Language-Learning Dictionary You Should Try Out: Reverso Context

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my blog! I wanted to start off by apologizing for not having posted for a while. As many of you already know, I am currently abroad and have not had the opportunity to blog as much as I originally wanted to do, however, am hoping to post more consistently for the remainder of the semester from now on. For the first post of the academic semester, I thought that I would post about an application that I found out about a few months ago through a YouTuber polyglot, Lina Vasquez, called Reverso Context. 

In Lina's video (watch it down below), I remember her talking about a few other language-learning apps that she has recently been loving, but she particularly liked this one, as it is better than simply using Google Translate, or another online dictionary. I started using it, because I also find it very practical and easy to use. Instead of just typing in a word and the search engine coming up with 15 different results, you not knowing how to use the word, or you not knowing which definition is the correct one as a non-native speaker, this app helps you narrow down your results. What I like about the free phone version is that you can translate words from English into 12 other languages. The majority of the languages that you and I are learning are on there, but I hope that they continue adding more in the future.

You can change the language that you are translating from and translating into at any given moment in time. I use it for over 3 languages on a daily-basis, so I do not have to worry about only being able to use it for a language at a time. All you have to do is type in a word, a phrase, or a full sentence that you would like to translate into your target language and if whatever you type in is available in the database of the website, then it will automatically come up with a whole bunch of sample sentences and will bold the word(s) that you typed in for a quick reference. In this way, you can easily know for what you are looking in your target language. As far as I know, these sentences are written by and written for native speakers, so they are not literal translations when they should not be. It is also great for learning new idiomatic expressions and more complicated constructions that you may not know or unsure about.

I have been consistently using this app since this past June when I was studying abroad in France and it has been a lifesaver ever since. So far, I have mainly been using it for my essays when I do not have access to native speakers who can help me edit them, but have also found it helpful when I am trying to immerse myself in another language. Since I like writing emotively, I find it very difficult to fully convey my thoughts in another language without having a reliable resource such as this one. Whenever I have been in doubt, it has helped me create more native-sounding structures and sentences. I personally love scrolling through all of the sample sentences and seeing whether or not they convey the same context of which I am thinking. After all, that is why it is called Reverso Context!

Since it puts words and thoughts into perspective, it is more visual than most other dictionaries you will find, as you are not just seeing a word without knowing how to use it. Instead, you get to see how words function in a sentence and learn their various meanings, which makes learning a new language more fun! As someone who has to write and talk in over 4 languages on a daily basis, it can get confusing and frustrating to remember all of the words that I would like to use in all of them, but this app has worked miracles to help fix that problem. 

Aside from these reasons and more, I recommend using it for learners who want to use it for more than just one language at once to avoid having dozens of applications for each individual language on your phone. I believe that there is also a premium version of this app, but do not currently own it since I have been satisfied with its free version (feel free to check out the premium version if you are looking for even more language-learning resources). This app is also a great tool for college students who are taking language courses who need to write more elaborately than usual. All in all, if you are on the lookout for a new resource that gives you meaning and context behind what you want to look up, you may want to give this app a try!

How ‘Talking to Yourself’ Can Boost Your Ability to Speak a Language

Hello, everyone and welcome back to this page! After 6 weeks of studying abroad in France and being a French teacher at a language immersion camp, I have finally started to settle down and to take time for myself before studying abroad again. For this week’s post, I wanted to focus on a skill that I have developed and strengthened over the years: talking to myself in my target languages. I know what you are probably thinking: “Why would I ever do that? Wouldn’t I sound weird and be made fun of?”. Those questions are very natural to have, but I hope to convince you to at least give it a try before the end of the year.

Since the video below could not have summarized what you should do after talking to yourself any better, I will list all of the points that the he made and will add a few of my own remarks to them.

1.  As you could have already guessed, once you have decided that you will talk to yourself in one of your target languages, one of the best ways to see your progress over the years is to record yourself when speaking. With all of the technology that we have nowadays, there are many ways to do so. The two easiest ways are by either grabbing a voice recorder, or your phone. If for some reason neither of these objects are at your disposal, you can do it the old-fashioned way by simply talking to yourself without a device that tracks your progress.

2. Speak for 5 minutes in the foreign language without stopping. Choose a different topic every time: As intimidating as this next step may sound, it is very important to hold yourself accountable for the progress, or lack thereof that you make when learning other languages. Therefore, setting yourself a goal of a short 5 minutes should be feasible for most language learners. Keep in mind that if you are an absolute beginner of a language, or if you have not had the chance to brush up on one of your languages for a while, this goal may not be as realistic for you. If that is the case, do not fret, lower your expectations at first, and set timely goals to eventually reach a 5-minute conversation with yourself.

