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    16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better
    16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better
    16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better
    Ebook136 pages1 hour

    16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better

    By Wiktor Kostrzewski

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    About this ebook

    There is never a single story behind becoming multilingual. There is never just one piece of advice that will help you find your foreign language fun. That is why this book gives you over thirty of them - plus a simple one-week plan to finally start your polyglot project.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9781483532332
    16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better

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      Book preview

      16 Kinds Of Snow, Or How And Why Bilinguals Do It Better - Wiktor Kostrzewski

      16 Kinds of Snow: Or, How & Why Bilinguals Do It Better

      Copyright © 2014 by Wiktor Kostrzewski

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

      may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

      without the express written permission of the publisher

      except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      www.16kinds.com

      Introduction

      There is no one story of good language learning. No one perfect method. There isn't anybody who could be called the perfect language teacher. There are as many successful methods as there are learners - as many ways to enjoy a language as there are dialects, jargons and varieties - and as many killer apps as there are multilingual geeks among teachers, authors and students.

      This sounds obvious and perfectly understandable. Unless, say, you wanted people to believe that your method is the only perfect method. Or that the way you reached multilingual awesomeness can be replicated, copied-and-pasted and sold in a nice box for anyone to use. Or maybe - that your linguistic expertise is always going to be as fresh and relevant as on its first day.

      Then it's another story. It would help, then, to portray foreign languages as those evil, difficult, elusive and demotivating entities. It would be beneficial to show anyone who'd listen how every time they wanted to conquer them, they failed. Finally, it would be customary to portray yourself as the holder of the knowledge - the breaker of the code - the slayer of linguistic dragons.

      I'm not really going to do that.

      There has been a lot of language learning in my life. A fair amount of teaching, too - and some super-exciting adventures in translation. At some point, I wondered whether there were people out there who would be willing to listen to what I had to say - and respond to the things I wrote. That's how 16kinds.com started - out of curiosity and wonder.

      A few years later, I know one thing for sure: there are plenty of you out there, curious about language learning, passionate about becoming bilingual or multilingual, keen on every atom of fun that foreign languages can bring. You've been flocking to the blog, reading, responding and sharing the stories - shaping the next ones as I thought about your comments.

      Thank you, and this one's for you.

      There are two parts to this little e-book. The first part is the best of 16kinds.com - stories which I'm proud of, articles which resonated with some of you, questions that I heard asked over and over again each time language learning was discussed. I edited those things so that they could be more useful for the e-book format. You can seek them out on the blog - and if you haven't yet, post a comment with your response.

      The second part has never been published yet. These are articles, advice posts and ramblings about how and why languages are learned and taught. Some of them belong firmly on the blog, but for some reason dropped out of the schedule. Others are a bid wilder, more inquisitive or calmer - I may have held them back precisely for this little book to happen!

      I hope you enjoy all of them. There is no need to read this from start to finish - no reason why you shouldn't just pick out bits and pieces as you go along. So equally, I hope you enjoy some of them some more. Because in the end, the story you tell yourselves about your languages is what matters. If I manage to chime in with what you thought - or change your mind about one thing or another - then this book has made me proud. And remember, I always enjoy a good argument as well.

      One last thing: at the end of every year, 50% of all profits from this ebook will go to Oxfam. This will happen for as long as the book is bought. The other 50% will most probably help me learn another language somehow. Just so you know where the money goes.

      If you like this book, spread the word about it and share the multilingual fun. Enjoy - and thank you for buying this!

      PART 1: THE PREVIOUSLY BLOGGED KINDS

      1. Write Right: 5 Steps To Awesome Language-Learning Notes  

      Whenever I see new language students in my school anxiously clutching their brand-new notebooks, I cry a little.

      Many of these notebooks will be totally useless by the time the course is halfway through. Some of them will be half-decent, but never used in any meaningful way. And even the good ones, the ones used often, will be forgotten by the time the course is over.

      This is sad. But it doesn't have to be. Let’s try to find how you can do better.

      Research vs. React: Penalty Shootouts vs. Language Learning

      In 2006, Argentina met Germany in the Soccer World Cup. The game ended in a penalty shootout.

      The person to watch was the German goalkeeper - look the video clip up when you have a minute.

      He may not be able to stop every ball. But he always KNOWS where the ball will be. The Argentinian keeper falters and goes the wrong way on several occasions - the German goalie always makes the right move.

      As it turns out, the German goalkeeper actually knew where the ball would be going. His team had done the homework, and studied the habits of penalty takers. Just before the shoot-out, the goalkeeper was given a note: a list of names and recommended actions.

      As you can see, it worked pretty well.

      Two questions for you, before we move on to languages:

      1) What if the keeper hadn't been given the suggestions? Would he simply lose the know-how - or would something more be missing?

      2) How useful would it be to take any notes during the shootout (e.g. guy X went for the left corner, so guy Y must go for the bottom-right now...)?

      You might have guessed it: 1) a well-maintained and trusted system of notes meant more than just the info for the German keeper. Imagine being him, just after the first round: sure, you didn't catch that one (who would?!), but you saw it go where you thought it would. You know the system is working. Suddenly, in a stressful situation, you find a source of comfort. By the time he denies the final attempt, he's as cool as a cucumber.

      And, sure enough - 2) if you decided to react to what was happening around you at a stressful time like that, you would definitely end up being more stressed. You would lack the knowledge, the detachment, access to facts. This can sometimes be seen in the other goalkeeper's face, as he is sent once again fumbling into the wrong corner.

      Think about that note again.

      It could never have been used. Germany could win or lose in regular time, or in extra time, or never end up meeting Argentina.

      The note was made nonetheless. It was prepared by people who had done their homework, and designed to perform only this one function: give the goalkeeper means of outperforming the strikers.

      This is what your notes should be like. Let's see how to do it.

      Five Steps to Awesome Notes

      1. Choose a fail-proof system. I've got half a dozen half-filled paper notebooks at home. They've been around for about five years. That's how long it took me to realize that I actually hate paper in the long run. Surely, you can figure it out sooner? Stick to paper or use online note systems - it's your choice. The key thing here: own it. Make it work for you, and you alone.

      2. Experiment, play, rehearse. Many people are still stuck in their primary-school frame of mind - that notes must be kept clean and orderly. Yes, sure; at some point, they had better be! But when a lot of things are happening - when you're listening to a fast-paced live broadcast or taking notes during a lively presentation - you may have too little time and too much energy to dot all your Is. Don't be afraid of mess at this stage.

      3. Revise, clean-up, organize. That's where order comes into play. Is there anything you may want to add to your notes? Any afterthoughts? This is also a good moment to transfer your notes to a medium you trust. For rough drafts and impromptu note-taking, paper is still hard to beat - but now, if mind maps, flashcards or Evernote is your thing, use it.

      4. Get what you want. If you're noting down new words without their stress patterns and pronunciation, you're probably wasting your time. Try to figure this out early, and brush up your phonetic alphabet skills. On the other hand, if you're preparing for the exams, it's foolish to overdo the note-taking: go by what is needed, and discard the irrelevant details.

      5. Never stop. This one is essential, and

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