languages-and-tea

[languages-and-tea]

As expected people have already forgotten about me :D

[languages-and-tea]

Hey, I’m back?

So, yeah, I’ve been MIA. But hey, it was my first year of uni and in another country and my weaker language so, what can I say. I don’t think I have time to post again about French and French vocab and lessons but I would like to still help somehow? 

I’m thinking I should make this more about translation. That’s my career and my job after all! I’m currently working as a translator and a Social Media coordinator for NutritionFacts.org

I would very much appreciate any and all feedback about this account and what you’d like to see me post. 

I know I should honestly just share my experiences...

Have a good one guys!

[languages-and-tea]

Hallo 😀 could you tell what was your 1st and 2d language you learnt?

English first, in school, and then French, kinda in school as well but more so before starting uni.

[languages-and-tea]

Guys, I know I’ve been gone, I totally know, lots of things in my life (I haven’t forgotten about you though). But does someone plus know of any resources about how to teach your language as a foreign language?

It’s for a high school French student in this case, who needs help with Spanish.

THANK YOU!

[languages-and-tea]

oh my goodness you learn French in less than a year?? How did you manage that, I have rummaged through your whole to try to spare you from having to answer this question that I am sure you get a lot but I cannot find one! I am going to Paris in a 1 month and am only at A2 level, its so overwhelming for me - do you have any words of wisdom?

Omg, well, I don’t know when you asked me this because my phone notifications are crap, and I’ve been away (yes people, officially admitting it, uni has me occupied...). I’ll answer now anyway! 

It might not be evident in what I post, although I do kind of mention it, because in the end, it was just my method, which isn’t a method at all, to be honest. And no, I don’t get this question often. I don’t get questions often haha

I just had a private teacher, that’s all. That’s truly all. I had one 2-hour lesson with her every week, we used Entre Nous books from Maison des Langues for levels A1, A2 and B1, and they didn’t have a B2 book so we used a different one instead (can´t remember the name). We planned how much I had to do from the book every week to finish them on time, and I did that and the occasional extra exercises she would create. During the lesson we mainly practices speaking, even though I didn’t have that in my entrance exam, but it was important for me to learn how to communicate. I gave her the exercises after the lesson, and she corrected them in like a couple days and gave me the book back (she put it in my letter box haha we live 5 minutes away) so I could start that week’s exercises. 

But I did not “learn French” haha I’m not confident. I can survive and all, and I have classes at uni that are 100% in French and I’m fine, I understand (we’ll see if I can explain myself in the exam though), but I’m not that good. 

Words of wisdom... well, get a private teacher if you can afford it; someone nice and with good knowledge. Someone you like to spend time with, so every time you have a lesson is like meeting a friend to hang out. I know it’s not easy, of course, but mostly what I mean is, don’t be afraid of changing your teacher if the first one is just not a right fit for you. And... well, I’m not sure, just the same old stuff: read easy books, find French youtubers also, an app like Duolingo or Memrise doesn’t hurt either. But the only reason I passed that exam was my teacher, I assure you. So you can probably understand that I’m always going to say the same thing now haha private teacher!

[languages-and-tea]

heyyy, im a french native and i saw you were doing the 30 days lang challenge so if u want u can tag me in your posts so i can correct them if needed !!! passe une bonne fin de journée :)

That's really nice of you and thank you but unfortunately that was months ago, and I kind of didn't follow it much haha but thanks anyway!!

[languages-and-tea]

Its so sad when a language dies

Language is living, breathing history. It’s culture and connection and rich with a hundred thousand tiny, untold stories hidden in it’s slang and conjugations and evolution. And when it dies, that all disappears. Even if we can preserve the technicalities of the language– the vocabulary, the verbs, the factual information– we lose the organicness of it. We lose the baby’s first words and the teenage slang mixed with loan words and all of the past the language was filled with that can’t be flattened into words in a textbook or pixels on a screen.

If youre able to, participate in language revival projects. Learn about the languages that have 5000, 500, 50 speakers left. The languages that have 5. Talk to native speakers. Learn their histories. Do your best to promote language learning for dying languages, even if you can’t learn it yourself.

Language holds a type of history and culture that is not revivable, no matter how much vocab gets recorded.

[languages-and-tea]

Online Courses for Language Lovers (that aren’t languages)

I wanted to let fellow language learners know about some great courses that I think will help you out since they cover topics that aren’t typically taught in language classes. They cover various topics such as culture, linguistics, and psychology that will round out your language education. They are all MOOCs which means that they are free online courses available to the public. 

Exploring Language and Cultures:  You will learn about the benefits and challenges of meeting people from different cultures, what it means to be plurilingual and pluricultural, and the ways in which language and human communities shape each other. You also will look at the role of intercultural competence at the workplace, reflect on the use of English as lingua franca in international contexts, and get a flavor of the skills involved in language-related professions such as translation and interpreting.