Aside from choosing for how long you will talk to yourself, you should also change the topic every time in order to put yourself on the spot. Say that you are currently on a clothing unit in your textbook, then you should focus your conversation on clothing items and what you would like to buy next. On the other hand, if you are preparing for a business trip to China, then you should focus on proper formal greetings and how to ask polite questions to your colleagues. I personally like switching them up, as I find it more interactive and fun. I like being challenged and find that when I change the topic, I tend to make faster progress in the long run.

3. Listen to recordings of yourself and make notes: Once the 5 or so minutes have finished up, make sure to listen to your recordings. It will seem a bit unnatural and strange at first, but try to resist the temptation of deleting them instead of listening to the mistakes that you made and on which you could improve. Below are some questions that the video suggests that you should ask yourself when taking notes of what you said:

a.     What sounds are you not pronouncing well ? : For example, if you are learning Russian, you may have a hard time pronouncing guttural sounds, making it a priority of sounds that you should regularly practice. In Spanish, you may have to practice how to roll your r’s over and over again until it starts feeling more natural.

b.    What problems with tenses do you have? For example, if you are learning any of the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, etc) the conditional, or the pluperfect may trip you up. Instead of giving up and telling yourself that you will never master all of these tenses, you can listen to your recordings and see which tenses do not come to you as easily as the others. You can then take an entire study day to review them until you feel like you have a better grasp on them. Remember that consistency is key.

c.     What words did you not know? Look them up. : For me personally, I have a hard time remembering long words that have few vowel sounds in both German and Russian, so I tend to focus on those words more-so than shorter words. After listening to myself talk for a few minutes, I take the time to write down any words that I did not know in those languages, look them up in a dictionary, and write them down in a notebook, so that I can easily refer back them to them later on.

d.    What mistakes did you hear? Note them down. : This question is a bit broader than the others, but is just as important. The mistakes that you can hear can be anything from mispronouncing a word to saying the wrong gender of a common word, such as “the book”. Instead of assuming that you what you said was correct, it is best to look up those words and to hear them being pronounced on online dictionaries, or on other websites.

e.  Find a friend/a teacher/a native speaker to listen for you. : Finally, once you have followed all of these simple steps, if you have someone at your disposal in real life, or virtually, you can ask him/her to listen to your recording and to give you feedback. This step is optional and is not always necessary, but if you are learning a language that is completely unrelated to your native language, or if you are not still not comfortable speaking your language (usually until you are an intermediate-learner), this can be helpful. Once you have listened to yourself several times, make sure to jot down any words or phrases about which you are unsure and then verify them with someone else. If you are confused about something, it is best to fix your mistakes sooner rather than later, as it is much more difficult to train your brain to say something the right way after having done it incorrectly for a long time. I hope that these tips help you out and that you consider trying this out for yourself. 

   

Until next time, happy language learning! Feel free to also comment on this post any post ideas that you would like me to write next.

Review of Easy Languages YouTube Channel

Have you ever struggled finding authentic learning material for your target language, or have spent countless hours trying to find material worth using? If you answered yes, then I would strongly recommend checking out the YouTube channel called Easy Languages, which is currently produced in over 30 languages. What is great about each language is that you learn it from the streets, allowing you to hear natives speak at their normal pace about whatever is on their mind. Instead of simply watching a 4-minute video completely in Russian when you are a beginner, English subtitles and a transliteration are provided as the host asks a question to people on the street. Thanks to this method of language-learning, you slowly start to associate sounds with words and words with meanings.

Before finding this YouTube channel, I had spent more hours than I am willing to admit trying to find a free resource that was more challenging than a textbook, but still understandable for Russian. Since I have only been taking it for two semesters, I wanted to find a YouTube channel whose goal was to find native speakers without translating everything that was being said.

I recently started seriously and religiously watching Easy Russian, but have found it to be extremely effective. The main reason why I like using it over other channels is, because each episode is based on just one question, such as "what makes you happy?", which allows you to focus your full attention on a specific topic, or to use thematic vocabulary. Instead of being all over the place, I can learn words such as "любовь" (love), or "жизнь" (life). Not only are these words useful and are used in everyday conversations, but I can also associate words in specific phrases, or in idiomatic expressions. In other words, you can slowly start expanding your vocabulary by associating words with meanings instead of learning words by themselves without any context on how they can be used, as you would typically do in high-school.

How I recommend using Easy Languages:

As I have already mentioned many times, what is most important is consistency and quality versus quantity when studying a language. Since Russian is the furthest removed from my native languages, it makes sense to spend the most amount of time on it, so that I can continue picking up its rhythms, its sounds, and its pronunciation. Since each episode is approximately 4 minutes, I would recommend watching it more than once.

