Language News

Here at Transparent Language, we take pride in supporting language programs in schools, especially in our own community. That’s why we are extremely excited to congratulate our partners at East Kingston Elementary School (EKES), who received the 2013 Elementary School of Excellence. Presented as part of the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards (the “EDies”), the honor recognizes the school’s commitment to quality education and highly collaborative relationship with the local community.

We witnessed this commitment firsthand while working with EKES to provide a high-quality, efficient, and effective language education to its students. Beginning in the fall of 2012, the foreign language department at East Kingston partnered with Transparent Language to provide personalized foreign language learning experiences in the school’s language lab. By leveraging the Transparent Connect virtual classroom service and the self-guided Transparent Language Online resources, the school has been able to provide an exciting and engaging language-learning experience.

Students follow a modified “flipped classroom” approach, in which they complete the self-guided Transparent Language Online activities prior to meeting with their live instructor via Transparent Connect. This method familiarizes the student with the material before class, encouraging independent learning. Then, the material can be reinforced and applied in context in the virtual classroom, where the instructor can facilitate fun activities that build speaking and collaborative skills that are more difficult to acquire outside of the classroom. Lead Instructor, Karen Olson, organizes fun, interactive activities for class sessions, such as the beloved “Peer Interviews”, that allow students to interview one another and elicit responses in the target language. The third, fourth, and fifth graders currently enrolled in this program at EKES are enjoying this approach, which has kept them motivated as they learn French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Vietnamese, among other languages.

By implementing our powerful learning system and skilled instructors into their language curriculum, the East Kingston staff has overcome budgetary and bandwidth constraints while ensuring each student receives quality instruction tailored to his or her interests and needs. It was this commitment to providing an engaging, individualized education that impressed representatives from the “EDies” Committee during their school visit to East Kingston Elementary last month. Superintendent Michael Morgan highlighted the individual attention given to the students, noting that EKES provides “a private school setting in a public school.”

We would like to congratulate the faculty, staff, and students of East Kingston Elementary School for a very well-deserved Excellence in Education Award. All of this year’s recipients were honored at the “EDies” award gala on Saturday, June 8.

To learn more about the resources and services we provide to educators, visit http://www.transparent.com/education.

To learn more about the partnership between EKES and Transparent language, visit:

https://sites.google.com/a/sau16.org/ekes-foreign-language/

http://www.transparent.com/case-studies/cs-east-kingston-elementary.html

When it comes to foreign languages, blended learning—combining technology with human instruction—is better than computer learning or human instruction alone. Here at Transparent Language, we design products for schools and institutions not to replace teachers, but to leverage face-to-face instruction.  Our research and experience has led us to becoming firm believers in a blended learning method called “declarative acceleration.”

Why declarative acceleration?

As you may know, our customers include some of the most stringent foreign language training programs in the world. For reasons of both economics and mission, they need to train language faster, more reliably, and in a way that seamlessly transitions to lifelong success in the language. Our technologies are designed to support any pedagogy or methodology used by our customers, but of all those methodologies, the one that consistently works best is what we call declaratively accelerated blended learning.

What is declarative acceleration?

Basically, declarative acceleration is a way of using technology to do what technology does best, using teachers to do what teachers do best, and skillfully merging the two to produce a learning result that is captivating and feels like a rocket ride compared to traditional language learning.

There are two big aspects of language that ultimately need to work together for successful language acquisition. We call them declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge, but in less geeky terminology, we’re just talking about vocabulary and phrases on the one hand, and language skills on the other.

Declarative and skills

A big part of language capability is learning lots of words, phrases and various other small chunks of the language. The Korean word for “apple” is different than the English word, and to speak or understand Korean you need to learn a lot of Korean words, phrases and little chunks of Korean. Learning them can be interesting, even game-like, but at the end of the day, you can’t do language without having memorized the words to work with.

Using a few words and phrases, such as hello and thank you, in another person’s language can sometimes have an almost magical effect.  Of course, language is much more than just vocabulary. “Fluency” is a rubbery term, but we know it when we hear it. Native-like word order, words that naturally go with each other, the right word, the right form of the word, the right level of formality, the right style for the group and setting and so on, all spoken, heard, written or read at “normal” native speed—these are the necessary, artful and beautiful skills of language.

What we all want—learners and teachers alike—is to produce language skill, complete with a robust lexical foundation of mastered words and phrases, as quickly and successfully as possible. Declarative acceleration is the best way we know to do that.

How it works

Unsurprisingly we “start at the end and work backwards.” Picture a teacher and learner, and let’s think about just one “lesson.” Maybe it’s thirty minutes, maybe an hour. It might be at the beginner level, advanced or in between. In any case, we know we want the time to be exciting, uplifting and useful. We are going to plan a trip to the countryside using materials on the web, role-play talking to the station master after missing the last train, and so on. A good teacher will set up a variety of interesting, challenging, enjoyable, pedagogically valuable tasks, peer activities, communicative activities, etc.

We can picture a successful learner enjoying, engaging and succeeding in this situation. We then ask ourselves, what declarative knowledge (words, phrases and small chunks of language) would that successful learner employ? We then collect and strategically organize that declarative material, injecting it into computer-delivered activities, games and sequences.

