The Linguist - language learning should be fun

LingQ meets The Link (on Radio Canada International)

2009-11-09T12:09:13-08:00

Tomorrow I will be interviewed on The Link a radio program for immigrants broadcast by Radio Canada International. I am being interviewed live at 9.15 am Pacific time which is 12.15 pm Eastern Time.

I am still angry at government language waste. A letter to a newspaper

2009-11-09T12:02:43-08:00

Government language waste in Canada is colossal. It really rankles me. Here is a letter I wrote to a columnist at a leading Canadian newspaper. Probably a waste of time.

The Gun Registry gets a lot of media attention. What about the language waste that exceeds a billion dollars a year and produces fewer and fewer bilingual Canadians, and more and more immigrants whose English is so poor they cannot function effectively in our society? Should this not be of interest to Canadians?

There is much discussion today about the wasteful gun registry, which is finally being disbanded. There is another field where bureaucracy is wasting billions of dollars with little benefit to Canadians. This is the publicly funded official language teaching industry. I am not against language learning, far from it. I speak 11 languages. I am against the deliberate waste of billions, where teachers and translators are able to hide their ineffectiveness and wastefulness behind an unassailable and lofty ideal. This is the same pattern as the case of the gun registry.

Official language instruction, whether for immigrants or in the pursuit of bilingualism for Canadians, is controlled by the established language teaching industry, who want all learning to take place in a classroom. In fact, as someone who has learned 11 languages, I know that you do not learn a language in a classroom. But you can try to teach a language in a classroom, or get paid to do so, and that serves the interests of existing teachers.

A recent report by the US Department of Education, indicates that elearning is more effective than classroom learning. The Internet abounds with language learning resources that are more effective and cheaper than government subsidized classrooms. But government inflexibility wants to shut off innovation.

Here are some examples.

1) The Feds introduced a voucher system for immigrant language learning. I approached the Immigration department (CIC) to find out how our own online language learning community, LingQ, could qualify under this voucher program. I was told that ALL immigrant language learning has to conform to the Task Based Language System approach. This form of language learning is not particularly effective, nor widely used elsewhere in the world, and can only be carried out in a classroom.

2) Recently the government announced a Canadian Language Portal, ostensibly to "provide Canadians free access to the language tools that will enable them to use and understand both official languages more easily". In fact, this portal is a 16 million dollar white elephant, of no use to Canadians who want to improve their language skills. It is just a place to promote the publicly funded Canadian language industry. When I applied to have LingQ listed on this site, I was turned down because LingQ charges a fee. In fact all of the public institutions listed on the portal charge a fee or are funded by government. On the other hand, most users of LingQ do so free of charge. Only our elite users pay.

It rankles me that the fact that I have invested a large amount of time and money, and never dipped into the public trough, should disqualify me from participating in any government funded language learning initiatives. It also rankles me that an outdated "1990s vintage portal", that should cost a few thousand dollars to put up, apparently had a budget of 16 million dollars. This is all part of a billion dollar plus boon doggle called the Roadmap to Linguistic Duality.

The issue is not whether immigrants should be helped to learn our official languages, nor whether bilingualism is a worthwhile goal. The issue is the power that is given to the public sector to shut down innovation in an important field, language and the Internet.

I know that I have a vested interest in this, Of course I do. On the other hand, I have been a lumber exporter for over 35 years. I have developed markets for Canadian lumber in the Far East. I have paid millions in taxes. It is only because of my interest in Canada, and in the integration of new immigrants that I got involved in this venture. I did not need it. But now my entrepreneurship and innovation and willingness to take risks, without clamouring for funding, makes me a pariah?

The parasitical bureaucracy is choking off, and not encouraging, innovation in Canada. In the future it will be innovation, not natural resources, nor politically correct smugness, that will determine the success of countries and economies.

I have attached a brief description of LingQ, and a recent comment that I received on my blog about LingQ for your reference.

Thanks for your patience.

Steve Kaufmann

Hi ,

Daniel Poole (danielpoole06@gmail.com) has left you a comment:

Personally, in finding LingQ I truly believe I have saved myself a great deal of time..and possibly even failure. It just works, and the podcasts and advice from Steve have made me aware of the fact, the FACT, that at no time during the course of the aquisition of a language does it have to be a chore. ALL the time, if one choses the right method for themselves, can be enjoyable and be classified a 'leisure' activity. That is now my personally philosopy in regards to languages.

