Will you be making merry on New Year's Eve?

Charming! was my first thought as I read about New Year's celebrations in El Paso (my home town) in 1913.  Yes, that would be exactly a century ago.  I was reading "Viva 1914", a "Tales From the Morgue" article in the El Paso Times for December 29, 2013 by Trish Long.

The direct quotations from the 100 year old article drew me back for a second reading. Why was I so fascinated?  It was the language used in writing the 1914 article, of course! We all know that changes in language are inevitable, whether we approve of those changes or not.  And change in language is usually not abrupt.  It sneaks up on us until,  one day, we realize that certain words or expressions or grammatical constructions are beginning to sound (as my 28 year old son frequently reminds me), old-fashioned, passé, so last century.

Here are some of the expressions from the 1913 article that I would judge as more typical of 1913 than 2013.  See if you would agree.

"Young and Old Make Merry..."   "The streets were thronged with merrymakers."   I don't think we do much making merry these days.  I would say that we had fun or had a great time. Some people might say that they had a blast (already out of date?). But a quick glance at a thesaurus reminds me that there are lots more interesting synonyms for making merry  (http://thesaurus.com/browse/make+merry).  You can paint the town, raise hell, make whoopee, live it up, let loose, kick up one's heels, or have a ball.  But even those expressions sound a little worn.  What do young people say these days, I wonder?  It isn't 'make merry' for sure!

"It was a merry old night for El Paso, everybody being gay..."  As everyone is aware these days, the word 'gay' has made a semantic shift so that the original meaning of 'happy' is now considered secondary to the primary meaning of 'homosexual'.

"The police bothered but few merrymakers last night.  Those who became rowdy or rough were summarily 'pinched' and sent to jail..."  The word 'pinched' was in single quotes in the original article, so it must have been considered slang in 1913.  A modern day slang meaning for 'pinched' is 'steal'.  

Now this next expression I love.  "Up in the ballroom the merry dancers tripped the light fantastic..."  Would modern day dances be described in such fanciful terms? I can't quite get a picture of that.

The article "Viva 2014" delighted me in other ways than the chance to do a little linguistic analysis. Life in January 1914 in El Paso felt so innocent and so hopeful.  What a contrast to present day articles about New Year's celebrations that urge restraint in eating and drinking and stress safety as the main concern. I would love to have joined my fellow El Pasoans of a century ago in ringing in the New Year.  But since I can't...

Charles Dickens' Amazing Language

Should I really read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol again this holiday season?  I've been making that activity a Christmas tradition for more years than I can remember.  I know every character, every plot twist, every description, and I can even quote some of the lines.  Could Dickens still enthrall me?

I picked up my well worn paperback copy and decided to read just a few pages this year.  I was hooked. And it wasn't so much what Dickens said as how he said it.  Unlike many modern books that encourage lighting-speed reading to find out what happens next, Dickens slows down my frantic reading pace so that I can savor his language.  I want to share with you some of Dickens' language that still sends a thrill up my spine.

Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3558739760/">Loren Javier</a> / <a href="http://foter.com/">Foter.com</a> / <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">CC BY-ND</a>

"Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!"  Every time I am not as generous at Christmas time as I should be, I think about that string of adjectives.  I wouldn't anyone to substitute my name for Scrooge!

"He [Scrooge] carried his own low temperature always about him;..."  Can't you just picture it?  A person who gives off such negative signals that he succeeds in driving away the world, which is exactly what he wants to achieve.

"The city clocks had only just gone three but it was quite dark already-it had not been light all day,,,"  Even in El Paso, Texas, I notice darkness stealing away the light starting at about 3:00 pm.  I think that has a profound effect on a person's psyche.








When the boy Scrooge is going home with his sister, Fan, the schoolmaster invites them to his very chilly parlor to partake of "...a decanter of curiously light wine, and a block of curiously heavy cake."  The description of those refreshments always brings a smile to my face.

And how I would like to have attended the Fezziwigs' Christmas celebration to meet the participants.   "In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable.  In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke."







I would have enjoyed shopping for Christmas dinner at the fruiterers where there were "...great, round pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors..."

But the future turns darker.  Dickens describes the two children under the Ghost's robe, Ignorance and Want as "yellow, meager, ragged, scowling, wolfish..."  The last of the Spirits leads Scrooge to a graveyard and points to a gravestone with Scrooge's name.  Scrooge wants to know if he is doomed.

 

  "The finger pointed from the grave to him and back again.
   'No, spirit!  Oh, no,no!'
   The finger still was there."


A Christmas Carol  is available free online from many different sources.  Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite Dickens' language.  Do you have a favorite scene from A Christmas Carol?

Happy Holidays to all.  See you the week of December 30th!

Do you make statements into questions like Valley Girls do?

'Uptalk' may no longer be just for California Valley Girls.  Have you noticed English speakers using a rising intonation at the end of statements instead of questions lately?  I have, and I must admit I have broken the cardinal rule of descriptive linguists: Accept language as it is currently being used rather than criticize usage. But that new use of  rising intonation has been bugging me!

These thoughts came to me after reading the article, "More men speaking in girls' 'dialect,' study shows" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25232387.  First I was intrigued by what a girls' 'dialect' might be.  As I understand it, linguists don't agree on the question of whether men and women speak differently. But the raised pitch at the end of all sentences has been identified with young women in California and Australia.  (Why Australia, I asked myself, but that is a topic for another time.)

