Benny Lewis's Blog, page 51
May 7, 2019
Add1 Insights #1: Lindie Botes (Globetrotting YouTuber, Speaks 10 Languages)
“The point of learning a language is communication. You’ll most likely be understood even if you have bad grammar.” - Lindie Botes
I’m honored to have interviewed Lindie Botes for our new Add1 Insights series.
Born in South Africa, Lindie has lived in France, Pakistan, the UAE and Japan. She speaks 10 languages (to varying levels), including Afrikaans, English, French, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Malay, Arabic and Hungarian. You can find her on YouTube, where she shares language learning tips with her 100,000+ subscribers.
Add1 Insights: Learn a New Language in 90 Days
Add1 Insights is our new feature where we interview polyglots, language teachers, language learners and even folks from outside the field of language learning. We’re getting straight to the point, asking for their top tips on language acquisition, steadfast motivation, and rapid learning.
We want to give you the inside scoop on what it takes to learn a new language, fast (in as little as 90 days).
We’ve actually seen hundreds of people learn a new language to conversational level in just 90 days. You can do it too by putting what you learn from Add1 Insights into practice.
And if you need extra support, then join us in Add1 -- where you’ll make lots of new friends who share your goal of learning a new language fast (plus you’ll have a 15 minute conversation in your new language after 90 days -- we guarantee it).
Read on to learn some of Lindie’s language learning hacks. And get to know some fun facts about a creative polyglot at the same time.
What Are the Top Three Activities You Would Advise to Have a 15 Minute Conversation in a New Language After 90 Days??
Make sure you have a natural pronunciation down. I do this by listening to a language a lot before I dive into studying it full-on. The more natural I sound, the easier it is to feel confident and be understood.
Learn the most used vocabulary in context, and focus on vocabulary you are interested in and would want to have a conversation about
Make your own sentences using new vocab learnt and get them checked by native speakers
[caption id="attachment_25741" align="aligncenter" width="701"]
Lindie with a tiny Mt Fuji in the background[/caption]What Are Your Top Three Pearls of Wisdom for Language Learners?
Don’t focus too much on accurate grammar in the beginning. The point of learning a language is communication. You’ll most likely be understood even if you have bad grammar.
Don’t underestimate how important correct pronunciation is. Sounding natural makes you come across as more fluent than you may be.
To reward yourself and stay motivated, keep track of your progress. This will help you when you feel like you are not getting anywhere.
What Are Your Top Three Favorite Cities?
Tokyo, Japan: I used to call this city home for a while and love that there’s always something new to do and see.
Taichung, Taiwan: for the beautiful nature and cute cafes.
Johannesburg, South Africa: because of how metropolitan, multilingual and international it is. Whilst still retaining unique South African flavour.
[caption id="attachment_25742" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Lindie giving a talk on language learning at the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation[/caption]What Are the Top Three Ways You Keep Yourself Motivated During an Intensive Language Mission?
Remind myself why I’m doing it and focus on my goals
Remind myself that I’m not getting any younger and I might as well study now rather than later
Do something fun in the language like watch a movie or call a friend
If You Were Going to Try the Add1, What Are the Top Three Languages You Might Attempt to Learn?
Hokkien because of its prevalence in Singapore (Lindie lives in Singapore at the moment)
Malay for the same reason
Thai because I’ve always given up soon after starting
What Are Your Top Three Favorite Places to Practice Speaking a Target Language?
Phone calling apps where you can speak to someone without seeing their face
Social media set in my target language
Approaching unsuspecting strangers in public places once I get over my shyness
What Are Your Top Three Favorite Study Tools When You First Start Learning a Language?
Radio apps to hear the language as much as possible
Good old fashioned textbook to keep my studies on track
A trusty online dictionary, like Naver which I use for Korean and Chinese.
What Are Your Top Three Favorite Places for Studying a New Language?
My desk, with lots of stationery and notebooks
On the train, listening to podcasts
Chatting to friends in coffee shops
[caption id="attachment_25743" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Lindie's bullet journal Chinese notes.[/caption]What Are Your Top Three Favorite Memories of a Language Win?
Being able to intern at a Japanese company. I realized that although I’m not fluent, my Japanese is good enough to get by in an office
Acting as an impromptu translator between my Korean and Indian housemates in Singapore
Being on South African news and teaching the presenter how to say something in Japanese
Lindie’s Top Content for Language Learners
Lindie’s videos are full of helpful, interesting content for langauge learners. She give practical tidbits on how to become a polyglot. This is her video which answers the age-old question, “How long does it take to be fluent?”
She also shares heartfelt videos about the trials and tribulations of language learning like this one.
And she shows her audience how to plan for success.
What about You?
Which of Lindie’s tips resonate most with you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section. And to our Add1 participants, best of luck on your language adventure!
Want to learn a new language in 90 days? Come join us in Add1.
A big thank you for Lindie for sharing her thoughts and winning strategies with us.
To learn more about Lindie, you can visit her YouTube channel or her website.
The post Add1 Insights #1: Lindie Botes (Globetrotting YouTuber, Speaks 10 Languages) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 5, 2019
Japanese Honorifics: How to Show Respect in Japanese
But they’re an essential part of Japanese, so you must learn them.
Here’s why Japanese honorifics are important. If there’s one thing to know about Japanese culture and language, it’s that everything is extra polite. Watch any Japanese movie or show, and you’ll witness plenty of ways the Japanese show respect to one another. They bow, have set phrases to show appreciation, and add -さん (-san) to the end of names.
If you look at the subtitles while watching a Japanese movie, you might have noticed that -san translates as “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Ms.” This is a Japanese honorific and the most common one.
But there are other Japanese name endings too? In fact, there are a lot of ways to show respect in Japanese with honorifics!
Let’s take a look at some of them, and how you can start using them in everyday speech.
How to Use Japanese Honorifics
Japanese honorifics have two main forms: prefix honorifics and suffix honorifics. Most of what we’ll be including here are Japanese suffixes because there are so many more of them.
Now, here are the four main things you should know when using honorifics:
Use honorifics for others, but never use them when talking about yourself or your family
When in doubt, use -san, or ask what the other person prefers
You can be more informal with your peers (classmates or coworkers of the same status and age), but you need to be more formal with those above you or older.
You will always add the honorific to someone’s last name unless they tell you otherwise or you have a close relationship with them.
The 4 Most Common Japanese Honorifics
San in Japanese
As I said earlier, -さん (-san) in Japanese means “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Ms.” It’s gender neutral and is used regardless of marital status, which makes it easy! It’s the honorific most often used. You’ll use it for strangers, acquaintances, and coworkers. You’ll even say it in conjunction with job titles like お巡りさん (omawarisan, “police officer”) and 店員さん (tenninsan, “shop clerk”). You can’t go wrong using -さん.
Sama in Japanese
So what’s the -様 (-sama) Japanese meaning? There’s not a direct translation into English, but -sama adds a higher level of respect. It’s used for people of high ranks (like in a company), or customers. Yes, as a customer, the shop clerk will use your last name + -様 because customers in Japan are treated with the utmost respect.
From time to time, you may also hear -殿 (-dono) in Japanese. Traditionally, -dono means something like “master” or “lord” and it's less respectful than -sama. Nowadays, you’ll hear it in old samurai movies or as a joke between friends or family.
Chan in Japanese
This one can be tricky, only because of the wrong impression in the West from anime. You’ll often hear “-chan is for girls, and -kun is for boys.” But that’s not quite right. In reality, -ちゃん (-chan) is for anything cute. That means you’ll usually attach -ちゃん to girls names, young boys, babies, and even sometimes pets! But that’s not all - you’ll hear it used with celebrity names, boyfriends, girlfriends, close friends, siblings, grandparents… You get the gist.
Most often, you’ll hear it used with someone’s first name instead of their last, or with a shortened . For instance, Usagi in Sailor Moon calls her boyfriend Mamoru “Mamo-chan,” a shortened form of his first name plus -chan. Japanese superstar Utada Hikaru is known as “Hikki,” but fans might call her “Hikki-chan.” And you might call your older sister “Nee-chan” instead of “Oneesan.”
Kun in Japanese
While -くん (-kun) is most often used for younger boys, it’s not exclusive. -Kun’s Japanese meaning expresses respect for someone of “lower” status than you or, most often, younger than you. That might mean they’ve worked at a company for less time than you have, they’re your junior in school, they’re a child, or a close friend. You can address a woman or girl by -kun, but it’s usually used by women to men. They might call their boyfriends or spouses -くん to show affection, like -ちゃん. Likewise, women often call children, especially boys, by -くん.
Prefix Japanese Honorifics
These are the Japanese honorifics that go at the start of a Japanese word.
There are only two prefix honorifics: お- (o-) and ご- (go-). And there are only a handful of instances where they're added before names, like お母さん (Okaasan, “Mom”) and お父さん (Otousan, “Dad”). The “o” at the beginning is an honorific that shows politeness to your parents, but it’s not uncommon to hear “Kaasan” or “Tousan” like yelling “Ma!” or “Pa!”
Besides familial names, the “o-” prefix can attach to royalty, martial arts teachers, or the head of state.
O- and go- prefixes are normally used for nouns that are significant in Japanese culture, or life-giving (and have kami, or a god-like nature). In this respect, they’re tied to Shinto traditions. Here are a few examples:
お神様 (okamisama): God, or gods
お茶 (ocha): tea
お酒 (osake): rice wine
お金 (okane): money
お水 (omizu): water
ご両親 (goryoushin): parents
ご家族 (gokazoku): family
The general rule is if the word is Japanese in origin, it uses “o-”. And if it’s Chinese in origin (using the Chinese, or on-reading of kanji) then you use go-.
But don’t worry too much about memorizing this! You’ll just pick it up as you use the words.
The few mentioned here are most common, and many others you hardly hear. Even if you use the wrong prefix, don’t fret. Japanese speakers will still understand, and they know you’re learning.
Other Japanese Formalities You Should Know
Besides the main four honorifics you use on a personal level, there are other honorifics used based on specific job titles, relationships, and social situations. You can still always get by with -さん (-san), but sometimes more specific honorifics are more appropriate. Some even take place of the other person’s name altogether.
Japanese Honorifics at Work
In the office, you can call your coworkers -さん (-san) or even -ちゃん (-chan) or -くん (-kun), but what about your boss? When talking to your boss, you’ll call him 部長 (buchou). This means “manager,” and you can use it with their last name or without. For example, you can say “Tanaka-buchou” or just “Buchou.” Both are respectful. Same goes for the company president, which is 社長 (shachou).
But, when you’re referring to someone else’s boss or president who works at a different company, you would use -様 (-sama).
