Lingus TV: Learn Spanish by Sitcom

Lingus TV: Learn by Sitcom.

A long time ago- in another life where I had more hair but less life experience- I sat in a GCSE French class with my fellow students. Rain lashed against the windows and billowing clouds had turned the once placid sky a twisting, cavorting sea of black. The TV set was wheeled into the classroom and we offered gasps in place of applause. This was long before the days of DVD players and portable media devices. For us, entertainment arrived in the form of a large wooden box with a screen and a video recorder that could well have been the original Betamax prototype. The pupils were ecstatic. We were going to watch a video.

And yet, we remained cautious. We’d raised our hopes before at the arrival of the TV, only to be shown “Uncle Buck” or “Cool Runnings” for the fifteen time as the school staff betrayed the fact that they’d run out of money in the video store and been to shy to ask for a bit extra from the budget to get us a decent film to watch.

Horror of all horrors: we were going to watch something “educational”. A French sitcom. The idea was simple: we’d laugh at the well-scripted comedy on the screen and pick up basic French words and phrases in the process. Well…that was the idea, anyway. What we got was somewhat different. A “British” character in the sitcom we watched struggled to speak French beyond “Un café” and seven teenagers who thought they were a lot cooler than they actually were drove round and round their local town on scooters (and I’m not talking about the motorised kind. I’m talking about the kind you have to move by foot power). To cap it all off they had incredibly dodgy hairstyles. Needless to say, we learned very little French.

Joking and bad French sitcoms aside, the idea is sound. Learning through laughter is one of the best ways to learn and all you need to make it work is some reasonably good actors, a good script and a way of making the sitcom available for people to enjoy on the move. Well, I believe I’ve found the answer.

i-Pod users can now watch Lingus TV on the move and the episodes of the sitcom are also viewable online. Check it out and discover how you can learn through laughter.

Cadw Swn

MARTY MEETS: CADW SWN CREATOR COLIN JONES

As Welsh athletes win Gold in Beijing, Marty meets Colin Jones, creator of the critically acclaimed Cadw Swn course that could have you speaking Welsh in no time. So say "Croeso" to a new language and a new you.

1. Why is it important for people to learn Welsh?

For me, every language gives it's own particular window on the world. Language seems to filter and colour the way we look at the world. If you only speak one language that probably makes no sense, but when you begin to learn other languages you start to see what I mean. You get a richness and a variety which can be quite refreshing.

2. Why did you decide to create the Cadw Swn course?

I'd been a Welsh-to-Adults tutor for a number of years, and I simply wanted to get Welsh into peoples' heads as quickly, enjoyably and painlessly as possible. Stories and music were my own particular route. I had to write the course, as there was nothing similar out there for Welsh.

3. You place a lot of emphasis on relaxation in the Cadw Swn course. You recommend that the learner take a break between each story and you recommend the learner start the learning process with a relaxation exercise. Why is relaxation important to the learning/language learning process?

Up to a certain point the more relaxed we are the better we can do most things. Look at the opposite - the tenser you get the less able you are to do most things. I remember having a car crash; I was so tense after the crash I couldn't even find the door handle for a little while. Stunned.

We could probably live longer and enjoy life more if we learnt to relax. Now this is certainly not the place, but I have been working on a technique to help people relax, and control feelings and emotions. You can go to http://www.asktorelax.com/ to find out more.

4. You use classical music in the Cadw Swn course. I have to admit to being a closet Classic Fm listener and I've read a lot about the effect of classical music on the brain when it comes to memory. Why did you decide to use classical music in the Cadw Swn course?

It started out as a vague interest. I too had read about the effects of music and decided to try it out in some of my classes. I noticed that simply by playing particular pieces of music in the background people seemed to be more relaxed. They could then 'perform' better at speaking the language. One thing lead to another and the course got itself written.

5. I lived and studied in Wales for 3 years. I learned a little Welsh from watching the children's programmes and a rather strange science fiction drama on S4C but I never got around to actually learning Welsh. What stops people from learning Welsh? Why do a lot of people procrastinate about learning Welsh or, indeed, learning any language?

Well there are a couple of things that stop people, even when they've decided to learn the language. You can be a bit hampered by the fact that most Welsh-speakers are bilingual. That should of course be a plus, but you can find that they can be a little too helpful and turn to English if you're struggling.

Learning a language seems difficult to a lot of people. I also feel that for too many years we've been too wrapped up in grammar. That puts a lot of people off. Both of my children spoke two languages before starting school, and I'd never once given them a single grammar lesson. Children just sort of 'pick up' languages, we should do that too.

6. As you know, I'm learning as many languages as I possibly can in just 1 year. It's been an amazing experience so far and I'm having lots of fun. I've clearly struck a chord with people as the total number of visitors to the blog since its creation is over 3500. Do you have any advice that can help me with my language learning challenge or could help other people to pluck up the courage to learn a language?

Something that I've been working on lately might apply particularly to you: You can choose to learn to speak a language by modelling native speakers. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you can decide to take in how a native speaker acts when you're in their company, and duplicate it. It can also give you a kind of anchor to fix you in a particular language, learning so many you could get cross-contamination.

As to anyone who wants to learn a language it's simply a matter of making a commitment, then finding the best way to do it. I don't believe that you need any special skill, although an open nature and not worrying about making mistakes seems to help.

All images copyright CADW SWN 2008
CLICK HERE TO DISCOVER THE CADW SWN COURSE

Reviews Coming Soon

image copyright hypnoshop.com 2008

REVIEWS COMING SOON:

A major revamp of the REVIEWS section is coming and the section will feature some great new products including: the CADW SWN course, Master A Foreign Language hypnosis CD by Steve G Jones, the Hypno Imp Public Speaking product and Hypno Shop's Language Learning Success title. Stay tuned and thanks for your support of the challenge and the blog.

On the move

ON THE MOVE

Just a note to say that I'll be posting to Join Martin from various different locations over the next few weeks so my posts to the blog may not be as regular as normal.

Basic Mandarin Phrases

Number 18

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Lexiophiles image copyright lexiophiles.com 2008

GREAT NEWS: JOIN MARTIN is Number 18 in the Lexiophiles.com Top 100 Languages Blogs. Thanks to everyone at lexiophiles.com and everyone who has read the blog.

The Thump of the Celtic Heart

The Thump Of The Celtic Heart: The above is a video from Youtube of a performance by Julie Fowlis on the BBC’s Later with Jools Holland. The song is called: Hug Air A Bhonaid Mhoir. I’m reliably informed (though don’t quote me on this one) that it translates as “Celebrate the great bonnet” in Scottish Gaelic. It’s a beautiful song from an amazing talent and I’ve been pretty much playing this song and every other piece of Scottish music I can get my hands on since I came back from Edinburgh and those closest to me may have noted the development of a theme. To be honest with you, parting from Edinburgh was like parting from a lover. Hours drag their heels and nothing quite distracts you from the memory of the good times you shared and the need to return.

CHECK OUT FOOTSTOMPIN.COM FOR GREAT SCOTTISH MUSIC

I’m also going to showcase the Welsh band Brigyn again on this blog with their song: Os na wnei di adael nawr. My reasoning behind this is: music is an amazing tool for learning languages. Listen to the Julie Fowlis song and you instantly want to (if you don’t know already) discover what it means. Also, you’re much more likely to remember the lyrics from songs than a boring list of verbs or key phrases. That’s why so many people have decided to combine language learning with music.

Enjoy.