Shannon L. Kennedy's Blog: http://eurolinguiste.com/feed/, page 10

My 90 Day Persian Project: Having 15-Minute Conversation in a New Language

Recently, I’ve been learning Persian.

Here’s where I started:

And here’s where I ended up:

With the help of the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge, Drops, Pimsleur and my language tutor, I was able to have a 15-minute conversation in Persian after about 2.5 months (I started the 90-day challenge about 2 weeks late).

How to Learn Persian: My Strategies

Each week, I had a lesson with my tutor. Prior to each lesson, I would propose something we would work on. It started with introductions, the hobbies, then basic conversation, one week we spent on prepositions, and so on. My teacher was amazing and flexible, willing to go with whatever I wanted to work on and support me whatever way I needed to be supported.

After each lesson, I would add the notes from our shared Google Doc to a Google Sheet, then copy and paste the new vocabulary and phrases into Memrise.

Each day, I would study my Memrise flashcards, do 5-minutes in Drops, and listen to at least part of a Pimsleur lesson.

Partway through the challenge, I picked up Script Hacking Persian by Judith Meyer and started to learn how to read and write in the language.

Doing these things helped me get to the point where I could converse in the language on a basic level — and have a 15-minute conversation.

How I Decided On What My Tutor and I studied

My first lesson with a tutor is always a self-introduction. I learn to introduce myself, talk about the basics of who I am and what I do, and then ask the person I’m talking to the questions related to the answers I’m giving. For example here’s some of what I might say in a first lesson:

Hello, my name is Shannon. What’s your name?It’s nice to meet you.How are you?I’m xx years old. How old are you?I have two kids. Do you have children? Are you married?I am American. I live in California. Where are you from? Where do you live?I’m a musician. What do you do?My hobbies are martial arts, reading, cooking, writing, playing video games and learning languages. What are your hobbies?

My next lesson, I’ll choose something from my introduction to further expand on. It might be my work, my family, or my hobbies. Essentially, I keep a mind map in my head and I continue down it until I feel I’ve fully explored a topic, then I take a step or two back and go down a new path.

Here’s what it might look like:

What I Would Do Differently If I Learned Persian Again

My tutor was an amazing resource for me during the challenge, but I didn’t feel as though I truly understood the grammar I was trying to use. If I were to learn Persian again, I would absolutely dive into a course book sooner rather than later.

I did end up studying Teach Yourself Complete Persian, but that wasn’t until after this particular challenge was over and I had started my next language project (which I’ll share more about later). I think understanding Persian grammar a little more than I did during this project would have boosted my confidence.

I usually wait to learn grammar, but I definitely felt I could have started on it sooner this time around.

How I Feel About My Progress in Learning Persian

I’ll start out by saying, I made mistakes in my Day 90 video. But I’m okay with it. We were able to keep the conversation in the language and I understood most of what was said to me. I was also able to say what I needed to say.

My favorite mistake was when I told my tutor I was sixty-one (shish-o yek) rather than my correct age. At first, I didn’t realize the error. But then I saw her expression, reflected back on what I had said and corrected myself. It was definitely a facepalm moment but I was even able to laugh about it as it was happening. Plus, I thought it was already a big step from where I started because I was able to identify the mistake I made.

I also incorrectly conjugate a few verbs and don’t conjugate others. But again, I’m alright with this. Making mistakes is a part of the process.

What’s Next?

I’m announcing my next language lea b rning project soon, but in the meantime I’ll share this — I’m going to keep on with Persian.

I’m happy with the level that it got to and I’m not ready to move onto something new or different quite yet.

What about you? What are you working on? Let me know in the comments!

By the way, I’m going to announce some pretty exciting things very soon to my email list. Want to find out more? Sign up here.

The post My 90 Day Persian Project: Having 15-Minute Conversation in a New Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Language Learning Reading Challenge 2021

The votes are in! The Language Learning Reading Challenge community submitted their votes and here are the themes for the 2021 Language Reading Challenge (plus the last two months of this year).

What is the Language Learning Reading Challenge?

Each month in the LLRC, we’ll tackle one book covering a topic related to language and share our experiences as a group. Please feel free to join us. You can participate by commenting on the posts here at Eurolinguiste or by joining the group on Facebook (we have a Goodreads community, too).

As part of the challenge, we will be read books that cover everything from culture, language learning, general learning techniques, history, and more. Plus, we’ll be reading both in our native languages and target languages.

If you’re at a more advanced level in your target language, feel free to read any or all of the books (not just the ones indicated as target language only) in the language that you’re learning.

If you’re still just getting started, that’s okay, too! You can read along in your native language, discovering more about the cultures and histories tied to the language(s) that you’re learning, opting for lower level or graded readers for books in your target language.

Please note that you don’t have to pick just one language for this challenge. If you’re learning multiple languages, feel free to mix and match. The challenge is pretty flexible. I’ve planned it this way so you can get the most learning possible out of it over this next year.

How is It Related to the Women in Language Book Club?

The Language Learning Reading Challenge is hosted in partnership with the Women in Language Book Club. The only difference?

We encourage Women in Language participants to read and share books written by women or non-binary authors where possible.

