iTunes can be an excellent resource for free language-learning material. Originally developed for the iPod, Podcasts are Internet broadcasts on a variety of topics anywhere from politics to news to college lectures to language-learning.
Podcasts can be easily found and downloaded with iTunes, and kept and listened to forever with iTunes itself, another media player, or an mp3 player. The best thing about podcasts is they are free. Free stuff is cool. Especially if it’s quality, and there is a lot of quality stuff on iTunes.
Language-learning Podcasts can be found on iTunes by:
There are dozens of language-learning podcasts, and the most popular ones are listed on the front page for your convenience. As of right now, CoffeeBreak Spanish and JapanesePod101 are some of the most popular. I’ve listened to both, and they actually are pretty good. Another one that caught my eye was The French Pod Class.
I was browsing the net and came across an interesting photo illustrating the languages of Europe. Although it’s not entirely accurate (’Finish?’ ‘Scothish?’), it’s still cool to look at.
Isn’t it interesting how so many languages ‘came into being’ on a continent that is only roughly the same size as the continental United States?
Here’s an interesting video featuring an Indian kid who sells peacock fans. He has mastered how to sell his product to a wide variety of tourists by learning to say his sales pitch in over 6 languages, including Arabic, French, German, and Russian. It’s quite impressive, and kind of funny, I thought.
I’m taking a psychology class this semester, and one of our assignments was to take the VARK Test, to determine what our learning preferences are. Different people have different learning preferences, that is, they learn better through certain senses than others. For example, some people learn and remember more by listening about something; some learn better by being shown examples about a particular thing; some learn best by reading how to do something.
I scored as having a very strong Read/Write learning preference. I learn best by reading and writing. This would make sense, as I love to read and write, and I’m always reading or writing something. I’d rather read a book about something than be told about or shown it.
Once I had finished the questionnaire, I was presented with a link to some strategies for maximizing my read/write learning potential. They look pretty interesting, and I think I will benefit from these tips.
In the area of foreign language, it is a smart idea to determine your preferred learning methods. Once you have discovered how you learn best, find matching material to study and focus on more. This will result in maximum efficiency and minimum frustration and waste of time. If you’re an auditory (hearing) learner, seek out more podcasts, audio programs, and the like. If you’re a person who likes a more hands-on approach, take a look at some interactive software. Or, if you’re a read/write learner, find some books and get a tablet of paper and write stuff out.
Of course, it’s not a good idea to focus completely on one method, but to vary your approach and include material for many other methods.
I finally got around to watching Apocalypto, which is a movie that portrays the downfall of the ancient Mayan civilization, and is focused primarily on one man’s experience during this time. It’s a gory movie, but I still think it was interesting. Apocalypto gives an insight into how Ancient Mayan life might have been like, with some pretty scary traditions and beliefs.
Anyways, what I found especially interesting about Apocalypto is that all of the dialogue in the movie is in the Maya language. The Maya language is fascinating, and its script is complex and is superficially similar to that of the Ancient Egyptians. The Ancient Mayans were an incredibly advanced Native American civilization at their peak.
When I went to Mexico in November of 2007, I had the privilege of going to Chichen Itza, one of the largest ancient Mayan archaeological sites, and was voted one of the wonders of the world. I’m a bit of a history geek, and it was intoxicating to walk among buildings that are over 1,400 years old. Really, if you ever get the chance to visit the Cancun area, you need to book a tour to Chichen Itza or one of the other prominent archaeological sites.
