The Alternative Broadcasting Online News Station

German is one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide. It is the official language of several countries including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. After the English language, it is the most commonly known language in the European Union, of which it is one of the official languages. The German language is the third most taught foreign language in the United States, behind Spanish and French, and there are many Americans that can trace their ethnic heritage back to German roots. There are many reasons to learn the German language, such as potential career prospects, current career enrichment, and for enhanced traveling experiences.

If you are interested in learning the German language for professional reasons, you have several options from which to choose. You can attend a college or University and earn your degree in German. Earning a degree in German will provide you with a solid foundation of the German language, both written and conversationally. With a degree in German, you will have a surprising number of career opportunities. If you are bilingual, you can be certified as a foreign language translator for example. This is a stimulating career opportunity that offers you many options. You can work full-time for a foreign language translation firm, translating important business documents or web pages for global corporations. Or you can be a freelance foreign language translator, setting your own work schedule and workload. Another career opportunity is to teach English to students in one of the German speaking countries. By knowing both English and German, you will able to enjoy a lifestyle in a German speaking country where you can have a fulfilling career, and experience the life and culture of another nation.

You might be established in a career, and be required to learn the German language in order to either communicate with overseas business associates, or to relocate. You can enroll in an accelerated German language program online, which is a fast, convenient, and easy way to learn the language. The online course will give you the skills to read, write, and communicate with others. There are several online programs available for enrollment that provide accelerated programs in German, as well as many other languages. You will find that if you need to relocate to a German-speaking country for your job, having a grasp of the language ahead of time will help to make your relocation and transition less stressful.

If you want to learn a little German in order to travel, you might consider combining your learning experience and vacation by participating in an immersion program. Learning the language in this way, you will not only learn how to communicate in German, but you will also experience the vibrant German culture. By traveling to Germany, where the language has its origins, you will become a part of the life and culture, and you will learn the language quickly and with surprising ease. You will learn the conversational and idiomatic styles of the language. You will be interacting daily with native German people who won’t necessarily be willing or able to communicate with you in English. Therefore, you will need to try to communicate with them in the German language. You will become engrossed into the everyday life of Germany. You will learn to appreciate the German culture: the history, the architecture, the food (and beer!), and the people. As part of the immersion program, you will also attend courses in which you will learn how to read and write in German as well. There is no better way to learn the German language and experience Germany.

Whether you are interested in learning the German language for academic reasons or professional reasons, or you are interested in learning how to speak German for a vacation, knowing another language is an intellectually and personally stimulating achievement that will open your eyes to a new culture.

Find the essential information on where and how to learn a new or second language at German Language

John is a director of numerous Internet companies and is a published author. Many articles have been produced on a variety of subjects with excellent content and depth. All his articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to www.foreign-languages-school.com

Language Schools

Many people with France travel on their agenda would like to brush up on their French language skills before their trip. Make no mistake, learning a foreign language is very difficult. However, if you studied the French language in high school or college you might be able to put some of that long-ago effort to good use. Being able to communicate, even with only a few words at your disposal, can make a trip much more fun, and it will perhaps help you figure out where you made that wrong turn before becoming lost!

Here are two ways to brush up your French language skills:

1. For a number of months I’ve subscribed to a great little free service called French Word A Day. This is a daily email from Kristin Espinasse, an American originally from Phoenix who married a Frenchman and now lives with her family in Provence. Although the implication is that you’ll receive one word per day, Kristin provides a good bit more. The theme for each email is in fact one word, but there are also variations on the word, phrases using the word and variations, and a daily proverb which contains the word as well. A recent addition is an audio link to hear the word pronounced properly. Furthermore, Kristin writes an essay she calls “A Day in a French Life” and uses numerous other French words woven into her English text. She summarizes these words at the bottom of the article, which makes an easy reference for additional words. Thus there is an opportunity to learn or relearn a number of words each day. Each email has a link to her web site with a daily photo of France. In addition, on the web site are listed the last ten words and their accompanying phrases, proverbs, etc. as described above, so one can look over quite a few words right away, even if your trip is coming up soon.