The 2020 Language Learning Reading Challenge Prompts

We have two months left this year. Here are the last two prompts for 2020:

Nov: History of the region, culture, or language that you are studying

Dec: A book/magazine/etc about your personal interests in your target language

The 2021 Language Learning Reading Challenge Prompts

Jan: A memoir by someone who lives in a country that speaks your target language

Feb: A book set in the country of your target language (fiction or non-fiction)

Mar: A book about a language, a family of languages, a writing system, or something related to linguistics

Apr: A children’s book in your target language

May: Read a book written by an author from a country that speaks your target language (this time can be something other than a memoir)

Jun: A comic book in your target language

Jul: A tutorial lesson, or recipe in your target language

Aug: A book about someone who learns a language (fiction or non-fiction)

Sep: A book in your target language (originally written in that language, not a translation)

Oct: Read something about a language you’re not learning

Nov: A book written by a language blogger (like Benny’s books, Olly’s books, Kerstin’s book, Lindsay’s book, or even shameless plug: my book)

Dec: A book about your native language

A Few Notes Regarding the Challenge:

The challenge doesn’t have to focus on one language, if you are studying multiple languages (or have an interest in languages you’re not studying), feel free to go for books in or about those languages.

You are absolutely welcome to read books of any level. Graded readers, children’s books, academic books or any other genre are acceptable for the challenges that require you to read in your target language(s). And for topics that indicate you read a children’s book, you can also explore YA (young adult).

You do not need to participate every month to be a part of this challenge. You can choose the months that align with your interests.

If you do not complete the book you take up in any one month of the challenge, that’s okay! You can still join in the conversation and share some of what you’ve learnt from the sections of the book you were able to get through.

Language Reading Challenge Rules:



Share your post discussing the book that you’ve read this month. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted. You can share in the comments or use the link below to join us on Facebook or Goodreads.Follow the host: Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

3. OPTIONAL: Join us on Facebook or Goodreads.

The post Language Learning Reading Challenge 2021 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Russian

Do you want to learn Russian? You’re in the right place.

Perhaps, if you were like me when I first started learning the language, you’re finding yourself struggling to find resources that help you start speaking.

Many of the tools that I found when I started learning Russian were grammar-heavy textbook style resources and they didn’t offer me a lot in terms of day-to-day conversation. Rather than learning how to say “what did you do last weekend?” I had memorized a bunch of rules involving cases or sentence structure. I spent loads of time studying but I was nowhere near conversing with my fellow Russian speakers.

So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident engaging in language exchanges.

And today, I’d like to share it with you.

In this post you’ll find a short selection of the 100+ conversational phrases and words in Russian I have available as part of a downloadable PDF that you can get by entering your email in the box below.

Happy Russian language learning!

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Russian Words and Phrases







Greetings in Russian



RussianEnglish ЗдравствуйтеHello ПриветHi  как дела?How are you? Как вас зовут?What’s your name? очень хорошоvery good/well 



Basic & Polite Phrases in Russian



RussianEnglish нзвините excuse me пожалуйста please, you’re welcome спасибо thanks да yes нет no



Get the Russian Conversation Rolling



RussianEnglish Каковы ваши планы в эти выходные? What are your weekend plans? Как это? How is it? Как погода? How’s the weather? Как ваша семья? How is your family? Что Вы думаете об этом? What do you think about this?



Getting a Bit of Clarification in Russian



RussianEnglish Я не понимаю! I don’t understand! Что это на русском? What is this in Russian? Пожалуйста дайте мне… Please give me… например for example Скажите, пожалуйста…? Tell me please…



Words About Time in Russian



RussianEnglish Cегодня Today Завтра Tomorrow Вчера Yesterday Каждый день Every day Позже Later



Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Russian Speaking to the Next Level



RussianEnglish Отлично. Great Нет проблем. No problem Это хороший вопросThat’s a good question 
Удачи
 Good luck Конечно. Of course



Conversation Closers



RussianEnglish До скорого! See you later Доброй ночи Good evening Увидимся See you пока, пока Bye

*Please note that most of the above examples use formal language, assuming that you’re getting to know the person that you’re speaking with. 

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Russian Words and Phrases

Are you learning Russian? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

The post 100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Russian appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Japanese

Are you thinking about learning Japanese but find yourself struggling to find resources that help you start speaking?

When I started out, I certainly did.

Many of the tools that I found when I started learning Japanese were grammar-heavy textbook style resources and they didn’t offer me a lot in terms of day-to-day conversation. Rather than learning how to say “what did you do last weekend?” I memorized a bunch of rules involving particles or sentence structure and I was nowhere near conversing with my fellow Japanese speakers.

So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident engaging in language exchanges.

And today, I’d like to share it with you.

In this post you’ll find a short selection of the 100+ conversational phrases and words in Japanese I have available as part of a downloadable PDF that you can get by entering your email in the box below.

They’re the phrases I get the most mileage with when I converse in Japanese. I hope you find them useful, too.

Happy Japanese language learning!

