Learn Vietnamese fast

Are you an expatriate living and working in Vietnam? Or are you living among many Vietnamese immigrants in Europe or America? Maybe you're like me with many Vietnamese friends studying in your country. Wouldn't it be nice to communicate with the Vietnamese in their own language? I think so!

This book with CDs sold separately is excellent. Vietnamese for Beginners: Second Edition is exactly what it promises. It is for people who know very little Vietnamese or none at all. At the end of the course of self-study, you will be able to speak, listen, read and write Vietnamese!

This is the only Vietnamese self-study package that teaches southern Vietnamese language. As you listen to the audio CDs, the instructor will make distinctions between the northern and southern words and pronunciation. This is useful since people in different parts of Vietnam have different pronunciations and accents. Depending on whom you speak to, opinions are divided as to which accent is the accurate one. I think what's more important is that you are understood by the locals, rather than be concerned about being "proper".

Lessons focus on sounds, tones and alphabet. Southern Vietnamese grammar is clearly explained with exercises to reinforce learning. It helps that the author is an American living in Ho Chi Minh City. His approach is simple and clear. It is also a very affordable package for both the book and the CDs, which are sold separately, as compared to Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone's and Talk Now's Vietnamese packages are entirely northern accent and usage. Both packages can be a heavy investment if you are just starting out wanting to "get by" in Vietnamese. If you are around southern Vietnamese and wanting to communicate with them, Rosetta Stone will not help you. It could also alienate you from the people you are trying to befriend, since deep-seated feelings exist among Vietnamese from the north and the south. Learning a language is not just about being able to communicate; it is also embracing a new culture. The cultural lesson will take a lifetime to learn and understand.

As with learning any language, you may wish to use two different packages at the same time to speed up learning. If you're that kind of learner, then you can use Pimsleur with Vietnamese for Beginners. Pimsleur is also an audio with book package that will get you speaking fast.

Enjoy learning Vietnamese! The tones may make you stumble at first, but you will have fun!

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Flowers - universal expression of happiness

Yellow Orchid
I love flowers! Flowers make me happy, especially brightly coloured ones. I enjoy going to gardens while on holiday, especially in the spring and summer when all the flowers are in full bloom. There is just something about looking at flowers that relaxes me and lifts my spirits. I walk away with a smile on my face always.

As I walked past a florist earlier, I started thinking about flowers as a universal way of expressing our happy feelings: love, friendship, celebration of a significant event, cheering someone up, ... when we want to show someone we care, we give flowers. No wonder there are so many books and articles written on the meanings of different flowers (roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, etc) and their meanings. Flowers must be a language all of their own.

I don't speak the language of flowers, unfortunately. I'm just happy to look at them, and maybe on a rare occasion receive some. At least I know that when I visit someone from another culture, I can bring them some flowers. However, before you get too excited about this simple gift, first find out from a local if there are any flowers that are taboo or used for certain purposes (e.g. as an offering to their gods) or colours that are taboo in that culture (e.g. white flowers are used for funerals). Maybe there's a whole lot more to this universal language than we know!

Whatever the case, it is best to be student of another culture before we plunge headlong and realise that we're the fools for not asking questions first.

Go cross-cultural today and enrich your life!

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Go ahead and laugh. I'll get fluent soon!

Taken hostage by the English language
My Filipino friend living in Costa Rica has encountered many funny instances of getting words with similar sounds mixed up. While he has written more about his own journey of learning Spanish and having to use this newly learned language to preach the Gospel and speak publicly about his work, this piece is about a Spanish-speaker learning English. I had such a good laugh reading his post.

I've been there and done that, though not in Spanish. I've had so many Cambodian friends laugh at me because I've mispronounced a word. These young people, many of them my students, would laugh out loud in my face. Thankfully, I had many other slightly older young people who patiently corrected me till I got fluent. Learning a language takes a lot of hard work and humility, maybe even humiliation, depending on how you look at it. However, the more effort and practice you put in, the better you get at it. The rewards of being able to communicate freely in another language are immeasurable.

Summer in the northern hemisphere is just around the corner. Many will start planning summer holidays soon. Some may even visit another country or visit a place that has a completely different culture from your own e.g. visiting Chinatown in San Francisco, or Little Italy in New York City. Why not immerse yourself in the experience by learning some words or phrases of that people group before you go? You'll make new friends a lot faster and endear yourself to a new culture.