Japanese Honorifics in Newspapers, the News, and Formal Documents
You will rarely hear this one in spoken speech outside of the news, but it’s a good one to know: -氏 (-shi). This one refers to you, the reader, as well as all the other readers of a formal letter, document, academic research paper, or newspaper article. It also refers to a famous person or person of interest in a news article or segment, whom the speaker has never met. Once it’s been used with the person’s name (for instance, “Tanaka-shi”), it's used by itself to refer to the person.
Japanese Honorifics in School
In school, you can address someone simply by their status title. You can call you teacher 先生 (sensei) or attach it to their name, like “Tanaka-sensei.” Even teachers who have a PhD, like in college, are often still called sensei. Sometimes you might hear these professors referred to as 博士 (hakase), or “Tanaka-hakase*. This isn’t common, but it translates as “Dr. Tanaka.” It’s more common in American schools to change the address of a teacher with a PhD, though.
Besides teachers, there are also Japanese formalities for students above and below you. If you’re talking to an upper-classman, you would call them 先輩 (senpai), or “Tanaka-senpai.” For those in the class below you, you could say 後輩 (kouhai). But unlike senpai, which shows respect, kouhai can be a bit condescending. So, it’s not really used as an honorific suffix.
Japanese Honorifics at Home
Like I mentioned before, you use the o- prefix when talking to family members. Here’s a list of all those familial honorific titles:
Mom: お母さん (Okaasan) / 母 (Haha)
Dad: お父さん (Otousan) / 父 (Chichi)
Older brother: お兄さん (Oniisan) / 兄 (Ani)
Older sister: お姉さん (Oneesan) / 姉 (Ane)
Younger brother: 弟さん (Otoutosan) / 弟 (Otouto)
Younger sister: 妹さん (Imoutosan) / 妹 (Imouto)
Uncle: 叔父さん (Ojisan) / 叔父 (Oji)
Aunt: 叔母さん (Obasan) / 叔母 (Oba)
Grandfather: お祖父さん (Ojiisan) / 祖父 (Sofu)
Grandmother: お祖母さん (Obaasan) / 祖母 (Sobo)
You’ll also use these terms when talking about someone else’s family, such as 田中さんのお母さん (Tanakasan no Okaasan, “Mr. Tanaka’s mother”). But, for your own family, you use the “o-” prefix names only when talking to your family members, or about a family member to another family member. When talking about your own family to others outside your family circle, you would use their humble names. So, from above, “Okaasan” is formal and you call your mom by that name, as well as anyone else’s mom. When talking about your mom to others, you say “Haha.”
The reason for that change? Japanese people like to show respect to their family and other people. But they prefer to be humble when talking about themselves and their family to others. That’s why you’ll never add an honorific to your own name when talking about yourself. And why you drop the respectful “o-” prefix names and opt for the humble names when talking about your own family.
Japanese Honorifics in Relationships
For boyfriends and girlfriends, you’ll often use -ちゃん or -くん, or call them by their name. You can also call them 彼 (kare, “he” or “boyfriend”) and 彼女 (kanojo, “she” or “girlfriend”) when talking to others. If you want to be especially romantic, you can use the person’s name plus のきみ (no kimi, like “Tanaka no kimi” or “Ayumi no kimi”) to say “My beloved.” It’s a bit heavy, and it’s mostly used in love letters.
If you’re married, you can call your husband 夫 (otto) to others, and 旦那さん (dannasan) when talking to him. Dannasan is respectful, but also a bit “cute.” It’s almost like a form of PDA in Japanese, so usually, it’s said behind closed doors, while using “otto” in public. The same is true for 妻 (tsuma) and 奥さん (okusan). Tsuma is how you refer to your wife in public, while “okusan” is a cute, respectful term used when addressing your wife at home.
If you’re talking or asking about someone else’s husband or wife, though, you would refer their husband as ご主人 (goshujin) and their wife as 奥さん (okusan).
Japanese Honorifics With Kids
When talking with children, it’s common to say -ちゃん or -くん, but there are a couple other cutesy names you can use! Especially for babies.
-たん (-tan) is a form of baby talk, a mispronunciation of -chan by young children. It’s an affectionate term you can use for young children, especially toddlers. Like -chan, it’s used a bit more for girls than boys.
Then there’s -ぼう (-bou), a cuter form of -kun used for young boys and toddlers. This one is only used for boys though because it means something like “little prince.”
Japanese Honorifics in Religion
In some faiths, you have priests and pastors. In Japanese, a priest (司祭, shisai) goes by 神父 (shinpu), which translates to the title of “Father” in English. In English, a Catholic priest can be just “Father”, of you can add their name, like “Father Dominic”. The same is true in Japanese. You can say Shinpu or ドミニク神父 (Dominiku-shinpu).
In Protestant faiths, the church leader is 牧師 (bokushi), which means “pastor.” As with shinpu, you can use bokushi by itself to address the pastor of the church, or use it with their name like ドミニク牧師 (Dominiku-bokushi).
Japanese Honorifics in Politics, Royalty, and Leadership
There are a lot of titles for politicians, world leaders, and royalty. But the most common you’ll hear in Japanese are:
首相 (shushou): prime minister
大統領 (daitouryou): president
皇帝 (koutei): emperor
皇后 (kougou): empress
閣下 (kakka): excellency, for heads of state, ambassadors, and other high-ranking dignitaries
殿下(denka): royal highness
For example, 安倍首相 (Abe-Shushou, Prime Minister Abe) and トランプ大統領 (Toranpu-daitouryou, President Trump). For royalty, there's イギリスの殿下、エリザベス女王 (Igirisu no denka, Erizabesu-jou, “Her Highness of England, Queen Elizabeth”). And Emperor Akihito is 秋人皇帝 (Akihito-koutei) and his wife, Empress Michiko is みちこ皇后 (Michiko-kougou).
There aren’t many left in the world, but a sovereign king or queen is 陛下 (heika) instead of denka, which is used for non-sovereign royalty. But 陛下 is still used when formally announced the emperor of Japan.
For royal family members, you would say -王 (-ou) for king, -女王 (-jou) for queen, -王子 (-ouji) for prince, and -王女 (-oujo) for princess. Such as ハリー王子 (Harii-ouji, “Prince Harry”).
Mastering Japanese Honorifics Takes Time but Goes a Long Way
Phew! That’s a lot of Japanese titles and formalities. It takes time to master them all, but this is a good, large chunk of all the major ones you’ll hear in different social situations or while reading the news. If you master the main four you should know - san, sama, chan, and kun - you’ll be one step ahead and sure to make others happy with how polite you are in Japanese!
Ready for more? Check out these amazing Japanese resources.
Which honorifics do you use most? Have you tried to start using a few of them? Let me hear your experience with honorifics in the comments!
The post Japanese Honorifics: How to Show Respect in Japanese appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 2, 2019
10 Must-Watch Korean Movies to Fall in Love With As You Learn Korean
Watching Korean movies can be a great way to learn the language and culture. When you watch Korean movies, you hear the Korean language used in many ways and in situations that you won’t learn in a textbook or language app.
You get valuable listening practice (when you’re actively listening). Plus, watching movies is one of the best ways to learn aspects of the culture you may not have understood or known.
And obviously, one of the best reasons to learn this way? You get to enjoy must-watch Korean movies. That’s way more enjoyable than always staring at a vocab list!
Of course, you’ll need to study Korean outside of movies, but that doesn’t change the fact that they can help instill what you learn. And it’s a good idea to learn a bit about the movies and related vocabulary beforehand, so you can pick out more as you listen and watch. If you hear phrases or words repeated often, write them down. You can look them up when the movie is over, and commit them to memory.
So here are 10 of the best Korean films to get started with learning from movies.
The Beauty Inside
Hangul: 뷰티 인사이드Released: 2015
Director: Jong-Yeoi Baek
Genre: Romantic Comedy
IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
On his 18th birthday, Woo-jin wakes up in a different body. And every day after that, when he wakes up, his body changes again. He could be anyone - any gender, ethnicity, or age. Sometimes he even speaks different languages! But he’s always himself on the inside.
Then one day, he falls in love with a girl who doesn’t know the different people she talks to every day are really, in fact, Woo-jin.
Romantic comedies like this are a fantastic way to pick up casual speech patterns and everyday language between couples, friends, and social situations.
Oldboy
Hangul: 올드보이Released: 2003
Director: Chan-Wook Park
Genre: Action Thriller
IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this legendary movie. It’s ranked as one of the top Korean movies and started the revenge genre trend. Based on the Japanese manga of the same name, Oldboy is about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage for 15 years. Without ever knowing his captor or their motive, he is suddenly released. He ends up caught up in a game of manipulation, violence, and conspiracy as he seeks vengeance.
Get ready for some intense Korean verbiage, phrases, and idioms. You’ll be exposed to many ways of speaking in Korean that you might not hear often in your own everyday life.
Train to Busan
Hangul: 부산행Released: 2016
Director: Sang-ho Yeon
Genre: Apocalyptic thriller
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
This movie is widely popular and broke records for moviegoing attendance. It’s considered one of the best Korean films in recent years. It takes place on a train from Seoul to Busan as a zombie apocalypse breaks out in the country. An infected passenger boards the train at the beginning of the journey and the outbreak spreads among the cars as passengers fight for survival.
You’ll hear all kinds of formal, informal, and hierarchical speech patterns from children, families, the news, and more. You’ll also learn crucial vocab you’d need to survive should a zombie apocalypse happen!
The Attorney
Hangul: 변호인Released: 2013
Director: Woo-seok Yang
Genre: Drama
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
This movie’s based on a true story during the Chun Doo-hwan authoritarian era. Members of a book club are arrested without warrants by the government under falsified charges, claiming they’re North Korean sympathizers. This leads a tax attorney from Busan to defend his old friend and other book club members in court.
That tax attorney was Roh Moo-hyun, who became the 16th president of South Korea and a face for human rights. Not only is this movie great for learning a bit of Korean history, you’ll learn political and court-related terms in Korean, too.
Veteran
Hangul: 베테랑Released: 2015
Director: Seung-wan Ryoo
Genre: Action Comedy
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Seo Do-cheol is a tough veteran detective who takes on a high-profile investigation that leads him to a young millionaire, Jo Tae-oh… who happens to be the third-generation heir to a huge conglomerate. Jo Tae-oh uses his wealth, power, and connections to stay one step ahead of Seo and his team. But the detective is relentless and continues to hunt him down.
Get ready to expand your crime vocab in Korean! You’ll be exposed to varying speech patterns from both Seo and Jo, and learn phrases relating to law enforcement, businesses, and more.
My Wife is a Gangster
Hangul: 조폭 마누라Released: 2001
Director: Jin-gyu Cho
Genre: Action Comedy
IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
The orphan-turned-Kkangpae leader (the Korean mafia) Eun-jin discovers her long lost sister is dying of cancer. To make her sister’s dying wish a reality, she marries a kind man and hides her gangster life from him. Eventually, he finds out and tries to get Eun-jin to give up the mafia life. Cue tons of gang fighting.
