Language News

Sorry for the delay in getting this article out. I’ve been going through the Transparent Language Online software and using the Byki vocabulary lists to full advantage. I did get through more of my studies in Hindi and came up with a great way to maximize the use of Transparent Language Online software.

When I first started, I was going step-by-step through the lesson and eventually found myself going off the beaten path to use other parts of the software (along with other online resources) to an advantage.

For this article, I’ll be using Quick Start Lesson 07 in the Hindi version – I don’t know if your language version of the software will be the same, so I’ll keep it easy to follow for all levels.

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Here’s a picture of a page from my learning notebook. As you can see, I’ve separated the individual vocabulary words and the pre-built phrases and sentences. This makes it much easier as I can learn the individual words first, and then compare how they are used in the phrase or sentences. I added some notes on grammatical changes and wrote in a couple of extra sentences combining what I’ve learned in this lesson and past lessons.

This is very important! It will allow you to think in the language and how to construct new sentences and reinforce the things you’ve learned before.

I went through the other sections of the software and looked at the topics to see what I could find to help me with my conversation. For example, the Quick Start 07 lesson emphasized speaking and understanding. Upon exploring the other parts of the software, I found a lesson titled “Do you understand?” So I went there and checked it out for new words and phrases. I saw the ones I was familiar with and was able to guess from context what the conversation is about. Any new vocabulary I wrote down to look up later.

That’s what I like about the Transparent Language software. There’s always some kind of connection to different sections so you can find and explore, giving you more to learn.

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Going back to the Quick Start lessons, I go through the other activities to help reinforce what I’m learning at that time. This includes reading, writing and pronunciation. When I feel that I can do well with the lesson, I try using my skills with another Hindi speaker (remember, a score of 100% is not a strict requirement. Somewhere between 85-90% is good enough for conversational needs – perfection will come in time). So I log onto the Transparent Language Hindi page on Facebook and log into Skype.

Next article: Using Facebook and Skype…

In my previous post, I gave you an idea of what I do to ready myself for learning a language and what I do once I have what I need. Here’s something you may be interested in knowing – it’s been about two weeks since I started learning Hindi and I have not yet spent any money. I have a good idea of what I’m getting into and have created a game plan as to how to approach my learning. Everything I found is online (free) and I’ve made friends with native Hindi speakers along the way. (I’ll talk more about those friends in my next post.)

Let the Learning Begin

Now that I’m familiar with the language, what it’s about and what to expect, it’s time to start learning. I’m not going to lie to you – it will take some time and work to get where I need to be. As I go through the series here on this blog, I will not demand that you do everything exactly as I do. All I ask is that you do the best you can. Take notes and write down what you think you’ll need to do for your own learning situation.

I’m going to take the audio I downloaded and start with listening and speaking. This time, instead of letting it run in the background, I’m listening to what is being said or sung. Are there any sounds that are also found in English (like the sounds of “b”, “t”, “d”, etc.)? Those are the sounds that don’t require a lot of concentration. The ones I’m focusing on are those that make me think “What the heck is that?” NOTE #1: The pause and rewind buttons are your best friends. Use them to listen to the audio over and over to get used to hearing that sound or a certain section that sounds a little difficult to make out.

Another way you can listen to audio is to let Transparent Language help you even further. Have you downloaded the free Byki Express software? If so, fire it up and take a look at the buttons at the bottom left. The one marked “Play” will let you hear the word or phrases as many times as you need to hear them – it’s a very patient teacher. The button with the turtle turns on the SlowSound feature. It actually slows down the audio so you can hear the sounds slowly enough to practice. The SlowSound feature is also available with the Transparent Online courses.

How long do you need to do this listening exercise? That’s up to you, and depends on the language you’re learning and how much time you can devote to it. As a guideline, I usually listen as long as I’m interested in getting the sounds figured out. NOTE #2: There’s no need to keep going through all the audio until you’re bored out of your skull. And it does help a lot to say what you’re hearing – that’s right, speak aloud what you hear. You don’t have to be obsessed with getting each sound 100% perfect. Right now you want to hear the sounds of the language, how they are used in speech and communication.

Take a Break

After listening to the audio, hearing the different sounds, and doing my best to say them, I’ll take a break. There’s no need for overloading. How much time should you take? Well, I won’t say take a few minutes and come back to it – it’s best to take the rest of the day off. In fact, if you can’t get back to your lessons for a couple of days, that’s fine. But if it’s going to be a week or more, then you may want to do an audio review using the information above.

When I come back to the lessons, I’ll move on to learning vocabulary with the Byki software.

What this software does is prepare you for the lessons ahead by going step-by-step through vocabulary, then you graduate onto phrases and then after that to full sentences and basic conversations. There are three ways you can learn – installing the software on your computer, downloading the app to your mobile device, or using the online version. You don’t have to use all three to learn, choose whichever is easiest for you and go from there.