Plan your summer holiday well! Learn a language to get the most out of your holiday experience!

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It just doesn't translate correctly!

Some English words just don't have an equivalent in another language! Translators have such a hard time when English speakers use a word that just does not exist in the native language.

I sat with five experienced Indonesian translators over lunch. These are the cream of the crop of translators from English to Indonesian and vice versa. They are fast and accurate when translating for speakers at seminars and conferences. One of them suddenly asked, "Hey, Indonesian translators. What is the Indonesian word for 'excellence'?" One replied immediately, "Unggul." A quick retort, "No. 'Excellence' is not 'perfect'." Then came a string of synonyms in Indonesian for the English word 'perfect'. The faces around the table showed frustration.

English speakers like to use this phrase:

We must be excellent because our God is an excellent God!

Completely impossible to translate into Indonesian! My Indonesian is far from perfect, but I can tell you that there is no equivalent word in Khmer either! What a headache!

I used to teach a lesson entitled "Excellence in the Workplace". The material was three pages long, but explaining the concepts took an hour or more. At the end of the class, I would just hope they got it. When you live in a culture where the general idea is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", then how do you instill in the young that mediocre just isn't acceptable? Language is the way to communicate, but sometimes language just fails us miserably.

Maybe body language or "show and tell" really is the way to go when communicating to someone of a different culture and language. Sometimes "show and tell" is best even in your own culture. My young Vietnamese friends were trying to explain the ring tab of a drink can to their Vietnamese classmate. After a few minutes, their friend was still puzzled as to what they were talking about. He thought they meant the cover of a canned drink (what's that?!). Finally, I showed him my small collection of ring tabs, and he understood immediately.

I love learning languages. I am far from being a polyglot. I am still learning to be more fluent in some of the languages I speak. The journey will go on until the end of my life. The more I learn, the more I find how limited our languages can be. One of those five translators around the table said, "You know, Indonesian is only one-third of English." We had a really good laugh when he said, "Lord, we thank You for your mercy, grace and compassion." While this prayer is common among English speakers, it is a nightmare for the one who is listening to his prayer being translated into Indonesian. You see, the word for "mercy", "grace" and "compassion" is generally the same: "kasih karunia". You can use "anugerah" or "kemurahan", but in general, "kasih karunia" will suffice for the general audience. So, the translator risks being labelled as "no good" when it is not his fault.

"Lost in translation" is a very real thing. However, it motivate us to learn more languages and learn them well, rather than make us throw up our hands in surrender. Being able to communicate in another language even at a basic level brings satisfaction that cannot be described.

Here's to learning a new language! Fun Language Tools

Get immersed and talking fast with Instant Immersion

Instant Immersion Spanish Instant Immersion language learning software is available in over 100 languages, including some native American languages, not just major languages of the world. Each language is "taught" by a native speaker, so you get to hear correct pronunciation as you learn. There are three levels for Spanish. Each level comprises 3 discs and a workbook. If you buy the Deluxe set, you get three bonus discs with the package. Each package comes with an interactive DVD and MP3 discs that you can transfer to your iPod or iPhone to play on the go.

This software is best for the beginner who wants to pick up conversational skills quickly. If you are going to Spain, then the Spanish package is good for you because it teaches Spanish from Spain, not Latin America. The use of flash cards, conversation with a native speaker, and a video game to enforce learning, work together to help you learn through repetition and practice. The only drawback is that there is no grammar instruction, which may not bother you, depending on how you learn.

As you listen to the pronunciation, you can record your voice and play it back to hear how you sound, as compared to the native speaker. The "checking" component is wave form and pitch contour which can be adjusted to strict or lenient. For those who can't seem to hear the differences in tones and sounds, this system is very good to help you get the right pronunciation. As you converse with the computer, you are learning quickly general phrases and questions that will help the general or business learner of Spanish. The variety and mixture of topics appeals to learners of all ages.

The audio and visual lessons present information in a variety of ways. Each activity can be customised for the particular age group. In short, you can tweak the software to learn in your own way. This is a bonus, since each person learns differently. You choose what works best for you.

There is no space to get bored as the approach to teaching changes as you get used to the same method. Your mind will not have a chance to wander off. This makes learning fun and interesting.

