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June 01, 2009 Learning Languages for Career Enrichment
The Financial Times (Canada) recently published an article on The Language of Business that featured interviews with business leaders on the usefulness of speaking multiple languages.
William H. Osborne is the president of Ford Motor Co. of Australia and was formerly president of Ford Canada. ”It is imperative that today’s executive be multilingual,” says Mr. Osborne, who learned French while working in Canada. “The business world is global and these days, with instant communications and global networks, there are very few businesses that have strictly a local focus.”
Given the global economy, Chinese and Spanish are often cited as the most widely needed languages, with Russian ascending according to economic growth. In a highly competitive job market, extra skills that can be extremely valuable to a business can make your resume rise to the top of the pile. Even if you have not yet achieved fluency, often knowing some of the language and attempting to be cordial and demonstrate a good faith effort to communicate will be appreciated by potential business partners. You can start learning with just a half-hour of listening a day, anytime with Pimsleur.
May 15, 2009 Cornell Study Suggests "Cognitive Advantages" to Learning Second Language
PhysOrg reports that Cornell linguistic researchers found that children who learned a second language were not only able to maintain levels of focus equal to that of their peers, but often surpassed children who were monolingual.
“Cognitive advantages follow from becoming bilingual,” Professor Barbara Lust says. “These cognitive advantages can contribute to a child’s future academic success.”
“Lust has been exploring language acquisition in young children for more than 30 years, across more than 20 different languages and cultures, studying which aspects of language acquisition are biologically endowed and which are learned, when and how language acquisition begins and how multiple language acquisition affects cognitive development in children.”
This research would suggest that learning a language can actually expand your brain and help you focus on key tasks for longer. Previously, researchers were concerned that children learning languages would be more readily distracted, and now the evidence points to the contrary.
May 11, 2009 Free Pimsleur Lessons
We here at Pimsleur Direct are proud to present full Pimsleur course previews! Browse our Pimsleur language courses and go to any Compact, or Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 course to see our Pimsleur audio player. Just press play and you’ll listen to the first 30-minute lesson of the course, right on the page. You can start learning instantly, and try out different course levels to choose which Pimsleur lesson set is right for you, before you buy. It’s just one of the ways we go the extra mile at Pimsleur Direct.
May 07, 2009 Forming Learning Partnerships
A recent article by the Philadelphia Inquirer outlined a partnership between a few high schools and nearby colleges. Now junior and senior high school students will have the opportunity to learn languages online through the colleges, earn college credit, and even qualify for future scholarships. Pimsleur courses are especially well suited to distance learning, and can help students of all ages learn a native accent. The article also points out that this type of partnership can be extremely beneficial to rural schools, which rarely have the resources to offer a wide variety of language courses that a college might.
Of course, extremely motivated teens can always enroll in courses at nearby colleges, but tuition discounts, an organized program, and (let’s face it) the opportunity to get out of high school for a while will be great for a lot of students. Instead of cutting back on courses like some districts have had to do because of budget cuts, forging new partnerships that can benefit students and expand their knowledge of languages should be considered as viable ways to expand curriculum.
April 22, 2009 Supporting Non-Traditional Language Programs
The Daily Iowan wrote a great editorial today about the need to support non-traditional language programs.
”Every day, it seems, the distance between the United States and the rest of world shrinks. For decades, the United States had a cushion from most of the world, wedged between the vast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Now, those vast oceans look like ponds in the scope of ever increasing globalization.”
The pressures of globalization also come with the challenges of communication across cultures and borders. While the US has seen large increases in the number of Spanish speakers, the language needs of the governments and businesses are constantly shifting. Rolling budget cuts have affected language departments nationwide, but we must remember that more popular languages do not have more intrinsic value than less common languages.
As University of Iowa Professor Irina Kostina said, “The problems America faces are global ones. To find solutions for these problems, we’ll all need to speak each other’s languages.”
Here at Pimsleur Direct, we have over 40 languages to choose from. Whether you’re interested in learning Twi, Lithuanian, Western Armenian, or Spanish, we’ve got you covered.
April 16, 2009 Study Reveals Bilingual Babies Process Sounds Differently
National Geographic News has a new story on a study that just came out about how 7-month-old infants process language sounds.
”Even before they can babble a single word, babies in bilingual households may get a head start in life, according to a team of scientists in Italy.
Rather than confusing babies, hearing more than one language gives newborns a mental boost, according to the new study, which tested seven-month-old infants.”
According to the study, infants who were being raised in a multi-lingual family were able to learn new sounds and anticipate visual actions based on sound cues. The researchers report that this type of brain activity does not appear in monolingual children until a later age, suggesting that children with multiple language exposure may have initial developmental advantages.
Food for thought—learning another language expands your knowledge in more ways than one!
April 13, 2009 Expanding the Teaching of Vietnamese
A new article just came out about Professor Ngo Nhu Binh, co-author of Pimsleur Vietnamese 1 and Pimsleur ESL Vietnamese, about his efforts to promote and expand the teaching of Vietnamese in the United States.
”Prof. Binh left Russia for Harvard University in 1992, at a time when the Vietnamese language had been taught in the US for more than 20 years. However, there were no scientific textbook for classes there yet. Whenever there was a demand for Vietnamese language learning, an American professor would host and hire Vietnamese teachers.
