Steve Kaufmann is a polyglot and blogger who speaks nine languages fluently. He runs a language education website called LingQ.
I recently signed up for the free membership at LingQ and tried the system for French, a language I enjoy at an intermediate level in my daily life. LingQ is well-designed and well-engineered, and I can see that it's an efficient system for acquiring languages rapidly. Since I'm focused on Thai, I'm not actively trying to improve my French at this time, but the availability of this resource has made me consider taking up French again. Prices for more complete memberships are also very reasonable.
LingQ currently supports English, French, Russian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Swedish, with beta programs for Mandarin and Japanese. I can't wait until Thai is added to the list.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Thai Video Transcripts
In June, Ricker started a great service for Thai students with a wiki called Thai Video Transcripts (TVT). Here's his blog post about it.
This is the introduction to the wiki from the front page.
This is a great resource for Thai language students.
This is the introduction to the wiki from the front page.
TVT is a learning tool for students of the Thai language. There are nearly endless Thai videos on sites like YouTube and KosanaThai. On TVT, users work together to transcribe the text of these videos. This process will help you to improve your understanding of Thai as actually used by native speakers, and makes it simple to copy-and-paste unfamiliar words into websites like thai2english.com, thai-language.com, or thai.sealang.net.
This is a great resource for Thai language students.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Fonts
During my recent visit to Thailand, reading became more automatic as I read signs everywhere around me. One challenge with reading signs is that there are many fonts.
This logo that obviously reads "USA" actually reads "Breeze" (บรีส). It's the Thai brand for a laundry detergent called Omo in other parts of the world.
The "Wow" in this movie title is part of the transliteration of the English title "Surf's Up" (เซิร์ฟอัพ). In the official transliteration, the two "W"s are different Thai characters, but it doesn't matter from the standpoint of pronunciation. The second character in the subtitle is an M-shaped thing. My wife had to tell me that it's a ตอ เต่า.
English-looking Thai characters in logos are very common, and I'm sure they are intentionally designed in that way.
I find myself wondering whether, as a child, I had to figure out the differences between English fonts.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
This logo that obviously reads "USA" actually reads "Breeze" (บรีส). It's the Thai brand for a laundry detergent called Omo in other parts of the world.
The "Wow" in this movie title is part of the transliteration of the English title "Surf's Up" (เซิร์ฟอัพ). In the official transliteration, the two "W"s are different Thai characters, but it doesn't matter from the standpoint of pronunciation. The second character in the subtitle is an M-shaped thing. My wife had to tell me that it's a ตอ เต่า.
English-looking Thai characters in logos are very common, and I'm sure they are intentionally designed in that way.
I find myself wondering whether, as a child, I had to figure out the differences between English fonts.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Chulabook and Pocoyo
Prior to leaving Bangkok, we visited the Chulalongkorn University bookstore near Siam Square. They have a lot of materials that are useful to Thai language students. They also have a website that sells books, VCDs, and other materials: http://www.chulabook.com/.
In addition to a few Thai comic books and books for children, we bought Thai language VCDs of Pocoyo (โพโตโย). We bought them for my son, but they are good language acquisition tools for an adult at an intermediate level. Each episode uses and repeats a few words of core vocabulary in a natural way. They're amusing and creative enough that I can watch them without getting bored. I've practiced listening and acquired a few words and phrases this way.
(DVDs have region codes, and many DVDs from Thailand don't work on players for other regions. This is not an issue for VCDs.)
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
In addition to a few Thai comic books and books for children, we bought Thai language VCDs of Pocoyo (โพโตโย). We bought them for my son, but they are good language acquisition tools for an adult at an intermediate level. Each episode uses and repeats a few words of core vocabulary in a natural way. They're amusing and creative enough that I can watch them without getting bored. I've practiced listening and acquired a few words and phrases this way.
(DVDs have region codes, and many DVDs from Thailand don't work on players for other regions. This is not an issue for VCDs.)
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Friday, August 22, 2008
ALG Level 1 Demonstration
Rikker recently mentioned that there's now an Automatic Language Growth (ALG) video from AUA Thai Level 1. I looked it up, and it's quite good. It illustrates how to teach a second language from the very beginning without translating to the student's native language.
Note that, when the instructors ask questions in Thai, the students reply either with signs or in their native language. This permits a long silent period, during which the students don't speak the new language. Research by Stephen Krashen and others suggests that an initial silent period facilitates better acquisition.
I didn't have a chance to study in the ALG program at AUA from Level 1. By the time I first attended AUA, I had already studied Thai at the University of Oregon and at home. If I were beginning Thai now, I would choose the ALG program.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Note that, when the instructors ask questions in Thai, the students reply either with signs or in their native language. This permits a long silent period, during which the students don't speak the new language. Research by Stephen Krashen and others suggests that an initial silent period facilitates better acquisition.
I didn't have a chance to study in the ALG program at AUA from Level 1. By the time I first attended AUA, I had already studied Thai at the University of Oregon and at home. If I were beginning Thai now, I would choose the ALG program.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
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