In English, our pitch generally rises when we want to speak a question.  For example, the statement "The children played" can be transformed into a question by letting your voice rise on the 'played.' So a rising intonation for statements as well as questions is a new ( and therefore controversial) feature of the English language. 

If you are not quite sure what rising intonation is, see if you can identify at least two instances of  a speaker making a statement sound like a question in this YouTube video.

California/Valley Girl Accent 

'Uptalk' has been criticized for making the speaker appear to be less than credible.  Adjectives like 'airhead' and 'ditzy' come to mind.   But how about the use of   'uptalk' by the young lady in the video?  I think she made statements into questions as part of a communication style that attempts to involve the listener.  She appears to be seeking the understanding, and possibly the confirmation of her ideas, by the listener.  And isn't that what we females often do? Ask a question to involve the other person?

The article states that women are often trailblazers in language, coming up with innovations first, with the males following later.  And the article states that more men are now using 'uptalk.'  I had always viewed women as the more conservative gender in speech, but that may be changing as well. 

I'm going to start listening for more instances of 'uptalk' now. And I am going to be really embarrassed if I find myself using that language device. I would be interested to learn if you or your acquaintances are now into 'uptalk.'   

Something Got Lost in Translation

My home in El Paso, Texas is a living laboratory for language use.  El Paso is a bilingual community on the Texas-Mexico international border.  I constantly read every written word in sight and eavesdrop on as many conversations as I can without being obvious. So, I  keep myself well entertained in life by analyzing why a language expression  is just a little off as we attempt to express ourselves in English and Spanish. 

Take for example a sign that has popped up recently in our neighborhood. "We install Xmas lights. Elegant and fine." I am usually doing my 20 minute a day constitutional when I see it, so I have plenty of time to consider why that sign strikes me as a bit odd.   Does the sign communicate? Yes, of course, but it's the word 'fine' that interests me. 






Even though the Merriam Webster Dictionary lists 'elegant' as a synonym for 'fine', my instinct as an English native speaker is otherwise.  I can imagine a holiday light display as being 'elegant', but I probably wouldn't describe it as 'fine'.  Ah, but the Spanish word 'fino' carries a sense of being refined, classy, well-executed. I think this is a case of translating 'fino' as 'fine' (the two words being cognates), but the range of nouns that are described by the two adjective is a shade different.  Is this a big deal?  No, just something to ponder as I huff and puff around the neighborhood park.

Another example.  Recently I overheard a conversation in a local pharmacy waiting area that went something like this:
Customer:  We have been waiting for a long time for our prescription.
Employee:  What is your last name?
Customer:  Smith
Employee:  And your name?
Customer:  Do you mean my first name?
Employee:  Yes.
Customer:  Susan.

What led to the momentary confusion?  I think it was the fact that in English, the general concept of 'name' divides into 'first name' and 'last name'.  But in Spanish, the division is made by using two different words, 'apellido' (last name) and 'nombre'  (first name).  So the employee did a quick translation of 'nombre' to the English 'name' and didn't quite communicate.  A good example, I think, of the complexities of a bilingual society.

And lest you should think I am being overly critical, let me confess a serious language mistake I made when I was young, trying to communicate in my second language, Spanish.  I was still in college, teaching Spanish at an institute run by a elderly, refined gentleman.  I had occasion to write him a note about a visitor who had come to see him, and I used the word 'hombre' instead of 'señor'.  It was the equivalent of calling the person  a 'man' instead of a 'gentleman'.  I didn't lose my job, but I did get sufficiently chastised to not make that mistake ever again.

Have you had similar language experiences with something that got lost in translation?  I would love to hear about them.

 

New words. Do you love them or hate them?

When you hear a new word in your language, do you have a reaction? Are you intrigued or offended by additions to language? Several readers of last week's blog chose the origin of words as an interesting subject, so this week I'll explore the topic of new words. (For language nerds, 'neologism' is the technical term for a new word.)    

What is a word really?  Although the definition of the word 'word' seems like a no-brainer, it is not a clear cut concept. We can visualize a written word in our minds, with the letters close together and a space before and after.  But in spoken language, words are often not separated by pauses.  If you have studied a foreign language, you may have experienced frustration because the oral stream of language is not neatly marked. How did I know, for instance, that in French 'Comma ta lei vu' (sic) was really 'Comment allez-vous?"  

Small children just learning their first language have a similar problem.  "Let's go bye-bye" probably sounds like one big word to them. As a matter of fact, in Swahili, the romantic sentence "I will love you" is 'nitakupenda', with a whole English phrase appearing as a word (to us, at least) in that language.

But we all have a working definition of 'word' at least. (We'll leave it to  linguists to provide an iron clad definition.) What is of more interest to me is the effect that new words have on speakers of that language.  I myself am delighted by new words.  It's a challenge to figure out how the word was formed.  Then it's intriguing to follow a new word to see if it is being widely used and by whom.

Take the new word 'selfie'.  It was named as the 2013 Word of the Year by the publishers of Oxford English Dictionary.  Click below for definition and more information about 'selfie'.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/18/word-of-the-year-2013_n_4296009.html

'Selfie' was formed by adding the suffix -ie to 'self''.  It sounds familiar, like 'hippie' and 'yuppie'.   Since I first became aware of  'selfie', I have heard it numerous times on  radio and TV.  I haven't encountered it yet in personal conversation, probably because my friends and acquaintances (myself included) are still trying to figure out how to take any type of picture using these new-fangled devices.  The Pope appearing recently in a 'selfie' probably did much to promote the new word.  I  recently heard a talk show host make a joke that people were now talking about 'ussies', cell phone pictures of more than one person.  