LingQ is both a language learning system and a dynamic community of people with a serious interest in languages. The learning methodology is based on Steve Kaufmann's own experience in learning to speak 11 languages, as well as considerable evidence from research by Stephen Krashen and others on the advantages of focusing on input based activities in language learning.

LingQ is unique in the way it takes advantage of the Internet and enables members to acquire vocabulary and language skills from relevant and interesting language input, wherever they may find it. This way of learning is enjoyable and not stressful, and therefore, for many people, represents the first time they experience success in language learning.

The main learning activity is simply listening to interesting language content on an iPod or MP3 player. From time to time the user needs to read the transcript at LingQ in order to save words and phrases from the text to his or her personal database. As the database grows, it generates Flash Cards, special highlighting of words in new texts, statistical records of activity and achievement, and many other effective learning functions, all of which are customized to each learner's situation.

Learners can interact with native speaker tutors via Skype and can also submit writing for correction. After each online discussion with a tutor, members receive a discussion report, listing the words and phrases that were not used correctly and these are added to the learner's database. Similarly learners can submit writing for correction and will receive a detailed report with the corrected text and explanations of errors. Again, the corrected words and phrases are added to the learner's database.

Members are not only involved in learning one or more foreign language themselves, but also can create content and provide tutoring services in their own language for other members.

Registration at LingQ, and use of many of the resources at LingQ, are free of charge. To use all of LingQ's functions costs $10 a month. However, members have the opportunity to earn much more than this by creating content and providing tutoring services in their own language to other members of the community.

The term LingQ is a play on the word link. Language learning is considered a process of creating links; between words, sounds, meaning and people,and eventually between neurons as new language skills are acquired.

Steve Kaufmann has written a book about language learning called The Way of the Linguist, A Language Learning Odyssey. He maintains a blog called The Linguist on Language, and has a channel at Youtube explaining his language learning philosophy.

Multiple intelligence, learning styles and the like.

2009-11-07T07:53:47-08:00

I have always considered theories of multiple intelligence and differential learning styles to to be unconvincing. We have differing aptitudes and different tastes, but I know what intelligence is, and I think that our brains learn in essentially the same way. Here are two articles that support this view.

Multiple intelligences

Learning styles bunk

The fact that these theories are so popular, definitely mainstream, among education theorists and teachers makes me suspicious, since these people are very fad oriented. On the other hand these articles from doubters within the education community are refreshing. Independent thought exists!

The LingQ Podcasts, a series of podcasts in ten languages

2009-11-06T15:29:48-08:00

I should bring people's attention to the LingQ series of language podcasts, which are available for free download. These podcasts consist mostly of casual conversations, and the transcripts are to be found in the LingQ library.

If you visit the EnglishLingQ website you will find links to the individual podcast series, for English, French, Spanish (mostly from Argentina), Mandarin, Japanese, German, Swedish, Italian, Russian, and Portuguese (mostly from Portugal).

We are constantly looking to improve these. All comments are welcome. There are natural conversations and not lessons, so to speak. When studied in combination with LingQ, it is possible for intermediate and better learners to use these podcasts to improve their language skills.

Forgetting and learning languages

2009-11-06T11:15:57-08:00

Here are a couple of videos I did on this subject recently.

Forgetting languages and German

Forgetting and learning languages

Great English language podcasts for advanced speakers, I fixed the links.

2009-11-05T12:33:54-08:00

I referred you to a site with great podcasts in English intended for native speakers. The links on the site did not work. I have searched the individual links and put them up. Enjoy.

What are the leading language learning blogs in languages other than English?

2009-11-04T16:06:46-08:00

I would like to follow some blogs on language learning in other languages. Any suggestions on the best ones to follow? I would also like to ask these bloggers to review LingQ.

How about doing a review of LingQ?

2009-11-04T15:58:55-08:00

We have made a number of changes at LingQ over the last few months.We would like to know what people think.

A number of you have your own blogs, and some are about language learning. I would be very interested in hearing what you think of the evolving LingQ.

