Mango Languages

Guest Post: Learning French

I am very excited to have Tanya Brothen providing Mango a Guest Blog Post.  She has spent the last 14 years learning how to correctly pronounce French words.  While living in Paris in 2008 she started Parisian Spring, a blog about the life and interests of a Francophile traveler.  Tanya currently spends her days working in Washington, D.C., and her nights wishing she owned a home in Provence.

Question: What do the words “accident,” “fruit,” and “table,” have in common?
Answer: All three are regularly used in conversation by English and French speakers alike.

Thanks to the Normans who conquered England in 1066, roughly one third of all English words are of French origin (some by way of Latin), with many of those words spelled exactly the same in both languages.   Think of “courage,” “original,” and “million.”  On any given day, Anglophones are regularly using French words without even thinking about it.

Question: Does this similarity of vocabulary translate into ease in learning the language?
Answer: Don’t bet on it.

See, while the words look the same, their pronunciations are often completely different.  When pronounced in French, the word “fruit” sounds more like “fwee” rather than its English cousin, “froot.”  Francophones wouldn’t dream of pronouncing the “t” in “accident,” and you’re going to need to perfect your from-the-throat hacking sounds to correctly say “original” in front of a Parisian.  You could argue that the similar-look/different-pronunciation conundrum is actually a hindrance to Anglophone learners of French, tricking them into consistently mispronouncing the words that look familiar.

Adding to the confusion are the famous “faux amis,” or false friends.  These are words that, while spelled the same in both French and English, not only have different pronunciations, but also completely different meanings.  Take the word “sensible,” for example.   To the English speaker, it means having or showing good judgment, but the French speaker uses “sensible” to describe a sensitive person or thing.

Question: So what’s an Anglophone learner of French to do?
Answer: It might sound daunting, but straight-up memorization is what helped me.  Flash cards are another good option; simply write the word on one side of a card and the meaning in both French and English on the other side.  For help with pronunciation, try watching a French movie with English subtitles, which allows you to see a word like “original” written in English but pronounced in French.

You’ll know your French skills have truly arrived when you start searching for the meaning or pronunciation of a faux ami in English rather than en Français.  By this point, the previously foreign language will probably start coming to you naturally.  And if it doesn’t, you can always blame the Normans.

Let me repeat myself…

In my most recent blogs I have been looking at different hypotheses pertaining to second language learning (SLL), specifically Krashen’s Input Hypothesis ( i + 1: Is this algebra class?), and Swain’s Output Hypothesis (If you don’t use it…You will lose it).   This week I would like to turn our attention to a hypothesis that involves both the input and output of the second language, the Interaction hypothesis.  Don’t worry there’s no algebra involved!

In the Interaction Hypothesis, Michael Long proposes that while both input and output are necessary for second language acquisition, in order to gain a greater understanding of how this works, one should focus more attention on the interactions language learners engage in (Long, 1981, 1983a, 1983b.).  Long posits that these interactions are not merely a source of second language input, but are rather exchanges that allow the parties to negotiate the meaning of the input.  This negotiation results in changes to the complexity of the input.

According to Long, these changes to the input play an important role in second language acquisition.  For a second language learner, interaction allows for the fine-tuning of the second language input in order to make it more accessible to the learner.  In studies when communication or comprehension difficulties arise in interaction between native and non-native speaker pairs, more often than not these pairs attempt to resolve their difficulties by using conversational tactics such as requesting repetition (i.e., “Could you repeat that, please?”), confirmation checks (i.e., “Did you say…”), comprehension checks (i.e., “Does x mean x?”), and/or clarification requests (i.e., “What do you mean by x?”) (Long, 1980, 1981, 1983a.).  In this way we can see that interaction ensures that the learner is receiving i + 1, rather than i + 3 or even i + 0. (See: Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Comprehensible Input: [i +1].) Therefore, the modifications to the conversational structure ensure that the input will be comprehensible while still containing new material in the form of new vocabulary or grammatical elements, which provides the potential for new learning.

Mango Languages provides students the convenience of learning from home at their own pace while still incorporating “interaction.”  Our method starts by introducing the student to a conversation that is above their current level of comprehension, but then proceeds to modify the conversation by breaking it down in to its components.  Conversational interaction tactics are also part of the Mango system.  Requests for repetition can be made by the student by simply clicking on the back arrow to replay previous slides.  They can also click replay on the slide they are currently on or click on the individual words or entire phrases to repeat the audio.  The student also has the option to repeat entire lessons and chapters.

