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A hectic life makes it challenging to get around to reading every book you would like to. Lengthy commutes to work and mundane tasks may take up sizable chunks of your time without you realizing it. Favorite pastimes get set aside for more pressing tasks. You could make use of the time you spend driving to catch up on novels you can’t get around to reading. With convenient downloads, it’s easy to spoil yourself with In Pursuit Of Peace by Joyce Meyer by Download Audio Book Online, or audio-books brought to life by Reverend W. Awdry when you are driving.

We do suggest you check out this extensive reliable source for Pimsleur English for Persian Speakers 1 Part 1 by Dr. Paul Pimsleur guidelines!

Multitasking has become an essential these days. Audiobooks such as Pimsleur Korean I Part 2 by Dr. Paul Pimsleur available from Download Audio Book Online occupy the dead moments in our daily routine, it could be hours passed waiting in a physician’s office or grocery shopping. Audiobooks are obtainable to download as audio files suited for computers, laptops and media players these titles include Pimsleur Ingles - English for Spanish Speakers II Complete Course by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, so if you’ve got an iPod or other mp3 player you have the chance to listen to a biography or a wonderful novel, like audio books penned by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dezois and Daniel Abraham without dragging a cumbersome book around. The advantages of audible books include the chance to rent or buy many titles and savor them at your leisure. Need to learn another language? Why not give audio books a try? Perhaps innovative sales techniques are your thing, you may even explore the paranormal. A sizable selection of genres and titles are accessible. It doesn’t matter if you’re a travel buff, or if you are crazy about love stories or even if your interests lie in personal development, you can download most audio books straightaway. Options are wide open; you can easily take a subscription to a rental service or else make a purchase.

Reading will invariably have its place, nevertheless the thousands of audio titles available are so handy. A narrator can intensify the enjoyment of numerous stories. Just reading a novel isn’t the same as listening to an audio title performed by Lois McMaster Bujold, including the additional niceties established during a rendidtion. The depth of your experience can be elevated by listening to audio titles like Doctor Who: The Romans by Dennis Spooner and can convey much more than words on a page.

So don’t forget about audiobooks next time you want to purchase a book, audiobooks can give you effective means of fitting the titles you desire into a busy life.

In our previous mini-article entitled “Language Acquisition vs. Language Learning” we mentioned an important distinction in the way in which children acquire their mother tongue naturally, by means of meaningful interactions with their parents in which the focus of every single exchange is communicative in nature.

Adults, in contrast, when trying to learn a second language, are usually presented with a myriad of grammar rules and patterns to master from the very first class. It is said by advocates of these procedures, that their cognitive development cannot be equalled to that of a child and that statement is very true indeed. However, the fact that there are important cognitive and developmental differences between children and adults does not by any means imply that language should be presented devoid of any meaning as a rigid set of rules and patterns which are essential to master. Advocates of this school have the perception that every single piece of the puzzle they teach (i.e. a certain pattern, rule, tense, etc) is going to be inserted into the big picture one day and the puzzle will be perfectly complete for the student to see and use. In reality, students simply receive piece after piece after piece of a big something that they are never able to tell what it is or when they will be able to see it, if ever.

Have you ever tried to make a really big puzzle without an overal picture of what it would look like when finished? If you have, you will have noticed that it may be a very frustrating and draining activity, with no clear goals and objectives. Every effort you make seems to be meaningless and you usually feel like drifting around aimlessly and purposelessly. Isn´t it part an parcel of the Second language teaching profession to find thousands of adult learners who could recite a grammar book by heart but nevertheless are unable to communicate basic ideas naturally and fluently_ if it is that they can communicate them at all?

This, of course, does not have any resemblance to the way in which a first language is acquired. Nor does it mean that children and adults acquire a first and a second language in precisely the same way. There are obvious differences among children and adults learning a second language.

What was highlighted in our previous article is the need for language to be meaningful at all times, and this is common ground for both children and adults alike. Language without meaningful communication is as useless as Valentine’s Day without lovers or Children’s day without any kids (I apologize for using the same analogy as in my previous article)

However, a quick look at present-day language courses clearly shows that this is not the case at all. You will see from the very first lesson, that the students have laundry lists of words to master and memorize, grammar, vocabulary, grammar and more vocabulary to make them feel they can even “touch” the language, those pretty “tangible” patterns they learn lesson after lesson that make them feel so secure and confident. The truth is, in the vast majority of cases, that whenever presented with a REAL situation in which they have to use the language, more often than not they dry up and are unable to utter two coherent phrases altogether. Are they to blame for their “failure?” Of course not. If what you are trained to do exclusively is grammar , repetitions and drills, you cannot be expected to produce something different, something communicative. The magic
“click” that is supposed to take place in the students’ brains after constant hammering and repetition apparently never takes place_ or if it does, in the best of cases, it is in less than 2 per cent of the learners.