The best part about Instant Immersion is the price. This costs a fraction of Rosetta Stone and Fluenz. It is affordable and helps you get started quickly. Of course, all three packages, plus Pimsleur, can be used in conjunction with each other. If you want to learn fast, then get all the packages and immerse yourself in every way possible. Sometimes the way to learn is to jump in with two feet.

Whichever way you learn best, enjoy the process! Learning language is fun! Fun Language Tools

Are you an orangtua or an orangutan?

Parent? or Gorilla?

I was translating an at Asian conference last week. At one of the track sessions, the speaker began his presentation with a question. This is nothing unusual, but the three of us translators in the back of the room had a big problem from the start.

You see, the speaker is a white American with a Javanese wife. He has lived in Indonesia for almost 30 years. He is fluent in the local language. Since the conference was held in his "home ground", he was very comfortable speaking in a mixture of English and Indonesian, switching effortlessly between the two languages. The translator into Indonesian standing beside him had a hard time keeping up. I could follow along fairly well, but the Thai and Japanese translators often had no clue what was going on. They do not understand Indonesian at all! Their job is to translate from English to their language.

Here's the opening question as presented by the speaker both orally and on a slide:

Are you an orangtua or an orangutan?

The speaker then proceeded to translate the question into English as:

Are you a parent or a monkey?

The original question uses the Indonesian equivalents of "parent" and "monkey" because it is a play on words. Anyone who understands Indonesian would immediately laugh at the question. In English, the question is neither funny nor sensible. I am sure it will be the same in Thai and Japanese, since the original question will have been translated from English. Humour is very often lost in translation.

So, if you are speaking through a translator, here's some tips that I have compiled to help you get your message across clearly:
1. Speak in complete sentences, using a simple sentence structure.
2. Use simple words.
3. Do not use puns or play of words. These do not translate well.
4. Do not crack jokes that are unique to a specific culture e.g. telling a joke from an American sitcom. No one will know what you are talking about.
5. Use short sentences and pause so that the translator knows when it is his turn to speak.
6. Keep your entire message with translation to a maximum of 45 minutes. Listeners tend to fall asleep when they only understand half of what is being said.
7. Use visual aids as much as possible. A picture speaks a thousand words.

You may never be a translator, but the advantage of being multilingual will allow you to appreciate everything that is being said in another language. You may even be able to explain what is being said to another person. You have an advantage because you will get the full meaning of what is being said. No loss in translation for you.

Have fun learning a language!

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Myanmar - is there a pot of gold to be found there?

Burma Redux by Ian Holliday

Myanmar or Burma is opening up to the outside world very quickly. Hungry to develop the country and pull the people out of poverty, the government has thrown open the doors to outside investment. While the changes are taking place by the week, this book gives a good basic understanding of what has happened in the last three years or so.

Written immediately after the watershed elections of 2010, this book is the first to be published recently. Though the angle is mainly political, Burma Redux gives good insight into what is going on in Myanmar today. Myanmar is going through reform. Businesses are anxious to enter this largely untapped market. Many questions hover in the minds of those who want to expand their business and help Myanmar's economy grow. What are some of the underlying issues involved? Ian Holliday affirms the importance of foreign interests in Myanmar's democratic awakening, yet only through committed, grassroots strategies of engagement encompassing foreign states, international aid agencies, and global corporations, can this take place.

Myanmar is the newest land of opportunity

This recent article is a reality check for those wanting to take the plunge in Myanmar. Lots of opportunities abound, but lack of infrastructure and a skilled workforce can be a great deterrent or hindrance to productivity. The positive side is that the government has just opened its doors, so regulations and laws are still subject to change, which gives the investor an opportunity to help shape this nation.

Interested in exploring business opportunities in Myanmar? Read this book today. You may find your pot of gold there.

Here's to a life of adventure!

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Get better at English daily

Improving English is lifelong

English teachers have been lamenting the rapid decline in the quality of spoken and written English among adults. Social media, text messaging, messaging software or applications do not help the process. In an effort to squeeze everything into 140 characters or less and do it quickly, we end up typing some sort of understandable gibberish that masquerades as English.

That spills over into formal writing e.g. business letters and formal email communication. Microsoft Word provides an auto spell checker and some grammar checks. These are useful to ensure that we have at least got the basics correct, but a computer cannot check clarity, style and content. You still need a human being to help you, preferably one who is as good as or better than you are at English.