If mafia-style movies are your thing, there are two more “My Wife is a Gangster” movies following this one. You’ll learn about the Kkangpae and hear those unique speech patterns. Plus, there’s a lot of repetitive words and phrases to pick up on and memorize.
Inside Men
Hangul: 내부자들Released: 2015
Director: Min-ho Woo
Genre: Action
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
A political action/drama movie following the fight between power, vengeance, and success. Lee Kang-hee, an influential editor, uses the power of the press and secret deals to manipulate the political system. He pushes for Jang Pil-woo to win the Presidency during elections. One of their former henchmen, who was treated ruthlessly when caught, seeks revenge while a detective relentlessly investigates Lee and Jang.
You’ll learn everything from newspaper verbiage to political vocab and phrases in this one. Listen for how the characters change their speech patterns based on each other’s status.
How to Steal a Dog
Hangul: 개를 훔치는 완벽한 방법Released: 2014
Director: Sung-ho Kim
Genre: Family
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Ji-so lives in her van with her mom and brother after being abandoned by her father when he went bankrupt. After seeing a poster offering a reward for a lost dog, Ji-so comes up with a plan to kidnap dogs from wealthy families. She later returns the dog to claim the reward, so she can save up money to buy her family a home. Of course, she’s a bit misguided and runs into issues along the way, but all’s well that ends well.
Pay attention to the hierarchical speech patterns related to social status, as well as kid-friendly speech. Besides, who doesn’t love a lighthearted movie with dogs?
The Wailing
Hangul: 곡성Released: 2016
Director: Hong-jin Na
Genre: Horror
IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
A stranger arrives at a remote village in the mountains in South Korea. Suddenly an infectious, murderous disease spreads among the villagers. Police officer Jong-goo investigates the case and struggles to find the truth as he learns about his daughter’s infection. The deeper he gets into the case, the stranger and darker it becomes.
If horror movies are your thing, there’s plenty of vocab specific to this genre that will help you when watching more horror movies. Try to reiterate what happened in the movie later in Korean so you can practice telling your own ghost stories!
Wonderful Nightmare
Hangul: 미쓰 와이프Released: 2015
Director: Hyo-jin Kang
Genre: Romantic Comedy
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
If you like the American TV show “The Good Place,” you’ll probably like this Korean rom-com. Yeon-woo wakes up in heaven after a car accident, only to discover that a clerical error led to her accidental death. In order to go back to her life, she must live as another woman for just one month. She struggles with adjusting to this temporary life where she is married to a civil servant with two daughters. But she grows into a better person along the way.
There’s a lot of different grammar patterns, vocab, and ways of speaking you can listen for, especially within Yeon-woo’s temporary new family dynamic.
Which Korean Movies Will You Watch?
These are 10 of the best Korean movies (and some of the all-time most popular) to watch and learn from. Movies can be entertaining, but remember to actively listen. Try not to tune out and only read the subtitles while you’re watching. Instead, listen and learn the speech patterns and tones.
If you want some tips for improving your Korean language skills while watching movies, try using the transcription technique for grasping what you hear. And if you binge all these movies and you’re ready for something else, try Korean dramas next.
Which Korean movies will you start watching? Do you have a favorite movie genre in Korean? Or were any of your favorite Korean movies not on the list? Share with us in the comments!
The post 10 Must-Watch Korean Movies to Fall in Love With As You Learn Korean appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 28, 2019
The Fine Art of Language Exchange: How to Find that Special Someone to Practise Your New Language
My friend lost her cat to a spinal cord injury. Minou was a handsome round-faced tabby with a fluffy racoon tail.
With swollen red eyes, my friend shares intimate details of her cat’s unsuccessful surgery. After a long silence, I hand her a tissue and we break into laughter. The joke eases our sadness for the moment.
What exactly was the joke?
I was attempting to hand my dear friend a tissue through my computer screen. She was in France while I was sitting in California. We started out as language exchange partners, chatting on Skype. A year later, we are genuine friends. I have strong bonds with my Francophone friends because I made language exchange a key part of my learning.
Let’s be honest. Speaking to a new person in your target language can be intimidating. It takes guts and a hardy dose of grit to create a sustainable language exchange.
The first time I did it, I not only suffered from insomnia the night before. I also sounded weird during the exchange. My brain was so busy finding words that I had the social skills of a baby moose (more on that in a moment).
First, let me begin with how I started.
I Started by Talking to Strangers
Two of my regular language partners were complete strangers to me when we started meeting on Skype. Both found me using italki’s notebook section.
For writing practice, I submit one or two posts in my target language every week on italki’s notebook section. These folks corrected my French, we got to talking, and things worked out from there.
If you’re looking for a language exchange partner, I recommend that you start by connecting with people online (who speak your target language) on a regular basis. You can do that on italki, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or online forums, or plenty of other online platforms. Do this, and you will make friends who speak your target language. Then you can ask if they’d like to hang out.
I Was Persistent and I Didn’t Give Up
When I was looking for a language exchange partner, I contacted several of the native speakers who corrected my notebook submissions on italki. Using the same email message, I asked if they would be available for a weekly chat. Out of ten sent messages, a retired Belgium man was the only one to reply.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll hit a few dead ends before you find a good fit.
As for my French partner, she contacted me after she corrected one of my notebook entries. I responded to her with a similar generic text.
I Use a Simple Contact Script
Here’s the message I use when I contact a potential language exchange partner. Feel free to use it yourself!
Thank you for contacting me, Jean.
It would be a pleasure to speak with you and practice our target languages together. I am available Monday, Wednesday or Saturday at 15h30/Paris time next week. If you'd like, we can talk for an hour (30 minutes in English, 30 minutes in French) or a half hour (15 minutes & 15 minutes). If you pick a time, I'll meet you on Skype.
Language learning should be fun. I'm a helpful language partner because I speak clearly and have a friendly demeanor. I would write this in French as well but I have to get ready for work.
Wishing you all the best on your language learning journey,
Elizabeth
I’ve Made the Chats Part of My Routine
You brush your teeth every morning. I hope. You go grocery shopping every Thursday after work. These simple tasks are part of your routine.
You don’t think about it. You just do it.
By setting up a chat at the same time every week, having a language exchange becomes as easy as walking your dog:
Language exchange has been a regular part of my weekly routine for over a year now. It’s the main reason I am so comfortable when talking to strangers in my target language. During our recurring sessions, I speak with my language exchange partners for 30 minutes in French followed by 30 minutes in English.
After months of weekly chats with my language buds, I find myself forgetting that I’m speaking French. It’s an extraordinary feeling, and one that you can experience too -- as soon as you find a language exchange partner.
I Share My Interests in My Online Profiles
Your online profile will help potential exchange partners find common ground with you. Hat tip to Lindsay Williams for that handy-dandy hint.
When you’re on a language exchange website such as italki, potential exchange partners will pop over to your profile to see if you have anything in common to talk about. You can share your favorite movies, music or hobbies in your profile. I enjoy the art of language learning so much I included the tools I use. Here’s a peek at my profile.
My husband and I love visiting Paris as well as other areas in Europe. I've wanted to learn a second language ever since I was a little girl. My current goal is to learn French to B2 level. Once I've reached that level, I will learn Spanish and Chinese.
Some of my favorite study habits and apps:
Duolingo
Coffee Break French
Language Hacking French book
Fluentin3months.com
Netflix
I Set Expectations Right from the Start
As you can see in my contact script above, I list my availability so that my potential exchange partner can choose the best time for her. I also made sure to explain how the language exchange would work. Setting the 50% French / 50% English expectation makes it easy to stick to this guideline.
A few people responded that they would be happy to chat but preferred to meet spontaneously. That didn’t work for me and I responded with a polite, “No, thank you” message.
I wasn’t interested in hunting for a partner every week. For me, that would be like hiding my toothbrush in a different room every morning. Practicing your target language is a challenging mental workout. Routine can make it a little easier.
As I mentioned earlier, most people never even responded. It’s a numbers game, folks. Don’t get discouraged. Keep trying.
I Let Go When Exchanges Didn’t Work Out
One language exchange partner that was not a fit was Maxime. I enjoyed talking to him. His patient demeanor made me comfortable while fumbling with my beginner level French.
But, he was late. A lot. He would send me a message saying he would be five minutes late due to an important work meeting. Then he’d show up 20 minutes past the agreed start time.
I’m not big on drama. And there is no need to school a grown man. Besides, I couldn’t lambast him in French just yet. After he was late for the third time, I told him that I was no longer available and that I would call him if I had time.
By letting him go, I made space in my life for the best language buds to arrive. Our energetic life is much like tending a garden.
New growth will not occur until there is space available. Keep your language plot weeded and you’ll be amazed at the beautiful flowers that grow with a few organic seeds.
I Keep It Even, Steven (My Sunny California Smile Helps Here)
I listened to Olly Richards speaking about a language exchange partner gone rogue. After they spoke in English for 30 minutes or so, he attempted to switch to his target language but she refused. He’s way more polite than me. He didn’t come right out and tell her it was time to speak in his target language.
He was smart enough to refrain from scheduling a second exchange. As for me, I’m pretty American in that I would have said with my sunny California smile something to the effect of “Okay! French time now.”
I've got a secret weapon. I grew up on the East Coast where being frank is a regional pastime. It comes in handy when used sparingly.
Actually, I have said, “Okay! French time now,” when my language partner and I get carried away in our conversation. I am fair. I do the same when it’s time for English.
I wait for my partner to take a breath between sentences and then I say gently, “Ok, English now." Then I start answering only in the correct language. It’s become so normal that we continue the subject in the new language.
I Make Sure: Same Time, Same Place, Same Coffee
I keep to a routine, and it works well for me. I do my language exchanges first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. Actually, I usually go for hot water. But you get the idea.
With this routine, having a goal of 120 minutes of speaking French per week is not only possible, it’s easy. I talk to my buds before starting my day. I plunk down on my meditation bench for a morning mind bath. I brush my teeth. And on a good day, I do five minutes of yoga before a session but everything else happens after we chat.
I Cheat on My Language Partners (They Forgive Me, Honestly)
I usually surpass my weekly goal of 120 minutes because I have more than one language bud. But why have more than one? Because people get sick. Because people go on vacation. Because life happens.
It’s helpful to have partners with different accents, speech patterns and interests. My American partner laughs with me when we can’t figure out how to translate a phrase we use in English like “binge-watch” or the not-used-nearly-enough “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.
My Belgium partner uses simple sentences. He remembers what it was like to learn a second, third and fourth language.
My French partner shows me what American culture looks like through her eyes.
They are each fascinating in their own way.
I’m Prepared for a Mental Workout While Simultaneously Sounding like a Preschooler
It takes courage to set up a language exchange appointment. It takes even more courage to show up. The first month of weekly language exchanges was the hardest for me.