Two years after Prof. Binh started work at Harvard University, the university decided to increase the budget for Vietnamese language courses. Since then, more and more students are enrolling in Vietnamese language courses, making the study of the Vietnamese language equal with other languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean.”
via Voice of the Armed Forces and People
March 30, 2009 Great Tips on Learning Languages with Pimsleur
Listen to one lesson each day
Dr. Paul Pimsleur’s research on how people acquire language skills found that listening to one lesson each and every day dramatically increased the rate of memory recall for the foreign language. If you think you need more practice in order to fully understand the lesson, it is perfectly acceptable to listen to the same lesson multiple times in one day. The emphasis is on the amount of material you can absorb, so it is best to listen to one lesson multiple times in a day than listen to multiple lessons in a single day.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
Stumbling on new words and phrases is nothing to be ashamed of. It may help if you listen to your Pimsleur lessons in a quiet room, away from people, so that you can practice words and phrases out loud without worrying what you’ll sound like. Some people like to learn in their car during a commute or a long trip, while others find it best to study after the kids are asleep.
Teach someone else, have a language buddy
The best way to process and learn information of any kind is to teach it to someone else. Pair up with a friend and teach them the basics of your new language, and you’ll find that you remember better than if you studied by yourself. When your language buddy asks questions, you can both refer to the lessons and then you can discover the great part of learning a language—communication!
Set realistic goals
It’s always good to have learning goals, but make sure you’re not raising the bar too high. Establish a set of personal goals for learning your language that are challenging but attainable.
Make a phrasebook of your own
Pimsleur’s unique all audio method does not require note taking or writing, but you may find it useful to make a list of phrases that will be most useful to you for a trip. Certain examples in the lessons may not be useful to you, but keeping track of your essential phrases is a great way to learn what you need to know.
Learn to eat
Learning the words and phrases for food can spice up a meal at home! Using the vocabulary you’ve learned with your Pimsleur lessons, try and identify the words of common meals, drinks, or ingredients. You’ll find that it’s a great way to connect with your lessons, and it’ll give you extra practice for travel skills.
January 30, 2009 Spotlight on France
Known as a romantic getaway with incredible wine, France is also a leading exporter of machinery and transportation equipment (think planes, trains, and automobiles.) With 64 million people, France is the fastest growing country in Europe, thanks to a bustling economy. Known to many as “the language of love,” French is the official language of France. Spoken by over 350 million people worldwide, it descends from Latin, and therefore is indeed a Romance language. It is the official language in 31 countries, and has been considered the language of diplomacy for centuries. It is also the official language of all United Nations agencies.
To keep on top of what’s going on in France, check out France24, the leading TV news station, which has a full English-language website of news from a French perspective. If you’ve already started to become a Francophone, Le Monde is a great daily newspaper, with a full online edition in French. Readers may remember the last, hotly contested Presidential race, which eventually ended with Nicolas Sarkozy winning 53% of the vote after a runoff. He now faces protests from unions over cutting unionized school jobs, and challenges over constitutional reform. In France’s hybrid republic government, presidents hold 5 year terms in office, and are also accompanied by a prime minister. France maintains membership in the European Union, which among its advantages, makes travel between European countries easier than ever before.
It’s always a good time to brush up, start up, or polish off your speaking skills with Pimsleur French, since there are four different levels to choose from, available on CDs or iPod® friendly Audiobook Chips.
January 29, 2009 Learning a language can enhance your resume
In today’s job market, all it takes is a little edge to get you situated in your new office. Learning a language has long been considered a professional advantage, but now more than ever there is a need for multilingual workers. “Learning is beneficial pretty much anywhere in the U.S.,” said Professor Rony Garrido. “We have become a global environment, and it gives you the ability to interact with different people and cultures.” A survey conducted two years ago by Career Builder found that one-third of hiring managers said they would be placing a greater emphasis on recruiting bilingual candidates—a number that will only continue to grow. Especially in these uncertain and ever-changing times, the borders of trade are blurry, which leads to a need for more people with language skills. Being ahead of the curve, and ready to adapt as an employee, can be a great advantage in career advancement.
If you’re currently looking for jobs, be sure to include your language skills on your résumé. Be explicit about how fluent you are, and be prepared to back up your claims (in that language!) in an interview. Even if the job you are applying for does not specify multiple languages as requirement, it’s always a bonus skill that may put your résumé above the rest. According to Ghislain Savoie, Social Research and Analysis Director at University of California at Chico, most employers perceive bilingual and multilingual candidates as being more flexible, intelligent and adaptable to change.
Pimsleur courses are the perfect match for working professionals. Everyone can find a half-hour a day to study, and you can learn in the car or on your commute with Pimsleur CDs. Don’t put off learning the language you’ve always wanted to because you don’t have the time—because ultimately it may pay off in more ways than one!
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"There truly is something very powerful and familiar in the way Pimsleur taps into those primitive parts of your brain in the learning process, almost like hypnosis. Having done it successfully, I realize that it is a revolutionary learning protocol that was designed to bypass all the things that would get in the way of me learning and not wasting time."
