Putting your language into practice

You have been learning a new language for a few weeks or months and are now going to the country. How to make the most of your language acquisition?

1.  If you have the space, take your study book with you. I did this in Greece and it helped me revise every night and prepare sentences I wanted to say that day - but was stuck - for the next opportunity; for example, if you know you will be buying stamps, revise questions and look up the ‘stamp’ word. If you know you’ll be taking a ferry, revise ‘where is the boat for...?’ ‘Is it on time?’ ‘I’m lost’ etc. Think broad in what you could need. 

2.   Don’t be scared

3.   Breath

4.   Be positive, tell yourself ‘I can do this’ instead of ‘I can’t do this’. If you always think positively, you will have positive results.

5.     Smile: people will be more inclined to listen and help you if you smile. It’s obvious, but when we are stressed and nervous, we can forget.

6.   Be like an actor, if you’re in France, be the ‘French Emma’, if in Spain, be the ‘Spanish Emma’. Speaking another language is the opportunity to be a different you. Try it!

7.   Set yourself realistic goals.

8.   Start small, like saying ‘bonjour’, ‘merci’, ‘s’il vous plaît’, ‘je voudrais un croissant’, ‘au revoir’, you have more days to build up.

9.    Do not be put off by someone not understanding you. It doesn’t mean you were wrong; some people are not very good at understanding people with an accent. I had problems being understood in Glasgow half of the time (I have a strong French accent).

10.   Do not give up, ever! If people keep replying to you in your native language, it’s often to gain time, don’t be put off by this, it’s not personal. A lot of people love the opportunity to speak your language. Just carry on with the language you want to practise.

11.   Last but not least: have your ‘essential sentences’ paper in your pocket at all times.

12.   When you’re back: if you were never understood saying a specific word or sentence, ask a native speaker or your teacher to check your pronunciation.

13.   If you didn’t get to speak the language or understand as much as you were hoping, don’t get discouraged, it happens to most of us. It has to be an incentive to carry on studying – by maybe practising more speaking and listening - not to give up. Courage!

What is your experience? Do you have a story to tell? Is there a word you love or some that you never remember? Please comment below. 

I’m not learning Danish, but I am…

What I’ve learnt by watching 7 episodes of Borgen.

If you still haven’t heard about it, Borgen is a political Danish series (the Danish West Wing) set up in Borgen, the Castle, in Copenhagen, where the Danish Parliament is based.

The series is available on Lovefilm in Danish with English subtitles and this is what I learnt in 7 episodes watched in 8 days, without wanting to learn Danish, but with a strong interest in languages and other cultures. And this is an answer to the question I’m asked at pretty much every dinner or phone call at Voulez-vous parler: ‘How quickly can you become fluent in a foreign language?’ Well, very quickly, if you’re language obsessed and have a natural talent for it, and quickly if you’re less of a linguist but an avid learner, because…this is what I’ve learnt whilst watching the new Prime Minister’s life of Birgitte Nyborg:

• Greetings
• A key word that will open lots of doors: Tak
• Some numbers
• Cognates
• Some countries, such as France, Denmark, the States, Greenland, England
• TV channels
• A few swear words 
• Food and drink such as pancake, beer, wine
• Sports such as spinning, running (Katrine often runs and goes out with a spinning intstructor at some point)
• Clothes
• Political and economic vocabulary
• Some elements of the Danish way of life: relationships, politics, issues regarding gender ratios in companies, the Greenland issue, childcare, MP and PM expenses (scandal) etc.
• Last but not least, I’ve learnt a lot more than a book will teach you about intonations. You can speak a language really badly if don’t have the right intonation, think: English & French train drivers reading their health and safety sheet as quickly (and as badly it seems) as possible in the Eurotunnel shuttle (I have very good tutors Eurotunnel management if you read this, ring me, your staff is eager to learn).

The conclusion is that if you want to learn a language fast, of course, take lessons, but what you do outside classes, like going to meetups to practise with native speakers, find a girlfriend/boyfriend who’s native in the language - hey, Pourquoi pas? It’s the best way to become fluent - and the hours you will spend watching films, youtube videos, listening to the radio in the language you want to learn will make wonders. I’ve just been watching Sex and the City in English with Greek subtitles to revise my rusty Greek. Talk about a woman crazy about languages!

 

Mots clés Technorati : Borgen,Danish,danois,dansk,Danemark,Denmark,language,langue,learning,methods,cognates,classes,lessons,private,series,culture,politics,politique

How long will it take me to learn French/ Spanish/ Italian/Greek?

 

This is the most common question my clients ask me on their first phone call.

It really depends. A Complete Beginner with great motivation, who will ask a lot of questions, will listen to the answers (not all students do so), and do homework (at least 1.5 hours a week), listen to the radio, watch TV, attempts to read the paper or magazines in the language studied, will, in a few months, have a higher level than someone who is a Higher Beginner/Intermediate, but who rests on his laurels and neither does homework nor the other activities mentioned.

It is not uncommon, when a couple starts taking lessons, where one is a Complete Beginner and the other one an Upper Beginner, to see, within 4/5 months, the novice overtaking the confident partner, who will soon be amazed at how his partner has progressed. Usually, this is when the latter decides to take things seriously.

Learning a language can be slow, remember how long it takes babies to speak. They listen for months and then one day, they speak. For some, it will take 2 years, other 3 or more. Everyone is different. It comes more naturally to some people. Usually, when students have learnt another foreign language previously, or have 2 mother-tongues, it’s easier for them to learn a new language. Why? Because they make connections, they’re used to switching languages, but also, like in my case - I grew up in France and learnt English, German, Spanish, Italian and Latin at school, and started learning modern Greek as an adult – I know what words, phrases and verbs I need to get by on a holiday or to have a conversation with a foreign friend.

Think of it this way: when we meet our friends/colleagues, we often ask them the same questions, we usually talk about the same subjects.

On Monday morning, in London, we all ask each other:

• Did you have a nice weekend? Tu as passé un bon weekend?
• What did you do? Qu’est-ce que tu as fait?
• Where did you go? Tu es allé(e) où?
• Was the food good? C’était bon?
• How much was it? C’était combien? Tu as payé combien?

Answers:

• I had a great weekend. J’ai passé un excellent weekend.
• I went to the restaurant. Je suis allé(e) au resto
• It was really good. C’était super bon.
• It wasn’t too expensive. C’était pas trop cher.

Every week, with your teacher, you can learn new expressions and verbs to expand this conversation. Now you know why a lot of teachers ask you what you did at the weekend. This practice is very important, and with time, one should be able to have this conversation in the studied language without looking at his notes.

Before travelling, I always recommend my students to take a piece of paper and write all the most important expressions they think they’ll need – if you’re unsure of your numbers, put them on the list. This is what I do when I go to Greece. Also, it’s reassuring to have this paper, knowing you can take it out and show your interlocutor, who will always be impressed at your interest in communicating with the locals in their language. You might even be invited for dinner and make a new friend!