What does this show? Clearly it is an indicator that must make us reflect on the importance of our teaching practices. Just because we as teachers learned things in a certain way does NOT mean that it is THE way. Pragmatic results clearly show that a grammar based approach to teaching a language is highly ineffective since language per definition entails communication. Until we come to understand this simple fact, we will keep seeing students dropping out of their language studies because “they are too hard for them, they are not cut out to learn a second language” and statements like these. And they may be true… They do NOT need to learn a second language. Then need to acquire it in all the sense of the word.

Julio Foppoli is a teacher of English as a Second Language and a teacher of Spanish as a Second Language. He is the creator and owner of http://www.esaudio.net/Spanish/online_classes.html, an online educational website with a technological edge, specialized in the teaching of Spanish as second language via audio-conference to native speakers of English from all over the world.

The Greek language is over 3,500 years old, though it has evolved through the years. Over 15 million people worldwide speak Greek. It is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and is spoken natively by immigrants living in many countries around the world. The Greek alphabet is considered the first real alphabet, and was a predecessor of the Latin alphabet, and eventually our own alphabet. The Greek language is one of history and passion, and is an ideal representative of the people who speak is fluently. If you are interested in learning a second language, consider Greek.

Learning the Greek language might seem intimidating. The alphabet doesn’t look exactly like the English alphabet. The word pronunciation sounds totally different as well. But there are several ways you can go about learning it, and several benefits to doing so. One option is to attend college, and study the language extensively. You have the choice of studying the Ancient form of Greek, or the Modern language. Learning Ancient Greek is useful if you plan to study Ancient Greek art, archaeology, literature, or history, and you intend to pursue this scholarly field. Earning a college degree in Modern Greek will provide you with a thorough written and conversational knowledge of the language that is spoken today, and gives you career options down the road. Having the ability to speak more than one language can have many advantages for you professionally. If you are fluent in the Greek language, and have some expertise in another field such as law, medicine, or business, you can be certified as a foreign language translator. This stimulating career prospect is one that offers you several options. As a certified translator, you can work full-time for a foreign language translation firm, translating business documents, web pages, and other types of communication for global corporations or for small firms looking branch out. You can also do freelance translation work, where you have the ability to be your own boss, and make your own schedule and set you own workload. Yet another career opportunity open to you as a bilingual professional is to teach English as a second language to Greek students in Greece. By knowing English and Greece, you will be able to live and work in Greece, and have no problems communicating there.

Another means by which you can learn the Greek language is by enrolling in an accelerated course that is available online. By learning Greek in this way, you will gain knowledge of a very basic foundation of the language. Learning Greek through an accelerated online course is a rather quick and convenient way to learn a second language. It is ideal for you if you are interested in traveling to Greece, and you want to be able to communicate in a basic way with the residents there. You will find that you will enjoy your travels much more if the stress of a communication barrier is not there.

An ideal option for learning the Greek language is through an immersion program. This is a perfect option for students who are looking to study abroad for a semester, or for bold travelers looking to experience Greek culture in a new and exciting way. You will not only learn the Modern Greek language, but you experience the vibrant and historic Greek culture. Learning Greek in Greece, where our own language and history has its origins, you will learn the language quickly and easily. You will learn the conversational and informal styles of the language by interacting everyday during your adventure with people who are native Greeks, who probably won’t be willing or able to communicate in English. You will be absorbed into the dazzling everyday life of the Greek people, its sights, sounds, and smells. You will gain knowledge and appreciate the storied Greek culture: the history, the art, the architecture, the food, and the people. As a part of the immersion program, you will attend courses in which you will learn the Greek alphabet, how to read, and how to write in Greek as well. Learning the Greek language as part of an immersion is a superb way to experience a new culture.

Learning the Greek language, though seemingly intimidating, can have many benefits for you. Knowing a second language gives you the potential to further develop you career by working abroad, or as a translator. Learning the Greek language will make you a better traveler as well. You will be able to communicate with the Greek people, and you will enjoy your adventures in Greece so much more. Learning Greek is a great way to open your eyes to a new (and ancient) culture. www.foreign-languages-school.com

Find the essential information on where and how to learn a new or second language at Greek Language

John is a director of numerous Internet companies and is a published author. Many articles have been produced on a variety of subjects with excellent content and depth. All his articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to www.foreign-languages-school.com

Language Schools

Star Trek has a wonderful device called the universal translator. It translates spoken and written alien languages into English, and would probably translate different human languages, if there were more than one in that specifically created future. Though it doesn’t know how to translate isolated foreign words like Russian or French, it is a truly marvelous technology. Almost never fails. Never loses power, even when the rest of the ship does, same as the artificial gravity. No moving parts, in fact, no parts at all. It is just ‘around’, always there, always doing its job without anyone having to think about it. A little like the Internet is becoming now, just a banal fact of life.