Do you see 'selfie' and similar new words adding to the richness of the language or depleting it?  I would love to hear your opinions on this important matter!   

It's not your grandmother's grammar!

Grammar!

A vaguely unpleasant word for most people,  I would imagine. Disturbing images come to mind. Fill-in-the-blank worksheets.  A strict high school English teacher.  A heartfelt written essay returned bleeding red ink.  A momentary doubt as to whether to use 'lay' or 'lie'. Do I say, "It is I." or "It's me"? And all those rules in grammar books!  Even if a person could memorize them, applying them in the right circumstances would take more time than we have in today's rush-rush world.

But a few of you out there may have already joined the ranks of the Grammar Police.  To this enforcement agency, it is a matter of pride to study traditional usage rules, and, more especially, to use them to correct everyone who doesn't follow them.  Isn't the world "going to hell in a hand basket" if  a preposition ends up at the end of a sentence or an infinitive gets split?  Maybe not.

It may surprise you to know that in Linguistics, the scientific study of language, the type of grammar described above is of minimal importance.  It is labeled as "prescriptive grammar".   This traditional view of grammar "right vs. wrong" belongs to the world of copy editors, English instructors, and overzealous parents (not to mention a few acquaintances who want to prove that they are smarter than you are).

I would like to introduce you  to a much more challenging view of grammar, known as "descriptive grammar". As the name implies, linguists describe the language that real people produce in real circumstances and use it as material to explore what may be happening in the human brain.

Take for instance the sentence "I ain't goin' to do nothing for nobody." Did you just take out your red pen for correction?  Yes, those of us who have gone through the American educational system know that 'ain't' is not acceptable in polite society, 'going' needs a 'g' at the end, and that "doing nothing for nobody" means that you are really going to do something for someone because two negatives equal a positive (in mathematics at least).  So a prescriptivist merely labels the sentence as WRONG.  A descriptivist, however, looks more analitically at the sentence.

The much maligned 'ain't'' is a modified contraction of "I am not". After all, there is nothing unacceptable about "he isn't" or "we aren't.  Do some speakers prefer 'ain't' because it is a natural extension of the subconscious (in the brain)  rule that allows us to combine a form of the verb 'to be' with a negative word? Do some speakers pile up negative words ('not,' 'nothing,' 'nobody') for emphasis?  Speakers of Spanish and Portuguese string negative words in sentences without compunction.  (No voy a hacer nada para nadie.  Eu não vou fazer nada para ninguém.)

So the next time you hear a grammar "error," it may be an opportunity for some deeper thinking.  A linguist's view of grammar opens up a whole world of discovery of the workings of the human brain.  It  is definitely not your grandmother's grammar!







 

Does the term "Linguistics" scare you?

Linguistics.  Are you scared?  If so, you are not alone in the world.  The majority of people who ask what I do in life give me very strange looks when I say that I am interested in and teach courses in Linguistics.  A few are brave enough to ask, "What's that?"  Most just proceed to a more approachable topic.

Several weeks ago, I submitted an application to teach at a lifelong learning institute sponsored by our local university (under 50 years of age need not apply).  The first draft of the course description read like a watered-down version of a university introductory course in Linguistics (the science of language) that I taught for some years. It was stiff and contained unusual (some would say 'nerdy') words like 'syntax', 'morphology', 'phonology', and 'pragmatics'.  With an unusual flash of intuition, I realized that very few normal people out in the world would enroll in this course.

So I changed my approach.  Almost everyone in the world has the capability to communicate using language. The delivery method of language varies, but language still has to be  formulated in the brain.

Here are some questions that I imagine most people will want to know about language:

1. How did language begin?
2. Are we the only living beings that use language?
3. How are we able to find two different meanings in a sentence like "She texted her boyfriend with an iPhone."
4. Should we reject all new words that come into a language? 
5. Why do I have trouble making some sounds in other languages?
6. Is slang to be avoided at all costs?
7. Why do people speak with an accent different from mine?
8. Are certain areas in the brain essential for language?
9. "Can you pass the salt?"  A question or a request?
10. Can adults acquire a second language, or is it all downhill after age 14?

Which is these questions interested you most?  (You can just respond with the number).  I'm still in the planning stages for the new course, now called "Exploring Language", so your opinion is very valuable.

How about Joining the Slow Reading Movement?

Living more slowly has been getting some good press nowadays.  Slow Food is a movement to combat the fast food craze.  Slow Eating is supposed to do great things for your health.  Norway is experimenting with Slow Television. with a new nine hour broadcast about knitting. How about adding Slow Reading to the list of movements?  Foreign languages can encourage you to become a convert.

Do you read too fast in your native language?  I do.  The years I have spent attending classes and working in education have encouraged me to "skim and scan" almost every piece of written material I pick up.  My husband Wayne voices his annoyance when I finish the morning paper before he even reads the sports page.  He says I don't pay enough attention to detail, and I must admit he is right.  For me, it's hit the main idea and move on to the next article.

