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Multitasking - Does it actually work?

9/10/2015

You probably think you can multitask; maybe you talk on the phone while you do your homework, or text while you drive (please don't!!!). Scientific studies have shown that multitasking is not actually possible. What actually happens is that we switch our attention rapidly between those tasks, and we miss what happens in the milliseconds in between. If you're reading a book and listening to music, that's okay. Driving and texting though? That is as dangerous as driving drunk, say most experts.

See these articles for more info:

Why Multitasking Isn't Efficient - WebMD
The Myth of Multitasking - Brainworld Magazine
Encyclopedia of Educational Technology - Multitasking
Human Performance - Predictors of Multitasking Performance

The bottom line is that the experts are now in agreement that multitasking doesn't really work. So what should you do?

Try focusing on one thing for about 15 - 30 minutes, then giving yourself a short break, a reward, or switching to another task. Even moving to another location 2 - 3 times an hour will help you get more done and stay focused.

Adding some music (especially music with little or no lyrics) can also be helpful to set a mood for studying and doing homework.

Here are a few songs and sites I enjoy listening to while I study or work on homework:
ATB - Beautiful Worlds
Nujabes - Aruaurian Dance (Homework Mix)
Aersia - A miscellaneous video game music playlist
Aersia Mellow - Light rain + soothing video game soundtracks
Emancipator - Ocelot
Emancipator - With Rainy Eyes (Extended 1hr Edit)
Ibiza - Trance progressive, non-vocal Good for focusing on work that requires some thinking, language
Melodic dubstep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6j8fuvQICI Good for working on semi-cognitive but fairly boring stuff
Incredible Vocal Trance June 2013 Mix 2 Pretty good for spreadsheet editing or other repetitive tasks, fairly non-disruptive

...or if those aren't your style, try searching YouTube for things like "homework playlist", "concentration playlist", "study playlist", etc.
Of course you could always build your own playlist of songs that help you focus better, and even customize it for the type of work you need to do (e.g., songs to get you pumped, songs to help you stay on task, songs to promote creativity, etc.)

Tools for making interesting presentations and animations

9/8/2015

PowToon: http://www.powtoon.com/ (Free account required, online)
Garry's Mod: www.garrysmod.com (Paid, Windows/Mac, $9.99)
Wideo: http://wideo.co/ (Free account required, online)
Moovly: http://www.moovly.com/ (Free account required, online)
Creaza: http://www.creazaeducation.com/this-is-creaza/Cartoonist (Free account required, online)
Prezi: http://prezi.com/ (Free account required, online)
ToonDoo: http://www.toondoo.com/ (Free account required, online)
GoAnimate.com: http://goanimate.com/videomaker (Paid/free trial, online)

If you have other ideas, please share so I can add them to the list!
Let me know if links are not working so I can update them.

How To Make Your Life Miserable Learning Languages

9/7/2015

I found an article that I think a few of my students really, REALLY need to read. It contains a list of some of the best ways to make you HATE studying a foreign language. Basically, if you're doing any of the following things, you're gonna have a bad time:

Looking up every single word in the dictionary
Memorizing long lists of words or dialogues, word for word
Waiting until you make absolutely no mistakes before speaking
Reminding yourself of how hard and boring learning a language is
Making sure to learn every single grammatical rule there is out there
Only studying to pass exams
Never trying different ways of learning

I'm sure you can see, this is a great way of taking something that can be inspiring, fun, and confidence-boosting and instead making yourself miserable enough to hate the language you're learning. 'Cuz, y'know... that's a GREAT idea, right?

Seriously though, check out the article at this link and see why that list is basically ... terrible.
Here's to hoping your language learning stays challenging, personally relevant, and FUN!

Ever see those giant Aztec carvings at Chipotle? They're kinda accurate...

11/10/2014

This fascinating info was taken from this blog post! (courtesy of LanguageJones.com).