My French speaking muscles hadn’t developed yet. I suffered insomnia. It was due to a mixture of excitement and terror the night before each appointment.
My husband would find me staring off into a corner while mumbling to myself in French. Poor fella. He thought I’d gone mad. As it turns out, I was practicing my introductions.
During the first few weeks, I would also run out of things to say during our chats. My brain was so busy finding words that I had the social skills of a baby moose.
Someone would ask me how I was doing. After five minutes of sputtering, I would finally mumble Ça va (“It's going well”).
This extremely impressive two-word sentence was then followed by a very long, very awkward silence. I completely forgot to ask them how they were doing.
I’ve Learned that “Baby Moose Phase” Is Normal
It gets better with practice, I promise. But it will only get better if you practice.
The first month of conversations were choppy and uncomfortable. I jumped all over the place. Talking to me in French was like talking to a four year old. A four year old who had minutes ago eaten two gigantic popsicles followed by a 20 ounce Red Bull.
“I like frogs. Do you like the beach? Yesterday, we went to the park. Where does your mom live?”
My famous phrase for changing subjects was, “I want to talk about…” And off we’d go.
How to Be a Great Language Exchange Partner in 5 Simple Steps
Quoting Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Or in the case of a language exchange, be the language partner you wish to see in your world. It’s quite simple.
Step 1: Be on time.
I set up Skype before brushing my teeth. I learned the hard way. I missed out on 20 minutes of an exchange because my fickle computer decided it was time to update and restart.
Step 2: Be courteous.
I emailed my language partner with a sincere apology. I also promised to let her know when my computer was working again. Her time is valuable. So, I keep delays to a minimum.
Step 3: Put your freaking phone down.
And keep it out of reach during the entire conversation. Trust me. It won’t kill you.
There is no greater killjoy than to struggle in a target language while the other person sneaks a text. Not cool!
Step 4: Invest in a headset with a decent microphone.
It’s hard enough speaking in your target language. Add not hearing the other person or sounding muffled. You can turn a lovely exchange into an annoying experience.
For 10 bucks, you can miss out on the madness. Your headset doesn’t need to be fancy. I have two sets near my study chair. If one poops out (which does happen), it doesn’t ruin the whole conversation.
Step 5: Be a cheerleader.
Positive feedback to a language learner is like sunshine on a plant. Give it freely. Give it often. Give it wholeheartedly.
Some of the things I say to my language partners are quite simple.
Your sentences have better flow this week. That’s great.
I noticed you are looking up words less and less on Google Translate. Way to go!
It’s actually quite touching to see my language friends bask in the glow of their improvements.
Ready. Set. Exchange!
What I know for sure is that language exchange has made my language learning come alive. It's unnerving to take the plunge but so worth it.
I wish you the best of luck luck with your language exchange adventures. Have you ever tried a language exchange? I'd love to hear your two cents' worth.
The post The Fine Art of Language Exchange: How to Find that Special Someone to Practise Your New Language appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 25, 2019
Learn Any Language Faster: 6 Easy Steps to Falling in Love with Your Mistakes
Who wants to be wrong? I know that I hate feeling I’ve messed up. Yet you can't learn a language if you can't accept failure.
Falling in love with your mistakes is the key to confident conversations in a new language. Follow these easy steps to learn to fall in love with your mistakes and make rapid progress towards your language goals.
Step 1: Put on the Mindset of a Top Athlete
Most of us will never be Olympians or professional athletes. Nevertheless, we can learn a lot from the way these top performers train to improve their skills.
Athletes set goals and train hard. They also take care of themselves with time to recover, rest and have fun. This approach allows them to improve and get stronger. Successful language learners do these same things.
In addition to establishing a learning routine that is consistent, fun and allows for steady progress, athletes have an even more powerful secret to their success.
Their secret? Resilience.
How many times do you see a player get tackled in a football game? A baseball player strike out? A missed goal? These failures happen in every game. Yet despite these setbacks, players still get back up and keep playing.
Mistakes can be embarrassing. Many a Spanish learner has told people that they were embarazada (pregnant) instead of avergonzada (embarrassed). I had a taxi drop me at a Korean television station (MBC) instead of the embassy I requested. I also once thanked an elderly French woman for giving me a disease when I wanted to compliment her on her kindness!
All-star athletes like Tom Brady wouldn't be playing if they let every mistake stop them. They get back up and keep going. Otherwise, they would never be top performers.
Treat yourself like a top athlete by getting a regular workout and keep communicating despite your mistakes.
Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint. The stronger you are, the longer the distance you'll be able to run. Try, fall down, and get back up every day in your target language.
Step 2: Seek Out Failure
You can’t learn a new language without making a lot of mistakes. Don't resist making them by staying in your comfort zone. Avoid mistakes and you avoid progress.
Small children make tons of mistakes learning to speak. Do we tell them to stop speaking until they can do it perfectly? No, we help by listening, encouraging them, and providing quality language input. Have that same compassion and patience with yourself.
Step 3: Use “Linguistic Tasks” to Focus on What You CAN Do (Not on What You Can’t)
Focus on what you can do, and that will provide you with what you need to be able to develop your language skills. Can you only respond with one word? Say it. Did you mispronounce something? Try again. Each attempt brings you closer to mastery.
One of the most helpful tools I have found as a language learner and a language teacher is tasks. Linguistic tasks are specific things a person can do in a language. A task might be renting a car, or understanding a shopping list. They are practical real-world prompts to build and measure your skills.
Step 4: Speak from Day One
Speak from day one, and do it every day. It gives you the perfect opportunity to keep making mistakes! Plus you’ll assimilate, process and experiment with all of the words and phrases you are learning.
When you speak with a native speaker (or even a highly proficient non-native speaker), not only are you doing important problem solving with the language you've already learned, you are getting new language from that other person to keep and use yourself. Learning from input and testing yourself with your output regularly is the key to rapid progress.
Try italki to start speaking your target language with a tutor from the start. They can model correct language use for you, as well as provide you with a lot of new language that you can use in future conversations - just as the adults in your life did for you as you learned your native language.
Too shy to dive in with a native speaker now? Talk to yourself first. You won't get the same input that you would get by talking to native speakers, but it is a great way to work through your shyness.
Record yourself. Absolute beginners can even read through vocabulary lists or a dialogue. As your confidence builds, start recording yourself without vocabulary aids. Talk regularly about any topic you wish without worrying about mistakes, and feel yourself reaching fluency fast.
If you want to ever be able to speak a language fluently, you will have to have to work through a lot of mistakes first. A workout routine of trial and error will help you do just that.
Step 5: Use Mistakes to Fail Forward
There is no more useful test for language learners than mistakes.
When you speak and write, your errors and gaps in knowledge show themselves. For example, you might not have the word you're looking for or can't remember a certain verb ending. Instead of feeling bad, take this valuable feedback as an indication of where to focus during your next study session. Fill those gaps by finding the words and phrases you didn't know or by reviewing your verb conjugations. Use your mistakes to fail forward.
To get good quality feedback on your mistakes, you can share your writing with your italki teacher, or an online community like Rhinospike. You will find the grammar and vocabulary you learn in context far more helpful than anything from a textbook.
Step 6: Remember, You Will Get to Automatic
Just as you learned that 1+1=2, you will learn the patterns and structures of your target language and not forget them.
Math and languages have a great deal in common. They both deal with symbols and sounds that represent ideas and values to us.
When you learned arithmetic, you learned it so well that many calculations eventually became easy and almost automatic. You likely made some errors along the way, but the practice and feedback helped cement the algorithms in your mind. Practice makes perfect, and mistakes are part of that process.
The post Learn Any Language Faster: 6 Easy Steps to Falling in Love with Your Mistakes appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 22, 2019
German Time: How To Tell The Time in German
It’s more than just saying it’s two o’clock or a quarter past four. Telling the time opens up a world of storytelling, helps you to make plans with your German friends and ensures you don’t miss your train.
If you get excited when you hear the words, “a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” or panic when you realise, “our train leaves in five minutes!”, you know exactly what I mean.
Being able to talk about the past, present and future is all rooted in the ability to tell the time. In this article, I want to give you a foundation to help you express the right time, make plans with people and understand some of Germany's time-related nuances.
Sound good? Then, los geht’s!
German Time Vocabulary: The Words You Need To Know
Let’s start with some of the essential words you’ll need to express time, times of day and the German days of the week. Use these to create a spaced repetition deck or just add them to your revision list!
Uhr - “hour or o’clock”
vor - “before”
nach - “after or past”
viertel - “quarter”
halb - “half”
fünf - “five”
dreißig - “thirty”
Zeit - “time”
um - “at” (related to time)
gegen - “round” or “-ish”
heute - “today:
gestern - “yesterday”
morgen - “tomorrow”
Woche - “week”
Wochenende - “weekend”
Morgen früh - “tomorrow morning”
Vormittag - “before midday”
Mittag - “midday”
Nachmittag - “after midday”
Abend - “afternoon”
Nacht - “evening”
übermorgen - “the day after tomorrow”
vorgestern - “he day before yesterday”
wenn - “if/when”
als - “when” (past tense)
Some of these words have other meanings in German (like how um also means “in order to”). So, remember these are only their definitions as they relate to time.
You’ll also need to know the German numbers before you try to tell numerical time.
On The Clock: Simple Ways To Tell German Time
Let’s start by breaking down how to tell the numerical time on the German clock.
On The Hour
To express a time on the hour, like one o’clock or five o’clock, you follow this sentence structure:
Es ist [Number] Uhr - “It is [number] o’clock”
It’s exactly the same structure as English, which is really simple and easy to remember. Here’s how that would look in practice:
Es ist zwei Uhr - “It is two o’clock”
Es ist fünf Uhr - “It is five o’clock”
Es ist zehn Uhr - “It is ten o’clock”
Also like in English, you can use the 12-hour clock. So you can use zwei Uhr (“two o’clock”) to refer to the time of morning and afternoon. If you want to be more precise and still use 12-hour time, note that there is no a.m. or p.m. Instead, you can add either nachts (“at night”), morgens (“in the morning”), nachmittags (“in the afternoon”), or abends (“in the evening”). When referring to twelve o’clock you can say either Mittag (“noon”) or Mitternacht (“midnight”).
However, Germans can also express time using the 24-hour clock, something we rarely do in English anymore. For example:
Es ist fünfzehn Uhr It is 15:00, or 15 o’clock)
Es ist zwanzig Uhr (It is 20:00, or 20 o’clock)
Es ist zweiundzwanzig Uhr (It is 22:00, or 22 o’clock)
Keep in mind this isn’t military time like we use in English. They don’t say “fifteen-hundred hours” like we do. It’s still the number followed by Uhr.
