some of the new ATM machines where you can now deposit a check without entering any dollar amount and moments later see an image on-screen of the check next to the blinking message "Would you like to deposit X dollars?" It's a little bit like magic, a little bit like mind reading; in fact, it's almost more believable that a person is sitting inside the ATM, quickly typing in the dollar amounts of checks as they are deposited.

Likewise, The Irish Times points out in their article that Google's language translation technology is still a little too good to be true, and translators worldwide should not be contemplating a career change just yet. While the technology is exciting, and automated translation tools can be a quick way to find out how the word "cat" is spelled in 10 different languages, difficulties occur as soon as you attempt to auto-translate language in context. Don't believe it? Try using Google Translate to give you the correct translation for the Spanish imperative "eat," conjugated as if spoken by a parent to a child. It will provide you with the translation "coma" which is actually the "el, ella, ud" form of the imperative, as opposed to the correct "tu" form of "comer," which is "come." Sure enough, if you adjust your entry to "You eat!" you end up with something closer, "¡Usted come!" But still, it's far from perfect. There's no need to "trick" a human translator, as he or she would be able to see the context that was implied, and translate accordingly. For that reason, at Language Island we still prefer the human to the machine when it comes to language translation.

The verdict: Google Goggles may be a great accessory for busy travelers, but an unfashionable choice when it comes to teaching language effectively to children.

You can read articles on Google Goggles by clicking on the following links:

*Word Getting Out About Translation

*A Hands-On Tour: Google Goggles Visual Search

*Google Goggles to Translate Text in Photos

Language Island at the ACTFL Conference

Last November, three members of the Language Island Team attended the ACTFL conference in San Diego, CA and had a wonderful time meeting and greeting educators, administrators and other presenters who were also dedicated to language teaching and learning. While development on the Language Island site has taken some twists and turns, we are excited to continue hearing from educators all over the world in order to gather valuable feedback. As always, our goal remains to provide Language Island to as many students, classrooms and homes as possible in order to spread the love of and need for language learning to children everywhere. Check out some pictures from the conference...better late than never!

Language News

Here are some headlines and stories we think you should check out:

LANGUAGE AROUND THE WORLD

*San Basilio de Palenque Journal: A Language, Not Quite Spanish, With African Echoes

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

*Miguel Delibes, award-winning Spanish novelist, dies at 89

LANGUAGE LEARNING & CHILDREN

*On Language - Vocabulary Size

*Bilingual Education: Learning in Mandarin

LANGUAGE & TECHNOLOGY

*Android Translator Converts Spoken Foreign Language Into Yours

*Franz Josef Och, Google's translation uber-scientist, talks about Google Translate

LANGUAGE EVENTS

March 19-20: The Classical Association of New England Annual Meeting, Moses Brown School, Providence, RI

March 24-26: CIBER Business Language Conference, University of Pennsylvania

Language News

Here are some headlines and stories we think you should check out:

LANGUAGE AROUND THE WORLD

*U.S. Kosovo Forces Aviators Take Students High in Language Learning

*Desire to Learn Russian Heating Up Again

LANGUAGE DEBATE

*The Second Language Brain Debate

LANGUAGE LEARNING & CHILDREN

*Double Talk: Learning English Helps Hispanic Students Feel at Home

*Raising Multilingual Children

*Dual Language Learners: What's Happening at Head Start?

LANGUAGE & TECHNOLOGY

*Teachers Use Technology to Break Down Language Barriers

LANGUAGE EVENTS

*March 10-13: Joint Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Association for Language Learning Technology and the Southeast Association for Language Learning Technology

*March 11-14: California Language Teachers Association Conference

Language Stories

Everyone has had their own personal experiences with language, whether it be watching a child learn his or her first words, visiting a foreign country, or taking a new language class. The members of the Language Island team encourage you to share your own stories with us, as we'd like to do with you. Email Lindsay@languageisland.com with your experiences, thoughts, moments or anything else you'd like to share and we'll post it in one of our "Language Stories" blogs. In the meantime, here are a few anecdotes from our team...

When I was in elementary school, my family moved around quite a bit. By the time I was seven years old, I had already lived in seven different towns, and attended four different schools. I was constantly the new kid, the one that people stared at, whispered about and in the worst cases, ignored. That didn't change when I started second grade in a new school in Providence, R.I.

I can still remember that first day, waiting by the corner for the bus, knees quivering, lip trembling and tears threatening to spill out of my eyes the moment my mother let my hand go. The big yellow school bus pulled up our street and slowed to a stop - just as I was readying to make a break for it--I couldn't do it again, not another school. The bus door clanked open, and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable pointing and laughing by my new peers. But instead, I heard a loud and cheerful, "Comment allez-vous?"