This is certainly an excellent review process for French vocabulary. Oftentimes I’ll see a word or phrase I recognize but can’t quite pin down the translation exactly. For example, a recent word was “le lendemain” (the next day). Included was a phrase I’ve heard before numerous times, “du jour au lendemain“. I always thought this meant “from one day to the next”, which is
a literal translation. However, it really means “suddenly”, sort of like jumping from one day into the next. It’s helpful to pick up nuances like that, and I’m sure I’ll remember this the next time I hear it in a French conversation. In order to help retention, it is useful to print out the daily entry and keep a file to review from time to time. It’s only by seeing words numerous times that they can become part of your vocabulary. By the way, Kristin has compiled her essays into 3 books which she sells on line, and those proceeds help defray the costs of Word a Day so that it remains a free service. Of course buying the books gives you access to many words at once, so that is another excellent option for improving or reviewing your French
vocabulary. To subscribe or purchase books, you can follow the link above.

2. For those with a little more time and motivation another excellent tool is a French language course on CD called a l’ecoute de la langue francaise which translates to “listening to the French language“. I’ve used this excellent product and have found it to be a great review of French vocabulary and grammar. There are 108 lessons broken up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories, and all this takes 12 hours total of listening time on the CD. At the end of each lesson there is a quick review test. There is both text and audio for each lesson, so I find the best method is to print out the lesson, look it over, and then listen to the audio, reading the text at the same time prior to taking the review test. The audio for the beginner lessons is in English, but both the Intermediate and Advanced are in French. There is a lot of material packed into these twelve hours, so I would recommend a pace of 2 or 3 lessons per week maximum, each week reviewing the previous week’s work. In this way there is some repetition and also some time between lessons for the material to sink in. The price for the program is 60 euros if ordered on line, and this includes shipping and a one year subscription to a monthly email newsletter that has interesting articles about French current events, culture, politics, etc., written in French. The web site offers numerous other services and products, such as audio books to listen to, as well as a service to exchange email or even voice recordings with a French professor who will critique the work and offer suggestions for improvement. The company is located in beautiful Lyon, France, and you can find all their products and services by following the link above in this paragraph.

Au revoir et bonne chance!

© Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Walt Ballenberger is founder of Beaux Voyages
which provides active tours in France. He has lived and worked in France and speaks the language fluently.

Do you have any plan to pursue your further education abroad? Will you need English for your career or your education? If so, you may wish to investigate your options for learning, or improving, your English skills.

The TOEFL Test: TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) is a test used by many colleges, universities, government agencies and exchange and scholarship programs in the US, UK and Canada as a means of evaluating the language skills of a person whose first language is not English.
You can find TOEFL study guides easily online with other recommended resources listed. You may be able to access some of the sample tests and prepare with personal study. Or you may look for a class with an instructor to help you prepare for the test.

ESL Classes: ESL classes are a common means for students to learn English with group of classmates. These can be in the form of an evening class with various individuals attending or may be part of a college program during the day.

The course length and the topics covered will differ from country to country and school to school. Some summer programs are geared for international students to gain a basic grasp of the language before starting studies in English taught classes of the college or university.

Since the standards of passing a course, or the course material itself, will vary drastically, some students may feel that the language skills gained upon completing the course does not equip them to handle school work or social interactions adequately.

Some schools offer students and alternative of home-stay programs for students. Home-stay programs benefit the student by placing them for several weeks or months with a host family that speaks English. The student is then able to immerse him or herself in the culture and social speaking of the English country they are living in. There are also online ESL programs that may be suitable for distance education, especially if programs are not readily available in your area.

Private Tutors: Another popular method of learning English is with private tutors. The materials and methods used by ESL tutors will vary greatly and it is important to establish what material will be used and to feel comfortable with the tutor. Asking friends or other students for references can be helpful in finding a good tutor.

A combination of these English learning methods will be effective as well. You can take a summer course while staying with a home-stay host family and then arranging for private tutoring during the school year. Making an effort to use your new language skills regularly in social situations will improve your progress regardless of the program or course you are using.

George Williams maintains many translator websites, including Free Translator, French Translator ,and Japanese Translator.