Would you be interested in doing a review of LingQ on your blogs?

iPod resources for advanced English learners or anyone who understands English.

2009-11-04T15:25:45-08:00

There was an interesting article in today's National Post by Robert Fulford where he discusses some very interesting podcast services on a variety of subjects. Here are the links to the podcasts. It is less trouble for everyone if I find the links and put them here. One of the benefits of the internet. We can easily do things for each other.

New York Review of Books

Hardcore History

Philosophers Zone

National Post

I would love to see a list of similar resources for other languages. I am already using some great resources for Portuguese(TSF) , (Cafe Brasil ,)Spanish (COPE) and Russian (Echo Moskvi). There are no doubt others. The problem is always the lack of transcripts for those people who cannot quite follow along. Maybe one day these sites will realize the benefits of providing transcripts.

Anyone out there with some more good podcasts in different languages?

Why save dying languages?

2009-11-04T11:32:20-08:00

The NY Times had an interesting article on dying languages today. There were lots of interesting comments. I had this to say. I would love to be able to offer dying languages at LingQ one day. If people want them to survive they will.

"It should be up to the speakers of these languages to decide their fate, not for armies of moralizers and linguists. Often the complicated grammar books and committees of experts that seem to be required to maintain a language end up killing it. All we need is the speakers, some recording devices, some transcripts and some internet sites that everyone can access, as well as a good online dictionary. No UN committees, academic studies or other diversions which just end up feeding wealthy western academics looking for something exotic to do."

Explaining why LingQ works. Which video do you like?

2009-11-03T09:44:43-08:00

LingQ is a powerful language learning platform because if has a lot of functions. But this sometimes makes it difficult to explain the system to a new user, especially since most people do not like to read manuals or watch detailed demo videos.

The manual for my new camera is complicated, or seems so to me. But at least I know what the camera is supposed to do. I am motivated to figure out how to use it, so I struggle with the manual and try things out.

We need to help our new learners at LingQ understand the reasons behind LingQ and motivate them to try to figure out what to do at LingQ and why. And we need to do it in few words and in an interesting way.

We have played around with two versions of the same script. Let me know which one you like the best.

The Dawn of Language

Og and Thag

The London Language Show, some initial reactions.

2009-11-01T08:50:02-08:00

I visited the London Language Show on Saturday. Here are some initial reactions, with more to follow once I get home. ( I fly home from London to Vancouver tomorrow)

First of all there was not the rush of eager young language learners that I had seen at similar shows in Prague and Berlin. This show was not as well attended.

Second of all, Chinese, Spanish and English dominated other languages to a greater extent than the two previous shows I visited.

My third observation was that the world of language learning still consists largely of grammar based instruction. There are various twists and variations on this theme, like computer systems, or a special emphasis on making languages fun or cool or otherwise worth doing, but the core method of instruction represented here was more towards traditional approaches than to an input based learning model.

There were a few interesting booths and interesting discussions and I will get to them later.

London meet up on Saturday, at the Language Show.

2009-10-29T14:13:35-07:00

Just reminder that I will be at the London Language Show in the main entrance to the Olympia at 12.00 noon on Saturday.

Let me know if you are going to be there? I would love to meet some language keeners.

Youtube groups - baffled by technology again

2009-10-27T08:37:38-07:00

I tried to create a youtube group for LingQ, where LingQ members could post videos about how they use LingQ, in whatever language they want. I even thought we could have a competition or something. Rather than trying to explain LingQ, I thought it would be great to get users to talk about it in their own language/

Twice I thought I had followed the instructions and started the group, and yet the new group does not show up in my account and there is no place that I can see to search for it. Has anyone tried to create a youtube group? I am reluctant to go through all of these steps if the group just vanishes.

Canadian language waste in another form, court cases.

2009-10-25T10:57:33-07:00

In Canada, people are forever going to court to claim language rights. I believe this is a waste of money, although great for lawyers and people who make money of court cases. The recent Supreme Court decision, described in this article in the Ottawa Citizen is just another example.

To me it is simple. The majority French speaking society of Quebec, through their elected representatives, have decided that immigrants who want to their children to attend publicly funded schools will have to send them to French language schools. That is the deal in Quebec. If you do not like it, do not emigrate to Quebec.

