Foreign hotel staff to face tougher competition
What impact will the end of the quota system for employees from eight eastern European countries have on the Swiss hotel and catering sector?
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More foreign students at state colleges a good sign for economy
Indiana, where foreign-student enrollment rose in 2010, is 10th in the U.S. in the number of students from other countries.
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“Mein Hund möchte eine Schinkenrolle bitte.”* While I’m sure common phrases uttered in Austrian crime series Inspector Rex may not have helped me navigate the Viennese transport system, they did at least prime my ears to understand when to get off for the “Volksoper”. Watching non-English speaking television has benefits beyond mere entertainment. As multicultural TV channel SBS says, to ‘be a citizen of the world’ means making an effort, and for those of us who cringe at the idea of language classes or car radio cassettes in rush-hour, plain old television osmosis-learning is a fun way to gain entrée into faraway lands.
Every day, Australians watch an average of 3 hours 7 minutes of TV, but few of us watch non-English speaking/foreign need-to-read-that-yellow-text kind of entertainment as shown by SBS, who in 2007 ratings, had a market share of 5.5% . SBS broadcast more than half their programs in over 60 non-English languages and have more than 400 international and local program sources including dramas and comedies from countries such as Denmark, Austria, Italy, and Russia. Some notable shows include the crime/drama series of Unit One from Denmark, which won an Emmy in 2002, the Austrian crime series Inspector Rex, with a team of detectives and their sleuthing German Shepherd, and the Italian ladies of romantic drama Shopgirls.
So in all those hours of plasmatic light or cathode rays with noise blaring from endless Harvey Norman ads, why should one flick the switch over to a foreign TV show for entertainment? Surely the effort of having to READ is just too much after a day at work. Au contraire, the reading bit is easy. And there are so many more benefits of watching foreign television that won’t happen with another Friends re-run, which is just a saga of who will hook up with whom and in the end maybe Phoebe and Joey should have too just to give us that snuggly feeling.
**What is good TV anyway?
The contented sighs one might have when protagonists finally “get it on” are a sign that TV had an effect beyond a mere advertising medium. The ingredients for a good TV show have the aim of tasting good; of entertaining you. To hold audience attention, a TV show must have certain essential ingredients: a good script, good acting and believable characters. You know, those shows that make you believe “Hey it’s Rachel!” Rather than “Hey, it’s Jennifer Aniston who married then divorced Brad Pitt and had a string of mediocre romantic comedies.” Character not celebrity. Good TV ingredients can be sprinkled among many cuisines with varying degrees of taste, whether it be the Aussie barbie of Neighbours, the British beef wellington of The Bill, or the foreign fricassee of shows on SBS.
**Why bother to learn another language?
So what, you reckon TV is only for having a few laughs or drooling over the latest in it-girls and spunky boys, why bother learning more words in some other language? People sprechen zee English pretty much everywhere these days. This may be so, but the natives appreciate any effort foreigners make to learn the lingo, or at least try to pronounce the words. Imagine the oft-reported scenario of French waiters cocking their head in mock confusion over your rounded ays and arrs of hybridised “le water glug-glug le please”. Until they realise you’re from Australia and then that the bottle of six Euro water is proffered to thirsted tongues. The renowned arrogance of the English and Americans of refusing to even say please – even in English – have hardened the garcons and gaullish gals to defend their language behind a protective sheet of fillo pastry.
The easiest of the languages to pick up casually from TV are the European ones, as they don’t rely on tonal variations or squiggly writing.
But what does learning a language really mean? There’s writing, speaking and listening – for sure watching foreign TV you won’t learn how to write the little umlauts and cedillas and which way the thingee goes over the e, but the most important element of languages is being about to speak and understand.
So, when in Rome as they say…
**Learn to Speak and Pronounce
And in Rome you may be, but reading out words from a language dictionary sounds like Dame Edna trying to sing the Marseillaise. So there’s the first benefit learning another language – charming the natives so you won’t end up with overcooked snails thrown petanque style at your backpack.
No doubt the community class German tutor I had went home to a bottle of schnapps to dull the pain of two hours of cringeworthy ocker-isation of his language. “Vass ohben in douitzland see fet swyne mitt hunndden alls swestern ist” – which, if you could be understood by confused Berliners – would earn a mighty slap with some of their bratwurst and perhaps a jail sentence (what’s up in Germany you fat pigs with dogs as sisters). Do you think someone would serve you at Oktoberfest with that accent? Kein Malzbier for du. So that’s why, while sitting on the couch having a laugh, or biting your nails in suspense, your brain is picking up on the tongue-twisting utterances of another land. You hear what is right, and that safeguards against embarrassing faux pas. Just imagine “What would Moser from Inspector Rex say right now.” If you’re pretending to be Inspector Rex himself, the rest is easy. Woof will suffice.
