My Language Study Routine

Every day I study languages. Yes, every day. I've found that the best way to keep studying is just to keep studying. When you let languages lie for even a few days, the start-up process can be rusty. So I made a rule with myself to study just a little each day. A little can be as little as 10 minutes - 5 minutes per language - or as long as 2-3 hours on days when I have a lot of time or I'm enjoying myself. But as long as I get that 10 minutes in, things keep moving along. Here is a bit about my daily study routine:

1. DUOLINGO Every day I go to https://www.duolingo.com/ and put in at least 10 minutes. I will never stop raving about Duolingo, because it's just that good and it's free. The system is simple. The lessons are bite-sized, so they're very good for people who are "too busy" to study a language; yet they are also thorough - covering reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as grammar, vocabulary and expressions. I study French, German and Spanish, but there are also courses in Italian, Portuguese and Dutch, as well as courses to learn English and a number of courses currently in development. Here are some pictures from the site:

The Duolingo progress bar gives you your level, your experience points, the words you've learned and a chart showing the amount of progress you've made on a day-to-day basis. At the top of the screen (not shown) it also gives your "streak" - the number of days you've studied in a row, and in another part of the screen the number of experience points you have compared to your friends on the site.

Another screen reveals the lessons you've already learned as well as those you still need to learn or strengthen. Along the left side of each lesson are strength bars. When the left side begins to turn white, it's time to practice that lesson again.In this section I have no strength bars yet for Verbs Present Tense 2, but I'm as strong as possible in the other lessons.

The first time you learn a word, especially a noun, it's often accompanied by an easy, multiple-choice visual aid. It's also spoken. You always have the option to hear the pronunciation for any of the words.

"Type what you hear" is one of my favorite practices. The turtle on the bottom slows the sentence way down when needed. In addition to these practices, there are also: Translate from German to English and English to German, multiple-choice questions, and, if you have a microphone, pronunciation exercises. I make up for my lack of a microphone by always speaking every phrase/word as I go. Duolingo also has an "immersion" section where you can earn experience points through translating text which I believe comes from real websites that need translating. This can be useful sometimes, but I find it's more useful with languages I'm already pretty proficient in. I have learned interesting tidbits about history and art through translating from French to English, however.

2. READING The second part of my language study is reading. I don't do this every day, but some days I read in French or Spanish. I always read out loud. I think it's important to read out loud because it builds on speaking skills and calls attention to words which I need to look up pronunciations for later on. I also go to my dictionary every single time I'm not sure about a word's meaning. Now this is something I specifically tell my students not to do in their English classes. I encourage them to read for the gist, so they don't spend weeks trying to read one book or even one chapter. The thing is, though, I'm not on a time schedule. I actually do have weeks to spend reading one chapter, and the point of my reading is to learn new words and phrases. So I look up every single word or expression, and then I either write them down in my notebook or I write the definition into the book. Then, time permitting, I go back at the end of my reading session and re-read that section out loud, but this time I understand all the words and can cement them into my brain in context. I've learned and/or solidified a lot of vocabulary in this way, and my reading rate is improving. I recently finished reading a graded reader version of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and am currently working on "Harry Potter a l'Ecole Des Sorciers" as well as an article in French Marie Claire.Eventually I hope to add some German reading into my daily routine.

 I just finished this French graded reader, remarkably nabbed at a Kyobo Books in Busan. I'm currently working on "Harry Potter" in French. I confess that it's a friend's book which I forgot to return, and he already left Korea.

I was excited to find this French "Marie Claire" at the Kyobo Books in the Seomyeon neighborhood of Busan. Actually, I see French magazines there quite frequently, although they can be a bit pricy. Still, it's worthwhile, because the language in magazines tends to be more conversational and includes a lot of colloquialisms.

My trusty dictionary (also bought at a bookstore in Seomyeon) and my vocab notebook. I prefer to use a paper dictionary because I like to study in bed and because they tend to offer more varied/subtle definitions than on-line translation.

When I finish all the lessons on Duolingo, I'm going to attack this big book of grammar I found at Fully Booked (sadly closing) in Busan. Pictured on the right is my dream read in French. I've always wanted to read "Madame Bovary" (one of my favorite novels of all time) in the original French. Now that I'm studying every day, I think my dream is achievable.