I understand why the Quebeckers have the law. They want to maintain their society as a predominantly French speaking society, in this vast English speaking continent. That is their wish. It is not for others to moralize or wag fingers. And these court cases are tiring and just another example of language waste in Canada. We spend a fortune on language and are generally poor at speaking other languages (except for the French Canadians).

Er excuse me, excuse me, please, can I just get by, con permiso?

2009-10-25T01:08:44-07:00

The old town in Seville is just a maze of narrow streets, most of which are just wide enough for one small car. We stayed near the Plaza del Pozo Santo and had to park 20 minutes away by foot. The day we left I had to try to bring the car near our hotel to load our luggage. Suddenly I came upon a street market. The people at the market were none too pleased to see me trying to drive through the market, but all the other streets there were one way, the wrong way. I had only one way to go, through the people.

There was a policeman there and he said that they should have blocked the road off, but because they had not, I had no choice but to drive through the market, slowly, "despacito".

Can we create a real Canadian Language Portal? I am looking for advice.

2009-10-24T16:16:00-07:00

The public sector has a choke hold on official language learning in Canada. I recently posted about the Canadian Language Portal, which has cost the tax-payers of Canada 16 million dollars. This is just a small part of the billions that have been spent in Canada in the last few years, in the name of the twin noble causes of immigrant language learning, and bilingualism. This funding is controlled by public sector teaching institutions and immigrant service organizations. They decide how the money is spent....on themselves.

When I have approached these institutions about using LingQ, or even listing LingQ as a resource on the Canadian Language Portal, I have been told that LingQ cannot be considered because it charges a fee, or it is not an established college, or its teachers are not all certified. I learned recently that all government funded immigrant language instruction has to conform to a system called "Task Based Language Learning", in other words it has to take place in the classroom. There is no room for LingQ.

Or is there? I am trying to think of a way to persuade our government that things are changing. Language learning is happening on the Internet as a recent CNN article points out. A study by the US Department of Education concluded that online learning is more effective than classroom instruction.

The Canadian government has even started a small pilot project, where immigrants will receive vouchers to spend on the language learning method of their choice. If the public sector language industry controls the decision on which language learning services will qualify for vouchers, LingQ will be out of luck.

I wonder if the government can be persuaded to provide a little recognition for the fledgling private online language industry, including LingQ. Maybe not funding, but just some acceptance and publicity. Communities like LingQ are thinking outside the box, and finding new solutions. As one idea, LingQ could be a language portal for Canadians, or could be part of another portal, only available to companies that are privately financed and not supported by tax-payers or charitable foundations.

LingQ may not be the answer for everyone, but there are no doubt some people, just a few, who would be happier improving their official language skills with LingQ, rather than sitting in a classroom and doing "Task Based Language Learning". And maybe that option should be there for them.

I am going to be thinking about what to propose to government and would appreciate any advice and suggestions.

My grandson tells me to visit the solar power station in Seville

2009-10-24T14:21:53-07:00

My wife and I had a great time in Seville. We were enjoying the food, the life, the monuments, the shopping etc. when we got an email from our grandson Kyle, asking if we had visited the famous solar power station in Seville.

The what? After enquiring a little we found out where it was and went to have a look. In amongst the cows and cork trees, lo and behold a spectacular installation of towers and solar reflectors. I have not a clue what it all does. There is no information office or anything. But they have a website.

Here are the pictures. Way to go Kyle!

Language Portal finally responds and confirms cost of 16 million dollars.

2009-10-23T14:40:25-07:00

I mentioned the Canadian Language Portal earlier, presented to the media as follows:

"Thursday, October 8, 2009, the Government of Canada launched the Language Portal of Canada, the first national Web site to showcase Canada's language expertise.

This initiative is part of the government's official language strategy as outlined in the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality. The Language Portal was established to provide Canadians free access to the language tools that will enable them to use and understand both official languages more easily."

Some of you identified this "initiative" as largely irrelevant. I had been trying to get confirmation that the cost was the unbelievable amount of 16 million dollars. Finally, after some delay, they have confirmed this ridiculous amount. 16 million dollars for a useless website! Here is the exchange that I had with them over the last few weeks.

Me: I have an online language learning site called LingQ.com. How do I go about getting LingQ listed on this portal?