Our system also repeats material through the use of automatically generated quizzes and critical thinking slides.  Confirmation checks can be done with the use of our voice comparison feature.  This allows the student to compare their output to that of a native speaker, and in doing so, confirm their comprehension of not only the grammar and vocabulary but also the pronunciation.  At the completion of a chapter the student hears the initial conversation again.  This also allows them to check and confirm their acquisition and hence comprehension of the material that they did not comprehend at the onset of the chapter.

Mango’s use of literal meanings when needed as well as grammar notes, anticipates the clarification requests of students.  So, although learners can use the Mango Languages software on their own without actually having a “conversation,” we recognize the importance of interaction and conversation repair tactics.  We have incorporated these elements into our system while still allowing the student to have all of the benefits of learning on their own from the comfort of their own home and on their own time.

I can easily remember a time or two when I have used these conversational repair tactics in order to understand what someone was trying to tell me and even to make myself understood.

How about you?  Do you know someone who constantly asks you to repeat yourself?  Or do you have to frequently ask your friend for clarification because he/she never seems to provide enough details to clue you in as to what they are talking about?

Language Learning Shown to Slow Down Aging

According to a report published last fall by the European Commission entitled “The Contribution of Multilingualism to Creativity,” one of the major benefits of learning another language is reducing age-related mental diminishment.

Knowing another language seems to slow down the rate of decline of certain cognitive pathologies.  Being multilingual helps resist neuropathological damage by 2-4 years.  In addition, multilingualism is linked to a slowdown in age related issues such as dementia.

The bonus…learning a foreign language has a strong link to creativity, which has greater potential for cognitive health for the aging mind.

What else are you doing to slow down the aging of your brain?

Humor and iPad

Put in very simple words, in order to construct a sentence we retrieve from a mental lexicon the words we need and then we arrange them in meaningful sentences following certain rules.

This mental lexicon contains the words, their synonyms, etc., just like the dictionaries we know, but moreover, it contains all our knowledge, encyclopedic or other, and personal experiences that are associated with a specific word.  For example, the word “flood” primarily means “an overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines.”  For some people, this word may bring India to their mind, as we know from our encyclopedic knowledge that India suffers from floods, or it may bring to their mind a mishap they had, or a nice touching book they read about a flood-hit village, a nice painting, or a horror film, etc.  “Lemon” may mean something sour or may bring to the mind a nice fragrance, a wedding, etc.  One word therefore is associated with many others and with various mental images, and they form little groups.

Here is where the success of humor lies: the narrator creates an atmosphere where the interlocutor(s) expect words or phrases of a certain group to be uttered, words or phrases that have to do with the image the narrator is creating and belong to the same group.  And… the narrator utters a word that belongs to a different group and this unexpected association makes us laugh.  Or what the narrator says makes the interlocutor expect a certain development due to common sense or to common beliefs, but the narrator brings things upside down and changes direction.  For example, the narrator says

I didn’t sleep with my wife before we married. Did you?

The logical and natural interpretation of the elliptic sentence at the end is, “Did you sleep with your wife before you married?”  So, here comes the unexpected answer:

Hmm…I don’t remember. What’s her name?

Like I said, this is a simplified analysis because in the unexpected association of words and phrases lies the power of poetry, but in poetry this association makes us stand in awe before the wonder of mind.

iPad, as you may know, is the new product of Apple.  But unfortunately, the word “pad” belongs to another group of words and images too, and therefore the name has been associated with a hygienic product. It is not the unexpected here that causes laughter; it is just the association with the other group of words.  This has brought about a series of jokes – no laughing matter though!

Other blunders that have to do with mistranslations or with unfortunate naming of products is the German toilet paper brand name called BUM, or the Swedish one called Krapp, which bring smiles to the English speakers’ faces.  Or an ad for America of a Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux that goes, “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.”

Do you know of any other mistranslations or naming of products?

Did You Know Languages Have Constituents?

One aspect of language that all languages have in common is constituents.  All languages are organized in constituents, allowing more complex units to enter structures where simpler ones are also possible.  The following examples in English illustrate constituents (in italics).