If you are learning a language, you will sooner or later decide to get rid of the dog-eared, fifty-year-old dictionary that your aunt used when she was at school and buy yourself something a little more up-to-date. But when you arrive at your favourite bookstore, you are amazed to see that there are as many different dictionaries to choose from as there are yoghurts in the hypermarket (I spend half an hour every week trying to find a simple natural yoghurt).

Here are a few guidelines help you choose your new bilingual dictionary:

1. Bigger isn’t always better

My French students get really confused when they look up “get” in our enormous French-English dictionary. There are more than three and half pages of definitions. They invariably end up choosing the wrong one. Just because the cover says there are half a million words listed, so what? You don’t know that many words in your own language, and you will certainly never learn that many in a foreign language. If you have an active vocabulary of a thousand or two thousand words, you will do just fine. My pocket French dictionary has over 40,000 words; it’s convenient to carry around and didn’t cost me a fortune.

2. Example sentences

A definition on its own is useless if you can’t see how it works in a sentence. So you know that the French word for “peach” is “pêche”. Great. But if your dictionary didn’t tell you that if you say in French “I’ve got the peach!” that means you’re feeling great, you’re missing out. All languages have idioms, so your dictionary should tell you how a word is used in reality, not just a simple one-word definition.

3. Only buy a dictionary that uses the International Phonetic Alphabet.

A lot of big publishers think that it’s too complicated for people to learn the phonetic alphabet, so they invent their own. So you see things like “Je voudrais une boisson” = Juh voodray oon bwAHson”. Following these types of pronunciation guides is sure to make you sound like an idiot when you try to speak. Some dictionaries have invented some symbols that are more accurate, but that means that if you are using another dictionary you will be lost. The International Phonetic Alphabet is the one used by linguists the world over; it’s consistent and doesn’t take that long to work out. You only need to learn the sounds that are used in your chosen language, and see how they relate to the sounds we use in English.

Jonathan Lewis teaches English as a foreign language in the south of France. He is passionate about words - he loves using them! For hints about learning a foreign language, go to his site learning languages. For French speakers, anglais-facile.com will help you to improve your learning techniques. His blog, learning English is also a good source of language learning information

Studies have shown that how you learn a foreign language impacts whether or not you will actually follow through it. Obviously, if you get bored before you’ve put in the required time and effort, you’re not going to learn much of the language at all. So let’s address the facts that help determine whether you’re going to stick with your goal of learning a foreign language or not.

First things first, you are going to need positive feedback. That means you need a way to measure your goal of learning the new language. Whether this includes tracking your progress or actually trying to speak the language with someone fluent in it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you have a way to gauge that you’re really learning. Otherwise you may get frustrated and give up long before you get anywhere at all.

Secondly, you need to follow a step-by-step course that progresses from easy to hard. It should also do this slowly. Again, the reason you want to learn a foreign language in this manner is so you do not get too frustrated.

The problem with early frustration is that it steers people toward giving up. If you don’t see any progress in the early stages, you may not feel like you can accomplish your goal at all. Obviously, if you don’t think your goal is achievable after all, chances are good you’ll give up.

So minimizing the amount of frustration (especially early on) is a big part of learning a foreign language. On another note, you want to make learning a foreign language as interesting as possible.

As I’m sure you’ve experienced, learning from a textbook can be monotonous. Not only is reading from a textbook boring, but your chances of sticking with it are slim to none. Besides, merely learning vocabulary and grammar is not going to prepare you for a real-life conversation in a foreign language.

Interaction is the best way to learn anything. You can’t just passively read, listen or watch as someone explains everything to you. You need to get involved.

By turning learning a new language into a game, you’ll stick with it and actually remember more of what you learn.

You need to actually listen (not just read from a book) and then speak lots of foreign words and phrases. Turn the words into something familiar by associating them with their actual meaning.

You need to practice the new language with fluent speakers, all the while listening to it as it’s properly spoken. Many foreign languages are spoken very quickly, therefore you need to make sure you can keep up with the pace and actually hear it spoken correctly.

Test drive an interactive Spanish course. Learn to speak Spanish naturally in less than 3 months. Or learn French if you prefer!

