About Learning a Foreign Language – Page 2 – The Paris Savannah Connection

Newsletter: 15 October 2010

How’s your memory doing these days?

What a question! And an easy question it is. “Forgetting is a temporary loss of consciousness.” But what are the sorts of things we forget?

One of the most obvious is the answer to the question … Where?

Where did I put my … keys? glasses? watch? wallet?

The generally accepted solution to this problem is retracing your steps. Where did you have it last? Where did you see it last? Follow your footsteps backward.

How can we improve our memories?

By using them! That sounds so obvious, doesn’t it? Here’s an exercise you can try at any given point in the day. I use it as a technique in language learning and in speech training but its use is effective in our native languages as well: Stop whatever you’re doing and think about where you are, what you’re doing, who you’re with. Now think back to what you were doing just before the “now”… and before that .. and before that … until you get to some point such as waking up in the morning.

Remembering has to do with the past.

Being conscious of the past … is a real memory trainer.

Try reviewing your day before you fall asleep! Backwards. You’ll be amazed at how extraordinarily rich it was. If there was a particular moment you want to recall, think of the environment, the colors, the scents, the details and the overall picture. We perceive SO much!! Unconsciously. Bringing it up front, so to speak, shows us how much we really did observe.

The incredible side effect of this exercise is that, by reviewing events, we put words and images together. And we improve our vocabularies by activating passive, latent knowledge.

There’s another wonderful advantage to being conscious of everything that’s happened: Not only can we learn from … our mistakes, the human mind is perfectly capable of … a selective memory. We can choose to forget! What in computer lingo is called “deleting” … or what used to be called “erasing.”

Have a wonderful weekend … and may it be a happily memorable one!

Maybe with … A glass of wine …

And thanks for reading The Paris Savannah Connection.

Mark

Wormsloe

For more about the Wormsloe Plantation, just click here!

round numbers and generalties

What do round numbers and generalties have in common?

They’re always false!

And while I’m tempted to say that ‘down’ here in Savannah everyone’s so nice … it’s probably because we just haven’t encountered the other kind! But kind they are. And while that may be just the generality we want to avoid … the folk I’ve been meeting are hard-working, upstanding friendly souls … the kind Woody Guthrie could have sung about.

Yesterday, I met Lem for the first time. He comes from Darlington, South Carolina. A fine man, finer you’d probably not find: Stephanie said she didn’t take the first one that came along, and not the second or third either…. She waited for the best. And they make a mighty fine couple.

Lem says there are about 6500 people in Darlington and that they’re good folk.

France, too, has lots and lots of real good folk. Just got to get to know ’em.

Sit down to table. Share a few dozen oysters with a Muscadet or a “pot au feu” and a simple red wine and you’ll … start to get to know each other. Not just the appearances but what you’ve got in common … rather than what separates you.

And that involves one of the best qualites we can have: knowin’ how to listen … and knowin’ when to talk.

And that ain’t no generality. Just the plain simple truth.

The Interpreter

The movie “The Interpreter” is one I highly recommend.

Nicole Kidman is extraordinary and the plot is all too real.

A word on “translation” and “interpretation”

When you’re not involved in these worlds of multilingual communication, these words seem to be synonomous because they have something important in common: rendering meanings from one language to another.

What’s the difference then?

Interpreters speak. Translators write.

And that’s where it begins!

Choosing a translator or an interpreter is not as simple as opening up your ibrowser. Here are just a few of the vital basics:

The original: Provide a quality original. Many translations appear to be poor translations … only because the original is not up to standard.

Language pairs: The translator or interpreter goes from a foreign language to his/her native language. He is writing or speaking to others who understand his native language.

Competence: He/She must know the subject matter in depth. Don’t expect a generalist to translate or interpret a legal contract or a manual on using agricultural machinery.

Experience: It takes many years to provide quality at an acceptable speed. A professional translator translates about 10 full pages/day in his speciality.

Think ahead: Most reputable professionals are in high demand…and are under high pressure. Don’t expect them to be available at the last minute. Reserve their time in advance.

Proofreading: Nobody’s perfect. It’s best to plan on your own proofreader who can work with the translator.

Proofreading 2: How many people will read what’s printed? That should be a determining factor in how many proofreads are necessary. Your audience will spot ANY errors. If your document is important enough to be shared, try to get it … right! If it’s going to be distributed to 50 people, you have 50 potential error-spotting critics … How much more if you have 500, 5 000 or 50 000 potential readers??

Costs: You get what you pay for!

In this field, remember the golden rule: No guessing.

Punctuation. Intonation. Meaning.

Take just about any word or group of words and test them: What does “you” mean? In fact, it all depends on the intonation, doesn’t it? Intonation is in the voice; punctuation is in writing. We “hear” punctuation when we read…don’t we?

I do.

You do?

You!

There are full stops. Also know in the USA as periods.

There are question marks, too, aren’t there?

Exclamation marks, too!

And of course, commas, so that we can breathe easier.

and “quotation marks,” traditonal and modern.