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics :  This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language! 

Language Revival: Securing the Future of Endangered Languages :  Learn how the world’s endangered languages are revived and why this process is critical to preserving cultural identity.  Course is archived but material is accessible.

Intercultural Communication: This free online course will help you better understand cross-cultural complexity; cultivate your awareness of your own and others’ cultural identities; highlight some notable variations in communication styles and cultural values; and signpost paths towards building your intercultural competence. Course starts Oct 16, 2017

The Bilingual Brain :  This course explores the brain bases of bilingualism by discussing literature relevant to differences in age of initial learning, proficiency, and control in the nonverbal, single language and dual-language literature.  Participants will learn about the latest research related to how humans learn one or two languages and other cognitive skills. Course starts Sep 18, 2017. 

Introduction to Lexical and Semantic Typology:  The aim of the course is to obtain the idea of the lexicon as a complex system and to get the methodology of the typological approach to the lexicon cross-linguistically, as well as to learn about the general mechanisms of semantic shift and their typological relevance. Course starts Sep 11, 2017.

Corpus Linguistics: Method, Analysis, Interpretation:  Offers a practical introduction to the methodology of corpus linguistics for researchers in social sciences and humanities 

Multilingual Learning for a Globalised World: This free online course will explore multilingual education and how it can impact and improve education and even wider society.

For Free Online Language Courses: Link Here

Last Updated: September 7, 2017

[languages-and-tea]

one more time for the privileged at the front

[languages-and-tea]

I'd like to know this too because I start next week and I'm like, in terror tbh 😂

@ ppl attending university in their target language

How the hell do you do it??? I’m studying in a language I’ve known since I was a kid and I still understand nothing D:

[languages-and-tea]

Can you please reblog if your blog is a safe place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, aromantic, pansexual, non binary, demisexual or any other kind of queer or questioning people? Because mine is.

[languages-and-tea]

"I'm Studying..." Tag

I was tagged by @blackteaandlanguages and thank you because I really like this :D

Rules: Share your recent studies (in class or independent), specify the last topic/text you covered, and tag others!

I’m studying…

These are my classes for this semester in Université de Genève; I start the 18th of September.

Language A = native = Spanish

Language B = non-native = English and/or French

Analyse de la langue A/ES (Spanish Analysis)

Étude de !a langue B/FR (French Studies)

Étude de la langue B/EN (English Studies)

Méthodologie de la traduction FR/ES (Translation Methodology French-Spanish)

Méthodologie de la trad. EN/ES (Translation Methodology English-Spanish)

Linguistique (Linguistics)

Technologies de l'information et la communication (Information and Communication Technologies - ICT)

Independently, I keep (lazily) perfecting my French, slowly starting with German (should be doing more) and already learning about languages and translation studies (TS). This summer I’ve read Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications and Contexts in Translating (I know, hard to find but I was fast and lucky and got it for 4€ second-hand), and I’ll keep reading outside of my mandatory reads and uni stuff. I have some on my list for further reading, like After Babel. I’m interested in the ever debated problem of equivalence, if that is possible, and how contexts makes all the difference. 

I tag (and do it!) @studytolive & @namithemermaid-studies

[languages-and-tea]

My algorithms professor said this the other day and it’s so simple but so important:

“You should be assessing your learning every day.”

This quote is about being present. Not just going through the motions and checking off your to-do list, but being cognizant of how (or even, if) you’re learning.

It’s so easily forgotten.

[languages-and-tea]

types of students

a. coffeshops, highlighters, little post-it notes, wanting to be perfectly organized b. 2 am, eyebags, stacks of papers, the deadline is in half an hour c. messy bullet journal, messy desk, messy life but still trying d. night: telling yourself how productive you’ll be tomorrow, day: let’s binge watch another netflix series e. buying tons of cute stationery, having only one pen left by the end of the school year f. working really hard to achieve your goals only to be asked why you’re so smart g. ancient libraries, the smell of new textbooks, wanting to acquire all the knowledge h. studying to help people, to save the environment, to change the world

[languages-and-tea]

How to teach yourself linguistics online for free

Wish you were enrolled in an intro linguistics class this semester? Starting a linguistics major and looking for extra help? Trying to figure out whether you should study linguistics and what comes after?  Whether you’re just trying to grasp the basics of linguistics or you’re trying to construct a full online linguistics course, here’s a comprehensive list of free linguistics websites, podcasts, videos, blogs, and other resources from around the internet: 

Linguistics Podcasts

Specific episodes:

The International Phonetic Alphabet

Constituency

Gricean Maxims

Kids These Days aren’t ruining language

Learning languages linguistically

Podcasts in general:

