Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Do you want to learn Mandarin? Beyond ordering food and buying souvenirs? So you can actually communicate?
Learn the Characters. It may seem a daunting tasks to learn several thousand characters.( Why don’t they use an alphabet like us? )
But, if you want to progress in the language, you need to be able to read. End of story. Pinyin is a great tool to get you started and to teach you the pronunciation of new words. But the characters contain the… Continue reading
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Pinyin is the writing system that allows you to read Mandarin immediately. It is written with the Roman alphabet and is very consistent. You just need to learn how to read the different sounds. Some letters are used as they are in English: bei, hua, lao etc. Others are not. You simply need to learn the new values: xi is pronounced like she and qi is pronounced like chi.
Pinyin makes it possible to pronounce Chinese fairly accurately very fast. You want to be learning how to… Continue reading
Monday, March 1st, 2010
We think of meditation as a spiritual practice or as a tool for reducing stress. But what do they have to do with learning a new language? Actually, meditation is the ability to be fully focused on whatever activity we are engaged in in the present moment. An artist captivated by his work, or an athlete fully associated in the body and its every movement and nuance are meditating.
The antithesis of meditation is multi-tasking. I am riding my motorcycle while texting my friend, eating lunch… Continue reading
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Twenty years ago, if you wanted to learn a language, you bought a book and a cassette series, and you looked for a teacher in your city. With the Internet explosion of the recent years, there are treasures beyond all imaginings for the language learner. There are organizations, schools, individuals, blogs which provide us with countless tools: podcasts, games, lessons, language exchanges, free materials etc.
What this means is that you can customize your way of learning exactly to your own specifications. You can work alone, with others… Continue reading
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
We normally think of efficiency, brain enhancing substances, extraordinary software and stream-lined cutting edge methods when we think of improving our learning capabilities. There is an entirely different aspect of learning which I have encountered in my long career as a student and a language learner: Love, Beauty and Nature. We are so efficient, having become multi-tasking masters and super-focused planners. We may be doing more, but are we actually becoming more accomplished? Are we more fulfilled and happy? I believe the answer is we… Continue reading
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
We want to invite you to join us for Online Language Classes. It is probably the most convenient way of practicing a new language. It lets you have a class from home whenever it is convenient for you.
Speaking a language, hearing it, and interacting with native speakers are the vital steps that allow you to make a language yours. It is often a challenge to arrange this. Online classes make it incredibly easy. We must still learn new vocabulary and grammar to expand our knowledge, but a… Continue reading
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Learning a language is a time-consuming project. It can seem that there is always a new verb form to learn, a new vocabulary word we need to know. It is therefore important to appreciate what you have already done, the parts of the language you have already acquired. Our subconscious learning machine builds on its own success. It is important to let it know it is accomplishing its task satisfactorily. Self-criticism can often lead to discouragement. When you are learning, you know that it will take you… Continue reading
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Focus Language School has been in operation in Phoenix, Arizona for almost thirty years: the land of desert and eternal sun. Winters are idyllic and summers make you curious about the fires of hell. We have just opened our Chicago area office – in February – and the contrast is striking. In the white beauty of the Illinois winter, you are reminded of wind and ice as forces of nature instead of the relentlessness of the Arizona Summer sun. How does climate and weather help shape languages? The following ideas are intuitive impressions and not the result of a scientific… Continue reading