Reading in another language though.  Now that is a different experience. I have always known that I like to read in other languages, but I never analyzed why.  A few days ago I downloaded Au Bonheur des Dames by Émile Zola ( for free!) on my Kindle Reader. I have become addicted to the Masterpiece Theater production by PBS, "The Paradise." which is based on that novel. Since my French language ability is still in the recovery stage, I had no idea that I would be able to read the 19th century French novel.  But I can! Slowly!  And I am enjoying the reading because I have to concentrate and think about the meaning of the words.

The reading skill in foreign languages has a checkered past.  Before World War I, most foreign language education programs were based on producing students who could read and write in the new language (much like Latin had been taught for years).  In the second half of the 20th century, the primary goal of studying a foreign language became communication, with a heavy emphasis on being able to understand and speak the language.  And I heartily support that goal.  One of my great thrills in life is having a conversation with a native speaker of another language in that person's language.

But let's look at foreign language skills in a more practical manner.  Take my interest in French, for example. Realistically,  I'm probably not going to encounter enough native French speakers at this stage of my like to truly develop French speaking ability.  So should I give up on French study?  Not if I have a new goal, which is being able to read in French.  I can spend lots of happy hours immersed in French articles or literature.  

Here's what I am now reminding myself about reading in other languages.

• Be sure to read something I'm truly interested. Travel stories, yes; sports scores, not so much.
• Develop Stephen Krashen's "tolerance for ambiguity."  I'm not going to understand everything.
• Find a quiet place to read so that I can concentrate.  Foreign language reading takes a little more concentration.
• Do the reading in small doses.  Like about fifteen minutes.

Now I'm not feeling quite as guilty about not chatting up strangers in French on our recent trip to Canada. I'll keep telling myself that at least I can read Émile Zola in the original. 

"Bonjour"" doesn't always mean just "hello"

Quintessential Canada

Two weeks in Canada!    My mind is still whirling, thinking about the hospitable people that we met, the beautiful locales, and the language experiences that kept my brain well entertained.

If you have been following this blog, you may know that I had been trying to breathe some life into my knowledge of the French language before visiting Quebec and Nova Scotia.  My study of French has stretched over a lifetime, but it has been spotty and irregular, and never put to the acid test - actually communicating with a French speaking person.  So you may be asking the logical question, "Well, did you use any French on your trip?"

The answer is Yes and No. I understood quite a bit of French, but I spoke very little.  But isn't that what the language learning experts say we should do-spend a long period comprehending before we speak?   And my introverted personality feels very comfortable with that philosophy.

Stephen Krashen, noted language acquisition expert, describes a phenomenon that he labeled the "din in the head."  It is the sensation when you are comprehending enough input in the new language that you start to hear it in your own mind.  Beginning with the conversations of passengers lining up for the flight from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Montreal, I felt a change in atmosphere from monolingual English to bilingual English-French. Upon arrival, the Montreal Airport was a model of bilingualism, with announcements, signs, and conversations in two languages.  So many French learning opportunities, there for the asking.  Before long, the "din in my head" in French began.

Welcome/Bienvenue to Halifax

It was fascinating to see official bilingualism at work in Canada.  People who deal with tourists have a quick way of determining which language, French or English, you want to speak. They greet you in two languages ("Bonjour, Good morning") , and the one you respond in is what they use.

I always have to remind myself in foreign countries that I can't treat tourist situations like my own personal classroom. Those busy making a living are focused on getting their jobs done, not listening to my attempts to use their language or giving me a free grammar lesson. But how I longed to at least utter a few memorized phrases in French before I left Canada.  Surely I could say "Bonjour," "Merci beaucoup," or "De rien" to indicate that I am a language lover.  I must have been carrying that thought around in my subconscious.

It was 4:30 am and very dark on the train between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City.  The sleeping car attendant had given us specific instructions the night before.  He would wake us by knocking lightly on our door.  If we knocked back, he would know we were awake.  Our special stop at Charny was scheduled for 5:20 am. I responded confidently to the polite tapping on the door.

Early morning ablutions were a bit hectic (in a sleeper with a tiny bathroom- see below) when there was another knock on the door.

The train all purpose bathroom

Hey, wait a minute, my foggy brain said.  There wasn't supposed to be a second knock. Murder on the Orient Express came to mind.  Should I open the door?  I made a split second decision to do so.  

The polite sleeping car attendant said "Bonjour, Good Morning." I made the fatal mistake of answering "Bonjour," which meant I was given rapid fire very important instructions IN FRENCH that our train was arriving early and that we needed to proceed to an exit several cars down .  I caught the gist, but not the details. My husband Wayne would kill me if I didn't get the information right!  I had to eat humble pie and request the information in English.

But I am not deterred.  We have bilingual Canadian friends visiting us in El Paso in several months. I had better get to work on that French MOOC that I am halfway through.  À bientôt!

Oops!  Better know some basic French at this stop sign!

Siri goes cosmopolitan

Maybe Siri has always been cosmopolitan, but I just recently found out that the wise Siri not only knows all, but knows it in various languages as well.  In case you haven't met her, Siri is the virtual, personal, digital assistant available on Apple devices.

My family is the proud owner of a latest generation iPad (a present from my technology-talented son who said he wanted to  "keep the old folks in the technology loop").  The iPad has been in the family about 18 months now, and we are still trying to develop a friendly relationship with it.