It turns out that if you want to, for instance, memorize the table of chemical elements, a good computer program can help you do that much faster and more reliably than even the best chemistry teacher. The computer can quickly build mental associations between, for instance “H” and “hydrogen” or “W” and “tungsten” with displays, games and learning activities of all kinds. The computer can present dozens of learning encounters per minute, watch what is done right and what is a problem and continually adjust. A teacher couldn’t easily do that as quickly, in a fast-paced, fully individualized way with even one student, never mind five or ten.

The same is true for vocabulary, words, phrases and other memorized language chunks. So we use the computer to do what the computer does best. If this type of declarative pre-loading is available for every lesson, the learner will likely build a robust “lexical reservoir” that is two or three times larger than in a traditional course.

The teacher then has the pleasure of guiding these declaratively prepared and empowered learners through a suite of challenging and useful contextual language activities, coaching and encouraging all the while.

It turns out that not only does knowing more words and phrases at the end of a course help you communicate or understand better in the obvious way—of course it’s good to know the word “flour” if you want to ask what store sells flour—it also significantly strengthens the process of skills building. Conversations, role playing, task performance, morphology, syntax, noticing, digesting and practicing grammar, are all easier, more satisfying and more effective.

Research suggests what might be worth trying, but putting ideas into practice is how you find out what works and what doesn’t. Declarative acceleration works. Check it out for yourself: http://www.transparent.com/personal/transparent-language-online.html

Meet Our Guest Author

I’m Alex Rawlings, I’m 21 years old and I study German and Russian at Oxford University. I’ve always loved learning languages, and last year I was named Britain’s most multilingual student in a competition after being tested for fluency in eleven different languages. It doesn’t stop at eleven though, I have plans to learn plenty more! I have recently set up a YouTube channel and am keeping a blog at www.rawlangs.com. In this article and accompanying video I hope to answer some of the questions that you might have about language learning and my own experiences of it. Enjoy!

Learning languages – most of us have tried to, many of us want to, all of us need to, but why is it that it can so often seem like an impossible task? And why are some people better at it than others?

There is one simple explanation – method. How far I’ve managed to get with languages is not because I’m gifted or was born with any special talent. Linguists have proved time and time again that that just isn’t a thing. It’s down to the fact that I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’ve had plenty of trial and error to work out where I’ve been going wrong and what I’ve been doing right. I know now what I enjoy and what I find boring. I think that definitely by the time you’re moving onto your fourth or fifth language, you should already have a pretty clear idea of how to motivate yourself and how you to get results.

This article is about the journey of language learning: what to do, what to expect, and where you can hope it’ll take you. Before we get started though, there are a few things I’d like to set out first. I’ve written more extensively about some of the reasons for these on my blog (www.rawlangs.com), but this is the mind-set I think you need to get started:

1. Language learning never stops. Learning is an eternal process: no matter how far we come, there will always be more to know.
2. Forget about fluency for a bit. For our purposes, fluency is the ability to form sentences independently and spontaneously, and once we’re doing that, we’re speaking the language. You can concentrate on ‘perfecting’ it later.
3. Don’t worry about any letters or any numbers, and don’t use these to measure your ‘fluency’. Qualifications and certificates are a whole different kettle of fish, and are not that relevant at this stage.

Now let’s get going. The world of languages awaits.

Stage 1: Pick a language

We know we’re in this for the long haul, so let’s not make this decision lightly. We need to work out why we want to learn a language, and how we’re going to use it. Have we got friends and family that speak it? Will it help us in our working lives? Did we go on holiday and fall in love with somewhere (or someone), or are planning to make a trip there? Whatever the reasons, we need to have them. Don’t just learn a language because you started it at school. This is your chance to break free, make your own choices and discover your own worlds. Put to rest those painful memories of being cooped up in classrooms on Friday afternoons learning être and avoir.

Stage 2: Set goals 

You never leave the house and just drive for a few hours if you’re hoping to get somewhere in particular. Likewise, we can’t go on our language adventure without some idea of where we’d like it to take us. Have a sit down and work out at what point you will be satisfied with what you have achieved. Will you be happy with a smattering of phrases and handful of verbs? Do you want to just cover most of the grammar and see what happens next? Or will you not rest until you’re watching the news, running a business, and writing a novel in your new second tongue? This is also a good opportunity to decide how much time you’re going to be able to dedicate to studying, and how often. The ideal that I aim for is an hour a day, 3-4 days a week, but I break that up between around 15 minutes in the morning, half an hour in the afternoon, and another 15 minutes in the evening to keep things fresh and interesting.

Stage 3: Make a start

Start listening to the language. Find podcasts, watch YouTube videos, listen to music, take advantage of the vast wealth of free language resources available on the internet these days. This is your ‘try before you buy’ period, and use it to get used to the sound of the language: the rhythm, the pronunciation, and the intonation. Learn some basic phrases like how to greet someone and ask how they are. This will give you a great head start before you really get going. Make a real effort to try and learn those first few phrases and that should give you the confidence to go on to learn more. This is also a perfect time to make sure that you like the language, and if not, to go back and choose another.