Then there are many who say, "I'm done with school." In other words, I do not need to learn anything anymore. I know it all. If a young person said this, we'd all frown at the arrogance of youth. If an older person said this, we would be more accepting of the statement. Both of them need help, regardless of age and education.

The Speak Good English Movement in Singapore works very hard to get the population improving their standard of English, whatever age you may be. For 2013, they will be launching a lifelong learning drive to make working adults improve their command of English. Tough as this may be, it is worth a try.

I have to admit that I don't always get it right. I type fairly quickly, but often I don't read my sentence again. I'm in a hurry, so I click "send" without a second thought. Wrong move. I end up realising that I could have said it better. Do my friends care? Not really. Social media doesn't bother if you write in gibberish or proper grammar. Getting the message out is the goal, not proper language use.

We are never too old to learn anything. I'm still trying to be more fluent in the languages I already know. It isn't easy when I lack practice with native speakers. It doesn't help that native speakers tend to use slang, colloquialism or slur the pronunciation of words. I have trouble enough learning the proper words, let alone the vernacular of the area. I am making progress. I make myself make progress. That's part of the fun in the learning process.

If you already speak and write English, good for you. Don't stop there. Take a tip from the Speak Good English Movement. Make it your daily goal to get better at it. One new thing a day is a step forward in the right direction.

Here's to lifelong improvement!

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Are you an audio learner? Use Pimsleur

Pimsleur German language

Pimsleur is one of the top selling language learning software packages available in the market today. It was developed by Dr Pimsleur himself, who is a linguist. The success story of Pimsleur is that this package is used by the US government to train its officers in foreign languages so that they can serve effectively overseas. So, why not extend it to the general public?

The approach is a simple three steps: learn, review, engage. All lessons are audio-based at 30 minutes per lesson. Up to four users are allowed with one purchase. It comes in CD or MP3 format. There are games and audio flashcards in the package. The beauty of Pimsleur is you can take your lesson with you on the go: in the car, while riding a bus or a train, or even a bicycle. No computer is required. At 30 minutes a day, you will be speaking and understanding very quickly.

50 languages are available to choose. Each lesson is based on a drill, so the words and phrases will stick in your head for a long, long time, simply because you have to repeat them over and over again. Each new word or phrase builds on or incorporates the previous one learned, so there is little chance you will forget what you learned yesterday or the week before. It is excellent for the absolute beginner in the language of your choice. It works best for the audio learner, not someone who needs to "see it to remember it".

I tried out the free Mandarin lesson online. The instructors are native speakers. That is a plus. However, Mandarin is a tonal language. A wrong tone will result in either not making any sense whatsoever, or saying something completely different. If you are tone deaf, you will never be able to differentiate between the tones. The only explanations that the instructor gives is, "Notice the rising and falling tone". Frankly, if you are an absolute beginner, you may never even have realised there were tones to begin with.

Then comes the learner's pronunciation. Since the lessons are all audio-based, there is no interaction with the software or instructor. This means there is no way to check if I am pronouncing the words correctly or not. It baffles me why the marketer's voice says, "Your pronunciation will be exceptional!" Really? How will I know?

Now comes the actual content of Lesson 1 for the Beginner. Pimsleur translates the spoken English language into Chinese as 英文. Technically, this is not correct. 文 is used for the written language. 语 is used for the spoken language. So, the question: "Do you speak English?" should be translated as "你会说英语吗？" rather than "你会说英文吗？“

Since the lessons are focused only on conversational Mandarin for China, it makes sense to use the Mainland China's translation of Mandarin, which is 普通话, instead of 华语 (South-East Asia) or 国语 (Taiwan) or 汉语 (some parts of China), depending on which part of the Chinese-speaking world you come from. For the written form, Chinese language is translated as 中文 or 华文.

No language learning package is perfect. It all depends on how you best learn a language. Some reviews said they never got past very simple phrases that did not allow them to survive as a tourist in a foreign land. Others said they were speaking in no time at all, as short as two weeks. My recommendation is to use a combination of several packages (Fluenz or Rosetta Stone or some simple child's DVD or book) to get the full exposure to every kind of learning method. This way, you will really be speaking like a native in no time at all. The goal is to learn, not criticise the instructor.

Have fun learning a new language! It will open doors to cultures you never dreamed existed!

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Break that stereotype!