Before I discovered the oral language talents of Siri, I learned that to write in a foreign language was a piece of cake on the iPad.  The keyboard is already set up with diacritical markings for various languages, like accent marks in Spanish.  If I need to write the Spanish surname Gómez, for example, the 'o' with an acute accent can be located by holding down the 'o' key and then tapping on one of nine 'o' choices with different markings. For the English writer who wants to throw in an occasional word in a foreign language, Apple has made it super easy to spell correctly.

Now you can use your iPad to complain that a linguistic term is recherché, brag about your new recipe for pâté de fois gras, or describe your vacation in São Paulo with complete confidence that you are showing the world you are a literate person.

Up to this point, I have not used Siri very often.  My husband Wayne talks to her all of the time, although  he gets really annoyed when she doesn't understand his Texas accent  Maybe me not using Siri is a gender thing.  Did I hear that the new iPhone 5S has a choice of male or female voices?   That brings us some interesting possibilities.

Recently I read that Siri speaks and understands several different languages.  My mind started whirling. How could I use Siri's cosmopolitan outlook not especially to get information but as part of my foreign language learning hobby?

Step 1 was to see which languages Siri knows.  I went to Settings, General, Siri, and Language to find the answer.  Nineteen languages are listed, some of which are dialects of the same language.  I was pleased to find, in addition to my native language English,  that Siri is conversant in French, which I have been brushing up on, and Spanish, which was my first foreign language. I didn't find Portuguese, which I used to teach. Too bad, because Portuguese is really fun to speak.

Map of Spanish-speaking countries

What caught my eye was that Spanish was listed with three dialects, Mexico, Spain, and United States.  I understood the separation of Mexican Spanish and Peninsular Spanish, but I didn't know that there were enough common identifying features of Spanish spoken in the US to warrant a separate setting.  Spanish in the US differs considerably from location to location.  Spanish spoken in New York City, for example, may differ considerably from that spoken in Los Angeles. And New Mexican Spanish may differ considerably from Spanish spoken in Colorado.  How did the Apple software engineers decide on which features to include in the Spanish-United States setting?

I also notice that Siri speaks French from Canada and French from France.  I'm not sophisticated enough in that language to hear the difference in the two dialects.  As a matter of fact, if I can get Siri to understand anything I ask in French, I will feel quite accomplished.  I hope she isn't secretly smiling at my unauthentic French 'r'.

Now I am intrigued with Siri and her language ability.  I'm going to try some simple experiments that I will be writing about in coming weeks.  Do you have a story about Siri and languages? Please share.

PLEASE NOTE:  Language Lover's Blog is going on vacation and will return on October 28.  See you then!

Exploring "The Not to Do List for Successful Language Learners" Tip No. 1

I'm a sucker for articles about language learning.  My secret hope is to find some trick to learn a foreign language that doesn't require blood, sweat and tears (not to mention huge chunks of my time, moving to a foreign country, or hiring a live-in foreign national, which my husband would probably applaud if she were young and beautiful). 

So when I saw the following article, I read it immediately instead of relegating it to the read sometime in the future folder. Maybe you would like to take a look at this easy to read article, "The Not to Do List for Successful Language Learners"  by John Fotheringham before we get started.   http://l2mastery.com/blog/linguistics-and-education/methods/not-to-do-list.

First of all, I gave a big fist pump and yelled "Yes!" when I read the article.  Now I want to explore why we are not already following the common sense advice listed, either in language courses or as independent learners. Let's take a memory trip back to your and my attempts at learning a foreign language, using the 10 tips in the article.


1. Do NOT spend more than 5% of your study time on grammar, translation, vocabulary lists or any other overt information about the language.

5%? Not much time to learn all those rules and exceptions to the rule!   The big controversial topic here is grammar.  Translation and extensive bilingual vocabulary lists have pretty much passed out of use (I hope). But the language profession has been waffling for decades about how useful grammar instruction is for learners whose main goal is to speak the language.

What is so seductive about studying the grammar of a language?  I must admit  I am one of those weird persons who likes to know how languages work.  Using my current online French course as an example, am I fascinated by the fact that French has two helping verbs to form the past tense (passé composé), and that each verb has specific rules for its use?  I am, and it gives me great satisfaction to learn those rules and complete a grammar exercise (answers at the bottom of the page upside down) and select all the right answers. I can mark an A+ on my paper. And my ego gets a little boost.  Are you one of those types of language learners also? 

Here is the crux of the matter.  When I am face to face with a fast-talking French Canadian later this year, will I be able to use the correct French past tense form in a timely manner?  Probably not!  "Why not?", you may ask, "Didn't you make an A+ on the grammar exercise about forming past tense verbs in French?"  Well, yes, I did, and I can explain to you (if you have patience and time to listen) that avoir is the helping verb used with most verbs to say a phrase like 'I have read', but that when I use a verb of motion, or a reflexive verb (I'll spare you the digression needed  to explain what a reflexive verb is) être is the only possible correct grammatical choice.   

By the time all of that grammar information filters through my brain, I might be able  to eventually croak out a correct 'Je suis arrivée au Canada hier.' (I arrived in Canada yesterday.) The French speaker would have to live up to the reputation of Canadian politeness not to experience some frustration with the snail's pace of our conversation.  He/she might even regret having asked me the innocent question, "When did you arrive in Canada?"

If you are still with me in this discussion, you may be wondering, "If grammar study and exercises aren't the solution,  then how can I learn to use the two French past tense helping verbs well enough to carry on a decent conversation?"  I would recommend the following:

(1) Listen to French past tense conversations until I notice that two different helping verbs are used.

