Daily Exercises...Not Only for Muscles

Language skills are pretty similar to muscles: If you don't use them regularly, they shrink.

I have known this for years but never actually acted. Why not? I could come up with reasons like stress, no time, too much work etc., but the truth is: I was probably just too lazy. Let's face it: If I had really wanted to, I could have easily included some minutes of language exercises into my daily routine, just like I include some push-ups or curls into my daily routine no matter how busy I am.

Granted, language skills require brain work whereas push-ups or curls require physical activity, so maybe it's easier for me to do some physical exercises in between my regular "brain work" instead of occupying my brain with even more stuff in a break; still, that's no excuse for letting my language skills get rusty. I know that I'm still perfectly able to understand those languages I don't use regularly; I have problems with actively using it.

From now on, I'll try to include my languages more into my daily life. I don't want to lose the skills I have; on the contrary, I want to improve them even further. Luckily, it takes much less effort to reactivate language skills than to acquire new language skills.

Do you have language skills too which have become rusty? What do you do to prevent losing your language skills?

Watch out for my language exercises--soon to come! (Any preferred language? If so, let me know!)

My Two Cents ... XXII

This week's phrase:

"a penny for your thoughts"

I came across it in a joke, and it stuck with me, so I did my usual research:

What does it mean?

If someone says to you, 'I'd give a penny for your thoughts,' he wants to know what you are thinking. It is mostly used when someone seems to be distracted and "lost in thoughts". It may, however, be used too if someone wants to ask for an opinion on a certain matter.

Where does it come from?

It appears to be quite an old saying, dating back to the middle of the 16th century when a British penny was still worth quite a bit.

My two cents:

I definitely like this phrase. It sounds nicer than to ask, 'What are you thinking?' and I'll try to include it into my everyday vocabulary.

Chinese (Mandarin) - Language Overview

Chinese (Mandarin) is a beautiful language. For European and American people with non-Asian background, it will also appear quite exotic due to their signs instead of letters.

Chinese (Mandarin)

Geographical Extension

Chinese is spoken throughout China in various dialects, in Taiwan and Singapore. It is recognised as minority language in the United States and Mauritius. Mandarin is by far the most dominant and wide-spread variation and is mostly spoken in the north and southwest of China.

Spoken by

With 850 million speakers throughout the world, Chinese (Mandarin) is likely the language with the most speakers. The total speakers of Chinese language variations sum up to about 1.3 billion speakers.

Language Family and History

Mandarin is the standard Chinese which is used in school, in government agencies, in the media and as a common language of communication for natives of all the various Chinese variations.

Linguists think that all variations of Chinese and similar languages have developed from an original language called Proto-Sino-Tibetan. The earliest written records of Chinese language date back to the Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BC). The language back then is now referred to as Old or Archaic Chinese. However, linguists have not been able to come to a consent of Old Chinese pronunciation and language. Even Middle Chinese cannot be fully reconstructed so that all hypotheses concerning the outdated versions of Chinese are tentative.

In contrast to European languages, Chinese has mostly been isolated throughout history. The vast majority of Mandarin speakers can be explained by geographical circumstances. The north of China is easier to travel than the mountains and rivers of the southern parts of China. Most Chinese variations which developed in the southern parts were used for all parts of life until very recently when the government introduced an educational reform and made Mandarin the compulsory language taught at schools in the mid-20th century.

Grammar Difficulty

Mandarin grammar is based on sentence structure and word order rather than on word changes (thus as verb conjugations or plural endings). Therefore, Mandarin is classified as an analytical (relying on syntax) language. However, Mandarin possesses a great variety of particles and classifiers to distinguish different moods and aspects. For natives of non-analytical languages, those grammar structures are very confusing and it takes some time to get used to the completely different approach.

Pronunciation Difficulty

For natives of European languages, the phonetic system of Mandarin is confusing at least. Mandarin has a set amount of syllables since letters can only be combined in a certain way. To increase the amount of phonetic elements, Mandarin uses five different tones to differ between the meaning: four different intonations (high level, high rising, low falling-rising, high falling) plus one unstressed (neutral) tone. For many non-natives, it is difficult to get the different syllables' pronunciation and especially the intonations right, which leads to a great risk of misunderstandings since a slightly altered intonation also alters the meaning of Chinese words.

Special Facts

Most Chinese natives speak at least two or three different variations of Chinese, one of them usually being Mandarin. They often speak their own regional variation, and sometimes other variations as well if they lived in several places. Even in Hongkong, which was English colony until 1997, Mandarin spreads as common language next to English and Cantonese (the Chinese variation officially spoken in Hongkong).

Other languages such as Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean have borrowed a major part of their writing and even vocabulary from Chinese.