I was also lucky enough to find these Spanish and German readers at Fully Booked. The Spanish reader I've nearly finished. The German I haven't even begun yet, but I bought it because I was all excited that I could understand the title. ;)

3. FOREIGN FILMS   Watching foreign films is another way I work on language learning. It tunes my ear much more than using online lessons, since the speakers have different accents and often talk more quickly. There's also a lot more use of colloquialisms. I didn't learn the German expression "Genau" on Duolingo, but I sure heard it a lot in "Generation War" and "Die Welle." Similarly, the use of "genial" as "cool" in French didn't really register for me until I heard Julie Delpy use it three times in one conversaton in "2 Days in Paris." There's no way I'm ready to understand without subtitles yet, but I still feel there's value in this input. There's also value in getting a window into the cultures of other countries, although it's important to beware of reading too much into what we see through that window. Imagine if someone randomly selected 10 American movies and tried to understand our whole culture based on those!

One of these days I'm going to get around to re-watching this German classic "Run Lola Run"/"Lola Rennt." I'll be reviewing a lot of movies in the blog, too. I hope to get into the French New Wave films one day soon, for example.

4. OTHER METHODS There are a lot of other language-learning methods I'm eager to try in the near future. I came across these French podcasts recently, for example: https://nativefrenchspeech.com/en/articles_kind/Episode%20of%20podcast.They're a bit fast for me, but they offer transcripts as well, and when I have a little bit of time or when I'm going to do some house-cleaning I think I'll give them a try. Memrise can also be useful, though the lessons are user-created and therefore vary in quality. I'm also considering putting together a French club, or perhaps a foreign language club, in the fall. It'd be nice to gather some people together to speak in French, German or Spanish. Fortunately, my husband is also studying German through Duolingo, so I am able to exchange some conversation with him. For a variety of language resources for quite a few languages please see also this page:  http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons I haven't had time yet to mine its riches, but there seems to be a lot of worthwhile stuff on the site.

In the end, no matter what tools you use, I think studying a language successfully simply comes down to a combination of desire and going slow and steady. If you study a language you truly enjoy and permit yourself to study just a little every day, I think you'll find success. But what if you hit a roadblock? It's important not to concentrate on how much you don't know. As a language learner you will hit points where you grow frustrated (endings of words in German make me a little nuts, let me tell you), but it's important to remind yourself how much more you know than you did before. Instead of thinking: "I can't say X in German" think "I can say Y." Yeah, I can't use the past tense yet, but I can order dinner, and I can tell someone I'm going to Austria. Could I do that one year ago? No. Hence, success.

Are you studying a language? What is your study routine? What are some web-sites and methods you'd recommend? Please share in the comments!

Movies About or Around Europe: "2 Days in Paris", "Le Week-End"

As part of my pre-Europe research, preparation and inspiration, I've decided to start watching more films set in, filmed in, or themed around European countries, whether in English or foreign languages. In the last week or so I watched two movies which could  more or less function as a double feature of dysfunctional love in Paris: "2 Days in Paris" and "Le Week-End".

Both films are about couples who are having some relationship problems spending a couple days in Paris and facing a moment where they have to decide whether to stick together or break up.

"Le Week-End"

I watched "Le Week-End" first, and I'll just say - it's kind of depressing. I can say this without even giving away the ending, because you'd have to be cinematically tone-deaf to expect a picture perfect Hollywood ending out of this story. It's not unremittingly bleak, but if you saw "Before Midnight" and thought that was depressing, this is more like "Before 3:30 a.m." time-wise. Things get darker before the dawn. The couple in the movie, Meg and Nick, are played by Lindsay Duncan and Jim Broadbent and they're facing such problems as unemployment, disagreements over their son, and the lack of a sex life. Their trip gets off to a bumpy start as the couple seem to have very different opinions about how to travel well. Paris, rather than a site for romance, becomes a site for bickering and soon a site for despair and breakdown. Eventually a third figure, an old student of Nick's played by Jeff Goldblum, enters the scene. His appearance is a relief, if only because you want to spend time with someone who isn't so completely unhappy. I won't give away the ending except to say that it's all complicated, and you eventually do see what drew this couple together as well as the forces that are breaking them apart. This doesn't necessarily mean, however, that you yourself would particularly fancy being married to either one of them. Still, it's an interesting and complex character study of a long-term marriage. And it's a reminder that wherever you go, you take your problems with you. Choose your travel partners well.

The less-than-happy couple of "Le Week-End."

"2 Days in Paris"

"2 Days in Paris" is a considerably more upbeat story written by, directed by and starring Julie Delpy of the aforementioned "Before Midnight." Funnily enough, if "Le Week-End" could have been "Before 3:30 a.m.", this movie could serve well as "Before 10 p.m." Delpy and her co-star, Adam Goldberg, play Marion and Jack - a couple who have been together for 2 years and function like a pretty average couple at that landmark. They're comfortable together - comfortable enough to fight - but they still have a lot to surprise each other with, and they haven't sustained the deep hurts that sometimes come with marriage, children and more time. Hence, the movie dips into darkness, but never too far. Between the witty dialogue and the offbeat cast of supporting characters - including Delpy's own parents playing her very strange but loveable parents - the tone of this movie is decidedly comedic.