(2) Hypothesize about the characteristics of verbs that use être or avoir as helping verbs.

(3) Check my hypotheses by listening and reading in French.

(4) Participate in many simple conversations in French about past tense events. 

(5) Realize that I am going to make errors (no A+s here). 

(5) Now check the grammar rules if I want to.  They will make a lot more sense  at this point.

Summary:  Learn grammar by using the language, not by learning about the language.

I'm off the soapbox for today. Thoughts and opinions  are sincerely appreciated.  We'll look at some more tips next week.

A personal view of MOOCs

MOOCs (Massive, Open, Online Courses). The greatest thing since sliced bread or the beginning of the end for higher education?  If you keep up with news from the world of education, MOOCs appear in the title of at least one article on a daily basis.  Some articles are pro-MOOC, some are anti-MOOC; all are still long on opinion and short on data.  It's too early for the verdict.  The jury is still out.  

In the many discussions about MOOCs, there are concerns about the quality of instruction, how or if to grant credit for the courses, the financial implications, and possible resulting changes in the current higher education model. Proponents of MOOCs point out the large numbers of students who can be served, reductions in education costs, and the availability of outstanding instructors to more students. 

Here is a link to a recent article in Time, All Hail MOOCs! Just Don't Ask if They Actually Work in case you would like to jump into the fray.

Not being able to solve the large questions about MOOCs,  I started thinking about the importance of MOOCs in my life.  And this is admittedly a personal view.  I am in love with the idea of life-long education.  I always want to be involved in learning something new. I've said many times that if I could find someone to support me "in the manner to which I have become accustomed," I would be a perennial student, hanging around  university corridors carrying an old backpack.

Several years ago I attended a language conference and found myself at the communal breakfast table at a B&B with a gentleman well known in the language field.  What impressed me is that he had brought a Japanese grammar book to the table.  When other guests began arriving, he of course put the book to one side and began a lively conversation.  But I'll bet he would rather have been studying his book. A man after my own heart.

The availability of MOOCs has allowed me to continue to be a student from the comfort of my own home, or hopefully from a hotel room or lobby in an elegant vacation spot. 

Well, maybe not quite this elegant.

My world broadens and becomes more flexible as long as I have an internet connection.  I can go to http://www.openculture.com  and find "Free online courses," "Free certificate courses," or "Free language lessons"  (free being a key term here), among many other seductive offerings.  And I don't have to worry about transportation, scheduling conflicts, grades, homework. or buying an expensive textbook.

But Miss Pollyanna, you may be thinking, what is the downside to studying by means of a MOOC? Wouldn't you really rather be studying a new language in a classroom led by a dynamic instructor?  Well, certainly.  MOOCs takes self-discipline, making my own opportunities for personal communication, and giving up the thrill of chasing an A for the course. 

Whatever the future for MOOCs, I'm grateful that they are still around to help me stretch my mind and imagination, stay entertained, and most of all to keep me out of that rocking chair on the porch (George Jones , the country-western singer, sang about it) for a few more years.

More about my French MOOC

http://www.loecsen.com/travel/0-en-67-2-3-free-lessons-french.html

Last week I started this blog with the old stereotypical saw about how embarrassingly monolingual Americans are. A few days later, this article caught my eye as a direct contradiction.  http://languageboat.com/2013/08/30/crushing-the-stereotype-about-monolingual-america/

"Of course," I chastised myself.  Not all Americans have to learn another language in order to become bilingual; they are fortunate enough to acquire another language through much less painful means - family, playmates, friends, significant others, co-workers, employers and employees, social activities, or residence in a foreign country. Ah, how I envy those non-monolingual Americans.

My focus is egocentric; I have to work at having other languages.  My latest effort is the French MOOC that I signed up for at Carnegie Mellon University under the Open Learning Initiative.  I would like to give you an idea of what the course experience has been , in case you might be inspired to join me.  Also, I want to ruminate about who might benefit from a MOOC.

First of all-the basics.  The course is absolutely free.  You need an Internet connection and a set of earphones (not even a microphone really). You also need to set the keyboard to US-International so that you can do diacritical marks, like accent marks. The enrollment is done in a few simple clicks without having to reveal your life story.  Every time you return to the course, you can start where you left off.  There is no instructor, no homework, no tests, and no grading, just you and your conscience.  No one tracks your progress or nags you.  The only deadlines are those that you set for yourself.  Sounds great, huh?

The only downside I have found so far is that I am having trouble making the course a priority in my life. Days pass without me entering the course.  E-mail and social media beckon.  They take so much less brain energy and give me warm, fuzzy feelings.  The MOOC is like a patient but persistent teacher. tapping her foot.

The MOOC includes the four traditional language skills.  You can learn to understand French (my goal), pronounce French (oh, my American accent!), read French (my best skill), and write French (not easy!). There is a cultural section also. The current lesson talks about beauty products, so this is everyday culture, that is rather interesting to me.

Each lesson includes a series of short videos of conversations that you can play over and over, which I often feel the need to do. The third time is usually the charm for understanding.  Then there are many short exercises of varying types that help you internalize the language of the videos  Most of the exercises are contextual and therefore fairly engaging. There are a few old-fashioned fill-in-the-blank exercises for verb forms.  Grammar explanations are kept to a minimum, considering the complexity of grammar.  The wrap-up activity asks you to apply the information to yourself.  For example, I now need to write a description of myself and my family members in French.  I have been procrastinating as usual.