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Japanese Words and Phrases







Greetings



English Japanese Transliteration Hello/Good dayこんにちはkonnichiwaHello (on the phone/Skype)もしもしmoshi moshiHow are you?おげんきですか？ogenki desu ka?>I’m good.げんきですgenki desuLong time no see.おしゃしぶりですoshashiburidesu



Basic & Polite Phrases



English Japanese Transliteration PleaseおねがいしますonegaishimasuThank you so muchどうもありがとうございまdoumo arigatou gozaimasuExcuse meすみませんsumimasenI’m sorryごめんなさいgomennasaiYou’re welcomeどういたしましてdouitashimashite



Get the Conversation Rolling



English Japanese Transliteration Are you busy now?いまいそがしいですか？ima isogashii desu ka?What are you plans this weekend?こんしゅうまつよていがありますか？konshuumatsu yotei ga arimasu ka?How is your family?かぞくのみなさんわいかがですか？kazoku no minasan wa ikaga desu ka?Tell me about yourselfじこしょうかいをおねがいしますjiko shoukai o onegaishimasuWhat do you think?どうおもいますか?dou omoimasu ka?



Getting a Bit of Clarification



English Japanese Transliteration How do you say that in English?それわえいごでなんといいますか？sore wa eigo de nanto iimasu ka?I don’t understand.わかりませんwakarimasenI forgotわすれましたwasuremashitaI don’t know.しりませんshirimasenCan you please say it slowly?もとゆっくりはんして?moto yukkuri hanshite?



Words About Time



English Japanese Transliteration Every dayまいにちmai nichiSometimesじじjijiNowいまimaLaterあとでatodeMaybeたぶんtabun



Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Speaking to the Next Level



English Japanese Transliteration That’s a good questionそれはよいしつもんですねSore wa yoishitsu mondesu neAlrightだいじょうぶdaijoubuWait a momentちょっとまってくださいchotto matte kudasaiDon’t worryくよくよするなkuyokuyo suru naOopsおっとっとottotto



Conversation Closers



English Japanese Transliteration Thank you for your timeおいそがしいところありがとうございましたo isogashii tokoro arigatou gozaimashitasee you laterじゃあまたjaa matasee youまたねmataneGoodbyeさようならsayounara

*Please note that most of the above examples use formal language, assuming that you’re getting to know the person that you’re speaking with. 

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Japanese Words and Phrases

Are you learning Japanese? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

The post 100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Japanese appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | October

The fall season is upon us. We’re digging into Halloween movies and are all decorated. There’s nothing like a little Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown or The Nightmare Before Christmas. And let’s not forget about Young Frankenstein!

I’m still immersed in my Persian language project. I lost my Memrise streak (gah!) but I am spending time with the language every day. Let’s dive in!

The Language Hacking Podcast

The Language Hacking Podcast over at Fluent in 3 Months where I’m co-hosting with Fi3M founder, Benny Lewis is still going strong! We release a new episode every week and we’re up to 13 episodes.

Some of our guests have been: Idahosa Ness, Olly Richards, and Scott Young.

If you give the podcast a listen, or if you already have been listening, we’d love your reviews!

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Stitcher



Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Sep 20, 2020 at 11:34am PDT

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // Still working on this. We watch movies every day in Chinese, read a book each night, and have other contact with the language. You can read more about my strategies for sharing the language with my kids here.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I kept my streak for about half my languages. But I lost it for Persian, Hungarian, and Japanese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I got through more than 100 videos this month. Maybe more than that. I had nearly 2,000 and am down to about 1,800. So even with the videos I’ve added each week, I have still watched quite a few.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I completed my daily study commitment for Persian every day this month!

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I wasn’t able to get to this one. This month, I didn’t particularly have a lot of time to read.

Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Finish my Persian Script Hacking book. // Almost done, but I’m starting my Teach Yourself Complete Persian anyway.

Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Almost there!

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes! I was even able to resume lessons with my Japanese teacher who I hadn’t been able to connect with because our schedules didn’t align.

Have an awesome birthday with family. // I did! We enjoyed dinner together.

Women in Language // The event was amazing. We had attendees join us from all over the world and the talks were so inspiring.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. It’s close with Little Linguist, but we still have some time before we’re there with my oldest.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I have a trip this month which means functioning in another time zone. In the past, this has thrown me off, but hopefully I’ll make it through this time around.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to continue to whittle this down since I have more than 1,000 videos in my queue. Getting there slowly but surely.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // This month my Persian challenge ends and I will hopefully have a 15-minute conversation in Persian. *Fingers crossed.*

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Again, more like resume reading Game of Thrones in Russian.

Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Complete the first four chapters in Teach Yourself Complete Persian. // One chapter per week!

Finish Pimsleur Persian II. // I want to finish this one up.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // It’s been great getting to keep all my languages active.

Have an awesome Halloween with the kids. // We’ll be celebrating my nephews birthday and the kids are excited to don their costumes.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  Drops

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDes Racines et des Ailes

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsDropsPimsleurPersian Script Hacking

What I am Using to Learn Hebrew:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ

What I am Using to Learn Italian:

LingQ

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Drops – they just added hundreds of new culture-specific words for Japanese!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

iTalki LessonsLingQ – they added Croatian, woot woot!Drops

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

iTalki LessonsDropsLingQ – they added Hungarian, too!

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes



The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

This month, I’ve really realized how important knowing what motivates me is. In the past, I had a vague awareness of it mattering, but now I have more certainty. But my realization of its importance came from somewhere other than language…

You see, I don’t like working out. But recently, I started doing some private training with my Fluent in 3 Months fellow team member, Caitlin. Before she started coaching me, we did an introduction call. I filled out a survey before the call and one of the questions was about what motivated me.