She sat down

The smart woman sat down

The tall, smart woman with the bright orange sweater sat down

Constituents can be replaced by other constituents and can be moved if you move the complete constituent.  The complete constituent “the tall, smart woman with the bright orange sweater” can be replaced by the pronoun “she.”  In the examples above, the constituent is the subject of the sentence but it can also be in the predicate of the sentence.

I saw the tall, smart woman with the bright orange sweater

I saw her

Can you find the constituents in the next sentence?

The black and white squirrel that looks like a skunk ran up the tree.

Guest Post: Preventing Cognitive Overload

I am pleased to introduce Christopher Craft our Guest Blogger this week. He teaches kids Spanish and Latin at CrossRoads Middle School. He is also nearing completion of a PhD in Educational Psychology and Research at the University of South Carolina.  Christopher has a B.A. in Spanish and a Master of Education degree.  He speaks fluent Spanish, his wife is from Peru, and he has two bilingual daughters (ages 8 and 4). Find out more about him here.

Learning a new language can be overwhelming.  As a foreign language teacher I have seen students get quickly overloaded resulting in a mentality that “I’m just not good at Spanish.”  This mindset can effectively hinder the learning of a foreign language.  If you are embarking on the journey of learning a foreign language as a self-directed learner, you must take into account some principles inspired by our knowledge of the human cognitive architecture to make sure you don’t fall victim to the same mindset.

People often tell me that they wish they spoke Spanish.  When I offer them the many resources online to help them do just that (i.e. Mango Languages) they are often excited.  When I follow up with these folks they often cite a lack of time or motivation for the lack of fluency in the desired language.  Underneath it all is likely a sense of overload.

To prevent cognitive overload there are certain principles that you can implement when attempting to learn a foreign language.  First, it is necessary to practice “chunking.”  Chunking occurs when you take information in chunks to avoid overload.  This is precisely why phone numbers and social security numbers are chunked; to make them easier to remember.  Applying this to the learning of a new language is easy; simply make sure that you don’t take in too much at once.  Start slow, and make sure you really learn the first few lessons.  It can be daunting to see that there is so much that remains before you are “finished” learning.  You must remember that the learning of a foreign language never ends.  In order to prevent cognitive overload, first consider chunking your information and taking it slow.

One way to aid your chunking is to rehearse the information you are learning.  Find ways to practice the language.  Find reasons to say the words you are learning.  Teach someone else the new words and phrases you are learning.  This mental rehearsal will aid the information to be transferred into long-term memory and retained for a long period of time.  You have likely experienced this rehearsal before; perhaps when learning a phone number.  When someone tells you their phone number, you have likely found yourself repeating it in your head until you can write it down.  This is rehearsal.  The more you rehearse the basics of a foreign language, the better foundation you are laying for future learning.

A third principle to take into account is the need to take breaks.  Consider your working memory to be a bit like a water glass.  If you are adding water at a steady rate, at some point you will reach the top and water will no longer be able to enter the glass.  Your working memory functions similarly, in that when you reach a level of “fullness,” no more information can enter.  Even more troublingly, if you do not take care to take a break now and again, you can reach cognitive overload.  When this happens, the working memory empties and all the learning that had recently happened will be lost.  It is as though when reaching a level of our glass being too full, instead of just spilling over someone were to dump the entire glass of water out.  This can leave you frustrated and without desire to continue.

Using the principles of chunking, deliberate rehearsal, and regular breaks you can maximize your chances of developing fluency in a target language.  Just as your body needs rest when doing work, your mind does as well.  Take care to be mindful of your learning and adjust as needed.  I wish you the best of luck on your continued journey towards foreign language learning.

How do you prevent Cognitive Load?

If You Don't Use It…You Will Lose It

My previous blog post discussed Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. Of course input is necessary for a learner to acquire a new language.  However, studies have shown that language learners (LLs) can often achieve high levels of comprehension in the second language (L2) without ever achieving a moderate level of production (Swain 1985, 1995).

Merrill Swain’s Output Hypothesis argues that without production (output) expectations that correspond to the input that the language learner receives, the student’s conversational abilities in the second language will lag far behind their comprehension abilities.  Second language production, or output solicited from the language learner, is what most effectively drives the development of a second language (Swain 1985, 1995).  It’s kind of like that old saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!”