Stage 4: Get a course 

We’re wading into serious territory now. There are plenty of inexpensive, well-written courses available on Amazon and at the bookstore. If you don’t want to spend money, your local library will probably have a surprisingly good selection. Strike a balance between picking out the bits that you find the most relevant for your language goals, but also trust in the course’s ability to guide you through it all.  Personally I don’t focus too much on vocab at this stage – that becomes a lot easier once you’ve got a better grasp of how the language works. Try and keep to your work schedule, but take things easy. Languages are fun, remember! It’s really important to take breaks to let everything sink in as well. Make sure you’ve looked over everything as many times as possible before you move on to the next units. My acid test is to make sure I can completely understand the dialogues just by listening to them, and that I can form my own sentences with the new vocabulary I’ve learnt. But don’t forget: you’re not performing magic, you’re learning, and that needs patience!

Stage 5: Extra material 

You’ve reached this stage when you’re starting to feel confident with what you’ve learnt so far. You’re getting a clear idea of the basic structures, you’ve got a decent vocabulary of 100-150 words, and it’s time to start supplementing your course with some independent learning. Find kids’ TV shows on YouTube, read children’s stories online, get hold of anything that can provide you with clear and basic vocabulary for you to learn as well. It might also be time to make more of a push for vocabulary now, so you can talk about more topics and put to use your knowledge of grammar.

Stage 6: Navigate your first mid-language crisis

Unfortunately this happens. I get these when I’ve started to get a good knowledge of the present, past and future tenses, a decent vocabulary, and can have basic conversations with a native speaker. At this point you might become complacent and get bored with the language. You might think that you’ve done enough to get by in the situations that you’ll need it for. But don’t be fooled. You’re only half way there. Think about making some changes to your schedule, tackling some new topics, remind yourself of the goals you set out in Stage 2 and work out what you’ll have to do to get there. In an ideal world, you’d also move onto Stage 7.

Stage 7: Visit the country

Obviously this can be easier or harder for you depending on where you live and your financial situation, but it is an essential pilgrimage for every serious language learner. It’s also your reward: see how your new language skills make everything easier from taxi journeys to restaurants, from bizarre transport announcements to chance acquaintances. Be prepared to hear words and phrases that your course never told you about (but don’t be angry at it! It really did have your best interests at heart.) Learn the limits of what you’ve achieved so far, and use that as your inspiration to go on to learn more. Sure, you can buy a metro ticket and ask for directions to the post office, but can you talk to locals like you could back home? You’ve got a foot in the door of your new culture, but are you really in the club?

If a foreign trip is really out of the question, check out some of the numerous free language exchange websites. You’ll find someone to exchange emails with, maybe have a few chats with on Skype, and that’ll be invaluable for making sure you’re not going wrong with your learning!

Stage 8: The confidence plateau

This is similar to Stage 6, but it’s reached at a much more advanced point in our studies. Let’s say you’ve finished your course and you now feel like you can speak the language fairly well. You can even talk about exciting topics such as the environment. This is the point where many people might just put their feet up and decide that they can leave making further progress to simple osmosis. But now is not a time to stall. We need to be much cleverer about how we approach our learning, and remember that we are nowhere near finished. Remember, language learning never stops: there’s always more to learn. It’s now all down to the crucial next two stages. These are what will take us that extra mile.

Stage 9: Immerse yourself in film, TV and news

We can stop watching just the kids’ stuff now and start becoming proper grown-ups in our new language. Watch soaps, watch chat shows, watch the news. If you don’t have a satellite connection, there is still plenty available online. Pay attention to how the language used varies in those different contexts. Take advantage of the range of different topics that are discussed, and think of other words that you’d find useful to know. Keep a good dictionary and a notepad next to you and write down, say, 10-20 new words each time, and crucially, the context in which you heard them. Go away and learn these, then come back and do it again.

Stage 10: Read literature, do translations and writing exercises

We are so close to the pinnacle now. You’ve got a big vocabulary, sturdy grammar and a good familiarity with the culture (particularly through Stages 7 and 9). This is your motivation to keep going. Start reading literature. If possible, pick a book you’ve already read in translation in English and that you know well (and really like). Don’t start looking up every unfamiliar word unless you’ve got a death wish, just look up those that are vital for understanding what’s going on, so you enjoy reading it. Again, write them down and learn them as in Stage 9. Many e-books are free, and e-readers can often be installed with dictionaries that will tell you what words mean as you go along. Reading isn’t for everyone though, and it also isn’t everything. Have a go at translating newspaper articles, speeches and things on Wikipedia both into and out of your target language. Play around with nuances of meaning and different registers. Go online onto one of the huge language learning community sites and find someone to check it all over for you. Equally, set yourself writing exercises: try keeping a short diary in your new language, write opinion pieces, obituaries, anything that’ll get you using advanced vocabulary. Initially this stage is hard ­– you’ll find you need words that you’d never hear or use in speech normally. But this is also the most rewarding part. By now you can proudly and deservedly take your seat, and conduct the rest of your studies from the warmth and comfort of the inside of the language club.