I wrote my answer. I needed someone who would give me a hard time, even tease me, when they suspected I wasn’t giving my best. And I needed stats, even points.

And when she and I chatted about it, I realized just how much having those two things mattered to me.

It was the reason I’ve been showing up to karate for a year and a half now. My Master gives me a hard time and we have stats on our workouts from our heart rate monitors that show on the board during class. It was the reason I’ve been studying more consistently–because I want to maintain my streaks. It’s also the reason I’m in the best, healthiest shape of my life–because I log all my workouts, body measurements, and calories.

Having these things keeps me motivated and helps me succeed. If I have these things in the areas of my life I need them, I can get where I want to go.

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted. Leave them in the comments below!

2. Link back to this post.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | October appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Persian Language Learning Strategies: My 60 Day Update

I started learning Persian just over two months ago. Where am I at today?

If you’re wondering just how much of a language you can learn in two months, here’s my update video (be sure to watch with the subtitles on):

My Persian Language Learning Routine

I posted about my language learning routine in this post, and to be honest, it hasn’t changed much.

I still study with Memrise and Drops for vocabulary and Pimsleur for listening and speaking practice on a daily basis. And I take a lesson with my tutor through Preply once or twice a week.

There’s only one thing that’s different…

I’m learning the writing system.

How I’m Learning to Read and Write in Persian

At the moment, I’m working through Judith Meyer’s Persian Script Hacking. I’m also reading it as a part of the Language Learning Reading Challenge / Women in Language Book Club since our prompt this month is to read a book by a female author!

I will post a more thorough review of Persian Script Hacking once I finish it, but for now, here are my initial thoughts:

It’s an enjoyable, low pressure way to learn a new writing system. It’s introduced each letter one at a time with plenty of exercises to practice recognizing, reading, and writing what you know.

Once I am done with the book, I’m hoping I will be comfortable enough to start reading basic passages on LingQ.

My messing Persian writing practice



My Persian Language Plans for October

In addition to Persian Script Hacking, I am also starting to work through Teach Yourself Complete Persian and Farsi for Beginners from Tuttle Publishing. I will report on my progress with these two course books in my next update as well as share my reviews of these course books once I complete them. I am also working on Pimsleur’s Persian 2.

So to recap all of the current resources I am using to learn Persian:

Memrise (for vocabulary review — this is a list I created with words from the other resources I’m using)Drops (for vocabulary review — this is to learn words I’m not coming across elsewhere)Pimsleur (for listening and speaking practice)Preply (for private lessons)Persian Script Hacking (to learn to read and write)Teach Yourself Complete PersianFarsi for BeginnersFluent in 3 Months Challenge (for accountability and structure)



A Summary of My Persian Learning

Overall, I’m really enjoying learning the Persian language. I’ve gathered a lot of information but there a couple of things that I still really need to do to contextualize everything I’ve learned in Persian.

The first is that I need to have more conversation practice. For now, I go over basic structures and phrases in my lessons, and learn on my own, but I’m not having casual conversations often enough. When I do chat with my friends, it’s still very English based, though I do try to throw in and use Persian phrases when I can.

The second is that I need to work on grammar. I know quite a bit of vocabulary, but I still struggle to put it together to express my thoughts.

These are both things that I plan to work on this next month. Especially since my Day 90 video is coming up for the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge where I will need to have a 15-minute conversation in Persian!

If you have any questions about how I’m learning Persian, please let me know! I’m happy to add more detail on any part of my learning process. Just leave me a comment below.

The post Persian Language Learning Strategies: My 60 Day Update appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Language Learning Reading Challenge (in Partnership with Women in Language)

The last several years, I’ve run the Language Learning Reading Challenge. Each month, we’ve read books that followed different themes or prompts, while chatting about them in the comments and Facebook group.

This year, during Women in Language 2020, there was a lively, inspiring discussion about reading, research, and an incredible list of book recommendations came out of the conversation. And as one of the co-founders and co-organizers of Women in Language, I realized the need to adapt the Language Learning Reading Challenge into something more.

It’s now both the WIL Book Club and the Language Learning Reading Challenge. This year, in addition to offering monthly prompts, I’ll share regular book recommendations, further reading, and so much more.

Join the Facebook group here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Sep 20, 2020 at 11:34am PDT

What does the new Language Learning Reading Challenge Look Like?

In partnership with Women in Language, the Language Learning Reading Challenge is going to have a few new features as well as carry over some of the legacy features.

Here’s what’s happening:

Every month will have a theme and you can select any book you like that fits the theme to read as a part of the Language Learning Reading Challenge.We’ll have a collection of recommended reading material and discussions going as a part of the Women in Language Book Club.Regular read togethers hosted by community members where you can jump on a call and read with other language book lovers.You’ll get to hang out and chat with a cool community on either Facebook or Goodreads (or both!).And more to come!



October 2020 Book Theme for the Language Learning Reading Challenge

Read a book written by a female (or non-binary) author.

Since September is just ten days away from being done, we’ll start WIL Book Club off in October (besides, I know many of you are busy catching up on and enjoying the talks at Women in Language!).

For October, we’ll read a book by a female author. It can be in your native language, but you’ll get bonus points for reading a book in one of your target languages or for reading a book about your language written by a woman!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Aug 18, 2020 at 6:07am PDT

Current Book Recommendations for the Women in Language Book Club

Here is the current list of book recommendations to come out of Women in Language 2020. These will also be shared on Goodreads.

