Keep Up in a Foreign Language this Summer

Requirements can be a pain in the you-know-what. Math, foreign language, physical science. I thought this was college, doesn’t this mean I can choose my own classes? Apparently not. While math, science and English classes can be easy to pick back up after summer, foreign languages can get pretty dusty if you leave them alone for three months. Unfortunately during the summer, our native Spanish speaking professor isn’t speaking to us in fluent Spanish at 8 am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That way we would be able to keep up on our verb tenses, conjugations and vocabulary. But instead we get stuck with sleeping in and long periods of time where there is little brain work involved. Does this sound like a fair trade off? It definitely isn’t a balanced trade off. To keep our French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Greek, Latin, and German in tip top shape, here are some little ways to keep our foreign languages dust-free this summer.

There are a multitude of web sites that value language, and understand the need for foreign language competency as an important trait to anyone in our global society. Here are a few of them that concentrate on vocabulary, verbs, along with giving learners opportunities for social networking in their foreign language.

Byki – This website offers 74 different languages to learners, which includes the site’s desktop software, online applications, free

Photo by El Monstrito

content, articles and games. The site seeks to go about teaching language from a different angle, that appeals more to the comprehension of adult learners. If you’re seeking to begin learning a language, or pick up where you left off on a language, this site is for you.

Lingolook – This web application was especially designed for English speaking travelers to foreign countries. The guide features basic vocabulary that travelers need, in an easy, user-friendly way. The application uses flashcards to test users, and when travelers are in a hurry for “Where is the restroom?” in French, users simply click on essentials, which leads them to a list of questions that are deemed “essential” questions, then click on “Where is the restroom?” which leads the user to a screen with the written English phrase, the written French phrase, and when clicking on the French phrase a voice says it aloud so the user knows how it is pronounced. To see for yourself, check out the site and see the demo.

vocabfish – A site that allows users to learn over 2000 words in 10 languages. With a scorecard, the site allows its users to track their progress, while the site goes back to the words that the user misses in order to test the weak spots. This site was created to master vocabulary not only through recognizing words but “recalling and pronouncing them.”

italki – This unique site connects people from around the world to learn from each other. The site is used to help connect people online to do free language exchanges, while even setting students up with teachers for paid online lessons. italki also has materials for self-study, along with questions & answer tools and group discussions.

Though we’re living in the 21st century, not all learning has to be virtual. Look up organizations in your area who promote the culture of your desired foreign language.

Alliance française is an organization that seeks to promote French culture and language outside of France. With organizations

Photo by Karen Horton

like this, who’s primary concern is teaching French as a second language, it is great to get hooked up with a membership so that learning a language isn’t simply just reading flashcards and memorizing automated foreign voices from online. But rather being a part of a community of people who are embracing the culture of a particular language, that is what is going to matter and be most valuable.

Get connected with a pen pal who is a native speaker of the language you are learning, and start writing letters! Or start emailing, if that’s your thing.

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16 Ideas to Savor this Summer

Summer 2010. We are moving back home, some to our parent’s houses, some to an independent and cheap apartment. So begins the vacation that has been looked forward to for the past 13-15 years of life. There are so many possibilities for what this summer holds, and there are ways of holding onto it longer than the short 3 months that the big guys in administration give us. So to make it go by as slow as possible, here are some ways to savor this summer, whether you are working at the gas station or within a close proximity of cleaning products that your mother has bestowed upon you. A job is a job, and with or without one you can take advantage of copious amounts of sun and a lack of nagging professors.

Take a lot of pictures. Whip out that D60, disposable, point & shoot, or iphone. That’s probably the most tech-savvy option. Road Trip