**Learn to listen at real pace
Hearing the natural conversations of native speakers also helps to comprehend a language – those cringe-worthy classroom read-alouds stumble on cedillas and circumnavigate through ^ circumflex thingees. The real world is fast and full of slang that would never mention “baladeurs” in the age of iPods – so don’t bother with your high school language tapes, which were dumbed down for hormonally impaired students anyway. Listening to another language from natives accustoms you to the express train pace of colloquial speech; helpful for those frazzled moments at ticket booths and checkouts.
**Learn about culture
So, you can sprechen and you can comprende, but the most useful element of foreign TV is the visual element, sort of like looking up swear words in the dictionary at home because they’re not in the study curriculum. Foreign TV gives a backdoor tour that travel brochures photoshopped to paradise perfection won’t show. For example, one could surmise that the Viennese police all drive the latest in Audis or Alfa Romeos, generally live on a diet of ham rolls, and mental patients are treated with the civility of English Lords. And that in Denmark, murders are freaky, everywhere is within one hours’ drive of Copenhagen and interrogating prisoners without a lawyer is no worries as long as you cloud the cramped room with a fog of cigarette smoke. How true this is to real life, I am yet to find out, but watching the landscape used in the show makes me want to go there. Yes, most of the time Denmark looks dreary, windy, and cold, but the homes are exquisite, the streets look clean and they eat danishes, albeit not the ones we’re used to. Every episode of Inspector Rex is a travel spruik for Vienna, even the one in the sewers (typical Austrians, one could eat a schnitzel of those floors). So strong was the love of Inspector Rex that I diverted part of a holiday for four days in Vienna, to have a Rex experience. The hours of dogged detective work helped me to know where the public transport went, that “Prater” fun park was quietest on Mondays and that ham rolls could be found as easily as beer at an Oktoberfest. There’s even an Inspector Rex tour, with your own German Shepherd escort. Watching foreign television also gives a hint at what white-teethed preppy travel hosts won’t show you; the drug scene, the dodgy areas, the racial tensions and role expectations. Stilettos not sneakers while shopping, as shown in the Italian series Shopgirls, which illustrates a point that European women make an effort to look fabulous even when buying milk.
Remember though that even European ladies might succumb to ugh boots in winter, so it’s worthwhile to keep a sceptical raised eyebrow. Sort of like questioning American TV shows and how a chef and a waitress could afford a massive New York apartment, or that all lifeguards have minimum double D buoyancy devices or six-pack washboard stomachs.
The couch potato lifestyle can be pommes frites fabulous by watching foreign TV shows – the sights, sounds and speech will filter into your brain and itch your credit card to rack up some frequent flyer points. So beam that TV remote to foreign television to become a citizen of the world and learn that yes, you can buy ham rolls for dogs in Vienna.
*Note: I fully admit that any foreign language in this article is most likely grammatically incorrect, but hey, at least I gave it a go.
References:
SBS FAQ, 2002, SBS, http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/index.php?id=380
List of Australian television ratings for 2007, 2007, Wikipedia,, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_television_ratings_for_2007
Bob Peters, Free-to-air television: Trends and issues, 2005, Australian Film Commission, http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/wftvanalysis.html
I am a freelance writer and editor specialising in article and review format. I generate story ideas, conduct research and interviews then complete the piece in line with house style and expected deadlines. The underlying philosophy to any writing I do is ?information through engagement?.
Imagine yourself in a beautiful foreign country, where everything is new to you. You walk along the beautiful streets, and you dine at one of its restaurants. The only thing that is bothering you is that you just cannot understand what the locals are talking about. Baffling isn’t it? Despite the wonderful sites of a place, when you do not understand the people around you, you can’t help but feel a little lost. This is why you should start learning a foreign language, maybe just the basics. This may take some time and a lot of discipline; however, it can be very rewarding once you know what’s going on around you.
Make Traveling More Enjoyable
The best thing about traveling is being able to explore the amazing beauty of various countries and to partake in their festivities. However, your experience will never be complete until you know about the history of the place and a little about their language. A lot of people who speak English think that it is okay to use the language, wherever they may go. Some believe that learning a foreign language has no use. This kind of perception is one hundred percent false. When you know something about the language of the country which you are visiting, you will be greatly benefited with the following:
- You get to communicate with the local residents and make new acquaintances wherever you go.
- You will be able to read the signs on the road and the menus at restaurants.