Who might benefit from a MOOC?  I wouldn't try one if I had no background in the language and no contact with any other learners or native speakers.  But I am finding that this MOOC is a thorough  review of the French that must be buried somewhere in my brain.  And it doesn't hurt that I have an upcoming trip planned to French-speaking Canada.

But back to the many Americans who are already bilingual.  I think a MOOC might be especially attractive to them, especially if they want to strengthen reading and writing skills, plus add to vocabulary.

Tomorrow is my first French conversation class at our local university.  I'll let you know how it goes.

http://www.loecsen.com/travel/0-en-67-2-3-free-lessons-french.html

Adventures with a French MOOC

MOOCs have been much in the news recently.  MOOC stands for massive open online course. The El Paso Times of  September 3, 2013, carried the reprint of a humorous article about new expressions in English by Michael Dirda, writing for the Washington Post. He states,  "This phenomenon [MOOCs] is clearly here to stay, but 'I'm taking a MOOC' sounds disgustingly lavatorial."  I'm not even sure how to pronounce the acronym MOOC.   Is the vowel sound the same as in 'foot', 'mood', or another sound?  

At any rate, MOOCS are a current controversial topic with supporters and detractors at each end of the spectrum, while others are taking a wait and see attitude. I wanted to see what all of the brouhaha was about from a student's perspective. The concept of lifelong learning has a certain appeal to me at this stage of my life.   I chose French because my husband and I will be in French-speaking Canada later this year.  I did not want to be an Ugly American, at least language wise, if I could help it.

My spotty background in French stretches all the way back to undergraduate days, continues through graduate school, and even includes a  disastrous semester teaching French I to high school students (if any former students are reading this blog, my sincere apologies).  I just never felt like I had the upper hand with French.

So three months ago I optimistically signed up for a  MOOC in Beginning French from Cornell University. Instructions stated that it is ideally a 15 week course, and I am just now starting Lesson 5 (do the math!) My plans were for this MOOC to be an opportunity to really buckle down and conquer the French language.  I started the first day with notebook, pencil, and French dictionary close by my laptop, remembering my usual modus operandi for a traditional college course.  My notebook is still mostly blank.  Online learning is a new world.

Procrastination!  A very human disorder.  I suffer greatly from it because I always want to do things perfectly and get an A+.  Clearly I had to change my ways or end up as a statistic as a non-MOOCcompleter (a large group, as I understand it).

So beginning with Lesson 5, I'm going to pledge to tackle this MOOC with a new determination and a new attitude.  I will devote the six to eight hours a week recommended by Cornell, and I will reign in my obsessive-compulsive personality and try to have a little fun with the course.

I'll keep you up to date on my progress, and also let you know how my French conversation course at a local university is working out.  I would love to read comments from anyone who has experience with a MOOC or is considering taking one.  À bientôt!

Acquiring Another Language - Pain or Pleasure?

Does this strike you as a leisurely activity?

Knowing another language is a highly prized ability, right?  Don't we identify polyglots as really smart, well educated, super intelligent, and in general, superior human beings?  So if knowing another language is so desirable, why don't more Americans (and we are not alone in this) make the effort to break out of our monolingualism?

You've heard the old joke: "What do you call a person who knows three languages?  Trilingual.  What do you call a person who knows two languages?  Bilingual.  And what do you call a person who knows only one language?  American.

The old excuses for English Only immediately rear their heads.  Europeans live closer to other countries, so they have more language learning opportunities.  European schools begin language study at an early age. Isn't English becoming the universal language, so aren't I lucky that I already speak English?  If anyone wants to do business with me, they had better speak English.  And on and on...

I would like to offer a new perspective.  How about plucking second language acquisition out of the realm of really serious stuff and nestle it into a category of fun things to do with my life?  Let's think about language acquistion the same way we do learning to play a musical instrument, conquering a new piece of software, mastering making homemade flour tortillas, or training to run a marathon.  Challenging, but intriguing and rewarding.

I'm in the midst of trying to recoup some of the knowledge of the French language that has been stuffed into my head at various points in my schooling.   Instead of approaching this task (oops, I didn't mean to say task), rather, opportunity for creativity, with an intense desire to succeed, how about if I take a more relaxed approach?

The first baby step I took to ween myself away from language learning as pain rather than pleasure was to sign up for a free online course with no feedback from an instructor.  If you are a language instructor reading this blog, please don't get out the rotten tomatoes just yet.  I spent my teaching career in second languages, so I think we still can play a vital role in language learning.  More about that topic in a future blog.  

What, a course where no one will tell me if I am right or wrong?  No homework, no tests, no one to encourage me, just me and my computer?  Yes.

In the weeks that follow, I want to share my experiences with learning a language through an open, online course.  And I hope to  investigate and evaluate other alternative ways of acquiring a language.

Wish me luck!  And send me a comment about language learning in your life.

Can I trust Google Translate? It's the wrong question!

Pandora's box or a can of worms?  I certainly opened up a larger question than I intended to when I decided to do an informal investigation into the accuracy of Google Translate (GT).  I'll state right up front that my experiments with using GT to convert the same ten English phrases into Spanish, Portuguese and French (see past three posts) convinced me that GT does provide accurate translations at the level of communication of travel phrases.  Neither of us was perfect, but GT and I scored about equally on the number of translations we could have improved on.