Until words are punctuated, they can’t really mean anything … For instance … what sense can you give these words in this order?

Woman without her man is nothing

?? !! “.” , : ; (and there are more on your keyboard … I wonder where they came from!)

and as for intonation …

Enjoy! More to come …

sense – common sense – sensible … & sensitive

Sense and Sensible : something dear to the Cartesian mind: reason.

Not to be confused with Sensitive: Feeling.

Use your sense : Use your brain. Use reason – not passion! In this … sense … (meaning) sense means taking the various factors of a situation into consideration … BEFORE acting … My grandmother’s expression for this was … Use your noggin (contrary = that’s meshuganah!)

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF55069.mp3|titles=sense]

“Common sense isn’t so common,” she used to say. Common sense. What we all (should) know by now!

What are the contraries to “sense” ? How about these two?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf42039.mp3|titles=senseless]

and doesn’t senseless lead us to the idea of something … crazy … mad … insane … > a real absence of reason?

and what about this one … which is a little more fun, isn’t it?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF53128.mp3|titles=nonsense!]

Now who hasn’t been guilty of these … at some point?

Be sensible! Do what reason tells you … you ought to do … (even if it is emotional intelligence …)

Not to be confused with sensitive …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF42041.mp3|titles=sensitive] [audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex420411.mp3|titles=Actors are very sensitive to criticism … ]

as in “touchy” “high strung” or people very easily hurt or offended,

often unintentionally.

I say: If being “sensible” is reasonable, then being “sensitive” is feeling.

Be both! Sensitive and Sensible. Of course, it’s taken me quite a few years to come to that conclusion …

Next week, I promise you something on the plural of this: senses. As in 5 … or maybe , in fact, 6 or more …

PS/ (My thanks to François and Fred L. for this subject … as well as dinner chez Matsuri and an artistic evening the other night!)

Expatica – Working internationally

Expatica is the international community’s home away from home on the web. It is a must-read for English-speaking expatriates and internationals across Europe. Expatica provides a tailored local news service and essential information on living in, working in or moving to your country of choice. With in-depth features, Expatica brings the international community closer together. Read the Expatica Story.

Vitamin R+

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is HOW to improve language skills. Language is a skill, sometimes elevated to an art. But like every skill, practice makes perfect. You won’t be a good swimmer … unless you swim. You can’t be a good negotiator if you don’t negotiate. The same goes for photography and cooking. You need to maintain and to acquire. You need a little, just a little vitamin R every day … And that’s one of the reasons for … The Paris Savannah Connection.

Vitamine R

Reading of course. And reading often. Daily.

Improving your language skills means both input and output. By reading you open yourself to others’ ideas, others’ words, others’ ways of thinking. And it’s a pleasure.

What should you read? Read what interests you. Read for your pleasure. Read for entertainment. Read to learn. Here are some suggestions:

Read the press. There’s something there for you. Whether you’re in business or the arts; whether you love sports or fashion, you will improve your vocabulary. You’ll read better. Faster. Think better, too. Often assimilating without even realizing it, without even being aware of it.

Read short stories. Read about people, places, and things. Read a few minutes a day. Like about 15 … ? There are numerous bilingual editions and I especially recommend the Folio series.

Read what you enjoy reading.

Reading reinforces what you already “know.”

When I’m in Savannah, I LOVE spending time in the big – and smaller – bookstores. The choices are infinite. So I usually end up spending not only lots of hours but also lots of …

Paris has half a dozen or so incredibly fine English language bookstores for both new and used books. Galignani’s and WH Smith on the rue de Rivoli near Concorde, Brentano’s avenue de l’Opéra, The Village Voice on rue Princesse at Mabillon and on rue Monsieur le Prince, the San Francisco Bookshop. Shakespeare and Company in the Latin Quarter across the Seine from Notre Dame, and there are others too as well as … hundreds of other booksellers and bookshops dealing in, as is said, la langue de Molière … I think that part of the city experience is just that: being in touch with the people who love what they’re doing. Paper. Print. Ink.

And … of course… if you ever have a hard time going to sleep … the very best remedy is … a book! Either to fall asleep or to stay awake!

If you’re interested in reading … just subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection!

Vitamin L+ as in “Les Paul”

Vitamine L+:

as in Listen … Love to Listen … Love to Listen & Learn

We’re so incredibly fortunate to have inherited constitutions which guarantee Free Speech. And broadband access to the Internet has given us access to sources and media hitherto relatively unavailable.

If you happen to be stuck in Paris or Savannah with nothin’ to do … why not listen to the media you’re not used to …. why not the BBC ? … or the FT? or the NYT? There are interviews and documentaries, often brilliant, rather short and very sweet:

Les Paul was a virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar changed the course of 20th-century music.

Listen to NYT’s “The Last Word” with Les Paul … Produced by Matthew Orr.

Whether you’re interested in business, technology, the environment, science, the arts or real estate or fashion or sports … You’ll love to listen. If you need a little Vitamin L … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.