Why I’m learning Icelandic in January
When Liz asked us if we’d be interested in signing up for her January challenge to learn a language with uTalk, I immediately knew which language I was going to pick: Icelandic. Then she asked me why and I struggled: I don’t have a good reason. I have never been to Iceland, I don’t have any Icelandic friends and, realistically, I’m unlikely to need to speak Icelandic in the near (or even distant) future.
And yet I am incredibly excited about the prospect of cramming as much Icelandic as possible into my mince-pie stuffed head in January, and trying to beat all my colleagues in the challenge. Ever since recording uTalk Icelandic with our genuinely lovely and professional voice artists Saga and Smarri, I have wanted to know more about the language and culture of this beautiful country of Northern lights, roaming wales and unfailingly excellent Eurovision entries.
I’m also a bit of a fan of the Nordic sagas and the idea of being able to vaguely decipher the genuine article with some of my newly acquired Icelandic really appeals. That’s probably a bit ambitious for January, but it never hurts to have a long-term goal, and I’m hoping that the uTalk challenge will start me off on a serious 2015 language quest.
Who else is going to join us?
Nat
Quote of the week: 13 Dec 2014
“If you are interested you’ll do what’s convenient. If you’re committed, you’ll do whatever it takes.” John Assaraf
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Why I’m learning Thai in January – a poem
Something a little different today, just because it’s Friday…
Like many of us, Steve will be taking on the uTalk challenge in January 2015, and he’s chosen to explain the reasons for his language choice in verse. As you do 😉
If you’d like to join Steve (in the uTalk language challenge, not the poetry), drop us an email with your chosen language over the next couple of weeks and we’ll let you know how it’s going to work. Good luck!
Last Monday I went into the EuroTalk office, had hardly taken off my hat
When Liz announced to all and sundry: ‘Now here’s a challenge and it’s no trap:
Pick any language from the uTalk App.
I don’t mind which, as long as you try;
You’ll have the month of  January, no more,
To use the App and get damn good scores!’
OK, I thought, well … it’s got to be Thai.
Here goes, methinks: it’s a very fine tongue, and could just be a bit of fun!
I go there a lot, it’s lovely and hot, I like Bangkok, the people, the vibe,
But knowing no Thai is something I can’t hide.
It’s a bit of a challenge, it’s a question of pride
I’ll read a menu
In any venue
I’ll not freak out when someone phones
If I can only master those tones
That speakers of Thai use as a matter of course.
I’ll use the App to get damn good scores.
I won’t give up, I will not park it
I’ll have that chat with the guy at the market
To buy my stuff and interact.
I’ll learn some Thai from the uTalk App!
Steve
The importance of Body Language when learning a new language
Today we’re happy to welcome back Izabella Klein, who spent some time with us last year while she was translating the onebillion maths apps into Brazilian Portuguese. Izabella’s new post focuses on a language we all speak, even if we don’t realise it…
Starting next year I will go back to teaching English as a second language. In the meantime I am recalling all the grammar points, reminding myself what to do in a classroom, as well as emphasising the key points when learning a new language. During this process, I thought of myself as a linguist constantly studying new languages: either technical languages or a new language spoken elsewhere in the world.
This moment of reflection and remembrance made me realise in a more mature way how body language is not only important in daily conversation, but it is the ‘real universal language’, since it is the only language that in fact everyone in the world can use. So, it becomes really important when learning/teaching a new language. I would say it is the first key to follow into teaching any new language.
For instance, how do we recognise body language? Probably when we realise when someone is sad or happy, thrilled or devastated just by their faces and body movements. So body language is when we can interpret without a word being said – only by our eyes observing someone using body language. Old black and white movies are great examples when we notice how they used much more body language than movies nowadays. No sound, no words, all they had were scenarios, Â costumes and body language to make people laugh or cry.
Now think of an international film festival you’ve been to, or just any foreign movie you’ve watched one day, in a language you either don’t speak at all or at which you are still basic or intermediate level. If you got tired of reading the subtitles, or you’re a language geek like me, always trying to understand what people say even if it’s an unknown language, you had to go with ‘trying to figure it out’ by listening to the sound of the words said by the characters and observing the body language they were using while saying it.
So don’t go taking any conclusion in advance, thinking you will not be able to understand anything at all, just because you don’t speak the language. Relax and watch the movie, observe what the characters do. I bet you will understand more than you imagine and you will learn even if only a little bit of that language.
Meeting foreign people in person and socialising with them is also a great opportunity of observing and learning a new language and culture. We have such opportunities when we travel abroad, have a foreign friend coming over, when we chat with a friend via Skype or similar, or when we have a language teacher.
But if you don’t have those at the moment but you still want to learn, multimedias are really efficient not only for entertainment, but for education purposes as well. We are able to observe images, while we listen and even read. We use both our eyes and our ears; these senses, at the same time connected and alert, increase learning possibilities. And we see not only scenarios and costumes that help identify cultural aspects. We also see body language as a key to trying to figure out what is being said or even really understand what is being said, together with words that might sound familiar due to having the same linguistic routes as another language you already learnt.
Did you ever have a language teacher trying to introduce some new vocabulary in class, acting like a drama teacher, using a lot of mimes and weird sounds trying to make you understand the meaning of the new words? She was not just acting CRAZY, she was trying to make you learn like babies do, by observing. So, pay attention to body language, it will definitely help you learn other languages. As for me, I will probably take drama classes to help me improve my body language skills in class…
Izabella Klein
Why I’m learning German in January
In a few weeks, I’m taking on the uTalk challenge – using the app to see how much I can learn in the 31 days of January.
I’ve been trying to decide which language to go for; there wasn’t any particular one that I needed for a holiday or work trip, so I had the full choice of 100 languages in the app to pick from. Having the opportunity to learn something just for the pure fun of it is great, although 100 is a lot of options for someone as indecisive as I am.
My first thought was to learn Catalan, so I’m prepared for my next trip to Barcelona, whenever that may be. But as I already speak Spanish, it seemed like a bit of a cheat. Although there are significant differences between the two languages, on the whole they’re similar enough to give me an unfair advantage over my colleagues!
So then I decided to use the power of Facebook, and asked my friends which language they thought I should learn. I got various suggestions – Japanese, Navajo, Lithuanian, Welsh…
I was tempted by them all, but in the end I think I’ve finally made a decision. So this January, I’ll be having a go at German.
There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, I never got the chance to learn German at school, because we had to choose either Spanish or German. I’ve never regretted choosing Spanish, which I went on to study at A-Level and university, but from time to time I’ve wondered what might have happened if I’d gone for the other option.
Secondly, German looks quite tricky, and I figured if I was going to take on a challenge, I might as well do it properly. I’m a bit fascinated by the language, too, with its hugely long words; from what I can tell, you can come up with a word for just about anything by sticking others together. And it has some great proverbs.
Also, Germany’s close enough for me to pop over for a long weekend if I want to practise, whereas some of the other options, like Japanese and Navajo, are spoken a bit further afield. Maybe next year…
Finally, one of my favourite words is German. Backpfeifengesicht means ‘a face badly in need of a fist’. And as far as I’m concerned, a language that can come up with a word to describe that has to be worth a look.
Anyone want to join me?
Liz