So my admonition to students for using GT to do their homework based on GT's lack of accuracy was (to use an idiom that GT might have trouble translating), barking up the wrong tree.  I really wasn't concerned about GT's accuracy.  I was convinced that overuse or misuse of the service would prevent students from acquiring another language.  And I am still convinced.  It is an issue that needs to be resolved in language education as GT is adding more features (seductive features, I might add) and becoming more accessible to more students.  It and other online translation services are not going away.

The bigger question is how to incorporate GT into what we currently believe about language acquisition. Let's assume that a person has made a commitment to acquire a second language. I'm ignoring the argument that  acquiring another language is so last century because GT can translate anything you want it to. That's a topic for another blog post. Maybe I'll tackle it in sometime.

Language acquisition has to happen in the learner's brain.  In simple terms, the brain is a language-making machine, taking information heard or read in the new language, making hypotheses about how the new language works, and testing the hypotheses by creating spoken or written language.  The road to accurate language use is strewn with errors.  And that's a good thing.   Errors are positive indications that the learner is cerebrally working out generalizations and exceptions to grammar rules .

If a learner immediately turns to GT for a quick translation, the goal of getting an accurate translation may be achieved, but, and this is crucial,  nothing has happened in the learner's brain. In other words, just informing someone how to say a phrase in another language is missing the brain activity necessary for language acquisition.  This argument may seem counter intuitive, but think about it.  Have you ever asked a native speaker of a language how to say something, maybe even repeated it, and a few minutes later, tried to recall it and couldn't?  No brain activity took place.  Memorizing language is not the same activity as creating language in the head.

Did you have to do any thinking?

Now I want to daydream about techniques that accept the reality that learners are going to use GT but encourage them to use it in a manner that will lead to language acquisition.  Has anyone come up with ideas for creative uses of GT? I'm all ears!  (How would Google translate that, I wonder?)

Can I Trust Google Translate? - French

Today is the acid test.  You may remember this experiment was the result of my husband gently reminding me that the academic French I was trying to recover wasn't going to be very useful on our upcoming trip to Canada.

It's one of the age-old dilemmas of language acquisition - Do you practice saying "my aunt's pen is on the table" (good practice for possessive adjectives, agreement of articles, and prepositions), or do you learn "where is the restroom"? (inelegant but potentially very useful)?

I knew I would be resorting to Google Translate to turn my ten top useful travel phrases into French.  But are Google translations accurate?  I still have enough ego remaining from being a former language instructor to want to be correct when I speak any language.  I experimented with first Spanish and then Portuguese, writing my translations and comparing them with Google's (see last two posts).  At this point, I am feeling pretty confident in Google, but I did have some background knowledge in both Spanish and Portuguese to help me out.

Now for the French!  I pulled my old Amsco French dictionary off the shelf, and I'm ready to go.

My favorite  publisher.  Wish I had this dictionary right now! 

My translations are in red, and Google Translate's are the second in blue. Differences in the two translations are underlined.  Discussion follows each travel phrase.


1.  Where is the restroom, please?
Où est la salle de bains, s'il vous plaît?
Où sont les toilettes, s'il vous plaît?

[Of course!  Google's translation for "restroom" much better]

2.  I have a (room) reservation for tonight.
J'ai une réservation pour ce soir.
J'ai une (chambre) réservation pour ce soir.
[Okay.  I shouldn't have put the (room) in.]

3.  My name is Linda.  What is your name?
Je m'appelle Linda. Comment vous appelez-vous?
Mon nom est Linda. Quel est votre nom?
[Both are correct.  Two ways of saying the same thing.]

4. When does the train leave/arrive?
Quand est-ce le train part/arrive?
Quand le train partent / arrivent?
[Both question forms are acceptable, I believe.  But why did Google use a plural verb?]

5. How much does it cost?
Combien est-ce que ce coûte?
Combien ça coûte?
[Oops.  I had "ça" and then changed it.]  

6. Pardon me.
Pardon.
Pardonnez-moi.
[Both okay.  Google gives my translation as an alternative.]

7. Do you have a vegetarian dish?
Est-ce que vous avez un plat végétarien?
Avez-vous un plat végétarien?
[Okay.]

8.  May I have a glass of water please?
Est-ce que vous pouvez me donner un verre d'eau, s'il vous plaît?
Puis-je avoir un verre d'eau s'il vous plaît?
[Two different question forms.  Google's more literal]

9.  I want to buy a ticket please.
Je voudrais prendre un billet, s'il vous plaît.
Je veux acheter un billet s'il vous plaît.
["Acheter" is certainly the general word for "to buy", but my dictionary specifically gives "prendre" for buying a ticket.]

10. Where is the restaurant (bus station, train station, museum)?
Où est le restaurant, (la gare routière, la gare, le musée?
Où se trouve le restaurant (gare routière, gare, musée)?
[Both verbs work, but I like Google's more.  I'm going to use it.  The definite article needed to be included with each noun, because some take "le" and others take "la".]

Whew!  I'm glad that's done.  I felt like I was turning in a test paper to Google and waiting for my grade.

At this point, Google is very helpful but not perfect, but then neither my transations from personal knowledge or dictionary help have been either.  Next week, I'm going to look at some recent opinions about using Google Translate and compare my findings.

Have you used Google service to translate?   Did you find it useful?