The Exact Time
If you want to tell the precise time, down to the minute, the sentence structure is also pretty simple. And in many ways, simpler than English. Here’s how it looks:
Es ist [Number] Uhr [Number] - “It is [number] o’clock [number]”
Let’s check out a few examples:
Es ist zwei Uhr sechzehn (2:16)
Es ist fünf Uhr zwei (5:02)
Es ist zehn Uhr vierunddreißig (10:34)
Still with me so far? Good! You’re doing well.
Much like English, you can keep it pretty simple by rounding up to a closer, easier to express time, too.
Is It Half Four Or Half Five? How To Round Up To The Half Hour!
German time allows you to express the half hour, probably like you’re used to. When it’s 27 minutes past or 27 minutes to, you can say it’s half past as you normally would.
But what’s different is that Germans talk about the hour to come, and not the hour you’re currently in. Let me explain.
Take a look at these three time-stamps. How would you express them in English?
05:30
09:30
22:30
In British English, you would say half five, half nine and half ten, respectively. But in German, they would be expressed as half of the next hour. Like this:
Halb sechs (5:30, half past five)
Halb zehn (9:30, half past nine)
Halb elf (22:30, half past ten)
This is pretty much the standard for Hochdeutsch speakers and the version I’ve heard most frequently since moving to Germany. This can take a little getting used to, so don’t worry if it takes a while to click.
If you want to express the time and keep getting this muddled up, don’t worry. You can also just use the example from the last section to say it’s 30 minutes past the hour.
Quarter To, Quarter Past, And Other German Roundings
German time also allows you to round up to different times between hours, such as quarter past and quarter too. To do this you would use this sentence structure:
Es ist viertel nach [number] (It is quarter past [number])
Es ist viertel vor [number] (It is quarter past [number])
This is virtually the same as it is in English. Here are a few examples:
Es ist viertel nach drei (it’s quarter past three)
Es ist viertel nach zwölf (it’s quarter past twelve)
Es ist viertel vor vier (it’s quarter to four)
Es ist viertel vor neun (It’s quarter to nine)
It’s always a quarter past the current hour and a quarter to the upcoming one. Though be careful! If neither vor nor nach are used with viertel, it's best to ask for clarification. In some regions, they take the halb sechs logic further and use viertel sechs (literally "quarter six") to refer to "quarter past five" and dreiviertel sechs to refer to "quarter to six". That said, as long as vor or nach are used, there’s no room for misunderstanding.
There’s another rounding that is used in German. In English, you would also often say it’s 25 to or 25 past. Germans do this too, but they express it differently. They say it’s five minutes before or after half past. This is also combined with the rounding to the next hour we explored in a previous section. (Yeah, I know. I know.)
To keep this simple, let’s keep the timestamps exact. But these can be used when expressing a non-exact time in the same general range. Here we go:
06:25
09:25
10:35
11:35
To express these you would say:
Es ist fünf vor halb sieben (It’s five minutes before half past six)
Es ist fünf vor halb zehn (It’s five minutes before half past nine)
Es ist fünf nach halb elf (It’s five minutes after half past ten)
Es ist fünf nach halb zwölf (It’s five minutes after half past eleven)
Personally, I’ve not used this expression a lot. So don’t feel you have to learn how to say it. Just know that you will often hear it from German speakers. And it knowing it exists will save you the, “What the heck did you just say?” face I pulled when I first heard it.
Phew! Okay, that should just about do us for telling the time numerically. Let’s move on to the next section, asking for the time.
German Time Related Questions
Here we’ll look at some questions you might be asked (or can ask yourself) about the time.
What Time is it, Herr Wolf?
There are a few simple ways you can ask for the time in German.
If you really just want to know what time it is on the clock, you can ask any of these questions and someone will respond with one expressions you saw in the last section.
Wie viel Uhr haben wir? - “What time is it?” (Literally: How many hours do we have?)
Wie spät ist es? - “What time is it?” (Literally: How late is it?)
Entschuldigung, können Sie mir bitte sagen, wie viel Uhr es ist? - “Excuse me, do you have the time?” (Literally and in polite German)
The first two on the list you could use in general conversation with your friends. The third and final option is if you stop someone on the street, or pop into a shop, to ask them what time it is. It is a really polite option.
This will be dependent on where you live as well. For example, in Cologne, unless someone is clearly older than you, you could ask in the impolite form. But if you did that in Bavaria, you might get some funny looks.
Setting A Time To Meet Friends
If you’re having a conversation with friends and making plans for the future, like meeting for coffee the next day, you’ll probably want to know what time you’re going to meet.
The simplest way to ask for that information is:
Um wie viel Uhr sollen wir uns treffen? - “At what time should we meet?”
This question puts the ball in their court and allows them to suggest a time to meet. But if you have a time in mind, you can also use the words um and gegen to suggest it:
Können wir uns um 13:00 Uhr treffen? (Could we meet at 13:00?)
Sollen wir uns um 13:00 Uhr treffen? (Should we meet at 13:00?)
Können wir uns gegen 13:00 Uhr treffen? (Could we meet around 13:00?)
Sollen wir uns *gegen *13:00 Uhr treffen? (Should we meet around 13:00?)
They can then respond with whether that’s okay or if they’d like to meet at a different time.
Wrapping This Up
I hope by now you’ve got a good grasp of German time, how to tell it, and how to ask some basic questions around it. Making plans and booking travel should be a breeze with this information.
But now I want to know, do you have any questions about German time? Anything you’re stuck on? Let me know in the comments!
The post German Time: How To Tell The Time in German appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 18, 2019
The Ultimate Guide to Body Parts in Spanish
Body parts are one of the first things taught to toddlers who are speaking for the first time. Yet many learners overlook memorizing more than their “head, shoulders, knees, and toes". And then get stuck mid-conversation when the topic turns to bodies.
We’ve all got a body, so it’s an important topic to be able to talk about. I’d like to show you the most important words to learn.
Besides knowing the parts of the body in Spanish, there are Spanish expressions that go along with them. In English, we say “My head hurts” to express a headache, or “use your head” to tell someone to think. I’ll be covering these Spanish expressions, too.
Time to get learning!
Body Parts in Spanish
First, let’s learn the different body parts in Spanish. I’ve broken these down into general areas of the body, and included some tips on how you can remember them easily.
“Head” in Spanish
Your head in Spanish is la cabeza.
Maybe you need to usa tu cabeza, or “use your head” and think deeper about something. If you have a headache, then tu tenga dolor de cabeza (“You have a headache” - say it in first person by changing tenga to tengo for “I have”). Along those lines, if you’re under the weather, you may “have a fever and cough” - tener fiebre y tos.
And don’t forget your face, la cara!
Besides la cabeza and la cara, here are the other body parts on your head and face that you should know:
Eye: el ojo
Eyelid: el párpado
Eyelashes: las pestañas
Eyebrows: las cejas
Ear: el oido (inside the ear); la oreja (outer ear; the part you see)
Nose: la nariz
Mouth: la boca
Jaw: la mandíbula
Lips: los labios
Teeth: los dientes
Tongue: la lengua
Throat: la garganta
Forehead: la frente
Cheek: la mejilla
Beard: la barba
Moustache: el mostacho
Chin: la barbilla
Freckles: las pecas
Hair: el pelo
Neck: el cuello
Brain: el cerebro
Skull: el cráneo
Want to make sure these stick in your mind?
One of my favourite ways to memorise words in other languages is through mnemonics. This is a simple way to hack your memory so you’ll rarely forget new words.
Let me show you can example. Cabeza (“head”) is similar to the Spanish word for cerveza (“beer”). So my little mnemonic phrase is “Cerveza goes straight to my cabeza.” It’s also a bonus that both cerveza and cabeza are both the same gender, meaning they both use “la”.
Here’s are a few more to help you get the idea:
Teeth are los dientes, which reminds me of “dentures” so I imagine fake teeth sitting in a glass next to the bed.
Hair is pelo and comes from the same Latin origin as “pile” in English. I picture getting my hair cut, and the pile of pelo on the floor after.
Máscara in Spanish means “mask”, but mascara in English is makeup you put on your face, la cara.
If you’re an X-Men fan, then you know Professor X uses Cerebro to harness his brain power to connect with others all over the world.
You can use these for yourself if you like, but you’ll find it much more effective if you create your own images. Try to get creative and visual with your associations, and even try building a memory palace.
“Body” in Spanish
Your whole body in Spanish is call el cuerpo. But let’s talk about your upper body (el torso), such as your chest and back. “Chest” is el pecho, while “back” in Spanish is la espalda.
When at the doctor, they’ll listen to your lungs through your pecho and espalda and ask you to “respirar”, or breathe.
What about when you have an itch you can’t reach on your back? It’s the worst! Be prepared and ask: ¿Me rascarás la espalda por favor? (“Will you scratch my back, please?”)
Here are other words for el torso, plus other words for todo el cuerpo in Spanish:
Heart: el corazón
Lungs: los pulmones
Muscle: el músculo
Skin: la piel
Waist: la cintura
Stomach: el estómago
Abs: los abdominales
Navel: el ombligo
Shoulder: el hombro
Breast: la pechuga or el seno
Organs: los órganos
Intestines: los intestinos
Kidneys: los riñones
Liver: el hígado
Bone: el hueso
Ribs: las costillas
Skeleton: el esqueleto
Spine: la espina
Blood: la sangre
Some of the words above sound close enough to their English meaning to be easy to remember, like estómago, intestino, and espina. Others are like words related to the English meaning. Take a look at “lungs” in Spanish: pulmones. That sounds like “pulmonary”, which is always related to lung issues in medicine. Same with “navel”, which is ombligo - reminiscent of “umbilical”, the cord cut at the navel when you’re born.
Others you can get creative with. Waist is easy because cintura sounds like “cinch”. Belts - cinturón in Spanish - cinch your pants up, or think of a corset for women which cinches the cintura. And blood, sangre looks like sangria, the deep red Spanish wine. In fact, sangría means “bleeding” in Spanish, and sangria is called vino sangría - bleeding wine. Maybe not the most appealing image, but it’s a good one to help you remember the correct word.
Again, these are just examples, and you’ll find it even more effective if you come up with your images and associations.
“Arm” in Spanish
“Arm” in Spanish is el brazo.
With your brazo you can dar un abrazo, or “give a hug”. The verb “to hug” - abrazar - is very close to “arm” which makes it easy to remember.
If you work out, maybe you want to flexiona tus músculos (“flex your muscles”). But what if you broke your arm? Then say, Me rompi un hueso (“I broke a bone”) or Me rompi un brazo (“I broke an arm”). Then you might need la radiografía - an x-ray.