I have to write about this one, and I hope I’m right. Right!? The English language is difficult to right. Often times it’s difficult to right a wrong. Interesting question; how may rights are there in the English language? After you have red this post, I’m sure you will understand too reason why the English language is most difficult to read and right. Perhaps you will Emil me (smiling). It hurts too be Emailed around the world on a tiny wire! Just send an Emil to me, it’s less painful. One day we could go for a “hot cup of coffee”. However, I prefer hot coffee in a cup. Remember, don’t throw the baby out the window some cookies.

After working an all night shift, a group of us decided to stop for breakfast. It was about 5:30 AM and the restaurant was filled with early morning people. The waitress asked a simple question while taking each of our breakfast orders. “How do you like your eggs?” Our answers ranged from scrambled to sunny-side-up. Until, she asked my friend Carlos. He looked very confused from the waitresses question. Another friend tapped Carlos on the arm and said, “the waitress would like to know how you like your eggs.” Carlos smiled and said, “I luv my eggs!” The waitress frowned. Carlos explained, “I luv my eggs with all my heart!”. Then the escalation begin louder and louder. First the waitress, “how do you like your eggs?” Then, Carlos, “I said, and I am positive, with all my heart, I luv my eggs!” Everyone of my co workers at the table fell for it and started saying the words louder and louder. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS!? This could have gone on all morning, I poked Carlos with my elbow and winked. Good one Carlos, now tell her how you would like your eggs prepared so we can eat.

Imagine how complex and confusing the translation of technical documents are from English into other languages. For example, the central processing unit on a computer is known industry wide and spoken in most every language as C-P-U. In French it is spoken as C-P-U. Try this in Spanish. Does not work in the Spanish language because the first letter pronounced is the word yes. So each letter is spoken and written in the Spanish language as opposed to the above English presentation of a central processing unit. Technical translations are much, much more complex than this small example. And, what happens when you translate a language that expresses ones emotions? Very tricky to be accurate in the target language but, it can be accomplished. So, when picking language translators, they must be experienced in the subject matter as well as tested and approved in the subject before they can translate any document for TNT Recruitment.net. Accurate, affordable translations (www.tntrecruitment.net). And, we have to be right on this one (smiling)!

http://tntrecruitment.blogspot.com/

John has be nominated for 7 Emmy nominations, 2 winners and 6 national Telly Awards for writing, producing and directing broadcast advertising and coporate productions produced in over 15 langauges.

Dear ESL Student,

Native English speakers make mistakes too! These sentences were modified from national magazines and advertisements in the USA. Can you find the grammatical error in each one?
1.If your food doesn’t arrive hot and fresh to your door, we’ll make it right or refund your money.
2.See less fine lines.
3.Read on for a healthy spread for your sandwich.

Answers:

1.The preposition “to” is not correct. To express location or place, use “at”. The food will arrive fresh and hot at your door.
2.Less is incorrect. “Fewer” should be used with plural nouns. See fewer fine lines.
3.Only a living thing (plants, people or animals) can be healthy. Cream cheese, mayonnaise or any other sandwich spreads should be described as healthful. Read on for a healthful spread for your sandwich.

Much Continued ESL Success,

The creator of ESL Free Lesson

The “ESL Free Lesson” website is an incredible resource for ESL students from all over the world . This report is only one of 7 tips that you can get Free at eslfreelesson.com. To get your other 6 fantastic ESL tips and your “Free bonus Ebook” to help you to earn more money enroll now at:

www.eslfreelesson.com

Score HIGH on NEW English Tests

Why international students fail English tests

Students fail because they do not understand the test requirements.

Students fail because they underestimate the large volume of work necessary to pass.

Students fail because they have limited English vocabulary.

Students fail because some English skills are not practiced.

Students fail because they rely on “secret tips” rather than real skill.

Students fail because they cram for tests and become confused.

Students fail because they become upset and cannot perform.

How international students can SCORE HIGH on NEW English tests.

First step in your plan to score high on a specific English test is to understand the test requirements. Is the test a written test only? Do you have to read a text? Do you have to listen to a conversation on tape? How much speaking is required? What type of questions will be asked? What type of answers are required? Students must understand how the English information is presented, what English skills are being tested, and how answers must be submitted.