“White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo“Invisible Countries: Journeys to the Edge of Nationhood” by Joshua Keating“America Learns Russian: A History of the Teaching of the Russian Language in the United States” by Albert Parry“Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism” by Benedict Anderson“Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men” by Caroline Criado Perez“Beyond the Mother Tongue” by Yasemin Yildiz“Borrowed Tongues” by Eva C. Karpinski“This is London: Life and Death in the World City” by Ben Judah“Babel No More: The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners” by Michael Erard“On Va Le Dire Comme Ca” French Dictionary“Je n’ai plus osé ouvrir la bouche – témoignages de glottophobie vécue et moyens de se défendre” by Philippe Blanchet“The Namesake: A Novel” by Jhumpa Lahiri“In Other Words” by Jhumpa Lahiri“The Lowland” by Jhumpa Lahiri“Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri“Through the Language Glass: Why the a World Looks Different in Other Languages” by Guy Deutscher“Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion” by Gregory Boyle“Salsa Nocturna” by Daniel José Older“En defensa de la lengua andaluza” by Tomas Gutier“The Phonology of Hungarian (The Phonology of the World’s Languages)” by Péter Siptár“Catalogue des idées reçues sur la langue” by Marina Yaguella“Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America’s Lingua Franca” by James McWhorter“From Sabotage to Support: A New Vision for Feminist Solidarity in the Workplace” by Joy L Williams“Playing Big” – Tarah Morh“Polyglot: How I Learn Languages” by Kato Lomb“Racialized Identities in Second Language Learning: Speaking Blackness in Brazil (Routledge Advances in Second Language Studies)” by Uju Anya“Language, Identity, and Choice: Raising Bilingual Children in a Global Society” by Dr. Kami J. Anderson“Raising Bilingual Brown Babies: Everyday strategies to become a confident bilingual family” by Dr. Kami J. Anderson“The Afrocentric Idea” by Molefi Kete Asante“Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain“What Do I Do When I Want to Do Everything?: A Revolutionary Programme for Doing Everything That You Love” by Barbara Sher“Discriminations Combattre La Glottophobie” by Philippe Blanchet



Other Things You Should Know About the Language Learning Reading Challenge and Women in Language Book Club

Each month, we’ll tackle one book covering a topic related to language and share our experiences as a group. Please feel free to join us. You can participate by commenting on the posts here at Eurolinguiste or by joining the group on Facebook.

As part of the challenge, we will be read books that cover everything from culture, language learning, general learning techniques, history, and more. Plus, we’ll be reading both in our native languages and target languages.

If you’re at a more advanced level in your target language, feel free to read any or all of the books (not just the ones indicated as target language only) in the language that you’re learning. If you’re still just getting started, that’s okay, too! You can read along in your native language, discovering more about the cultures and histories tied to the language(s) that you’re learning, opting for lower level or graded readers for books in your target language.

Please note that you don’t have to pick just one language for this challenge. If you’re learning multiple languages, feel free to mix and match. The challenge is pretty flexible. I’ve planned it this way so you can get the most learning possible out of it.

A Few Notes Regarding the Challenge:

The challenge doesn’t have to focus on one language, if you are studying multiple languages (or have an interest in languages you’re not studying), feel free to go for books in or about those languages.

You are absolutely welcome to read books of any level. Graded readers, children’s books, academic books or any other genre are acceptable for the challenges that require you to read in your target language(s).

You do not need to participate every month to be a part of this challenge. You can choose the months that align with your interests.

If you do not complete the book you take up in any one month of the challenge, that’s okay! You can still join in the conversation and share some of what you’ve learnt from the sections of the book you were able to get through.

And that’s it! Looking forward to hearing all about what you’re reading.

The post Language Learning Reading Challenge (in Partnership with Women in Language) appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

How I’m Teaching My Kids Mandarin Chinese: 7 Techniques for Raising Your Children in Your Non-Native Language

For the first two years of my son’s life, I spoke to him almost exclusively in Chinese.

We read, we played, we watched movies, and I gave instructions… all in Mandarin Chinese.

But as he got older and things started to change, I began to slip. English crept in until, fast forward to about two months ago, it was the only language he and I really spoke together.

Whenever I tried to bring Chinese back in, it seemed like he didn’t understand and that discouraged me from using it with him even further.

But then I got some encouragement and a bit of a push to bring Chinese back. And I realized I worried for nothing.

My Fears Raising My Children in My Non-Native Language

When I made the decision to speak to my son in Chinese, I had very little support. I had done all the research and knew it would work, but little comments from friends and family slowly pecked away at my confidence in what I was doing. I heard:

You’ll confuse him!He won’t be able to talk to me because I won’t understand him.He’ll have speech delays.He’ll have trouble talking and will need to see a speech therapist.

The opinions went on and were endless.

Then he hit age two and he still wasn’t really speaking. He said a few words in his three languages—French, Mandarin, and English—but not many. He seemed to understand everything just fine. In fact, if I gave him instructions in English he’d ignore me. When I switched to Chinese and gave them again, he listened right away.

Me: Little Linguist, please sit down.