It is similar to learning math.  You can know the formulas, but every math teacher I’ve ever had always told me that putting the formulas I know to practice is what will ensure that I internalize the information and concepts and that I will be prepared to produce them when needed.  The method of Mango Languages applies this concept to teaching a new language.  Our system uses a strategic series of automatically generated quizzes on material the student has already learned.  In addition, Mango uses what we refer to as Critical Thinking slides.  These slides prompt the student to construct and produce new language fragments, phrases and/or sentences using elements that they have learned but have never actually seen put together in this particular way.  In this way Mango Languages sets expectations for the student to not only repeat what they have heard but to also internalize this material and combine it new ways.  Since math is referred to as the universal language, I think my high school math professor would be pleased!

So, what do you think?  Do you agree with the saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”?

World's Hardest Foreign Language

If you had to guess, which language do you think is the hardest to learn?  Many people have said that English is the most difficult but “English is pretty simple: verbs hardly conjugate; nouns pluralise easily (just add “s”, mostly) and there are no genders to remember.” Says, The Economist when they explored this idea last month in an article entitled: Difficult languages, Tongue twisters, In search of the world’s hardest language.

The article explores several of the most difficult words/concepts to learn in many languages.   A few things to think about.  Is it:

1. Pronunciation?
2. Cases or conjugation?
3. Gender of words?
4. Understanding complex concepts put into a single word?
5. Tones, clicks and unfamiliar sounds?
6. Grammar?
7. Encoding information that does not translate at all?

So out of 6,000 languages, what is the world’s hardest foreign language?  The Economist suggests that the Tuyuca language from the eastern Amazon is the most challenging.   Not in pronunciation but in concept and structure.  The crazy thing?  There are only 1,000 people in the world who speak this language.

What do you think?

Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Comprehensible Input: [i +1]

All theorists of language-learning agree that second language input of some form is necessary for learning a new language.  It is also necessary to be able to understand and process the input for second language acquisition to take place.  This is because second language acquisition (SLA) occurs on a development continuum.

We travel along this continuum by receiving what Stephen Krashen (1982, 1985) termed “comprehensible input.”  Comprehensible input is that input which is slightly beyond the current level of competence of the language learner.  If i is the language learner’s current level of competence in the foreign language, then i + 1 is the next immediate step along the development continuum.  Therefore, if the goal is to assist the language learner progress in their task, it is essential to provide the student/learner with comprehensible input [i +1].

This methodology is incorporated into the Mango course.  It is like teaching a child how to dance.  Most people would not enroll their infant who cannot yet walk in a ballet class with the hopes that by simply immersing them in the environment they will jump to their feet and perform a saut de chat.  The child must first learn to crawl, then to stand, then to walk, and so on.  With the Mango program, we start the student off with a conversation in order to orient them to the context of what they are about to learn.  We then parse the conversation into smaller sentences.  These sentences are then broken down piece by piece into their “elemental components” and slowly built back up to form the original sentence.

If you only learn phrases in chunks, how will you know the individual meaning of each word, much less how to create new sentences and phrases with them?

Ghoti Spells Fish

How many of you remember your parents or siblings drilling you for the upcoming spelling bee when you were in grade school? R-E-A-D spells “read.”  I like to read.  But wait, R-E-A-D also spells “read,” as in, “I read a good book yesterday.”  English is a funny language when it comes to spelling and the correspondence between letters and sounds.   This is partially because the English language has held on to much of its Old English orthography.  This is a benefit when reading somewhat old historical texts. But, it’s not so great when it comes to teaching spelling, reading, and writing. I’m sure many ESL and elementary school students would agree. Indeed many native adult English speakers, including yours truly, still struggle with spelling.  Isn’t that why they invented spell check?

So take a look at this: G-H-O-T-I spells “fish.”  You may think I need to go back to the 1^st grade, but what if told you the letters ‘gh’ make the [f] sound? Still think I’m crazy?  What about the ‘gh’ in the words enough and rough?  The –o in “women” makes the same sound as the letter –i in “fish.”  And finally, “Nation” and “station” both have the ‘ti’ combo that sounds like /sh/. So, there you have it.  G-H-O-T-I spells fish!

Do you know of any other examples of fun things like this?