To take pictures, you first need some kind of adventure. Take a road trip and visit a historical landmark that’s nearby but has always been too touristy for your taste. Fanny packs and ugly sandals aren’t that bad.If you are working this summer, enjoy working while you do. I say, no excuses for monotony unless you are Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction.Have a garage sale for some quick and easy money. Getting rid of stuff and slapping a price tag on it is one of the easiest ways to make money, especially during this time of year. ‘Tis the season to go garage sale-ing.Remember that place called college? Forget about it, at least for the approximate 3 months that we have. You will have plenty of time to go back and think about it all you want. But for now, think summer and no school.If you’re in summer school, take a deep breath and say, “I’m getting ahead.” Repeat 3-5 times.Do as many things outside as possible. Help your grandmother with her garden, play Frisbee in the park, read in a hammock.Listen to summer music and watch summer movies. Personally, nothing sounds more like summer than country music which is my guilty pleasure. And no movie says summer more to me than Stand By Me. And while we’re on the subject, nothing smells more like summer to me than Aloe Vera.Learn something. Even though it’s summer, it doesn’t mean we have to remain stagnant. Brush up on a foreign language, check out a book on Russian history, learn how to cook Cajun cuisine or how to do East Coast Swing.Go to a music festival with a group of friends. Camp out, stay up all night, listen to tons of music.Take plenty of trips to large bodies of water i.e. ocean, lakes, rivers. Any beach you can find will suffice. Lather up on the sunscreen too.BBQ your heart out.Stow away those winter scarves and sweaters and bring out the shorts.Sell those old books! Half.com is a great place to sell books if you don’t end up selling them at your school’s bookstore. Photo by umjanedoan

And you can usually get more for your books when selling online or in stores that buy used books.

Take a bike ride. If you don’t have a bike yet, look for one on craigslist.Drive with the windows rolled down and the music turned up loud. This is the epitome of summer.

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16 Ways to Stay Motivated Before Summer Hits

We are coming along the home stretch. Whether you are on the semester schedule and you have a few more days of finals, or whether you are on the quarter schedule and enduring these last four weeks of classes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And it is visible! It has been very difficult for my peers and I to stay motivated in classes while the weather has been so wonderful. I am looking forward to a day of May showers, so that I will be forced to stay inside and get things done. But wherever you are in the context of finishing up this year of college, it is important to take a step back and gain perspective, so that the term isn’t wasted on late night fourth meals and full days of playing Frisbee in the quad. Though both of those things are quite nice. I’ve thought of a few things we could all do to withstand this last stretch of classes, projects and exams. I hope it is of great use to you.

Let the competitive spirit within you come out. Being competitive can be of great use, and you can trigger those feelings of ambition and zeal towards doing well in your school work.Make a list of fun activities that you are excited to do this summer. Writing out that list should get you so pumped for hiking and star gazing and beach laying that you will want to hurry through these last projects and exams. Photo by xb3

Limit your consumption until completing x amount of pages. When my roommate is reading or writing for a class, she won’t let herself make any tea (and this girl loves tea) until she has finished a certain number of pages. Hey, it works for some people who have the self-control.

Limit fun time with friends until you have all worked hard for a period of time. When doing homework together as a group, tell yourselves that if you are satisfied with your productivity, then you will be able to go do fun things. This might help you crank through some work you’ve been putting off for a while.Make a to-do list everyday. Number each task in order of its priority compared to the other tasks, in order from the most important to the least important.Designate a rest-time during the week. By taking out this one period of time during your entire week, you won’t have the excuse to relax more than you should. Because we all should relax, we just tweak that to mean resting whenever we want. What we should do and what we want to do aren’t always the same.Have homework parties. Host it in your dorm room and tell people to bring simply two things: Food and their homework. Voila, you are socializing while being productive.Take off Friday nights. This is my personal general rule, but I recommend it to everyone else. It’s a great time to go out with friends, stay up late and not have to worry about waking up too early for class.Remember how much you are paying for tuition. If that isn’t motivating enough, I don’t know what is.Take a walk during study breaks. Regain your mental strength for a while and then come back to work feeling refreshed.Remember where your passions lie. If they are in chemical engineering and you feel like you’re in a dry season, go talk to your professors. If there is anyone who is passionate about their work, it them. And hopefully they can rub off some of that passion onto you. Photo by jurvetson

Remember how close you are to the end. And how far you’ve come this year; all that you have experienced. The end is touchable.

Set some goals outside of your work. For example, asking an old friend out to coffee, running a couple miles a day, or practicing good eating habits.Think about home cooked meals. This is self-explanatory.And your bed at home. Yes.Get 8 hours of sleep. Anything less will put you in misery in these last weeks. But then again, we’ve been doing it the whole year… So why not get 4 hours?

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