Little Linguist continues standing on the chair

Me: 请坐下！

LL sits down immediately

Nonetheless, I grew less certain I wasn’t doing all the things everyone warned me against. I let my fears everyone else was right in and English made its move and took over.

The Challenges Raising My Children in My Non-Native Language

I speak Chinese quite well. It’s a language I’m fairly comfortable in and I have a pretty big vocabulary. But kids are curious and my son constantly stumped me.

“What’s that?” he asked pointing to the fire sprinkler in the ceiling. The cement truck. The spinning top. The cupcake.

Suddenly, I was swamped with words I never realized I’d need to know.

At first, I’d tell him I didn’t know and I started to keep a running list to share with my tutor. I’d be prepared the next time.

But as I said, my son was curious. And soon, I was spending my entire hour-long lesson looking up words with my tutor. Words I still needed to study and learn after the lessons were over.

Then more comments came in…

What if you teach him your mistakes? I had an answer for that one. I knew that if I made sure he had enough exposure to native speakers, he’d one day correct me.

What if he learns your accent? Again, I knew he’d speak Chinese accent-less if he had enough exposure.

But because there were gaps in my knowledge, things I didn’t know I’d need to know to say, English again stepped through the door because it was tough to leave so many questions open for my son because I didn’t know how to answer him in Chinese.

How I Made Efforts to Compensate My Knowledge and Raise My Son as a Native Chinese Speaker Even Though I’m Not One

Knowing I needed support raising my son to speak Chinese, I did my best to get all my bases covered.

When he was a year old, we attended Mommy and Me Chinese immersion classes. I’d ask the teacher questions and make mental notes of how she spoke to the children in the class.

We read together in Chinese every night. I’d buy books and study them on my own in advance, learning the new vocabulary before I’d add them to our nightly rotation. I’d put in sticky notes with the pinyin for characters I didn’t know.

We’d watch movies in Chinese. I made sure to buy a copy of the Chinese versions of movies I knew he loved. Finding Dory. Kung Fu Panda. Cars. For his first Christmas, my brother bought him an all region dvd player and some movies.

We had flashcards I used to teach him new words. Little Pim was a big help.

But most importantly, I used it with him as much as I could until I didn’t…

How I’m Bringing Chinese Back and Raising My Kids to Speak It

About two years have passed since Chinese’s presence in our lives slowly started to diminish. My kids are now 4 and 6. This past summer, we moved into a new neighborhood and were surprised to find that a good number of the kids who live here and hang out with our kids are… bilingual.

There are kids who speak German, kids who speak Spanish, kids who speak Belarusian, and kids who speak Persian.

My kids would brag to their friends that I knew lots of languages, but I could tell they felt a little jealous and left out. And even share that they spoke Chinese, even though that wasn’t really the case any more.

Their dad, one day while listening to one of these conversations with their friends looked at me and said, “you really need to speak to the kids in Chinese.”

I tensed. The kids are older. How would I suddenly switch to another language with them? How would I keep from letting English take over again? I didn’t know where to restart.

But then I remembered, I don’t need to restart by doing all the things I was doing before. I just need to start with something. And besides, if I suddenly switched back to Chinese, the kids wouldn’t always understand me. It would be frustrating for them and for me and it’d quickly become a thing they’d reject.

So we decided to take things slow.

Here’s what I did, step-by-step to add Chinese back into our lives at home and raise my kids to speak my non-native language.

1 We read in Chinese every night

Each night the kids got to pick one book, but I got to pick one too. My pick would always be a Chinese book to make sure that at least one of the books we read together was in Chinese. And sometimes, the kids would pick a Chinese book as well.

I went back to basics and at first, picked the simplest books we owned. I’d read in Chinese, translate in English and ask them to repeat words after me.

When they’d point at something in the book and say “rabbit!” I’d nod and reply “对. 兔子.”

2 We changed the rules about tablet time

Before, we’d let the kids use their tablets on long car rides or as a reward for a particularly good day. But that didn’t mean they didn’t ask for them more than that. So when we started to reintroduce Chinese, we created a new rule. We told them they could have their tablets if they either 1) watched something in Chinese (usually Little Pim or Sesame Street in Chinese, but their tablets also have Chinese movies on them) or 2) played a Chinese game (currently: Gus on the Go).

3 We changed the rules about tv time

If the kids wanted to watch Power Rangers or a movie, they first had to watch 20 minutes of a movie in Chinese. We stocked up on movies they love—Trollz, Frozen, Wreck It Ralph, Minions—so they’d still have options they’d want to watch.

My son took to this immediately. Nearly every time we start a Chinese movie, he doesn’t ask to switch when the timer goes off. Instead, he watches it in its entirety and then moves on, not asking for whatever English language program he originally requested.

My daughter (the 6-year-old) is a little more entrenched in English, so she does the bare minimum.

4 Games and snacks became okay

Usually, we try to avoid too many snacks and it can be tough to arrange the time to sit down and play board games or card games with the kids regularly. But we made an agreement. If they asked for a snack in Chinese, they’d get one (as long as it wasn’t too close to mealtime). And if they played a game in Chinese, we’d sit down with them.

Candyland is great for learning colors. And UNO is amazing for both colors and numbers.

5 We keep a list of new Chinese words we review

Each week, I introduce them to a new set of words. I keep a journal so that I can keep track of what they should already know. I write them out using our alphabet fridge magnets, but I also add them to our chore board (along with our “rules”) just in case the magnets get played with.