I couldn't believe what I'd just heard - what did that even mean? My mother gave me a nudge, urging me towards the bus, and the little red-headed woman who now stood before me. She wore a bright orange reflector vest, a tan skirt with matching blouse, and a huge smile. She was the bus monitor. "D'accord. Allez avec moi." She urged me toward the bus steps, and my mother nodded in approval, "Merci!" I couldn't believe it - the adults in at this school appeared to speak some strange form of gibberish, and even worse - my mother understood! What was going on? What were they saying? Were they talking about me? Would the other kids speak this language as well?

My head swirled with confusion and curiosity, and I was momentarily distracted enough to forget some of my fear. Rosa, the strange red-headed woman, seated me right up front, beside her. She held out her hand. "Bonjour, comment allez-vous?" I tried to make out the words - "Comma talley voo?" She grinned even wider. "Bien! You just spoke in French!"

This was my first exposure to the French language, a language I would go on to study for six more years in high school and later college. Rosa, who continued to greet me every day that year en Français, turned out to be a beloved staple of my childhood, and an inspiration later in life when it came time for me to decide which language I wanted to pursue in school. I still find myself remembering Rosa's smile every time I hear the phrase "Comment allez-vous," or as I later discovered "How are you?" in French. If Rosa were here to ask me the question today, I would grin back at her and say "Je vais bien. Merci, beaucoup." Thanks to her, I now know what that means.

-Lindsay, The Language Island Team


English is the dominant language in America, and because of that, I grew up with a false sense of security regarding my ability to interact in the world around me. This became very clear when I started one of my first jobs as a waiter at a fine dining Italian restaurant.

Ironically, it wasn't Italian that I needed to know to get by, it was Spanish. The majority of the kitchen staff spoke Spanish, and with orders piling in and food flying out, I was thankful I had taken a few Spanish courses in high school. I was by no means fluent, but I could get by. Sometimes it was as simple as saying "Lo siento, amigo" or "Gracias." It was all about being part of the same team. Spanish helped me convey what I needed more easily, resolve conflicts more quickly, and maintain co-worker support that few others on the waitstaff, who did not speak Spanish, could have.

You may recall interactions you've had in your life where a little bit of conversational Spanish could have made the difference between communication and miscommunication. Even though I grew up with the notion that English would be enough, I know now that there will be times when knowing a second language will create opportunities for my career and for friendships.

-Nick, The Language Island Team


During the summer of 1998, I spent one month in Salamanca Spain studying Spanish at the TASIS School. I had studied Spanish in one form or another since the 5th grade and yet I could not come close to considering my speaking skills proficient. During my month long experience I studied in language classes similar to those that I had been exposed to throughout my life, perhaps in longer durations, but the classroom formula was virtually identical. By the time my trip concluded I could consider myself very proficient in my conversational and grammatical skills.

What was the difference?

The immersive experience. Everyday after leaving class our school would have organized trips throughout Spain or we were allowed to venture on our own. The more capable we were in grasping the language the more opportunities presented themselves. The FUN was the driving force that led us to work harder in the classroom. Since that trip I have studied Spanish in other immersive programs, and the experience is always the same; it is the application that make language learning so fun, and without it, it just feels like work.

You don’t have to go to Spain, but there are places and things you can do to make language learning a really fun experience: watching movies and television, listening to music, visiting cultural venues, events, and locations, having a pen pal, and much much more!!! So don’t limit yourself to the work.

-Tucker, The Language Island Team

Language News

These are exciting times for language learning across the globe, and we want to share some stories with you that stand out to us. Keep checking our blog periodically to get the latest updates on what's happening with language and current events, the arts, technology, food and people.

Here are some headlines and stories we think you should check out:

LANGUAGE IN THE NEWS

*Brooklyn School Receives Grant to Perfect Its Chinese

*Children Adopted from Abroad Offer Insight on Language Development

LANGUAGE FOR KIDS

*Raising Multilingual Children

LANGUAGE DEBATE

*Will Americans Really Learn Chinese?

LANGUAGE EVENTS

*March 4-6, 2010: Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

*March 7, 2010: Free Kids' Language Fair at Multilingual Chicago

*March 6-8, 2010: ASCD Annual Conference

*March 6-9, 2010: American Association for Applied Linguistics

Welcome to the Language Island Blog!

Welcome to the Language Island blog, and thanks for stopping by! We are excited to share Language Island with educators, parents, language enthusiasts and most importantly, young learners. Language Island, which is currently in development, is an online virtual world built for kids who want to learn a new language in a fun, easy and accessible way.

Although we are still working hard to create the full version of the Language Island adventure, you can play and learn with our online demo at www.languageisland.com. Once you sign into the site, you can build your own "Babble" avatar (cute little creatures who love to learn language), visit the Banana Grove, where you will find four different language learning activities, check out the Babble Music Video in the Treetop Theater, and chat with another Babble on Chatter Beach.

We are always eager to hear your thoughts, questions, concerns and anything else you'd like to share about your experience on Language Island. Please email us at support@languageisland.com.

Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to hearing from you!


The Language Island Team