Second step is to understand the volume of advanced English skills and vocabulary required to score high on these tests. Students must have studied and practiced English for 2500 to 5000 hours counting school classes and self study.

Students require a vocabulary of between 8,000 and 15,000 words to score high on the new TOEFL, TOEIC, AP, IELTS and Cambridge tests.

To score high students require all four English skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening), technical language structure knowledge (grammar) and the application of the grammar knowledge in the active productions of speaking and writing.

The “secret tips” of using specific words that have a higher percentage of occurrence in the correct answers may give you the opportunity to raise your score from 0 to 1 %. If your vocabulary is less than 8000 words or your listening skills or writing less than advanced then you will still fail despite using all the “secret tips” or “secret vocabulary indicating correct answers”.

Everyone knows that cramming helps memorizing facts for a short time but does very little for the practice of the application skills. All new English tests are a combination of facts and the application of English skills including technical grammar knowledge. Students who only cram for tests will fail most of the new tests as answers require the application of English grammar skills. The students who cram can only help some of their factual knowledge if they can remember it perfectly. I have never met a student who can remember crammed English facts correctly.

Students become upset when they read questions they cannot answer, questions they cannot understand, words they do not know the meaning of, or “secret words” that occur in two or more answers.

Remember students that are prepared have less chance of becoming upset. Students that are rested, relaxed and arrive on time at the test site will score higher on the tests.

What English Should I study to PASS English Tests?

Diagram showing the overlap between the English concentrations

There is only one English language.
There are a variety of programs and courses that overlap each other. Many business English courses cover 90% of what students require to pass the TOEIC exam. Many advanced English courses cover 90 % of what is required to pass TOEFL, TOEIC, AP, IELTS and other English tests.

Many Toeic, toefl, IELTS courses only provide practice tests without teaching any vocabulary the four English skills and applied grammar practice. Students must create a plan to increase all applied English skills, vocabulary and become comfortable with the test requirements and answer formats.

Students can take combinations of programs and still pass tests.

For example: Advanced students could take 100 hours of business English, 200 hours of academic preparation and 10 hours of toefl and score high on the new Toefl test . The only secret is to have a balance of applied English skills and factual knowledge. The following is an example of a balanced study program.

EXAMPLE PLAN TO PASS ENGLISH TESTS

20% vocabulary
15% grammar comprehension
15% reading comprehension
15% listening comprehension
15% writing skills, short answer and essay
15% speaking skills
5% practicing test formats

Teaching Since 1974

To contact Author: Ross (at) eslincanada (dot) com
Full Article: http://www.eslincanada.ca/passtests.html

I used to have an accent. I didn’t mind the accent itself, what bothered me was constantly being judged by strangers. If you have an accent too, I’m sure you’ve noticed that you are being treated differently than your friends who are native English speakers. Anybody who judges people with accents probably doesn’t even mean to. It’s mainly a subconscious thing and, of course, labeling people with accents as unsophisticated isn’t limited to the United States; it happens in every part of the world. Growing up in another country I used to stereotype people with accents too and it probably wasn’t different wherever you grew up.

Understandably, almost everyone working and living in the US would like to be able to speak without an accent, but relatively few people succeed. Effects of accent reduction programs are rarely immediate, so most students give up the battle against the accent shortly after having started. So, first of all you need to have the right attitude. Try to avoid saying things like “I’m too old to work on my accent now.” or “Who cares whether I have an accent or not?” Yes, getting rid of an accent gets increasingly difficult as you get older, but it’s most certainly not impossible. No matter how old you are, it will require a big effort and a great deal of determination.

There are three key steps that are essential to anybody’s success when getting rid of an accent. In the end, how successful you will be and how long it will take depends on the time you are willing to invest and how open you are to changes.

First, you need to accept that reducing or eliminating your accent has affects on your whole life. It’s crucial that you step out of the comfort zone and realize that you need to make new friends and surround yourself with as many English speaking people as possible. Take advantage of the fact that you live near thousands of native speakers. Go out there and socialize with them. This is what most people fail to realize, you cannot expect your accent to go away if everybody around you speaks your mother tongue and you rarely even speak English.