Sadly, it is based on the false premise that words in other languages have a one for one relationship with words in English. That Turkish doesn’t have two words for ‘know’, and Russian doesn’t have two words for ‘Blue’. It dictates that languages don’t have both an inclusive and an exclusive ‘we’. (We (inclus) = ‘Me, you, and maybe other people’. we (exclus) = ‘Me, and other person or people excluding you’.) There is a false belief that all languages have only singular and plural constructs, and not up to five categories. Some languages have dual as well as singular and plural, and different categories so ‘every computer’ clearly means either ‘every computer in sight’ or it means ‘every computer that exists, has existed, and ever will exist’, but the two forms of ‘every computer’ can’t be confused with each other.

We’ve started building our own ‘universal translators’ which naturally are on the Internet. I can have paragraphs translated into French or German, or from French to German. Or, I can get whole websites in other languages translated for me. I’ve never had a website translated, but I sometimes get phrases translated when I want a fictional character to say something in another language. I sometimes, just for fun, translate something through two other languages and then back into English to see how good online translations are getting. It is also to reassure myself that computers won’t completely replace humans in the next week or two.

This is my standard signature block after a computer has translated it into French (using http://translation2.paralink.com/):

Original English version: Allan T. Price is a creative writer working at M6.Net: ‘The web-hosting company for humans.’ M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Allan T. Le prix est un auteur créateur travaillant sur M6. Filet: ?la compagnie accueillante web pour les humains.? M6. Le filet travaille durement pour aider l’humanité à connaître le pouvoir et la liberté de développer leur propre partie d’Internet, partager leurs renseignements et communiquer avec quelqu’un, n’importe où, anytime.

Now I get that French version translated into Spanish:
Allan T. El precio es un autor creativo que trabaja en M6. Red: ¿? la compañía acogedora web para los humanos. ¿? M6. La red trabaja duramente para ayudar a la humanidad a conocer el poder y la libertad de desarrollar su propia parte de Internet, compartir su información y comunicar con alguien, dondequiera, anytime.

Finally, that Spanish version back into English:
Allan T. The price is a creative author who works in M6. Network? The cozy web company for the human beings? M6. The network works hardly to help the humanity to know the power and the freedom of developing its own part of Internet, sharing his information and communicating with someone, anywhere, anytime.

So, I become ‘Le prix’, ‘El precio’ or ‘The Price’. Web-hosting becomes ‘cozy web’, and ‘anyone’ becomes ‘someone’. On the whole, the meaning gets a little mangled, but still survives.

Let’s use two more famous pieces of text and see how they become after computer translation.

‘We consider these truths by itself to be understood, that all men are equally created, that they were subsidized with its founder the certain rights not a subject sale which are under this life, freedom and prosecution Gappiness. - that to guarantee these rights, the governments are constructed among men, its fair authorities of the consent adjusted allocating,’

‘We of people of the United States to form more perfect association, we appoint validity, we assure internal silence, we care of the general protection, we promote the general social security, and we guarantee approval of freedom to ourselves and to our future generation, you accept really and you base this structure for the United States America.’
They’re kind of close, but definitely not close to being exactly the same.

Thanks to the Internet, and improving translation programs, English speakers will soon realize the true diversity of other languages. It will become commonly understood that you can have an inclusive and an exclusive ‘we’, or dual and universal as well as singular and plural meanings. We’ll know that Turkish has two different words for the English word ‘know’, seçmek - to perceive or distinguish, and bilmek - to be informed of or be aware of, and no word covering both ‘perceive’ and ‘be informed’. So if someone tells you in Turkish ‘I know he stole it’, you always know whether or not they witnessed the crime, or were simply told who did it. Like English speakers for a millennium or more, people will quietly ‘mug’ these other languages, and ‘rummage around in their pockets’ adding what they find useful to English.

At the same time, people all around the word might ‘smooth’ their language out to make them easier for translation software, choosing words that can be easily and clearly translated into other languages. Eventually this would create an easily shared, translated meta-language for International communication, at least when lawyers aren’t involved. Plus, comedies of the future can have people meet face-to-face for the first time and find they don’t speak a shared language. They could have the characters standing facing each other, sending auto-translated text messages via their palmtops while the audience laughs at the incredibly zany situation.

Allan T. Price
http://www.m6.net
Allan T. Price is a creative writer working at M6.Net: ‘The web-hosting company for humans.’ M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The voiced and unvoiced consonants

In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants.

If you want to master English pronunciation you have to able to distinguish between these two types of consonants. This is necessary for you to learn the proper pronunciation when you learn new vocabulary. And more importantly you need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants to be able to pronounce the words of English correctly. What makes one consonant be voiced and another not?

