Facebook..again!?

I have been using Facebook for language learning a lot lately. Firstly, I use ‘Word of the day’ in both Spanish and German and this has helped to extend my vocabulary immensely as I use Facebook everyday so I really am learning new words everyday. Secondly, I am still writing to my Spanish and German friends in Spanish and German which is helping me a lot as I have asked them to correct me if I make a mistake so I am improving my writing in both Spanish and German. Now and again we video call on Facebook and this is developing my listening skills and also helping to improve my pronunciation. Lately, I have began using a game on Facebook called Duolingo. The game is free and easy to use. This game was recommended to me in the Language Technology Lab earlier this year. I am finding that the game is helping me to improve my Spanish. This game allows you to track your weekly progress and follow your friends who are also playing the game. Some of the girls in my Spanish class are also playing this game and I am tracking their weekly progress. This motivates me to learn more Spanish as I want to keep up with their scores. This game asks you to listen to a Spanish recording and to type the sentence you have just heard. This helps to improve listening skills. If you make too many mistakes you cannot progress on to the next level. I think this is a good system because repetition is the key to success. I enjoy this game. This week I have also changed the language settings on my phone to German. I am now using my phone and Facebook in German. I am still finding it a bit confusing but already I have learned the meanings to many new words. 

Learning a language using your phone.

I have been using my phone in German with the last six weeks now. At first I had great difficulty in using the phone and felt like someone who had never use technology before as I had trouble using the basic features. One day I turned my alarm ‘off’ instead of ‘on’. However, after continuous use and practice I can now use my phone in the German language without any problems or difficulties. Using my phone in my target language has certainly helped to get me thinking in German and I am glad that I stuck with it and didn’t change my phone back to English because when I go on Co-Op in January to Germany and buy a German phone, I will actually be able to use it! 

Skype/Facebook video calling!

I use Skype quite a lot to keep in contact with friends around the world. First of all it’s free which is the best thing about it as making phone calls to other countries can be expensive and secondly you can call almost anyone across the world. Lately I have also started using Facebook video chat which I think is very convenient as most people have FB and use this more frequently than Skype which means I can get in contact with them easily and more quickly. I have began using Skype and Facebook video calling as a language learning aid. Yesterday I contacted my German friend Franzi, who lives in Berlin. We talked for almost half an hour in German but when I did not know the German for a word I said it in English and Franzi then translated it to German for me. I think it is a remarkable way of learning a language. 

Machine Translation

In today’s class we translated a Spanish extract from a mobile phone user manual into English by copying and pasting it into the online MT engine http://babelfish.yahoo.com/. The translation produced by Babelfish was very literal, which was interesting to see. For example 

‘Distintos tipos de timbres para distinguir a las personas que le llaman’     was translated as

‘Different types of rings to distinguish those persons who they call him’

From this example we can see that Babelfish is unable to distinguish between a ring and a ringtone and pragmatic inconsistency is evident.

A better translation would perhaps be ‘Different types of ringtones to distinguish between callers/the persons who are calling.’

In spite how inaccurate MT can be I must admit I do depend on it a lot to help me to get the gist of something and find it very useful, fast, cheap and easy to use. 

 

 

 

Sing your way to success

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwHjjXDSl1E

I found this song on YouTube while I was looking for lessons on the Spanish past tenses. I think I will be able to remember the imperfect endings more easily by learning them in the tune of a song! 

Learning German through song.

I listen to the radio station ‘Energy Muenchen’ a lot on the website– http://www.energy.de/muenchen/. I worked in Munich over the summer and this was this radio station that all of my German friends played. I listen to the radio station so much, I often find myself singing along to the German songs as well as the English songs. Sometimes I don’t quite catch all the lyrics of the songs so I look them up. I enjoy learning German in this way because I remember the new words I have learned more easy and it’s more fun than reading a textbook. I also learn a lot of German by listening to the newscasters, the conversations between the presenters and the conversations the presenters have with the German listeners who call in.

This website is also good because you can also read about celebrity news and gossip ! In German, of course.

Lab week 6. Antconc

This week we discovered another way to upload files onto Antconc.

1. Click on FILE

2. Click on OPEN DIRECTORY

This method enabled us to upload a large number of files in one go. Again we were able to examine the multiple occurrences of specific words in different contexts.

We also learned how to make use of patterns to uncover the meaning of a word in it’s different terms by using a ‘wildcard’. This can be done by using the search term and by placing an asterix after the word that you wish to  find patterns for. For example, we used the verb  ‘to consist’ in class. We then learned how to sort the data in order to make the patterns more visible.

Finally, we learned how to save these patterns as text files on our computers/laptops. I think it is very useful that we can save the patterns because this gives us the opportunity to print them and perhaps keep them as examples in our notes/folders in case we ever experience trouble with the same word/s again.