Let’s learn the words related to your arm, right down down to the fingertips:
Elbow: el codo
Forearm: el antebrazo
Wrist: la muñeca
Hand: el mano
Palm: la palma
Finger: el dedo
Thumb: el pulgar
Knuckle: el nudillo
Fingertips: puntas de los dedos
Fingernails: las uñas
So what memory hacks can we use for these? The word for fingers - dedo - reminds me of when my hand falls dead asleep and my fingers tingle. So I remember, “My fingers are dedo asleep.” Mano for “hand” makes me think of “manual”. To do something manually means to do it by hand. So you get mano!
“Leg” in Spanish
Leg in Spanish is la pierna. In English, we have the saying “Break a leg!” to wish someone good luck. But in Spanish, you wouldn’t say “¡Romper una pierna!”... Instead, it’s more natural to use a bit ruder phrase - ¡Mucha mierda! or “A lot of crap!”
Besides breaking a leg… what about twisting an ankle? That would be torcer un tobillo. The doctor might tell you to put your feet up (levantas tus pies) or use las muletas - crutches.
Now let’s work our way down through the lower body:
Hip: la cadera
Butt: la culata or las nalgas (“buttocks")
Thigh: el muslo
Knee: la rodilla
Calf: la pantorrilla
Ankle: el tobillo
Foot: el pie
Heel: el talón
Toe: el dedo del pie
When trying to remember these words, I like to start with pie. I think about stepping in pie with my foot - what a waste of perfectly delicious pie! But if I was to eat too much pie, it would go straight to my los muslos - my thighs, and I’d lose my muscles I’ve worked to strengthen by running! I don’t want that, so I make sure to run my culata off and cool down with a lotta water after.
See how I worked several words into one mental image? It can be helpful (and fun!) to think of silly ideas and string together related words to help remember them.
“Human” in Spanish, and the Systems of the Body
Human in Spanish is humano, so that makes it simple to learn!
And in the cuerpo humano (“human body”) there are many systems that work together to keep us going. You may not use these much unless you go to the doctor’s, but they’re interesting to know. Here’s your biology refresher, in Spanish:
Circulatory system: sistema circulatorio
Digestive system: sistema digestivo
Muscular system: sistema muscular
Endocrine system: sistema endocrino
Nervous system: sistema nervioso
Skeletal system: sistema esquelético
Respiratory system: sistema respiratorio
Reproductive system: sistema reproductivo
Excretory system: sistema excretor
Lymphatic system: sistema linfático
Exocrine system: sistema exocrino
Phrases and Idioms with Body Parts in Spanish
Like English, there are plenty of phrases and idioms that include body parts. Actors are told to “break a leg”. Politicians “washing their hands” of a situation.
Spanish is no different. Here are a few Spanish phrases and idioms that include body parts to get you started. If the phrase is an idiom, I included the literal translation so you can see how they’re different!
Get it off your chest: Sal de tu pecho
Sleep like a log: Dormir a pierna suelta (Literally: “Sleep with a loose leg”)
Brush your teeth: Cepilla tus dientes
Make your mouth water: Hacerse la boca agua
Fed up: Estar hasta las narices (Literally: “Up to the noses”)
Wash your hands: Lava tus manos
Close your eyes and make a wish: Cierra tus ojos y pide un deseo
Be the centre of attention: Ser el ombligo del mundo (Literally: “Be the navel of the world”)
Lend someone a hand: Echar una mano a alguien
To have no filter; to always speak your mind: No tener pelos en la lengua (Literally: “Not having hairs on your tongue”)
La Cabeza, Los Hombros, Las Rodillas, y Los Dedos del Pie
Now you know the whole body, inside and out, in Spanish. Besides knowing how to talk about your body now, you can even impress others with a few Spanish idioms that include body parts. Good work!
I’d love to hear what language hacks you use to help you memorise body parts in Spanish.
The post The Ultimate Guide to Body Parts in Spanish appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 14, 2019
Stop Wasting Your Life Saying “I’ll Speak a New Language When…”
“My accent is perfect”
“I understand the grammar”
“I’ve got the money to travel the world”
“I’m feeling more confident”
“I’ve reached the intermediate level”
“My acne has cleared up”
“I’ve lost 10 pounds”
Perhaps you’ve not used these exact phrases. But as long as you’ve said “I’ll start talking to others in my target language when…” then this article is for you. Because that phrase is a HUGE danger sign with bright flashing lights.
You, my friend, have fallen into the trap of compare and despair.
What Is Compare and Despair?
As you’re reading this on a language learning website, I bet you want to speak another language.
Yet you’d be surprised how many people use negative self talk to hold themselves back from learning a language. I don't want you to be held back. You can dare to do the things that make you feel alive. I'm going to show you how.
First, I'd like to show you what's holding you back.
I see my language learning buddies do this a lot. They tell me things like: “You have a bigger vocabulary. I need to beef mine up before I start taking italki lessons.”
This kind of thinking is a scarcity mindset and is a huge part of the compare and despair trap.
That’s what happens when you compare yourself to others, then get stuck in a feeling of despair.
Compare and despair really is a trap! Language learning is a marathon. You’ll only reach the finish line -- fluency -- if you keep moving forward. Comparing yourself too often and too harshly can stop you in your tracks.
The truth is, I still fall prey to compare and despair from time to time. But it doesn’t paralyze me as much in language learning because I worked on it in another area of my life. I bumped into a particularly gnarly trap when I was in grad school. During that intense experience, I found ways to reconcile my feeling of “not enoughness”.
I'll share some of those tips later in the article. Let’s start with my graduate school journey as it’s an example of how sneaky compare and despair can be.
How I Fell into the “Compare and Despair” Trap
I went back to school for a Masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine when I was in my mid-30s and married. Lo and behold, everyone else in my class was under 23, single and bursting with energy.
Picture a classroom full of people running around with perpetual jazz hands.
Most of them were straight out of college and ready to take on exams with fervor. Me? Figuring out how to stay awake long enough to take adequate notes during class.
I kept my grades above average but compare and despair still got me. It snuck up on me in the intern lunchroom of all places. My 20-something classmate, Lisa, mentioned she was happy with her A grade on the last exam. Then she confessed she'd only studied for 30 minutes! Her usual study routine was an hour a day.
My jaw nearly broke the table as it fell open in disbelief.
I said: “What!? You only study an hour a day for our classes? And I know you get straight A’s. How is that even possible?!”
Three other 20-somethings chimed in: “That’s how much we study, too.”
Then and there, compare and despair crept into my hummus sandwich and filled me with shame.
My mid-30s brain had to study three to four times more than my young classmates to learn the same material.
I wasn’t dumb, I knew that. My brain just took longer for stuff to sink in. So why on earth was I feeling suddenly unmotivated? Because while comparing myself to my classmates, I had decided that I was not good enough.
And if I’m not good enough, what’s the point of trying?
That, my friends, is the classic ending to an uninvestigated compare and despair trap. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there.
The Snowflake Lesson
It all boils down to our instinctive desire to be part of a community. As humans, our mammalian brain needs to bond with others in our group. Being a useful part of society is necessary for survival. I’d argue, it’s also necessary for a happy, healthy life.
But we don’t need to fit into every box.
For example, my ability to memorize was slower than my classmates. Yet, I brought a great deal of life experience and compassion to my internship. Because of this, I was the most requested intern in the school clinic.
There are as many different types of success as there are snowflakes. Once I figured that out, I relaxed. I began to trust that it was okay to have my own path. I redefined what “good enough” meant for me.
How to Crawl out of the Compare and Despair Trap
I’m going to share a few tools that will prepare your mind to shift. When you break free from the pitfall of compare and despair, you free up space for more important things. Like becoming fluent.
Many people get stuck in silent perfectionism “I want to be better before I start speaking.” You miss out on life that way. And I want you to savor every nuance of this adventure. So, let’s begin.
Tip One: Everyone Compares, It’s Normal
Now that I’ve worked through my grad school compare and despair trap, I’m completely confident all the time. Right? Nope.
Seeing a 17-year-old YouTuber speak 20 languages in eight minutes is challenging. It can ignite negative self-talk. And that is a self-charging battery. The more negative self-talk, the stronger the compare and despair trap becomes.
After watching a video like that, my very own compare and despair grumbler can wake from his slumber! “See what happens when you waste your teen years reading Sassy magazine and collecting photos of Johnny Depp? You’re ruined! Ruined I tell you!”
Feeling frustrated in language learning is part of the process. It's normal to struggle and even admit defeat at times. The important thing is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep going.
Comparing is normal. Despairing is normal, too. What’s important is that you don’t give in to the despair.
Tip Two: Escape Your Wallowing Mind and Phone a Friend
I’m in despair after watching that teen polyglot. I turn off the computer feeling deflated. The compare and despair grumbler continues its attack.
“Why even bother studying today? You’ll never, ever be as good as him. You can’t even pronounce something as simple as squirrel ( écureuil ) in French. Give it up already.”
It takes a few moments of wallowing before I realize I’m caught in yet another compare and despair trap. It’s time to use a simple but mighty tool.
[Photo of Wooden Toolbox]
https://www.123rf.com/photo22876064handcrafted-gift-boxes-on-aged-wooden-boards-with-an-autumn-foliage.html
A lifeline!
One of my favorite authors, Brené Brown, shares, “The two most powerful words when we’re in struggle is, ‘Me, too.’”
I pick up the phone and call my best language learning buddy, Maggie. She’s always willing to share her me, too moments with me. She, too, is fighting the good fight of becoming fluent in French. I tell her all the stuff the grumbler is saying to me.
She shares some of her grumbler stories. As we share, the grumblers shrink. It is a lot like shining a flashlight under your bed to see that, in fact, there are no monsters waiting to pounce.
And if you don’t yet have a language learning buddy, go find one now. Use the hashtag #iglc on Instagram. Join the Add1Challenge. Or attend a Women In Language online conference to help you find cool peeps.
I made a few delightful friends who started out as language exchange partners on italki. A good old-fashioned language Meetup can connect you other language learners, too.
Tip Three: Face Swap With Someone Adorable -- Because You’re Adorable Too
Gotta handle it alone? Stranded on a desert island? No cell coverage for miles?
You may need a solo tool for unraveling the messy tangle of compare and despair. One of my favorites is Face Swap.
No, not the app. Although I did an unattractive donkey honk laugh when I tried it out with friends. It was that funny. FYI, my husband does not look pretty with high cheekbones.
My version of face swap is one of my favorite tools for combating negative self-talk. I take someone I find absolutely wonderful and mentally swap their face with mine.
My niece’s five-year-old face is often one that I use. Amanda is a beautiful adult now, but when she was five, oh my heavens! She had big brown puppy pout eyes and a spirit of inexhaustible wonder.
If my five-year-old niece was learning a language, I would never, ever say the means things to her that I might say to myself.
I imagine her attempting to learn French and immediately my heart floods with love.
Every time she screws up a word, she is freaking adorable.