Them: Good morning,

Thank you for your interest in the Language Portal of Canada.

In the About the Portal section (http://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/prps-bt-eng.html), you will find the editorial guidelines :

The Language Portal of Canada does not publish any content (an article or hyperlink) that promotes a particular product or service, in accordance with section 23 of the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12316).

Me: I am sending a copy of this email to my member of Parliament.

As a tax-payer, I am curious to know why you deliberately exclude certain language resources that have been developed in Canada without government assistance, such as LingQ, while promoting many others, which have been supported with government funding. Why the double standard?

It seems that our site LingQ meets the criteria on your web page, i.e.

a wide range of resources, references and tools produced in Canada and made available on-line by federal, provincial and territorial organizations, educational institutions or the private sector;
on-line data and resources in both official languages.

Steve Kaufmann

Them: Dear Mr. Kaufmann:
We understand your concerns, but the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada does not allow us to promote Web sites that charge membership fees.

Kind regards,

Me: Thank you for your reply.

Please note that LingQ is a Web 2.0 language learning community were members learn and help each other. Only a small number of users pay. Most members use the site free of charge. People actually learn languages at the site, which I would have thought was the purpose of your portal.

On the other hand, many of the organizations listed on the Canadian Language Portal are promoting services for which they charge fees. Unlike LingQ, few of them offer genuinely free services. Their services are, in most cases, either paid for by their users, or by the tax-payer.

This is the case for the universities and colleges promoted on your site. It is equally true for organizations like the Society of Translators and Interpreters of BC, who not only charge for their translation and interpreting services, but also charge for their Certification Exam. This service is promoted on their site with the explanation that "you may pay by credit card, cheque, or cash. Credit card payments will be processed immediately"

There is nothing wrong with these people being paid for their work, I just do not understand why LingQ, where users have a choice of whether to pay, or to use the site free or charge, is not able to be included as a useful language learning service. Is the goal of the portal to help Canadians learn languages, or simply to promote a privileged few organizations and institutions?

Many of our users would argue that LingQ is of far greater benefit to language learners than much of the information listed on your portal.

Steve Kaufmann

Me: Further to my earlier email, I wonder if you could tell me what the total budget has been for the Canadian Language Portal project, to date. I presume that this is public information.

Steve Kaufmann

Me: I have received no response to my email asking about the cost of the Canadian Language Portal, however by searching on the net I found that the portal is part of the Roadmap for Linguistic Duality and is listed as costing 16 million dollars. Is this possible?

http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/infoCntr/cdm-mc/index-eng.cfm?action=doc&DocIDCd=CJV080755

Me: When can I expect a reply to my emails enquiring as to the cost of the Canadian Language Portal?

Steve Kaufmann

Them: Dear sir,

In response to your latest email, we wish to inform you that the Language Portal of Canada was a direct result of the Government of Canada's Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013. This link is available in the bottom right-hand corner on the home page of the Language Portal.

In this document, you will find the answer to your question about the cost of the Portal. See page http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/slo-ols/pubs/08-13-LDL/110-eng.cfm.

Best regards,

Let's get rid of language teaching certification.

2009-10-23T11:53:49-07:00

When I googled language teaching certificates I got 2.8 million pages. When I spoke to the Canadian Immigration Service language department about the possibility of using LingQ for immigrant language learning, (LingQ was, of course, dismissed with scorn), one reason offered was that not all of our tutors were certified.

Yet many people that I talk to who have taken these courses to obtain language teaching certification, find them largely a waste of time. I am not surprised. Languages cannot be taught. They can only be learned.

I would replace these language teaching certificates with language learning certificates, as a useful credential for a language teacher to have. People taking these courses would learn how to learn languages. What is more they would have to have completed at least 1000 hours of learning activity in at least two languages as a requirement to take the course. The certification course itself would be short. There really is not that much to say. If the person has put in the time learning one or two languages, a lot will already be obvious.

These would be meaningful certificates or credentials for a language teacher, unlike the present TEFL, TESL etc. certificates.

I mean language learning is a skill. Would you take piano lessons from someone who was a poor piano player, or tennis lessons from a poor tennis player? Would it matter if they had a teaching certificate in something that they did not know how to do themselves?