The learn2lingo blog

Five ways to speak a new language without saying a word

Admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:13:48 +0000

How much does does what you say really matter? Not much, according to A. Barbour, author of Louder Than Words: Nonverbal Communication. He claims that only 7% of communication is actually verbal. Here are the other things you can do to communicate in your new language before you even start speaking.

1. Facial expressions - they [...]

Japan Quake and Tsunami

Wil — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:19:34 +0000

The team here at learn2lingo would like to send our thoughts and wishes to the people of Japan. With students and teachers all over the world, we really feel it when there is such a disaster.

Rinko’s lovely guest post about learning Japanese online last week mentioned some interesting words that the Japanese language borrows from [...]

オンライン英会話レッスン

guest — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:56:37 +0000

Hello, my name is Rinko. My home town is Nagoya in Japan. I am currently teaching Japanese to corporate and private groups in London and Brighton. I have also experience teaching English in Japan. I teach Japanese online with learn2lingo.

英語の勉強を始めようか迷っていますか？「子供の頃からの文法中心の授業のイメージが強く英語があまり好きではない。」「読んだり書いたりすることができても、聞いたり話したりすることが苦手。」「旅行の時だけでも、少し話せたらいいな。」「映画を字幕なしでみたい。」「仕事や受験のために必要。」と英語を学びたい理由は様々だと思います。英語はご存知のとおり、日本語とは全く違った言語です。　しかし現在は多くの外来語がカタカナで表現され、それらの単語が日本語のように日々使われています。例えば、皆さんもよく知っている通り、電気機器（コンピューター、デジタルカメラ、ＤＶＤプレーヤー、マウス）や食べ物（チョコレート、チキン、スープ、パイナップル、ジュース）などの単語は私達のまわりで、たくさんの英語が使われています。そして、日本特有の言葉がそのまま英語になったものもあります。「マンガ、すし、酒、テリヤキ、オタク、アニメ、カラオケ、折り紙、津波、指圧」などが例に挙げられます。最近では「引きこもり」が英語として認定されていて、「もったいない」が世界環境問題の合言葉になっています。どちらの言葉も欧米では正確に表現できる言葉がなかったからだと考えられます。このような普段から聞いている共通の言葉が増えた英語を習うということは以前よりも非常に身近に感じられます。また、英語は他のヨーロッパの言語よりも比較的勉強しやすいと思います。スペイン語、フランス語、イタリア語などは英語よりも動詞の変化が多いです。そして　男性名詞、女性名詞などがあるので、私達日本人にとっては慣れるのに時間かかかります。しかし、これらのヨーロッパの言語も英語をマスターしてからの学習は優しく感じられるのではないでしょうか。英語を勉強して、得ることはたくさんあります。①情報交換が日本だけではなく世界に広がる。最近はインターネットを通して、直接海外の人とコミュニケーションができるようになり、また多くの外国の人が日本に住んでいるので、会話をするチャンスが多くなってきています。②海外旅行がしやすくなる。英語を話さない国に旅行をしても、コミュニケーション手段は英語になることがほとんどです。③今までにはなかったネイティブスピーカーの持つ感覚がわかようになる。それによって話すことがもっと楽しくなります。④　映画、テレビ、音楽が聞き取れる。⑤　資格がとりやすくなる。　⑥　ビジネスで役に立つ。毎日の生活で「英語を習ってよかった」と思える時が他にもたくさんあるでしょう。

英語を習得するのは難しい？と思っている人。外国の人が全然知らない日本語を勉強するのとは違って、ある程度日本人はアルファベットも読めますし、上記で触れたように耳慣れしている言葉が多いので、意外に身につきやすいランゲージです。英語を勉強するにあたって必要なことは“楽しく学ぶ”ことと“自信を持つ”ことだと思います。そのためには覚えた単語や文章を使って、出来る限り口に出す練習をすることです。口に出す練習は自分でＣＤを使ってもできますが、最近ではパソコンを使ってネイティブスピーカーと直接会話ができるオンラインレッスンもあります。授業料が低めですし、好きな時に好きなだけ勉強することもできます。パソコンとウェブカメラがあればご自宅以外での場所、出張や旅行先のホテル等、どこででもレッスンができます。忙しくて、英会話学校に通えない人でもレッスンを受けられるチャンスがあります。いつでもどこでもできるオンラインレッスンも１つの勉強方法として有効に使ってみてはいかがでしょうか。

面白い英語のフレーズ！

1) 朝飯前（とても簡単） A piece of cake ：直訳 “ケーキ一切れ” 例）This examination is a piece of cake. (この試験はとても簡単。)

2) 土砂降りの雨が降る Raining [...]

Learning Japanese online – a few helpful tips!

guest — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:08:57 +0000

Hello, my name is Rinko Sakuma. My home town is Nagoya in Japan. I am currently teaching corporate and private groups in London and Brighton. I have also experience teaching English in Japan.

I will be happy to guide you in your Japanese studies whether you are a complete beginner or seasoned learner; please find me [...]