Western social etiquette school in China

Stereotypes. We all hate them especially when talking about our own culture. We don't like to be labelled something we are not, whether negative or positive. Can we do something about it? Yes!

A well-groomed Chinese woman travels aborad and, with her genteel ways, gets mistaken - for a Japanese.

Huh? Why can't Chinese women be known for genteel ways? Isn't that what the western person thinks when he thinks of a Chinese woman? Well, maybe a Chinese woman who lived a century or two ago. Sadly, today's Chinese woman is labelled as brusque, loud and demanding. Is that true? Not always. Is that fair? Certainly not.

Enter Ms Sara Jane Ho from Hong Kong. She has been schooled in the finest finishing school in the world. She sniffed out a great business opportunity. "Chinese women are hungry and humble," she says. Ms Ho has opened the first western etiquette school for women only in China. There is a long waiting list to enter the school. She is doing very well.

Chinese men and women are global travellers today. In 2013, an estimated 90 million Chinese will travel out of China. That's more than the population of some countries! They bring with them lots of money to spend. They are eager to make a good impression on their hosts. More importantly, they want to break the stereotype of the "typical Chinese". I believe we will see the emergence of a new breed of Chinese woman - genteel.

The new economic superpowers today are not coming out of Europe or America. They are coming out of the east. China is investing heavily in many parts of the world. Many countries and companies want to break into the vast Chinese market. Whichever side of the world you come from, manners will open the door to a long-term relationship. After all, 关系 (relationship) is the way to do business anywhere in the world, not just in China. So, while Chinese women are taking steps to break the poor image of their ungracious manners, what is the rest of the world doing to learn how to do business in China? You can get a book here.

Here's to a new Chinese woman - genteel!

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Rosetta Stone - good only if you are a child

Rosetta Stone Language Learning Software

Rosetta Stone is one of the top selling language learning software packages in America. 30 languages from across the continents are available. They even have packages tailored for personal, business, government officers, schools or home schooling purposes. While the price is not cheap, the marketing is effective. Ask about language learning packages and the first name you will get is Rosetta Stone.

So, how does Rosetta Stone teach a language? As if you were a child. I tried out the free Mandarin lesson online. Level 1 is about 30 minutes long, according to the instruction page. You have to test your audio and microphone settings before you begin because you need to repeat after the "teacher" to check your pronunciation. No Chinese characters are introduced at this stage, as it is a beginner level lesson. However, all the pronunciation guides use Hanyu Pinyin 汉语拼音, the official romanisation and pronunciation of Mandarin. Hanyu Pinyin uses the English alphabet and symbols to indicate which of the four tones is used to pronounce the word. No explanation on how to read the symbols is given. Your guess is as good as mine.

No English or any other language other than Mandarin is used. Just throw yourself headlong into Mandarin with pictures and sounds, and hope to catch something. I have to admit that at least Rosetta Stone uses a variety of pictures of people from around the world as illustrations, rather than only westerners. But, variety of pictures add little to the actual learning process. A phrase is read with an accompanying picture that is the visual of the phrase. I have to repeat the pronunciation into the microphone and get it right (according to the software programme) before I can move on to the next phrase. New vocabulary is introduced at each step, so I am left guessing what in the world the phrase means, just by looking at the picture. I have to match the phrase with the correct picture, but sometimes, I don't have to guess too far because the last phrase read out will belong to the remaining picture.

Screen shot of pronunciation lesson

The "teacher" in the software is a native Mandarin speaker from China. The pronunciation is accurate, according to official China standards. When I repeat the phrase into the microphone, I have to repeat it in the correct China standard pronunciation in order to get it right and move on to the next phrase. If I use the southern Chinese accent prevalent in Singapore and Malaysia, the software will fail me. I have to repeat the pronunciation using the China accent. Even then, sometimes, the software doesn't recognise my pronunciation. After a few tries, I got frustrated. I do speak Mandarin with fairly accurate pronunciation. Why won't it accept my pronunciation?

While many may find Rosetta Stone useful, personally, I do not. I found Fluenz far more interesting and engaging. Fluenz treats me as a thinking adult. The programme explains every bit of the sentence and leaves nothing unturned. If you want to teach your child a new language by immersion, go ahead and get Rosetta Stone. Hopefully, your child will pick something up and be able to communicate with people who speak that language. As an adult learner, I end up none the wiser.

Have fun learning a language!

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