Marion's mother (Marie Pillet - Delpy's real-life mother) breaks down after Marion gets angry at her for fattening up her cat, Jean-Luc on foie-gras. Delpy's parents' performances were one of the real joys of watching this film.

It should also be said that one gets the feeling that Julie Delpy's contributions to the Richard Linklater  trilogy (so far) of "Before Sunrise", "Before Sunset" and "Before Midnight" must be considerable, since her dialogue is very similar, but not in any way derivative or lesser. If anything, Delpy's dialogue is snappier and more realistic than the sometimes belabored long political or philosophical digressions of the Linklater films. That said, there's certainly a place for both films in the world. It's not as if there's a glut of films heavy on dialogue and character these days. Let me just add, in singing Delpy's praises, that she somehow managed to make a scene where a self-proclaimed "fairy" (as in the mystical kind) has a heart-to-heart conversation with Jack in a fast food restaurant seem realistic, funny and necessary. That's saying something.

In terms of a Paris inspiration this film was more effective than the removed and luxurious milieu of "Le Week-End." This was a Paris for real Parisians, with trips to the market, encounters with ex-boyfriends at parties and art galleries, bizarro taxi drivers, and appreciating the simple pleasures such as a celebratory day devoted to street musicians.  Hearing French spoken by natives was also a great feature of this film. I was reminded of the proper use of "Genial" and "on y va." For what it's worth I also learned some useful sexting phrases.

Overall, this film is a celebration of real love and real Paris, not the manufactured variety of either. The more I think about it and remember its simple charms, the more I love it.

Marion and Jack fighting near the Seine.

Duolingo

A big part of my recent drive to travel to Europe has been my renewed interest in European languages. About two years ago, working my first year at a university in Korea, with more time off on my hands than I'd had since moving to Korea in 2009, a friend told me about Duolingo https://www.duolingo.com/, a language-learning site where you could study French, Spanish or German. (These days you can also study Italian and Portuguese and they are working on several other European languages, including Dutch and Russian). All the unstructured time on my hands was contributing to a severe bout of depression, but the site was so cleverly designed to compartmentalize and reward language learning that studying on duolingo quickly became my main free time activity.

I found, too, that the French and Spanish returned easily. One day, to test the efficacy of the site for learners who were new to a language, I also decided to try German and quickly fell in love with its sounds. Now I'm studying all three languages, with a focus on French and German. I have dabbled in Italian and Portuguese as well, but I've found that three languages is quite enough to be studying at once.

All this study really revved up my desire to go to France, but it also created a desire to go to Germany and Austria when I really hadn't considered those countries much previously. Finding that I could learn the rudiments of German, however, made me want to go to the country and practice and grow my language skills. I also began to look into the sites of Germany and Austria and soon realized that there was a lot more I wanted to see beyond "The Sound of Music" tour and Neuschwanstein. Now Germany and Austria are in my top 3 countries to visit alongside France. If I can only visit three on my first journey, those will be the choices.

I strongly recommend duolingo for anyone wanting to pick up or brush up on their language skills. It's not a perfect site. I'm finding as my studying deepens that the French lessons may occasionally get something wrong. (For example, watching a Rick Steves lecture recently I learned that if you ask for "le menu" in France, you are apt to receive an order called "le menu" rather than seeing your options. You'd better ask for "la carte.") Also, I'm pretty sure  from my limited investigation that the "idioms" section is not an actual set of French idioms, but perhaps a direct translation of American idioms that may or may not make any sense to French people. However, in terms of pronunciation and learning basic vocabulary, as well as access to a community of other learners offering advice, it's a great site and I like it much better than something like memrise.

For the past 23 days I've been studying both French and German (and sometimes Spanish) each and every day. Sometimes it's for as little as 5 minutes, but other days I study for an hour or more. I've also added in reading out loud in French (with much recourse to the dictionary.) I'm waiting til the 30-day mark, but at that point I may try to organize a little French club in town, or maybe a "European languages club", since I'd be happy to practice German or Spanish as well. Sometimes I feel a little guilty, since my Korean is almost non-existent. However, we may not stay in Korea too much longer, and I think that by the time I'd achieve something like an intermediate level it would likely be time to leave. Therefore, I'm studying for my future and for my dream of one day living in Europe. If we keep up with our European languages, we'll be good to go when we arrive.