I decided to examine the pattern of the irregular Spanish verb ‘Tener’ (to have) which can have various uses in Spanish. I noticed that  ‘Hay que tener..’ appeared frequently and I incidentally learned (serendipitous learning as our lecture would call it) that HAY QUE + INFINITIVE is used to express the idea of ‘one must do something’ or ‘it is necessary to do something’ in Spanish (http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/tenque.htm.) E.g. ‘hay que tener en cuenta…’- it must be taken into account. And TENER QUE + INFINITIVE is used to express obligation or necessity. E.g  ‘…tener que disputar el partido este jueves..’- having to play the game this Thursday.

I did not discover the uses of Tener until I changed my search  term to Tengo*. I then learned that ‘Tener’ can be used to with certain conditions. E.g. “Tengo mucho sed” – (I am thirsty), with age “Tengo 42 años” – (I am 42 years old) and to indicate possession “tengo una buena plantilla..” – (I have a good squad.)

Next, I examined the pattern of the German word ‘Doch’. ‘Doch’ has no English translation at all and is a word that is used a lot in German sentences and in each German sentence can have a different meaning!  I was already aware that ‘doch’ could be used in response to a negative question or statement. E.g “Hast du keinen Hunger?” (Are you not hungry?) “Doch.” ((On the contrary) Yes I am hungry.) By using Antconc, I learned two other uses of ‘doch’. Firstly, I noticed that ‘doch’ is most commonly used as conjunction as the pattern that appeared the most frequently was ‘doch auch..’ (but also..).  And secondly, I noticed that ‘doch’ can also be an adverb. ‘doch dennoch..’ (all the same; still.)

Antconc

Today I learned how to download and use the freeware concordance program ‘Antonc’. Antconc is useful corpus tool which can be used to examine a corpus for language learning purposes. Antconc is a very easy tool to use. You start by importing text files onto Antconc. You can then create frequency word lists! Today I imported German texts on the topic of sport. I looked through the frequency list and found a number of words that I usually have difficulty with. Most of these were subordinating conjunctions which change the word order in sentences. I carefully analysed the concordances of these subordinating conjunctions and I noticed the conjugated verb that follows the conjunction always moves to the end of a clause. In my opinion Antconc is a significant tool which can enable language learning. We carried out a task in class today which required the non native speakers to look at a concordance of  the word ‘dead’ and to try and find the different uses and meanings of the word. The native speakers had to correct their answers. They discovered that the adjective dead i.e not alive, can also be used as an adverb  e.g. ‘she’s dead right’. It was very interesting to observe how the non natives speakers were able to determine the meaning of the word by seeing examples of its use in different contexts. I think Antconc will help me to do the same thing in my target languages i.e Spanish and German.

Evaluation of a game. (For language learning)

http://www.digitaldialects.com/index.htm

This  free and easy to use website offers language learning games in sixty languages! Language resources include games for learning phrases, numbers, useful words, spelling, verb conjugation and alphabets which are useful inside and outside the classroom. The different topics and variety of games help to maintain the user’s level of interest.

The layout is basic and clear and detailed instructions are provided with each different game, ensuring ease of use. Players can familiarize themselves with the relevant vocabulary or grammar before playing each game by using the word bank. In most of the games you have to match the word with the correct image. If you choose to play the game using the audio clips, you must listen to the word and click on the corresponding picture. If you get an answer wrong, you will be notified and the correct answer will be displayed before you can resume playing the game. In this way language learners can  easily see their progression. If you realise that you have made a mistake, you can go back and change your answer.

The website was launched in January 2007 and is the by-product of a dissertation reviewing web resources for language learning. The language sections are developed from translators and native speakers and therefore credibility is achieved.

The game’s appealing bright colours (red, yellow and blue) and graphic animations help to entice more users. The games cater for all types of learners i.e beginners, intermediates and  for the advanced and can be used by all age groups. The game also caters for different learning styles. Images, texts and audio clips are provided to help learners memorize words and practice pronunciation.

I have been using this website with the last week and feel that my language skills are improving. I would recommend this website to anyone who wants to take a break from the text book and anyone who wants to have fun while learning a language.

Facebook for learning.

Facebook can actually be a great way of learning a language. I have friends from all around the world on Facebook and try to have weekly conversations in German and Spanish. Sometimes I leave my friends a mail to ask them to proof read something I have written in their native language. They are always willing to help me and always reply to me quickly.

I have began using an application on Facebook called ‘Word Of the Day’ in both Spanish and German. Everyday I get sent new words or phrases helping to expand my vocabulary.

Some people may see Facebook as a study distraction but I see Facebook as a study aid!