How Ronzoni Italian Foods Helped My Dad Learn English (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

My dad likes to say, he was made in Italy, but born in Brooklyn New York. You see his parents left Palermo, Sicily in February 1955 and sailed by boat to America. My nonna (Italian for grandmother) was six months pregnant at the time and was quite ill through out the month's passage. Like most of the immigrants however, all she cared about was that her son be born in America, and thus immediately become a United States citizen. My grandparents, immediately settled in Sicilian-Italian neighborhood called Bensonhurst, and the language of choice was Sicilian, of course. By the time my dad was 10 months old, he was saying words in Sicilian and by the time he was a year-old, he was able to put sentences together. That's why it's no surprise to me that my dad was able to learn the English language as quickly as he did.

Teaching English in Mexico: A Decent Living? (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

What's more disappointing than a person who makes a promise he can't keep? A person who makes a promise that is a lie. Many promises to make a "decent living" teaching English in Mexico are just that-a lie.

Learning a Foreign Language: the Ventriloquists Lesson (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

The main feature you have to master, in order to call yourself a ventriloquist, is to speak without moving your lips. It is not that difficult. There is a trick, of course. The sounds M, B and P make your lips move, as make the sounds V and F but in a lesser way. So, in order to be a ventriloquist, you should ban any word with m, b or p inside and avoid to pronounce f-v words. If your name is Mabel or Patrick, choose a stage name!

Learning a Foreign Language: Why Should you Learn Words You Never Use in Your Mother Tongue? (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Imagine a child sitting in front of a desk, his head in his hands, and mumbling various lists of words over and over. Does this child remind you of your own experience? If yes, I bet that "list of words" does not sound appealing to you. You are almost ready to swear that they do not work. Before you mortgage your part of paradise, it may be wise to make sure you are right.

Learning a Foreign Language: the Psychological Factor (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

When it comes about learning a foreign language, many people wonder if they will be able to memorize enough vocabulary. But this question never occurs about their mother tongue. And yet, it was a foreign language; nevertheless, among all the questions that new parents ask, no doctor has ever heard: "Will my baby be able to learn my language?" Be honest. Do you know all the words of your mother tongue? The answer is: "no". New words, and new ways of using old words, appear every day. Twenty years ago, who would have been able to understand such a sentence: "Click here to download your digital book"? Nobody. You never stop acquiring new vocabulary and you never know how long you will be needing it. Do you still use "tomagotchi"?

Bridging the Language Gap Using Bilingual Picture Books (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

There are more than 39 million Hispanics live in the United States making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world. It is estimated that within five years, only Mexico will have more Spanish-speakers than the U.S. Schools are offering bilingual courses and fully integrated bilingual curriculum. In some areas of the country , Spanish even exceeds English as the first language of the residents. Families are integrating languages into their neighborhoods regularly.

Don't Take The Romaji Short-Cut When Learning Japanese (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

This is an issue many Japanese learners come up against, particularly if they live outside Japan. After all, If you are not in the country, it seems difficult to justify the huge amount of time that learning Japanese characters seems to require.

What Does an Interpreter Do? (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Many people get confused as to the difference between an interpreter and a translator. There is a common tendency to think translators interpreter, or that interpreters translate. In fact, the two are very separate jobs requiring different skills. To explain who and/or what an interpreter as opposed to a translator we set out the main differences between interpreting and translation.

Preschool Spanish (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Why an EarlyAGE 2nd Language?

Research indicates that from ages 1 through 8 is the best time to introduce a new language to a child. If the 2nd language is introduced early in life children will learn it faster and retain it longer. Being exposed to a 2nd language offers numerous benefits to young children including an improved ability to communicate, better cognitive development, richer cultural awareness, improved academic performance, superior educational opportunities and, ultimately, better jobs. The earlier a child is exposed to a 2nd language the more likely they will speak it with native pronunciation. One recent study found that bilingual children learn to read sooner than their single language counterparts, have increased creative skills and become proficient problem solvers. Another study indicated that bilingual children also performed better on math and verbal sections of standardized tests than single language children. Perhaps these are just a few of the reasons that teaching Spanish is becoming popular in many childcare centers and preschools.