- You will be able to understand the movies of the country which you are visiting.
Makes Your Work Easier
If your work requires you to talk with clients of diverse nationalities, then you have to learn foreign languages. This will make your work easier, plus, the big boss will see you as a worthy employee. If you know how to speak another language, you may be sent to other countries as a part of your work or you may even get a promotion. Learning another language is a plus when it comes to your work. Meeting with a foreign client does not require an interpreter anymore. And, your client will not feel awkward talking in your language because you can understand his.
Enhance Your Knowledge about Other Countries
If you are the type of person who is interested in learning about the culture of other countries, then it is important for you to learn their language also. Once you are familiar with a country’s language, you will be able to understand its literature, its films, music or poetry. You will be able to gain more information about the country without difficulty. It is always nice to learn about the culture and the language of other places around the globe because you will never know when you might end up there.
The Best Ways to Learn a Foreign Language
There are a lot of ways to learn a foreign language and the following are just some of it:
- Self-teaching method – learn the language by yourself with the use of audio cassettes, CDs, videotapes or, vocabulary books. A lot of these are found in bookstores or in libraries.
- Visit foreign sites – currently, more and more sites over the Internet are offering lessons on foreign languages.
- Watch foreign movies or television series – there are a lot of foreign movies from which you can choose from. These movies have subtitles which will help you learn another language. The more you keep watching the movies of a certain country, the more you will learn about their native tongue.
- Take up foreign language classes – the best thing about taking up classes like these is that you will have a teacher to guide you through the course, plus, you will also be able to keep track of what you have learned.
James Dunn is the owner and operator of e Language School where you can learn a foreign language online
Visit Learn Spanish to study Spanish.
With the frenetic rhythm of nowadays, it often seems impossible to fit a(nother) foreign language into your busy schedule. But when you think of the benefits this new knowledge entails, it also seems impossible not to try, right?
So, what can you do to bring in the magic and conjure up enough time to start learning a language? Here are seven of my favorite strategies…
Committing to 20-minute chunks
While allocating a whole hour of your day to a new language may be difficult, splitting it up into smaller chunks of 20 minutes is much easier. And since consistency will get you more results than sporadic learning for prolonged periods of time, you can easily settle for one 20-minute chunk a day. In the morning, before you go to sleep, during lunch break or your commute to work, when you can listen to audios if you’re not in the position to read.
Creating pocket-size memory cards
Write down the words, expressions or grammar patterns you’re having troubles with on small, pocket-size cards. Then flip them over and fill their back with the proper explanations. Skim through these memory prompts whenever you get the chance. While you’re queuing or waiting for your dentist appointment, you’ll be glad you have something to distract yourself with!
Replacing your reading materials
Another language learning booster is reading. If you can’t squeeze in the time to learn a (new) language no matter how hard you try, think about replacing your native-tongue-literature reading time with reading materials written in your language of choice. You’ll appease your reading desire and do yourself a major favor, since reading is no less than a vocabulary building wizard!
Thinking in the chosen language
An extremely effective method of improving your foreign language skills is thinking in this language as often as possible. It works best if you’re surrounded with natives, since it feels more natural, but in your mind, you can always pretend you’re a native, too. The beauty of this tecnique is that it increases your reponsiveness in conversations and ignites your learning curiosity.
Attending a live language course
If you’re not disciplined enough to work on a language on your own, sign up for a live language course. The financial investment and the group support will swipe the excuses away in a heart-beat. In addition, you’ll be »forced« to do your homework, which will get your language learning ball rolling faster than ever!
Finding a hidden time treasure
If your everyday routine devours all of your time, you need an efficiency check-up. Which actions you take are making you waste more time than necessary? Maybe you could adjust your work schedule so as to avoid rush hours, or, if you’re working from home, limit your social media and email management to a couple of times a day. Instantly, you’ll have another hour on your hands, to say the least. Just imagine how many new words can you learn in an hour…
Increasing overall productivity
Fix the overwhelm by single-tasking; your productivity will skyrocket and you’ll get more done in less time. Again, an additional half-an-hour or more will magically appear in your day. Every day! How powerful is that? Use those 30 minutes for language learning, and in a year, you’ll have studied for more than 180 hours!
Martina Srblin is the Language Learning Magician who will help you discover the language learning system that best fits your needs, skills and schedule, so you can stop wasting time, money and energy on language learning methods that ? for you personally ? are inefficient. For free resources and to sign up for a FREE report on “7 Key Steps to Smart Language Learning” and a FREE subscription to the Language Learning Magic Ezine, please visit Martina?s website www.martinasrblin.com.
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