Lingthusiasm

The History of English Podcast

Talk the Talk

Lexicon Valley

The World in Words

A Way With Words

Linguistics Videos

Modular topics:

NativLang (cartoons)

The Ling Space

Tom Scott’s Language Files

Arika Okrent (whiteboard videos)

Structured video series like an online course:  

Introduction to Linguistics (TrevTutor)

Another intro linguistics series (DS Bigham)

Phonology (TrevTutor)

Mathematical linguistics (TrevTutor)

Syntax (TrevTutor)

Another syntax series following the chapter structure of a free online syntax textbook (Caroline Heycock)

The Virtual Linguistics Campus at Marburg University

Blog posts

General

How much do I need to know before taking intro linguistics? (Spoiler: not much) 

28 tips for doing better in your intro linguistics course

How to find a topic for your linguistics essay or research paper

For typesetting linguistics symbols: What is LaTeX and why do linguists love it? (with sample LaTeX doc to download and modify).

Further linguistics resources about specific areas, such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition (first/second), historical linguistics, neurolinguistics, prescriptivism. 

Phonetics & Phonology

How to make your own paper model of the larynx

Teaching phonetics using lollipops

How to remember the IPA vowel chart

How to remember the IPA consonant chart

IPA transcription practice

A detailed explanation of sonorants, obstruents, and sonority

A very elaborate Venn diagram of English phonological features

The basics of how Optimality Theory works, with coffee analogy

Allophones of /t/, explained with internet gifs

Several good visualizations and explanations of the vocal tract

How to type IPA on your phone (Android and iOS) 

Various ways to type IPA on a computer

Morphology & Syntax

Morphological typology cartoons

So you asked the internet how to draw syntax trees. Here’s why you’re confused.

Types of trees: a sentence is an S, a sentence is an IP, a sentence is a TP

A step-by-step guide to drawing a syntax tree, with gifs

Distributed Morphology

Garden path sentences: how they work, some examples

Structural ambiguity and understanding people in Ipswich

How to draw trees on a computer (TreeForm and phpSyntaxTree) 

Pronoun typology and “the gay fanfiction problem”

The solution to violent example sentences: Pokemon

Semantics & Pragmatics

The difference between epistemic and deontic, necessity and possibility (with bonus modals as Hogwarts houses)

Why learn semantics? Comebacks to annoying people.

Presuppositions, implicature and entailment, and more presuppositions in Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Gricean maxims in Welcome to Night Vale

Scalar implicature and a duck gif

Giving a shit about Negative Polarity Items, NPIs explained using Mean Girls references, and a follow-up on Free Choice Items

The lambda calculus for absolute dummies

The Lambda Calculator (software for practising in Heim & Kratzer style)

Teaching & Academic/career advice

Linguistics resources for high school teachers

Teaching linguistics to 9-14 year olds

On writing an IB extended essay in linguistics (& follow-up)

IPA Bingo

IPA Jeopardy and IPA Hangman

Practising syntax trees using cards and string/straws

Find a linguistics olympiad near you!

Editing linguistics Wikipedia articles instead of writing a final paper that no one but the prof will read (see also wikiedu.org)

Should you go to grad school in linguistics? Maybe

Figuring out if you actually want to go to linguistics grad school

How to decide which linguistics grad school to go to

How to look for linguistics undergrad programs

How to interact with someone who’s just given a talk

An extensive list of undergrad and/or student-friendly conferences - apply to one near you!

Linguistics jobs - a series about careers outside academia

Languages

Linguistic approaches to language learning resource roundup

Will linguistics help with language learning? / Will learning a second language help with linguistics?

The problem with “economically useful” as a reason for language learning

Further link roundups

This list not enough? Try these further masterposts: 

A very long list of linguistics movies, documentaries, and TV show episodes

Books (fiction and nonfiction) about linguistics

Linguistics podcasts

Linguistics videos on YouTube

20 linguistics blogs I recommend following

How to explain linguistics to your friends and family this holiday season

[languages-and-tea]

Sometimes you wake up and everything is okay. Sometimes you wake up and everything is not okay. In these instances, take life a moment at a time. Bad days can’t stay bad forever.

[languages-and-tea]

Follower Appreciation Giveaway

To thank you all for following me and being so lovely and supportive I’m going to hold a giveaway! I will ship internationally and pay all shipping costs. 

PRIZES

Origami paper set

Japanese style stickers

Pack of zebra mildliners

Japanese style masking tape

Sushi themed point markers

Japanese green tea

RULES

Must be following me

Must be 18 or older or have a guardian’s permission to enter giveaway

Must have ask box open so that I can contact in case of winning

Must be willing to give me address and contact information in case of winning

HOW TO APPLY

Reblog this post (likes don’t count)

Fill this survey

THE WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN ON SEPTEMBER 1ST! Good luck!

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