Learn to Speak Basic Chinese (Mandarin) Words and Phrases (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

The Chinese Language and dialects

Each province, each city and even each village speaks their own dialect. There are hundreds of Chinese dialects in China so much so that each dialect speaker is not likely to understand another dialect speaker from another village or city. Fortunately, Mandarin, the official dialect, is understood by all dialect speakers.

How To Learn Spanish Quickly and Easily (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Spanish is a very useful language to learn as it is the world's second most popular language.

Outside of the popular coastal tourist resorts a basic knowledge of Spanish is invaluable. Even in the tourist resorts you will find the Spanish will not go out of their way to speak English to you. If you try a few words and get stuck you tend to find they suddenly can speak a bit of English!

Chinese Pinyin or Hanyu Pinyin Overview (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Chinese Pinyin is the romanization of the Chinese "written sound". Romanization approximates Mandarin pronunciation with Western spellings and includes a tone mark to signify the pitch of a word.

English Has Come A Long, Long Way... (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

I often wonder what would happen if Shakespeare were to be transported in a time machine to our world today. What would he think? How would he react?

Learning a Foreign Language: Learn from the Blind (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

In a previous article, you read that to establih your own lists was the best way to learn vocabulary as fast as possible. Let's study what an effective list looks like. Among prejudices about languages, there is the following: you need to establish huge lists in order to acquire as many words as possible. WRONG ! The most effective list contains 5 to 6 words at a time. Yes! Your larger list contains 6 words. Are you still afraid of the task? I'm sure you can deal with 6 words at a time. If you could draw your memory, you would draw a two room flat. The first room, your instant memory, is large enough for 6 items. Your deep memory, the second room, has no limit, but it can receive no more than 6 items at a time and wants you to confirm your order. What happens when you fight against Nature? If you go on solliciting your instant memory and try to add a new item when there is no room left, it will make room for this new item (your memory is obedient, from a certain point of view) by pushing out something else. The newcomer is not added, it replaces the older in the queue. If you are lucky, the previous 6 items in your deep memory had been stored when you tried to add one and the pushed-out word enters your deep memory. More often, as you have experienced, it disappears. That's the reason why the memory seems a bit temperamental as long as you don't know how it works.

English Language Sputtering Online Like an Old Ford! (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Sad, but true. Just about everywhere you look online, the English language is suffering a fate worse than death. The problem, in reality, is so widespread that it has begun to affect all aspects of the language. "But, what on Earth does this have to do with Internet marketing?" you may be asking. Well, my fellow netpreneur...Everything!

Learning French in Paris (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Nothing can be more frustrating than to be in France and not been able to speak their language. For, I remember the days when I was among people chanting around in a language totally alien to me, and me, trying to bring a smile in my face while shaking my head from north to south doing as if I am getting everything what they are speaking about, and waiting impatiently for my French wife to do the translation - and I can't deny, that that was not the most comfortable period of my life.

Teaching English in Greece - What Do You Need to Know? (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

The employment situation can be quite uncertain for newcomers to Greece and therefore many people choose to try teaching English as a foreign language, on a full or part-time basis. It can bring in a good income whether it is your preferred career choice, or you wish to do it short-term until another career choice pans out.

Second Language Competence Beneficial but often Misunderstood (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Second language learning has associated with it many types of benefits. Among them include: social, economic, intellectual and linguistic. Children who engage in second language learning typically outperform their peers in the area of vocabulary development as well as intellectual development. As important as learning a second language is, learners can be viewed as experiencing difficulties with language development when in reality they are displaying linguistic differences.

Learn Korean: Part 2 - Social Status in Culture (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

Part 1 of this series covered the language and language families in general for the Asian languages. Part 2 will cover the social conduct that is seen throughout Asian countries.

Whats In A Word? More Than You Realize (July 23 2007)         - claim this article

What's in a word? Apparently more than we might want.

For others, the ability to express yourself in the most meaningful way.