Then I get quiet and see if I can feel any of that love and acceptance for myself. This actually works. Because somewhere inside me is a five-year-old girl with big sparkly sky-blue eyes that wants to speak French.
Tip Four: Repeat after Me: “I Am Enough. I Am Enough. I Am Enough.”
Whether you’re an adult or you’re a budding teen, the fact remains the same for each and every one of us.
You are enough right now.
So what if you can’t roll your R’s perfectly!
Speak in your target language anyway. And while you’re speaking, ask someone to help you practice rolling your R’s.
So what if you can’t pronounce the French word for “squirrel”! Speak in your target language anyway. And while you’re speaking, talk about woodland wildlife.
So what if your vocabulary is minuscule! Speak your target language anyway! Say the same five sentences over and over again to different people. Hey, it’s new to them. While you’re floating from the victory of having spoken, learn five more phrases.
You don’t have to compare yourself to anyone’s else success.
Like snowflakes, the milestones of fluency come in all shapes and sizes.
My Most Recent Gift
Little moments can end up being some of your greatest rewards.
Yesterday, my dear friend in Belgium shared a story with me of how well his granddaughter is doing. A few months ago, she had been having difficulty adjusting to university life.
Now, he was beaming with relief and pride that she is finding her way. I was elated to hear the news because I cherish my friend. We celebrated the good news together over Skype. It was a true gift.
[Photo of Gift Box] https://www.123rf.com/photo22876064handcrafted-gift-boxes-on-aged-wooden-boards-with-an-autumn-foliage.html
And the bonus? This entire conversation happened in French, my target language.
Let me set you straight, I make a boatload of mistakes when I speak to him in French.
If I had waited until I spoke with fewer mistakes, I would have missed out on our deepening friendship. When I express my concern for him and the people dear to him, he doesn’t become judgemental when I mix up my tenses. He only cares that I care.
It has nothing to do with being perfect in French and everything to do with the kind, open connection we offer one another.
So, I’ll leave you with this gentle reminder. Your self-worth is not connected to how perfectly you speak a language.
Be kind to yourself and others as you travel the dusty, bumpy, yet completely fabulous road to fluency. And please do share your tricks for steering clear of the compare and despair trap? I’m curious to hear about your tools.
The post Stop Wasting Your Life Saying “I’ll Speak a New Language When…” appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 11, 2019
The 7 Best Korean Translator Apps for Korean Learners
Everyone needs a little help sometimes when learning a new language. It can be difficult starting out if you haven’t met a community of language learners or a language exchange partner to help you make heads or tails of Korean.
And besides that, it’s always helpful to have an accurate Korean translator on hand when you’re studying on the go. Like when you’re watching a K-Drama on your commute, and want to look up the word for “love triangle” (it’s 삼각관계, samgag gwangye, by the way).
Having a good English to Korean translator app will help you look up words as you want to learn them and add them to your study list.
Different translators have different purposes, so it can be worth using more than one app. A Korean to English speech translator is handy when a language exchange hits a rough spot. Meanwhile, a text translator helps you when reading Korean articles online.
Korean translators apps all have their pros and cons. Choosing the right one for you is key.
What to Look for in a Korean Translator App
First, you’ll want to take the time to test a few and see if they meet your needs. Are you learning Korean to travel to Korea? Or are you trying to get a deeper knowledge of the language for reading books? Is your primary goal to consume Korean media, or talk to locals?
Every translator app is different, and they usually focus on one aspect over another. For instance, some translators may only give literal translations. Others may translate idioms and colloquial phrases accurately. This is important to note because you may want to say something that doesn’t have a natural translation in Korean. For example, of you look up “a piece of cake,” then a literal translation will pull up 케이크 조각 (keikeu jogag), which means “cake piece.” What you actually wanted to say was “it was easy,” and that’s 식은 죽 먹기 (sig-eun jug meoggi) which in Korean is the idiom “like eating cold porridge."
You need to ask yourself: are you translating from speech or text most? Are you looking for something that needs some basic knowledge of Korean to make it useful? Or are you a beginner and need something that simplifies it - even helping you read Hangul, the Korean script?
Once you decide how you’ll be using the app, you can find one that meets your needs.
One Major Caveat: Avoid Translator App Dependence!
Sure, Korean translator apps can be super helpful if you use them right. But they can also be one of the reasons you don’t succeed in learning Korean.
It can be too easy to rely on translator apps, especially because of their convenience. At first, you’re only looking up words you don’t know to help you flesh out a sentence. But then you’re using it to check the accuracy of your whole sentence. And then you use it to help you create the whole sentence for you.
This “translator trap” is a major pitfall for language learners. It takes away the mental stimulation of trying to remember the language on your own. If you become this reliant on translators, then you may be better deleting them from your phone and sticking with a real-life dictionary -- yes, I mean a physical book. If you really want to know something, you’ll have to put in the effort to flip through the book and find it. And it won’t always be handy. This will limit how much you look up, and push you to remember on your own and create sentences without help.
With that said, let’s look at some of the best Korean translator apps.
7 Best Korean Translator Apps
1. Naver Korean Dictionary
For iOS, Android and web browser.
The golden Korean dictionary and translator. When you search for a translation, it pops up with tons of variations and sentences to help you learn its usage. And the homepage features daily Korean conversations to practice your listening skills, as well as idioms, grammar tips, and words-of-the-day. As far as a translator goes, Naver does the best job of combining translation and learning.
There’s also the original Naver app all in Korean, with a search function that allows you to find info Wikipedia-style. It’s language-immersive and includes news and stories in Korean. But, because it’s all in Korean, it’s best for advanced learners.
Pros:
Best for those who have at least a little knowledge of the language
Better for in-depth knowledge and context of word usage
Includes accurate sample sentences and alternate phrases with every translation
Features daily tips, grammar, idioms, and more to boost your learning
Includes audio for translations, as well as Korean conversations to practice listening skills
Cons:
Because only written out on dictionary pages, you must be able to read Hangul comfortably to benefit from it.
While this translator has a ton to offer to aid learning, it also provides so many sample sentences, it may become easy to cheat your way through creating your own sentences
2. Papago Translate
For iOS, Android and Google Chrome.
Also created by Naver, this is the true translator versus a dictionary. Even though this is like a "lite" version of Naver, it has its differences… and they’re fantastic. For one, the interface is smooth and simple. You can quickly select your languages and input method: typing, microphone, conversation, or text recognition with your camera.
Plus, it includes a place for you to save your words to “Favorites” to create a word and phrase bank to practice. It saves your history, so you won’t forget what you looked up or part of your conversation. And, it has two features that will be amazing aids for beginners and travelers: a phrasebook and website translator.
One thing I was very impressed with was the Kids section. If you want to include your child in on your Korean studies, the app has cute, colorful picture cards on various topics in Korean and English.
Pros:
Best for beginners, travelers, and for quick, on-the-go translating help
Simple, easy interface and kid-friendly
Website translation and quick phrasebook, sorted by topic
Saved words and history for easy review
Includes Papago Mini, which hovers over your other apps for quicker translation on screen
Cons:
Like the Naver translator, it doesn’t include romanization, so knowing Hangul is a must
It doesn’t provide sample sentences or context. You get the word-for-word translation
3. Google Translate
For iOS, Android and web browser.
Of course, this had to be on the list. The most well-known translator app has come a long way in recent years. With verified translations and various ways to input, it’s a tried-and-true favorite.
But, Google Translate isn’t perfect. It’s multilingual, unlike some others that focus on excelling only at translating Korean. Asian languages often differ drastically in speech. Many phrases don’t translate well through Google because it wouldn’t be said that way in Korean at all. Without some basic knowledge of how the language functions grammatically, it’s easy to get a bad translation.
That said, if you have a basic understanding of Korean - enough to catch where grammar might be off, or when something may sound more natural - Google Translate can be a helpful resource.
Pros:
Quick, easy translating on-the-go
Includes typing, writing, speech, conversation, text recognition, and voice input
You can translate to and from many languages and see verified translations when using the webpage
Best for beginners who have yet to learn to read Hangul as it provides the romanization
Cons:
Without some knowledge of the language, it’s easy to get an awkward translation
There’s no context or sample sentences
While it’s gotten better, slang and idioms aren’t always understood or translated well
4. GreenLife Korean English Translator
For Android only.
This app has a lot of unique advantages. Besides being able to translate via text, speech, or conversation, it also suggests changes to sentences that have errors. When you enter something for translation, it gives you various suggestions. And, it tells you what grammatical function a word has in a sentence.
Best yet, it has features that are great for aiding your learning. The app includes daily words, crosswords, a vocab building game, phrasebook, flashcards, and offline dictionary. You can email or text yourself translations to study later. Coolest of all, you can have it translate your texts into Korean or English with the Pro feature.
Pros:
Best for translating and on-the-go studies, beginners to upper-intermediate learners
Includes romanization of the main translation and it offers several translations of single words with their grammatical function
Cool features like SMS text translation and in-app learning games
Cons:
Android only
Some features need the paid Pro version
Ads can become distracting
The interface is very plain and not as easy on the eyes
5. Daum Dictionary
For iOS, Android and web browser.
This one requires knowledge of the language, but like Naver, it’s immersive. Many advanced learners use this to better learn the language from within the language.
The dictionary has a search feature where you can look up words and see their translation, with romanization. You can look it up from Korean-to-English, or only in Korean. Since you’re essentially looking it up backward, you’ll get a more accurate Korean translation. Why? Because you can tell when the English translation is wrong. That's also nice for double-checking the accuracy from other translators. Since some phrases don’t translate right because they're unique to their target language, having a translator or dictionary in your target language can come in handy to cross-verify.
Pros:
Best for upper-intermediate or advanced learners
A good option for cross-checking translations
Immersive in the language: you can bypass English altogether if you want, and look something up only in Korean
Cons:
If you don’t have a solid grasp on the language, you probably won’t be able to find your way around the app
Since its primary function is as a dictionary, it doesn’t have a microphone option but it does have a camera option to look things up
6. Klays-Development Korean-English Translator
For Android only.
What makes this translator worthwhile? It gives you many different ways to say a word, including slang. Searching “Hello” in Korean pulls up several examples, including 여보세요 (yeoboseyo, “hello” when answering the phone) and the slang form, 여보 (yeobo). That’s a pretty nice feature. But if you don’t know that 여보세요 is only used to greet someone on the phone, you may not use it right since the app doesn’t give context.
Pros:
Best to search for casual speech translations, and upper-beginners who have a grasp of the language, culture, and grammar
You can save your searches and “favorite” translations for later review
Offers many different translations
Cons:
Android only
Limited to text and speech inputs
No context for translations, and since it includes slang or casual variations, it can lead to inaccurate usage
7. SayHi
For iOS and Android.
