As an experienced speaker of a second (or third) language it is important to keep your language skills up to date rather than allowing them to benignly stagnate in a smug cloud of “I’ve got this – I have a certificate/A Level/degree”. This isn’t simply a question of keeping your grammar knowledge sharp and remembering a few spelling rules, but more about following the progress of the language as it evolves.
A story which highlights this need comes from the German exchange arranged by my school when I was a teenager. As with all exchanges of the time, a group of students from our school stayed in the host town, living with students and their families. We visited museums and places of interest, had a day in the host school and generally did our best to get by in a language that we had been learning for about two years. While I have vague memories of a lovely host family and a rather strange host teenager (probably more to do with cultural differences than our personalities), the thing that stood out for me most was one of the English teachers from the host school. I can’t even describe his physical appearance particularly well, except that he had a beard and wore jeans when all of our teachers were in suits. What struck me was his use of English. Quite grammatically accurate, but all of his more colloquial language was stuck about 20 years in the past. He sounded quite like my parents when they were being deliberately silly and using “old” phrases from the 1960s and 1970s!
Now that I am probably of a similar age to that man, (give or take a decade or so!), it is something that I am acutely aware of in my own teaching and use of language. Keeping my own language skills relevant to the modern day is an ongoing challenge. What tips can I give for anyone in a similar position who would like to maintain their language skills?
Use modern technology, streaming services and the like to watch films/TV in the source language. Choose your material wisely – if you use your language for work or need more formal language then watch appropriate material and don’t restrict yourself to daytime gossip TV or the kind of show where “his girlfriend ran away with the hairdresser’s neighbour’s cat”. For colloquialisms, a little bit of reality TV goes a long way, but bear in mind that slang is generational, so try not to “get down with the kids” too much!
Read the news from the country, in the source language. Do so regularly. It can be really useful to note how a story is reported differently in different countries. It helps boost cultural awareness as well as giving a broader depth of perspectives on a topic. You could also choose a variety of news sources, so you read the same story in both a broadsheet and a more popular format.
Visit the country when you can. During that visit do not withdraw into your personal bubble of headphones and an English film on your tablet, but use public transport and be fully aware of what is around you. That may be as simple as noticing that shop adverts and announcements now use the informal “you” rather than the formal one that you were taught is correct in such situations. Or it may be that you casually overhear a rapid conversation between friends and then spend 10 minutes afterwards trying to work out what they were talking about.
Speak with native speakers whenever possible. Especially while you are in the relevant country, or with speakers who still live there. Those who have lived abroad for an extended period may also find that their language skills become dated.
Above all, have fun with your language! Real-life use is much more likely to stick than pure book work.
Teri is an experienced language tutor with a particular interest in both French and German. Her most recent short holiday included many opportunities to practise her skills, including protracted negotiations at the railway station around using the ticket app and its failings, making purchases at the Christmas market and translating a 10-minute demonstration about medieval instruments of torture!
If you are wondering, the photo is of a historical reenactment group in Geneva, preparing for a demonstration of épée techniques in use in 1602 at the time of the “Escalade” attack on the city by the Duke of Savoie. Don’t let your language get this outdated!
Passing a GCSE language exam is an exciting mix of being able to speak the language, and knowing how to get the most out of the marking scheme. One of the things which can raise a grade 6 writing piece to a grade 8 or higher is the use of what is termed “complex grammar constructions”. What are these, and how can we include them?
This blog will give you several examples for French. Many of these constructions can be used in a range of tenses, so I have given a couple of examples in each case:
Être en train de + infinitive – to be in the middle of doing something.
Je suis en train d’écrire un blog – I am in the middle of writing a blog.
J’étais en train d’écrire un blog, quand j’ai vu un chat – I was in the middle of writing a blog when I saw a cat.
Au lieu de + infinitive – instead of doing….
Au lieu d’écrire un blog, il faut faire mes devoirs – Instead of writing a blog, I must do my homework.
Au lieu de faire mes devoirs, j’ai regardé la télé – Instead of doing my homework I watched TV.
Après avoir/être + past participle – after having done something ….WATCH OUT! Just like the present perfect tense, you need to take care of the être verbs…
Après avoir écrit mon blog, je vais prendre un thé – After having written my blog I am going to have a cup of tea.
Après être allée en ville, j’écrirai encore un blog ! – After having gone to town I will write another blog!
Avant de + infinitive – before doing something
Avant de boire mon thé, je vais finir le blog – Before drinking my tea I am going to finish the blog.
Avant de finir le blog, je cherche d’autres exemples – Before finishing the blog, I look for other examples.