6 I share what they work on in Chinese at home with their tutor

And in doing so, their tutor is able to reinforce what they learn with me. Their tutor is my tutor, so when I have my lessons, we spend part of our time discussing what I worked on with the kids so that when they have their lesson, she can work on it with them. She’s an amazing tutor and she knows just how to interact with each of my kids to keep them engaged.

With my daughter, it’s telling her she can’t be the real Loulou because she heard that the real Loulou learned three new colors this week. And she’d only believe it’s Loulou if she could prove she knew those things in Chinese.

With my son, it’s letting him show off his toys and asking questions about them, introducing the Chinese words for things as those conversations happen.

7 I try to incorporate Chinese into other parts of our day

In the car with the kids? I ask them to find me something that’s 紫色 (purple) or 红色 (red). We count together. I wrote the names of our cooking spices in Chinese, English, and French. I tell them I don’t understand them unless they say “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me” in Chinese.

To Sum Up

As the kids get older, they’ll likely start to resist some of my requests. But I’m hoping to normalize as many of the Chinese activities as possible so they don’t feel like it’s this extra thing they have to do.

They have moments where they don’t want to do their Chinese lesson, or they don’t want to watch something in Chinese on their tablet to get tablet time. But thankfully, they still do it even if they’re a bit resigned about it.

I keep stocking up on Chinese language items for them when the opportunity arises. I recently purchased a few new movies and a set of fairy tales (stories they already know) in Chinese.

For now, I’m enjoying the hours of Chinese UNO and hearing their progress as they get more and more exposure to the language.

What about you? Are you raising your children to speak another language? Let me know what you’re doing to share a language with them in the comments below! And if you have any questions about our techniques, ask away!

The post How I’m Teaching My Kids Mandarin Chinese: 7 Techniques for Raising Your Children in Your Non-Native Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Join the Language Learning Community at Women in Language

Language learning can be lonely.

There’s a lot of work you do on your own even if you regularly meet with a language tutor or exchange partner.

And finding other people who share your passion and enthusiasm for learning new languages? Not always easy.

Next week, Lindsay Williams, Kerstin Cable, and I are hosting Women in Language for the third time. It’s an event we put together to champion, celebrate, and amplify women’s voices in the language field.

It’s four days of inspiring talks, panels, chat, and this year, we’re even adding two language exchange sessions.

And now, more than ever given our current global situation, finding places where we can reach out, connect, and learn is more important than ever.

Get your ticket to Women in Language 2020. (Sept 17-20, 2020)

Why Women in Language

Many online conferences call for papers. That means that those who submit papers and present at these events are people who have the confidence and experience to submit proposals. Not always, but in a significant number of cases.

But what about those who may be intimidated by the thought of submitting a proposal? Or are afraid of being rejected? Or don’t have the means or ability to travel to an event?

They often end up not having the opportunity to share their stories, their research or their voices at these events.

And that’s why Lindsay, Kerstin and I created Women in Language. To provide a platform where these lesser heard voices can be heard.

Rather than call for papers, we brainstorm throughout the year and ask for recommendations from our event attendees. We keep a running list and when we start putting Women in Language together, reach out to potential speakers.

This means we’re able to invite speakers you wouldn’t usually hear from, putting together a program of experts, researchers, learners, educators, and enthusiasts packed with new perspectives and voices.

This year, we have more than 30 speakers across four tracks:

Language MasteryDream TeamsLiving and Working in LanguagesAll the Language Feels (psychology-related topics)

Get your ticket to Women in Language 2020. (Sept 17-20, 2020)

Why Should You Attend Women in Language?



1 It’s open to everyone

The “women” in Women in Language refers to the speakers and organizers. Everyone is invited to join us at the event. Regardless of how you identify, you’re welcome at Women in Language and we’d love for you to join us for four incredible days of learning.

And because the event is open to everyone, a lot of interesting conversations happen in the chat! It’s an exciting opportunity to connect and learn!

2 You’ll meet amazing people

One of the things we love about Women in Language is the community. Year after year the event Facebook group and live chats are filled with positive, uplifting, and encouraging conversations. New friendships are formed, language exchange partners are met, and new collaborations are set up.

3 You’ll learn loads about languages

Over the four days, we have two panels and numerous talks. Can’t make one of the talks at the time it’s happening live? No problem! When you get a ticket to Women in Language, you get access to the event indefinitely and all the talks are recorded. That means, you can always watch the talks when you’re able.

4 There’s a chance to win language prizes

With the purchase of your ticket to Women in Language, you’re automatically entered into a raffle, getting the chance to win one of three prize packages. This year, we have donations from LingQ, Fluent in 3 Months, Drops, and more. Each of the prizes include hundreds of dollars of language products.

5 You can attend from anywhere in the world

Women in Language is an online event. That means you can attend from anywhere in the world if you have internet access. You can join us from home, on the beach, or from the patio of your favorite café (just be sure you practice safe social distancing!).

6 You can practice your languages

During the event, we’re hosting two Speak Easy sessions. This is something Lindsay, Kerstin, and I took from something else we run together (Language League). And basically, it’s an online language exchange/meet-up. You’ll join potentially hundreds of other learners and get put into a group organized by the language you want to practice and have an hour to chat away in your languages!