When you watch it for the first time, make sure to write down any important, or unfamiliar words or phrases on a piece of paper, or in a noteboo­­­­k (the more organized you are, the faster you will eventually progress). After being satisfied with a good-sized list, re-watch it as many times as you feel necessary. Make sure to read the English subtitles, and transliterations as little as possible each time that you watch it, and try to focus on understanding entire phrases instead of individual words (ex: the ones that you wrote down that were new to you).

Remember that this channel can be used for any level. Whether you have no prior knowledge of your target language, or are close to native-sounding, you are bound to learn something new, considering that there is always room for improvement. I hope that you found this post helpful. Feel free to let me know what you think about it in the comments down below. 

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•  Easy Languages Website

How Does Language Change Your Brain?

Have you ever wondered if individuals who speak more than one language see the world in a different way than monolingual speakers do? If you answered yes to this question, then I will hopefully give you many reasons why languages not only change your brain, but also change your perspectives on life. The video that I attached down below answers one of the most interesting, and relevant questions about language learning: How does language change your brain?

Some of the most fascinating facts that were presented in the video were that whenever you speak more than one language, specific parts of your brain will get bigger. That is to say that you brain grows in size for every language that you learn. For anyone who falls into this category, he/she has improved cognitive function, better concentration, and attention span than monolingual speakers, showing that speaking more than one language is good for your brain. In my opinion, this is the case because your brain has to be comfortable getting out of its comfort zone whenever it encounters something that is unfamiliar. It has to think really hard, and make connections with patterns, and ideas that it has already learnt. Studies have also shown that children who learn more than one language at an early age have better cognitive function as an adult, which helps slow down brain aging. You are less likely to have diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and have a healthier brain.

What exactly can be shaped by language? Culture is a huge component, because it is with what you grow up, and with what you are surrounded. It teaches you what is culturally appropriate, and what you should do in many different situations through the use of language to express these ideas. If you grow up in a household where more than one language is spoken, or speak more than one language, you know that languages differ in what they convey. Languages determine how you think about what is around you. They help shape your world, and make images in your head vivid, rich, and colorful. The man in the video also says that we ascribe ideas of words based on our own language, which is very true. For example, some English speakers have a harder time understanding the concept that most languages have feminine and masculine words, and, sometimes, neuter words. I have always associated objects as masculine, feminine, or neuter, and see my world through those lenses.

My favorite part about this video is when he says that languages are a “prism in which we see the world.” Because of my ability to speak many languages, I dream in them, am more culturally aware, am less sensitive to talking about concepts that would be seen as uncomfortable or not culturally appropriate in our culture, and, best of all, have expanded the size of my brain in the process. It would be interesting to see which parts of my brain have changed over time, and how they have affected my ability to retain grammar, and words in more than just my mother tongue. Do you fit into this category? If so, have you noticed having the benefits stated above? Feel free to think about these questions. 

Foreign Language Vocabulary Builder: Sticky-Notes

In order to make language-learning fun, and practical, you have to have to look forward to being surrounded by it on an everyday basis. I have found that sticky-notes have helped me not only build my vocabulary, but have also helped me to start learning words by which I am surrounded. Since I want to become an advanced learner of German, I have tried to immerse myself as much as possible with the language. One of my goals for this upcoming year is to become fluent. You may be asking yourself, “how, and can she really do this?”

One of the most powerful, and inexpensive tools that I have used to my advantage have surprisingly been sticky-notes. What I have already done is very simple. I have labeled different objects throughout my bedroom, and bathroom with their translations in German, along with their genders. For example, where I have my necklaces, I have labeled them “die Halsketten”, the drawer “die Schublade”, the toilet paper “das Toilettenpapier”, and the doorknob “die Türklinke.” I have had many objects labeled for about a year now, and have noticed an increase in my vocabulary. Most people, even the best polyglots, do not find it necessary to learn these kinds of words, but I think that it makes languages a more integral part of your life.

What do I mean by this? Every day when I wake up, I lay on my bed, and look around my bedroom. I then stare at objects that I know are labeled with sticky-notes, and test myself to see if I remember the words (if you are learning a language that has masculine, feminine, and or neuter words, it is important to always learn the words with their genders). It is practical, because I only had to label these objects once, and know that they will stay there, as long as no one else takes them down. By doing this, you learn vocabulary that native speakers use on an everyday basis.

If you are a college student like me, and live in a dorm room, and you want to try this, but your roommate does not want you to do so, do not worry. Simply label objects in your bedroom at home. This method can also be done with objects throughout the house (especially in your kitchen, and in your living-room).

This is also a great exercise for your brain. Whether you are ever going to have to actually say, or write the word “the doorknob” is unlikely, but what does matter is that you are pushing your brain to its limits trying to remember abstract, yet useful vocabulary that you would never learn in a textbook. Who knows? Someday, you may have the chance to impress a native speaker by effortlessly saying one of these words.