Venir de + infinitive – to have just done something
Je venais de trouver un exemple, quand la téléphone a sonné – I had just found an example when the phone rang.
Je viens de finir mon blog. Youpi ! – I have just finished my blog. Hurrah!
Teri is a Surrey-based language trainer specialising in French, German and English as a Foreign Language. She has many years of experience of trying to sound more interesting in French, especially with a view to boosting exam grades (whether for herself or others!)
Idioms – those colourful phrases that don’t always translate directly very well, but which add interest to our speech and show that we aren’t just stuck with the formal language taught in school.
It can be tricky to learn idioms in a classroom environment, at least partly because it is hard to remember phrases that come without context. Some teachers therefore prefer to either group the idioms by theme, or to teach a small selection within a particular setting. Do remember that context is everything. Using too many idioms all at once can make your meaning unclear, so try to use them sparingly.
Our gift to you this month – 8 German idioms which are all to do with sausages!
Das ist mir Wurst. Direct translation: that is sausage to me. Hidden meaning: I don’t care. It’s not important to me.
Es geht um die Wurst. Direct translation: it’s about the sausage. Meaning: It’s a really important thing.
Die beleidigte Leberwurst spielen. Direct translation: to play the offended/huffy liver sausage. Meaning: to sulk
Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei. Direct translation: Everything has an end, only the sausage has two. Meaning: Everything comes to an end.
Du armes Würstchen. Direct: You poor little sausage. Meaning: This expression shows sympathy, sometimes ironic, for someone in an uncomfortable situation.
Eine Extrawurst verlangen. Direct: to demand a pork sausage. Meaning: The Extrawurst is a special treat kind of sausage. So, this means to ask for special treatment.
In der Not schmeckt die Wurst auch ohne Brot. Direct translation: In an emergency the sausage tastes good even without bread. Meaning: in hardship you can make do without some things.
Sein Senf dazu geben. Direct translation: to add one’s mustard to it (after all, every Wurst needs a bit of mustard!). Meaning: to add one’s opinion, even if it is not wanted.
I hope you have fun with these. If you would like to find more German idioms, try looking for those which include the “Fuß” (foot) or the one with the old Swedish man “Alter Schwede”!
If you are anything like me, then the term “learning vocabulary” may bring back memories of school. A list of words that you absolutely have to learn in time for a test – knowing that a poor mark means a retest, or maybe a detention. Or maybe your school simply didn’t do vocabulary tests (a common situation these days) and so you didn’t learn your new words, which may have had a noticeable effect on your learning outcomes. Sadly, there is no denying that learning words is an essential part of learning a language, so here is Part 2 on “Tips for learning vocabulary”.
If you always have to use a dictionary (whether online or paper) every time you want to say something, then it is no wonder that so many people use translation software. It may be no surprise that I am limited in my enthusiasm for such software – besides the sometimes hilarious errors it can make, I also find that it is often used as a solution rather than a tool, and that it limits a student’s ability to recognise links between words and to work out which option they need when there are several choices.
So, besides learning for yourself and reducing reliance on technology, what other tips can I offer on learning vocabulary?
Make a vocabulary book. I mentioned it last month, but if you don’t make a note of the new word, you won’t remember the new word or think to try and learn it. A simple small notebook will do, preferably divided into topics so that all clothes are in one area, food in another, rather than one long muddled list. Keep it to hand. If you make notes on your phone, do remember to transfer them to the book.
Learn the genders of the words at the same time as you learn the word itself. If a language uses gender for words like “table” then that will have an effect on other words later on, such as adjective endings. The photo attached shows a beautiful picture made by one of my adult students to help her remember the words and genders of parts of the body. Each body part has been coloured in a way to show the gender of the word (pink for feminine, blue for masculine). This way when she thinks of the word, she can picture the image and see whether it was a pink word or a blue one.
Practice with a friend. If you know someone else learning the same language, or have someone helpful in your circle, then why not make a game and test each other? Who can score the highest?
Test yourself regularly. Even if you don’t have a teacher to mark them, set yourself tests and practise regularly. Maybe try a mind-map or a “word splurge”. Write a key word in the middle of your piece of paper (e.g. clothes) then write every word you can think of on that topic. A mind-map would link them together, a “word splurge” is just that – a bunch of words with no obvious structure to the arrangement.
Tips #5? – This one’s a cheat, but try reading last month’s blog for more ideas!
I hope these tips for learning vocabulary are helpful. We all have our own way of learning, so try out a few different ideas and see what works best for you.
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