![\"transparent](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/transparent-language-2018-year-in-review.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPractice what you preach, right? For professional linguists and casual language learners, we preach reviewing early and reviewing often, so we\u2019re taking our advice and looking back on our year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"CL-150](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/CL150-Korean-Phrase-of-the-Day.jpg\")
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/04\/american-citizenship-test-prep-course-WWYS-1024x544.png\")
<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/07\/online-latin-grammar-course-5-1024x583.jpg\")
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWe serve schools, libraries, government agencies, and individuals around the world, so naturally our team does a bit of traveling.<\/p>\n
This year our team traveled to 15 states to meet with and present to language teachers, professional linguists, librarians, and others who share our passion for language teaching and learning. Highlights included a very busy booth at ACTFL, the American Library Association, and Public Library Association Conferences (did you know most public libraries in Ohio, Iowa, Tennessee, and many libraries in other states<\/a> offer free access to Transparent Language Online?)<\/p>\n Whether you are a professional linguist or just a casual learner, it can be hard to make time for studying and practicing a language. That\u2019s why we put a lot of thought and research into how we present and teach language.<\/p>\n This year, we\u2019ve been thinking about how to teach alphabet more efficiently<\/a>, so learners can get to \u201cthe good stuff\u201d faster and maintain that early motivation that learners feel. We believe integrated, content-agnostic alphabet learning achieves exactly that.<\/p>\n Balancing time spent on vocabulary vs. grammar has also been front of mind. Ideally, every learner should strive to build both a large vocabulary and a strong foundation of grammar knowledge. But where to begin? Studies have shown that,\u00a0of all the factors contributing to language proficiency, vocabulary size is by far the single most significant factor<\/a>, accounting for anywhere from 50% to 70% of proficiency gains depending on the language and the skill being studied. In 2019, we\u2019ll be making improvements to our Learned Vocabulary system to help learners build\u2014and maintain\u2014their vocabulary.<\/p>\n Of course, vocabulary alone is insufficient. In our language training programs, we continue to have students practice and master vocabulary outside of class, arriving in class prepared to use and expand on that vocabulary through contextual, communicative activities.<\/p>\n In a STEM-focused world, we\u2019ve been thinking about the need to emphasize languages as a relevant, critical skill for young learners. We kicked off 2018 with a blog post called Sorry STEM, Google just made the case for more foreign language education<\/a>, which has been circulated to more than 100,000 members of the language community this year. We cited a Google employee study that measured the most important qualities in Google\u2019s top leaders\u2014surprisingly (or perhaps not), the most valued skills were not tech skills but soft skills like communication, empathy, critical thinking, and understanding others\u2019 perspectives. Those are all byproducts of language learning!<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that the US faces a serious language deficit, which may be worsened by the national emphasis on STEM in the last decade. As an enabler of success in STEM fields, we are pushing for more parity between language and STEM in schools.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/Transparent-Language-ACTFL-2018-1024x768.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s been on our minds?<\/h1>\n
How to Learn and Teach Language More Efficiently<\/h2>\n
Emphasizing Language Education in Schools<\/h2>\n
![\"transparent](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/transparent-language-2018-year-in-review-350x232.jpg\")