Then, speaking English as much as possible is a pretty obvious step. All the books you read and the hours you work on your accent won’t be of any use unless you go out there and talk to people. Remember that mistakes are part of the learning process, so don’t be ashamed to mispronounce things. Keep talking and you will see your English improving very quickly. Also, tell all your friends and family that you want them to speak English with you. This is very helpful, especially in the beginning, since you already feel comfortable talking with them.

Last but not least, an often overlooked factor is how important active listening is. By carefully paying attention to what native English speakers around you are saying, you will not only learn lots of new terms, but also learn the correct pronunciation of words. If you don’t have many English speaking friends yet, you can watch TV and listen to the radio which will basically give you the same results.

Whether you already have some experience in eliminating your accent or you’re just getting started, these basic rules should be a big help. Naturally, you’ll have to find out yourself what methods and exercises work best for you. I advice you to talk to people who have successfully eliminated their accents. I’m one of those lucky few and my friends are often surprised at how simple the things are that I did to get rid of my accent. Give all the methods and exercises that sound right for you a try and stick with what works best – that’s how I succeeded.

Patrick Bilson, Author of the ebook Eliminate Your Accent
http://www.eliminateyouraccent.com

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.

To begin, the social structure in Asia, and especially East Asian countries, stems from Taoism and Confucianism philosophies.

Confucianism

Confucianism has played a big role in setting the social structure in Asia and has more influence than any other belief or philosophy has. Now before I begin, keep in mind I am not saying all Asians follow the Confucian religion, but deep down in Asian culture there are Confucian beliefs. An Asian person may not even recognize what they do as Confucian beliefs, yet it still shapes their beliefs and morals.

One of the major structures in Asian culture influenced by Confucianism is the family structure. One of the Confucian beliefs is respect for parents. This explains why Asian children are almost always so respectful of their parents and do everything they are told. Kids will be kids, and disobedience always enters the picture. If you look at the larger picture however, you will find that Asian culture puts great respect on elders and people are trained that way from birth. Anyone older than you is going to be respected. This is so important in Asia that it is structured into the language itself. In Korea, there will be different endings for verbs, and sometimes different verbs altogether that need to be used depending on who you speak with. If you speak to someone older than you, you will need to use a polite and honorific style of speech. It differs from English in the fact that the actual language and words change. In English, it is simply acceptable to speak politely and add a sir on the end for example. The language doesn’t change however. Both languages have their own ways to show respect. Korean just has it actually included in the words and basic structures of the language.

Some other Confucian beliefs that have structured Asian culture are humility, honesty and trustworthiness, and loyalty.

Taoism

While I mention beliefs, I feel I should introduce Taoism and how it has influenced Asian culture as well. To start off, what is Taoism? Basically, Taoism beliefs strongly link man to nature. Men will search and find harmony and peace, usually in nature. Taoism says everything is connected and their is energy that flows between everything. A common power runs through everything. Many Asians will follow some beliefs of Taoism. Once again, it may not be about the religion, but just the whole philosophy of it. Searching for peace and harmony can be a great thing for anybody to do. I believe everybody could use a little more peace and harmony in their lives. Nature really does have some power over people when it comes to peace. Try sitting in an open, beautiful field with a slow breeze. If it doesn’t calm you down and relax you, then something is odd. Unfortunately it is hard for most people in the United States (or many other countries for that matter) to do this. Industrialization has taken over and lives are too busy. You can definitely try to make do with what you have though. Fortunately for Asia, there are still many beautiful landscapes virtually untouched by industrialization. Nature is everywhere in Asia. You will find some of the most beautiful palaces situated on lily ponds (such as Gyeongbokgung Palace in near Seoul).

Wherever it may be, everyone can find an escape in nature. Asians have realized this and have grown to love nature. They also have set up a social structure of great respect for others.

Part 3 will teach Korean and Asian culture through details on Korean schools and educational systems. Stay tuned and check back soon!

Learn Korean Language is a site based on teaching the Korean language. It also provides details on Korean culture, Korean foods, Korean recipes, Korean music, everything Korean!