SayHi has a straightforward and clean interface, and only one real purpose: to translate via speech or conversation. When you speak into the microphone, it translates what you said into both English and Korean text. Both translations are clickable so you can hear how they sound. And the translations and speech-to-text seem pretty accurate. It saves your translations in an SMS text-like screen, bubbles and all, and it’s easy to look at.
Pros:
Best for when you’re only translating via speech, such as during a language exchange
Easy, simple interface, no frills, but pleasant to look at
Quick and accurate speech-to-text
Cons:
Not multitasking: there’s no option for inputting via typing or writing
Korean translations are all in Hangul, with no romanization
Korean Translator Apps to Avoid
I’ve tried a bunch of different Korean translator apps or multilingual translators. The ones I listed above are definitely the best! I stumbled on a few duds though, too.
One recommended app from various sources was WayGo, a translator app that uses your camera in real time or through pictures to translate. I would skip over this one. It offers no real learning with its translations, you can only use it to translate through your camera. It would only be useful while traveling if you knew absolutely no Korean. Even then, I’d be wary: When I tried the app, every single translation was wrong. On top of that, you only get 10 free translations a day before you have to pay to upgrade.
Another app I stumbled upon was The Apps Castle Korean English Translator. Compared to the other apps above, it was so plain and full of ads. In fact, while I had it on my phone, it continually popped up full-screen ads… even when I wasn’t using the app. Definitely skip it.
iTranslate has a few nice features, like the ability to select from several different translator indexes (Google, Microsoft, etc) and a male or female voice. But, essentially, it’s Google Translate with very annoying, long ads.
I also tried Text Grabber, which is like WayGo. It’s also limited in how many free uses you get, and it doesn’t seem like it works much better. Google Translate does the same thing and has many other options for ways to translate.
Find Your Perfect Korean Translator Match!
There you have it, the best Korean translators, based on your Korean level and needs. Hopefully, that helps narrow down your search, and pinpoint which would be best for you. It’s helpful to know which ones you must know Hangul and which ones don’t. But it’s also nice to know that as you improve your Korean, you can move on to translators that will better benefit your studies.
What Korean resources do you use to help you translate or understand in a pinch? Did I miss a fabulous translator app on this list? Let me know in the comments!
The post The 7 Best Korean Translator Apps for Korean Learners appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 7, 2019
Spanish Verb Conjugations: How to Master the 3 Most Important Verb Tenses
For many Spanish learners, conjugations are one of the trickiest parts of the language to get used to.
Verb conjugation in Spanish often seems unpredictable, with few rules to follow. That’s because Spanish has so many irregular verbs.
But if you think about it, so does English! Think find/found, sell/sold and ring/rang, to name just a few.
And you already learned those patterns. So you can do it again with Spanish.
The good news is most other aspects of Spanish are much easier. You can learn regular Spanish verb conjugation patterns pretty fast. And once you know the basics, and some of the common irregular verbs, it’s easier to get a sense of how a verb should change.
In this article, I’ll focus on the three main Spanish verb tenses for regular verbs: present, past and future.
Spanish Verb Tenses: The 3 Main Tenses to Master
The three main tenses you should learn first in Spanish are the present (el presente), the past (also called the preterite, el pretérito), and the future (el futuro). They’re the ones you’ll run into most. You can get a lot of things across from these tenses and still be understood in the beginning.
If you’re curious, there’s also the imperfect, perfect, conditional, subjunctive, imperative, and gerund forms, too. But you should go back to those later after you’ve mastered the main three tenses.
You do need to know the infinitive form of Spanish verbs, too. This is the dictionary form: the way the verb appears in the dictionary, unconjugated. In English, infinitives usually have the word “to” in front of them, such as “to eat” (comer in Spanish). That’s the infinitive form. You’ll need to know that because the infinitive form defines how verbs get classified.
Spanish Verb Conjugation: The Basics
First things first: there are three classes of Spanish verbs: -ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs. These are the infinitive verb endings (or dictionary form of the verb). I used comer (“to eat”) as an example above: it’s an -er verb, because it’s infinitive form ends in "er". See how that works?
So to understand where to begin conjugating, you need to identify what kind of verb ending it has in its infinitive form, and what the stem of the verb is. In the case of comer, the stem is com-.
Each class of verbs uses a different conjugation pattern, and changes based on who the subject of the sentence is. So when learning Spanish word conjugation, you’ll have to learn how each one changes in each tense. It’s not as bad as it sounds!
So, let’s review the basic pronouns:
I: yo
You: tú (informal)
You: usted (formal)
He: él
She: ella
We: nosotros (all men, or men and women); nosotras (all women)
You (plural, informal): vosotros (male); vosotras (female)
You (plural, formal): ustedes
Them: ellos (male); ellas (female)
A couple notes here: vosotros/vosotras (“you”) is only used in Castilian Spanish, spoken in the country of Spain. Latin American Spanish uses ustedes as both the formal and informal plural “you”. The other thing is usted and ustedes conjugate in the same way as él, ella, ellos, and ellas. One less pattern you have to learn!
Now let’s look at how to conjugate the three verb classes in the three main tenses based on the pronoun. We’ll start with the easiest form: simple present tense. Keep in mind, this is for regular verbs, and there are many that won’t fall into this standard pattern… but plenty that will work this way.
Spanish Present Tense Conjugation: El Presente
Let’s take a look at how a verb in each category conjugations in the Spanish present tense with different pronouns.
Spanish Present Tense -ar Verbs
Look at how the -ar verb hablar (“to speak”) changes forms:
Hablar: To Speak
Verb stem: habl-
Pronoun
Infinitive + Conjugation
Future Tense
yo
hablar + é
hablaré
tú
hablar + ás
hablarás
él, ella, usted
hablar + á
hablará
nosotros/nosotras
hablar + emos
hablaremos
vosotros/vosotras
hablar + éis
hablaréis
ellos, ellas, ustedes
hablar + án
hablarán
Do you see a bit of a pattern here? Even though the verb stem is habl-, and drops both the a and the r, because it’s a -ar verb all the conjugations except with yo keep the a. It becomes hablas, habla, hablamos... So you’ll remember which class of verb it is. And with all three types of verbs, the yo conjugation is the verb stem + o.
Once you know the -ar verb forms, the other two become easier.
Spanish Present Tense -er Verbs
Beber: To Drink
Verb stem: beb-
Pronoun
Infinitive + Conjugation
Future Tense
yo
beber + é
beberé
tú
beber + ás
beberás
él, ella, usted
beber + á
beberá
nosotros/nosotras
beber + emos
beberemos
vosotros/vosotras
beber + éis
beberéis
ellos, ellas, ustedes
beber + án
beberán
This -er verb, beber (“to drink”), stays pretty consistent. Since it’s a -er verb, it keeps the “e” in all but the yo conjugation - just like -ar verbs. Now this doesn’t seem so bad, right? Once you remember things like “-s” is for you, and -mos is for we, and so forth… It becomes much easier to remember the general conjugation because you keep the a and the e for the verbs.
Spanish Present Tense -ir Verbs
Now, this is where that changes a bit.
Vivir: To Live
Verb stem: viv-
Pronoun
Infinitive + Conjugation
Future Tense
yo
vivir + é
viviré
tú
vivir + ás
vivirás
él, ella, usted
vivir + á
vivirá
nosotros/nosotras
vivir + emos
viviremos
vosotros/vosotras
vivir + éis
viviréis
ellos, ellas, ustedes
vivir + án
vivirán
The verbs ending in -ir keep the exact same conjugation as -er verbs for half the pronouns, opting to use e instead of i... But change to i when it’s “we” or “you” (plural), and keep o for “I” pronouns.
Did you pick up the patterns? The easiest part of present tense is when talking about yourself, the conjugation is always the same for first person, no matter which type of verb ending you’re using. And -ir verbs can be easy if you remember only the nosotros and vosotros forms differ from -er verbs. Since they’re spelt almost the same, I think of them as a unit for -ir verbs.
When first learning the conjugation patterns, it’s easiest to “stack” them, starting with -ar verbs. If you learn the basics of those, then you can see the patterns emerge in -er verbs, and -ir verbs are almost identical.
Spanish Past Tense Conjugation: El Pretérito
Here’s the good news: In past tense conjugation, -er and -ir verbs use all the same forms! And you can keep up with the “stacking” method of memorizing here. The “we” form of the verbs stay almost the same, and there are patterns that emerge here, too.
Past Tense -ar Verbs
[Spanish Verb Conjugation Chart, Past Tense: Hablar]
Pay attention to those accent marks. Hablo is “I speak”, but habló is “he/she/you spoke”. Most of these look a little like their present tense forms, but with more added. Hablas added -te and became hablaste, for example. Hablan becomes hablaron, still the form ending in “n” but with an extra “ro” in the middle. And hablamos is the same!
Past Tense -er and -ir Verbs
[Spanish Verb Conjugation Chart, Past Tense: Beber and Vivir]
As I said before, both of these verbs conjugate the same in past tense. One thing to note: while the “we” form of the verb is the same as present tense for -ar and -ir verbs, they change slightly with -er verbs. In present tense nosotros form, beber became bebemos. In past tense, it’s bebimos. One tiny thing to remember.
Spanish Future Tense Conjugation: El Futuro
Everything gets easier as we go! When using future tense, you have only one conjugation pattern. That’s right - all three verbs will use the same endings to form future tense.
The difference with this form is that you keep the -ar, -er, and -ir endings. So the verb stays in its infinitive form, and then you add the conjugation.
[Spanish Verb Conjugation Chart, Future Tense: Hablar, Beber and Vivir]
That makes this form much easier to memorize. One thing you’ll notice when hearing this form used in Spanish? The speakers use future tense for the more distant future. In English, the near future is still expressed with future tense, but that’s not the case here. In Spanish, there’s a different verb tense for the near future, but you can use present tense, too. So, just know that you won’t use this tense as much as you do in English.
The Most Common Irregular Verbs
Some of the most commonly used verbs also happen to be irregular verbs in Spanish. That’s what makes verb conjugation seem so difficult. But there are patterns with irregular verbs, too, and you'll have lots of practice with these verbs to get used to the conjugation. So don’t get discouraged! For now, I wanted to point out a few verbs that may throw you a curveball:
To be (permanent): ser
To be (impermanent): estar
To have: tener
To go: ir
To think: pensar
To do/to make: hacer
To see: ver
To meet: encontrar
To know: saber
Can do: poder
Those are probably the top 10 most common and most used irregular verbs. Now that you recognize them, learn how to conjugate and spot the patterns in irregular verbs.
Go Forth and Practice
That’s it! You’ve learned your three main tenses in Spanish. That wasn’t too bad, right? If your brain is feeling like it might explode, rest assured: they get easier with practice. You’ll recognize and remember the patterns the more you speak and write them, as well as listening to them spoken. So make sure you’re practising all four of the basic language skills.
What tips do you have for learning Spanish verb tenses? Leave a comment and let’s hear them!
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