How to learn (and not to learn) like a child

Wil — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:40:15 +0000

It’s a common myth that reading childrens’ books in another language is a good way to develop your language skills. The idea is that because they are written for children, the vocabulary and grammar used will be really simple and easy to understand.

Let’s look at an example of this from the first line of Beatrix [...]

Six reasons why being a beginner is great!

Admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:11:25 +0000

We often start learning languages with the goal of becoming fluent and reaching an advanced level but there’s really something to be said (no pun intended) for being a beginner in a new language. Here are seven reasons why being a beginner rocks.

1. There’s no need to be afraid of making mistakes. When you are [...]

Why you need a vocabulary notebook

Wil — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:33:05 +0000

For advanced learners of a language, it can be difficult to know how to keep on developing your language skills. Once you are able to construct accurate sentences and express yourself freely where can you go from there?

In lots of languages, idioms and collocations form the main challenge for advanced learners. They can be difficult [...]

Make learning a new language your resolution for this year

Wil — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:33:41 +0000

On New Year’s day, bleary-eyed and reaching for a cup of coffee to help clear your hangover, you make a resolution to give up alcohol, cut out the fatty food and stop vegging out in front of the TV. By the afternoon, you’ve finished off what was left of the chocolate mousse from the party [...]

New Year Around the World

Wil — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:57:53 +0000

If you want to be one of the first people in the world to see in the New Year, Kiritimati (Christmas Island) is the place to be. As part of the Republic of Kiribati, English is one of the official languages so ‘Happy New Year!’ is the most common greeting.

Next up, it’s time to crack [...]

Skiing expressions for a snowy winter

Wil — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:53:50 +0000

The skiing season is well underway and with snow all over Europe, there’s never been a better time to give winter sports a try! Cross-country skiing down to Tesco to get some bread is so much more fun than staggering there in a pair of cold wellies. If you’re heading overseas, though, you’re going to [...]

Winter mega-quiz

Wil — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:33:02 +0000

Feeling tired in the office this afternoon? Need something to keep you going?

It’s time to test your knowledge of winter festivals with our Winter Festival Mega-quiz! Click here to take the quiz and remember to leave your score in the comments below.

Winter Festivals around the World

Wil — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:19:07 +0000

Winter certainly is a busy time for festivals and here at learn2lingo we’ve been busy celebrating with teachers and students from all over the world.

We started September by joining the Arabic teachers to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr, saying ‘Eid Mubārak‘ and tucking into a well-deserved feast.

As the month drew to a close ,we said a hearty ‘Prost!‘ [...]

Learning Spanish through Música

guest — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:37:02 +0000

Hola! I’m K, a member of the learn2lingo team and I’ve been learning Spanish for some time now, which I absolutely love! Spanish is one of those languages which sounds great to listen to and is even more fun once you learn even just the basics. I was lucky enough to spend some time living [...]

European day of languages

guest — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:34:43 +0000

The 26th of September was the European day of languages, a day marked since 2001 to encourage language learning across Europe. This is an example of how the EU adheres to its policy of multilingualism as an aim for its citizens as well as in its institutional workings: a multilingual population can work in other [...]

Are Spanish bridges more manly than german ones?

guest — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:03:04 +0000

Plaza de Espana, Seville, Spain

I recently read a fascinating article in the New York Times about how different languages shape the way we think about things in the real world. Here’s a link to the article. One example is the way languages which give a gender to every noun, like Spanish, French or German, affect [...]

Five great reasons to learn a language before you go on holiday

Wil — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:28:10 +0000

Where are you going on holiday this year? If you’re going overseas, learning the basics of the local language or polishing up your skills if you can already speak it is a great way to really get the most out of your holiday – here’s why:

1. You will get better deals. If you speak the [...]

Visit France?

John — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:59:28 +0000

Are you thinking of getting away over the next few weeks? Well if so; watch this space as I will be writing a series of blogs over the next few weeks on major Summer Holiday destinations. This week I have put together a list of top destinations and attractions in France as well [...]

Practise writing in your new language – Start a blog

Wil — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:04:22 +0000

Blogging is such a great way to practise writing in a second language. It’s relaxed enough that you don’t need to worry about being too formal but there’s pressure on you to write correctly because there will be people reading it.

Keeping a blog can make you more accountable for your commitment to learning a language, [...]

World Cup Mega-Quiz

Wil — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:00:41 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve had a quiz here on the learn2lingo blog. So, in honour of the World Cup, we’ve put together this World Cup Mega-Quiz.

It’s time to grab a cup of coffee, take some time out, and put your language skills to the test.

Good luck, everyone and enjoy the World Cup!

Sounds of Africa…(not the vuvuzela)

Daniela — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:41:30 +0000

Many languages, one nation

Yes, the World Cup is here, bringing with it the dulcet tones of the vuvuzela, the hopes of a nation, and pubs full of catatonic men. Still, whatever your team, South Africa is fascinating for more than just its football.

South Africa is a nation rich with languages – as Wil’s colourful [...]