Recap

1. Take the audio that has been downloaded and listen carefully to how the language is spoken or sung.
2. Listen to it as long as you need without getting to the point of boredom.
3. Say aloud what you’re hearing to the best of your ability (100% perfection is not a requirement).
4. Take the rest of the day off.

I’m making a turn here in my posts. For the past year, I’ve written language learning tips, advice, and all kinds of ways to help you learn a language and improve on the skills you already have. Now I’m going to put my own advice to work and learn a language along with you so I can show you how I learn a language from scratch.

What Language Did I Choose?

First of all, choosing a language takes some thought. Some questions I usually consider are: Why am I learning yet another language? What language will I need? Are there resources available for the language chosen? Will I have the time to set aside for the lessons?

I’ve learned and studied quite a few languages over the years, so I decided the language I want to learn now has to be something I’ve seen, but never learned. A language that is not related to another language I am familiar with (not in the Romance family or Germanic family, etc.). I went to the Transparent Language Online website and looked at the list of languages they offer. And based on the criteria I need, Hindi was the winner.

Hindi is actually a major world language. It’s one of the top ten most spoken languages in the world, and it’s not related to any of the languages I know.

Before I Begin

There’s a situation I’ve seen many times: Someone learning a language goes to the bookstore, looks through the plethora of language books and courses, and proceeds to buy what they feel is needed – a book or two, an audio CD course, and a dictionary…maybe a phrasebook for good measure. Upon getting home, they dive right into it hoping to make sense of what’s before them.

In my experience, that’s a source of discouragement and, for many students, failure. So I learned early in my career that a language is not a thing that causes burden, but someone who wants to be courted and loved. Really? How can you do that? Glad you asked.

First Encounters

When I meet a woman, I don’t just dive right into a relationship and expect it to be serious right from the start. I want to get to know her first. Who is she? What does she like (or not like)? What are her interests, experiences, etc.? I want to be sure I like her enough to meet with her again.

In the same way, before I sit down and start learning a language, I want to know something about the language and let it convince me that I made the right choice in wanting to learn it. This is something every student should do before going out and buying anything.

First step, I go online to find and download a couple of e-books or e-magazines that are published in the language I’m learning. Then I’ll look for and download some audio files or bookmark a streaming radio website so I can listen to the broadcasts anytime I need. If I find some interesting articles, I’ll print them out.

Since I’m going to be using Transparent Language’s software, I went to “List Central” and downloaded some vocabulary lists for my Byki software so I can practice the words. (You can download the free Byki Express software at www.byki.com and get more lists at the List Central tab).

Getting Acquainted

Now that I have these, I start with first listening to the audio files I downloaded. Why? I want to hear the sounds of the language first of all. What sounds are just like English and which ones are not? I also want to hear the rhythm of the sentences, how the words flow into each other, and what emotions are expressed in them. I will think about these things for any and all audio files I listen to or download now and in the future. This process helps me get used to hearing the sound of Hindi and get my ears attuned to the sounds that are not found in English. I’ll also see if I can somehow imitate the sounds.

Yes, that means actually trying to sound out aloud what I’m hearing. This step will help a lot when I get to the speaking part of the lessons.

Personally, I like to keep the audio going on a loop over and over in the background while I’m looking at other things. I won’t have the volume up so loud that it disturbs my concentration. Just low enough to still be able to hear it in the background. Why do this? The brain will keep listening to the sounds and it will sort them out as time goes on, which actually helps make the lessons on pronunciation and speaking less intimidating. Plus, it would be like there’s a conversation going on around you as in a real world situation.

While this audio is looping, I’ll look at the e-magazines and newspapers I downloaded or printed and look carefully at the text. How is it written? What do they use for punctuation? I also notice that some letters look similar to others so I’ll have to keep an eye out for these small, subtle changes.

I will be doing this for a day or two until I feel more at ease with how the language looks and sounds.

These are usually the first steps in my language learning journey. After a couple of days…maybe three from the way the Hindi script looks – I’m going to use the Byki software to go through the vocabulary lists and see what I can learn from that. I’ll be posting the results in the next article.

In the meantime, here’s a recap of what I do before I actually start learning a new language. Take note of these tips and use them when you begin learning a language:

First Encounters

1. Go online – download or print a couple of e-books or web pages in the language you’re going to learn.
2. Download any audio files or bookmark a couple of websites that broadcast streaming radio online in the language you’re learning.
3. Download Transparent Language’s Byki Express software and visit List Central to download more lists for quick and easy vocabulary building

Getting Acquainted

1. Listen to the audio often to get used to the sounds of the language – try to repeat what you hear.
2. Look at the e-books you’ve downloaded and examine the language’s script and structure.
3. If there’s a non-Latin based alphabet, look at how the script is used in writing. Take note of any similar looking characters and see what makes them different from each other.
4. Practice with your Byki Express software often until you’re comfortably able to move on.

As you go along, feel free to use any ideas or methods, anything you find useful that helps you with your lessons. I may be including some downloadable learning materials with some posts to share with you so you can implement them in your own lessons.