Modern Mandarin only knows about 1,200 different syllables (including the different intonations) which leads to many words with the same pronunciation. In writing, however, each word has its own character so that written Mandarin is non-ambiguous where spoken Mandarin might be misunderstood. Therefore, many Mandarin words have developed to consist of two syllables instead of the original one syllable to make words non-ambiguous in spoken language as well. Compare: the English language knows over 8,000 different syllables.

The Sound of Languages

Have you ever had the feeling that you could listen to a foreign language for hours without understanding a word just because you love the sound of that language? Or that you want to learn a language simply because you love the sound of it?

I have a film with Chinese Mandarin audio track which I sometimes turn on just for the sound of it. I might be able to understand an occasional word or two but wouldn't be able to follow the plot without subtitles in a different language.

Another example: I started learning Italian because I loved the sound of that language. I think it is the most beautiful of the Romance languages (I've started learning French and Spanish before I started learning Italian because those two were offered at school) although from the three Romance languages I speak, it is the least wide-spread. Whenever I have the opportunity to speak Italian without making a fool out of myself, I seize it. The people working in my favourite Italian café in my hometown already know me by now; I always speak Italian with them (most of them are Italian natives).

How much I like the sound of a language strongly determines how much motivation and effort I will likely put into learning it. The more I like the sound of it, the more do I strive to learn it, to be able to speak and understand it. Thus, my advice: If you want to learn a foreign language but are not quite sure as to which one, listen to some languages (on DVDs, for example) to find out which one sounds best to you.

My Two Cents ... XXI

This week, it's another phrase I learnt through the English author Richard I. Prescott (thanks again, R.I.P.). It's

"two to the dozen"

What does it mean?

It means that something or someone is doing something very fast (for example a heart is going two to the dozen if someone is really excited).

Where does it come from?

Actually, when I researched the origin, the only phrase I found was "nineteen to the dozen" which originated back in the Cornish copper mines in the 18th century. The newer pumps were able to get out nineteen thousand gallons of water for every twelve bushels of coal.

My two cents:

I personally like "two to the dozen" better although it was very interesting to find out where the phrase got its meaning "very fast" from.

Language Jobs - Language Teacher

The last job in my little language jobs series (for now). I've started as language teacher for younger students when I was thirteen and have since helped many students in English, French, Spanish and German and have even taught some adults in business English. So, here's my overview of the job as language teacher:

Language Teacher

Description

A language teacher, well, teaches languages. Students reach from young children to school children to adults, depending on where you teach. A language teacher doesn't only teach grammar, vocabulary and punctuation but also cultural aspects, history and other interesting and/or important facts about the countries where the language is spoken.

Necessary Skills

First of all, a language teacher should know his language. Don't laugh, I've had teachers whose language skills were less than good...in fact, they were worse than the skills from half their language class! Apart from the obvious, a language teacher needs to be able to work with people (in the age range he is teaching), and excellent communications skills. Furthermore, a teacher needs to know how to motivate his students, and how to explain difficult language concepts in a way his students understand.

Income Range

The income range varies. Teachers at public or private schools (elementary schools, high schools, universities etc) usually get paid according to set income ranges (depending on qualification, age, and experience). Freelancers (tutoring teachers, for example) negotiate their own prices with their clients. Usually, hourly income for freelancers is on the lower side since most private clients don't want to or are not able to pay high prices. Private language schools, on the other hand, might pay a bit more for qualified language teachers (both freelancers and employees) since they generally ask high prices from their clients.

Where to Find Jobs

Depending on whether you have an academic degree as teacher or "just" know your language and teaching skills, you might be able to find employment with public or private schools, private language schools or as freelancer (tutoring, giving courses for private language schools etc).

How Your Environment Can Affect Language Learning

Do you live alone? With your parents? Or your own family with partner/husband/wife and children? Where do you live? Who are your friends, and where are they from?

All those questions are related to your environment, and all those questions relate to some kind of effect on language learning. If you live alone, you can easily use your free time for language learning. You can sit and listen to audio CDs, stick your nose in your course book or watch the newest DVD in a foreign language for practise. No one will protest. On the other hand, no one will join your endeavours, either. It is a double-edged sword. Living alone can give you the freedom to do whatever you choose to do, including language learning. And, living alone can give you the freedom to do whatever you choose to do, including being lazy instead of learning. When you live together with other people, they can both motivate and hinder you, depending on their needs (like your children) and their own inclination to learn new languages.

Just imagine your husband/wife wants to learn Italian with you because you two want to visit Italy. Speaking of motivation! And now imagine three little children who constantly demand your attention, and your course book collecting dust because you have no time and no one to motivate you...

Apart from who you live with, language learning is also strongly effected by where you live. If you live in a foreign country, for example, you will be much more motivated to learn the language your environment speaks. However, if you live in an area where foreign language courses are not easily accessible or certain foreign languages have a bad reputation, you will be less likely to take on the endeavour to learn a new language.

What other environmental circumstances can you imagine that influence language learning, and why?