7 You can nominate speakers you want to hear from in the future

At the end of each event, we ask attendees to nominate speakers they’d like to hear from for future Women in Language events. So if there’s a female speaker you’d love to hear from, you can let us know and there’s a good chance we’ll invite them to a future Women in Language.

8 You get the chance to ask language experts your questions live

At the end of each talk, we hold a Q&A session with the speaker. You’ll be able to ask questions in the chat and Lindsay, Kerstin and I will share them with our speakers. So if you have anything you’ve been itching to know or ask, Women in Language gives you the chance to do just that!

9 You’re supporting Girl Up

Each year, Women in Language donates 10% of profits to a charity. This year, we’re donating to Girl Up, an organization that works to improve girls’ rights and provide opportunities for girls to become future leaders.

Ready to join us? Get your ticket to Women in Language 2020.

The Details About Women in Language

Tickets to Women in Language are $29 for the four day event.

It’s happening live September 17-20, 2020.

But if you’re unable to attend it live, you can still watch the recordings of the talks if you purchase your ticket before September 20th. When you get a ticket, you have indefinite access to the event. That means you can join us live, watch the recordings at a later time, or even do both!

Tickets are only on sale until the last day of the event, so don’t miss out on joining us!

Get your ticket to Women in Language 2020. (Sept 17-20, 2020)

Have questions? Let me know in the comments!

The post Join the Language Learning Community at Women in Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | September

It’s September, one of my favorite months. It’s not only my birthday month, but it’s also the first month of fall (imho the best season!). And… Women in Language is here!

I’m a month into my Persian language project, nearly halfway to beating my longest streak ever on Memrise, and getting back into Mandarin Chinese becoming a bigger part of my life again. Let’s dive in!

Women in Language

Want to spend four days learning about language stuff while spending time with an amazing, supportive group of language lovers? Me too! That’s why I co-organize Women in Language each year with Lindsay Williams and Kerstin Cable.

And this month, the next event is happening!

You can attend talks for more than 30 inspiring speakers from September 17-20. We have panels, dream teams, language exchange practice sessions, live q&a’s and a chat that’s always on fire!

Learn more here.

The Language Hacking Podcast

The Language Hacking Podcast over at Fluent in 3 Months where I’m co-hosting with Fi3M founder, Benny Lewis is still going strong! We release a new episode every week and we’re up to 13 episodes.

Some of our guests have been: Idahosa Ness, Olly Richards, and Scott Young.

If you give the podcast a listen, or if you already have been listening, we’d love your reviews!

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Stitcher



Drops has Serbian and Bosnian

Drops added two more languages last month! You can now learn Serbian and Bosnian with Drops (as well as Croatian).

Spend just 5 minutes a day learning thousands of new words–including those related to staying healthy–in 39+ languages!

For now, on to #clearthelist …

Not sure what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.

We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Aug 18, 2020 at 6:07am PDT

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We have been introducing more and more Mandarin into our daily routine. Books each night, Mandarin tv time before English tv, Mandarin game play before tablet time, lessons, games in the car, and more.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I missed a day for a couple languages because I started too close to midnight, but I’ve kept up my streak for most of my active languages.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Yes! I made it through quite a few videos this month.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’m still going strong with my Persian language project!

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I didn’t do as much of this as I would have liked.

Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Keep working through the PersianPod101 course. // Yes! And I got that coursebook (actually several coursebooks) as the next step.

Finish Pimsleur’s Persian 1. // I’m very close to doing this. So I’ll still count it as a “yay”.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // As much as this has been possible, I’ve done this!

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! Plus, I’m really seeing the impact of this study.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to continue to whittle this down since I have more than 1,000 videos in my queue.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // This will be the tail end of my Persian language Challenge.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // More like resume reading Game of Thrones in Russian.

Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Finish my Persian Script Hacking book. // So that I can start to get comfortable reading and writing in Persian.

Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // I want to keep knocking this one out.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // It makes sure I’m using all my languages each week and helps me a ton with accountability.

Have an awesome birthday with family. // Because it only happens once a year!

Women in Language // I’m looking forward to all the inspiration and energy of this event.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  Drops

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/music

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsDropsPimsleurPersian Script Hacking

What I am Using to Learn Hebrew:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ

What I am Using to Learn Italian:

LingQ

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Drops – they just added hundreds of new culture-specific words for Japanese!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

iTalki LessonsLingQ – they added Croatian, woot woot!Drops

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

iTalki LessonsDropsLingQ – they added Hungarian, too!

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes



The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

For the first two years of Little Linguist’s life, I spoke to him almost exclusively in Mandarin Chinese. But then, English started to creep in and before I knew it, had taken completely over.

I’ve been trying to get back on track, but I was initially deterred by the idea of starting the language again now that he’s older. He communicates well in English and the idea of starting over with another language seemed intimidating.

So I started with little things I knew he enjoyed–play, reading, movie time. And sure enough, the language began to become a part of our lives once more. And as I continue to make little additions, that part grows.

So my lesson for this month is this…

Sometimes, when a project or change seems overwhelming, just take a single step.

For us, it was reading one Mandarin Chinese book each night. And it grew from there. But it was in taking that first step to get back on track that re-incorporating Chinese stopped seeming overwhelming.

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | September appeared first on Eurolinguiste.