A consonant is voiced when it makes the vocal cords vibrate. It is voiceless when it is pronounced without vibrating the vocal cords.

The sound of the letters “p” and “b”

For example, the sounds indicated by the letters “b” and “p” differ only in their vocalization (voicing). The are both “bilabials”, that is, they are produced by closing both lips. But the “b” is voiced and the “p” is unvoiced. In this article, we will follow common practice and indicate the letters of the alphabet with quotes (“b” and “p”) and the sounds with slashes (/b/ and /p/)

You can appreciate the difference by lightly touching with the tips of your fingers your “Adam’s Apple” (the voice box that you can see in the front of your throat) as you pronounce the word bowl . You can feel the vibration with the tips of our fingers. Concentrate on the first sound, the consonant /b/ before passing to the vowel represented by the “o”. Notice that you can lengthen the sound (something is heard!) without the “o”. This is because /b/ is a voiced consonant.

Now pronounce the word pole. Do you feel the vibration in the vocal cords? No. The reason is that /p/ is an unvoiced consonant. Notice that you you can’t lengthen the sound or hear anything.

When you pronounce these sounds, don’t forget the advice we already gave you in other articles: exaggerate the value of the vowel “o” with a strong English accent!

Listen to the following exercise until you can distinguish betwen the two sounds and produce them yourself.

You should be able to telll the difference between the /p/ and the /b/ in the sentence The doctor said: “Bill, take your pill!

Try it now!

The sounds of the English letters /k/ (sometimes “c”) and /g/

It is not only the sounds /p/ and /b/ that are voiced or unvoiced. The same distinction holds for the sounds represented by the letters “k” y “g” in the International Phonetic Alphabet. By the way, do you see that it will not be hard for you to learn the symbols of the IPA? Many of the symbols, like the k and the g are already familiar to you. They are the normal letters of the alphabet.

The IPA symbol k interests us now. It is the “hard” sound of the letter “c”, the sound that the letter “c” usually takes before the letters “a”, “o”, and “u”, for example in the words car, coat, cube.

Now can you see how the IPA system makes it easy for you to learn the pronunciation of new words? Now, we don’t have to worry that sometimes the letter “c” has the sound of the IPA symbol k (as in the word cold) or that sometimes the same letter “c” of the English alphabet is pronounced as the IPA s (as in the words cell ).

Now try to feel in your voice box the vibration in the word coal! You can’t because it is the unvoiced partner in the pair. If you touch your voice box while you pronounce the word goal, you do feel the vibration because the sound g is voiced.

Practice the two words coal and goal. But keep on pronouncing the the English vowel with its lengthening. Exaggerate the English language character of the vowel. Don’t pronounce it as if it were col or gol in your language. And also remember the explosive nature of the consonant represented by the “c” in English when it is pronounced as the IPA k. Blow out the candle when you say coal.

Pero… ¡Qué no suene como si hablaras del repollo (la col en el Perú) o del fútbol (el gol)! ¡Cuidado con tu acento hispano!

Did you notice that we review various important things about the English sounds as we move along in this book. From now on, in your listening and in your practice, you must remember the explosive consonants, the special English vowels, and the voiced or unvoiced consonants.

Listen and practice all these essential elements of English pronunciation.

The sound of the letters “t” and “d”

Consider the pair of words tear and dear. Do the same with these words as you did above with the pairs of words coal and goal, and pole and bowl. Can you distinguish which of the initial sounds is voiced and which is unvoiced? Both are pronounced in almost the same place in the mouth but the initial sound of these two words is different in that the letter “t” is usually voiceless and the “d” is usually voiced. However, do NOT think that the letter “d” in English is always voiced. You will see that sometimes this letter “d” represents a voiceless sound. This is a VERY important lesson in the pronunciation of English and when you learn how and when the “d” is unvoiced it will be a valuable tool for you in your mastery of English.

This difference between the letters “d” and “t” in English is very important in the matter of the past tense of verbs. We will treat this elsewhere.

Also there is another pair of voiced and unvoiced consonants, the sounds represented in English by the letters “s” and “z”. We will study them in their most important contexts, that of the third person singular of the present of verbs, and that of the plural of nouns.

But for now, concentrate on the consonants we just looked at.
Now listen and practice! Listen wherever you can (or listen in our book) to the different pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants. Then make them yourself.

P and B

K and G

T and D

This lesson is taken from the book, “Word Power” which contains sound files that let you hear the vowels and consonants and practice their pronunciation.

Frank Gerace Ph.D has worked in Latin America in UN and national Educational and Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian and Peruvian Universities. He currently teaches English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He provides resources on accent reduction and the proper American English accent at http://www.GoodAccent.com. He also maintains resources for Spanish Speaking learners of English at http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com