In college, I studied how to read/interpret the symbols in the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a Mixteca document. Among other things I learned, one of the more important facts was that the languages of Pre-Columbus Mesoamerica were incredibly diverse, and that most of the written systems are still only partially deciphered. For a lot of it, we have incomplete guesswork. I learned about the specific languages used in that specific document, but by no means can I read Mayan or Aztec.

It's also important to note that Mayan and Aztec are NOT the same thing. The word "Chipotle" comes from the Nahuatl language, which is basically the Aztec language spoken in central Mexico at the time the Europeans came over. Mayan languages, on the other hand, come from Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula. The symbols in this photo, taken at a Chipotle restaurant, are Mayan.

You might think that shows just how inauthentic the art actually is, but in a fascinating twist, they're actually pretty accurate tributes to Palenque's Temple 18, with some artistic license. An expert even translated the blocks, which appear to have been slapped in random order. Here's the cut & pasted Mayan translated, just keep in mind each block is like a chunk of a sentence taken out of context:

u-K'AM-ma-K'AJAN?-ch'o-ko "the youth's rope-taking" (a ceremony)
u-TZ'AK-AJ "its count" (calendric information)
WAX-YAX-SIHOOM-ma "6 Yax" (part of a date)
chu-lu-ku-? (Chuluk was a pre-accession name of the king)
i-K'A'-yi "his ... stopped" (a death verb, here referring to the king's father)
TIWOL Chan Mat (the father of the king)
mu-ka-ja "he was buried" (again referring to the father)
u?-na-ta-lal "the first"? (ordinal title?)
MO'-na-bi (part of the name of the king)

Hack Your Memory With The Zeigarnik Effect

10/22/2014

Ever get a song stuck in your head because you didn't catch the ending? Your brain's tendency to loop incomplete ideas can be harnessed for productivity. Check out this link.

What's the one part of language learning you just can't fake, skip, or simplify?

9/13/2014

Reading? Nah, you can skim and guess, work your way through with a dictionary, determine meaning by context, and so on.
Speaking? You can always just keep your comments simple, practice and memorize speeches and useful phrases. Hard, but possible.
Writing? If you take your time, work your way through what you mean to say, and stick to vocab you know, you can do it.
Listening? Hmmm...

This blog post (WARNING: The author uses some profanity) discusses why listening is so hard, and what you can do to get better at it.

In summary, he says that "The only way we train our ears to distinguish sounds in foreign speech is by lots and lots of exposure. Listen, listen and listen some more. And this takes time." So what's the solution, besides time? Increase your own exposure, and control the level of repetition. You can do this by:

   Take a good movie in the language you’re learning and find a short scene that you like. Make sure it’s a short, clear dialogue.
If you can get the subtitles for it and do what I mentioned here with a flashcard app like Anki then it’s even better.
    Use a free program like Audacity to record the scene to an audio file (you can set Audacity to not record from the microphone but rather from the speaker output). If you’re not the technical type and have no clue how to do this, you can easily just use a voice memo app on your smart phone by holding it up to the speakers and hitting the record button.
    Now you’ve got your favorite foreign movie scene for easy listening while you’re driving, walking or doing the house chores.
Listen to it as repetitively as you would a song – dozens and even hundreds of times. If you find it hard to make out certain words, try using Audacity to slow down the speed of the sound file so you can hear it better.
    You’ll notice that the more you do this, the more the individual sounds become clear instead of just being one long string of mishmashed sound that you can’t understand. Remember that spoken sentences are made up of lots of individual words but they sound like one big connected sound to an untrained ear. It’s up to us to be able to spot the gaps and identify those individual words.

One more thing: becoming a better listener and becoming a better speaker are connected. Want to become a better listener? Speak more. Want to become a better speaker? Practice listening.

Feel free to share your experiences or tips in the comments. Good luck with your practice and study!

11 Weeks with No English: Learning a language by immersion

12/13/2013

You can learn so much about speaking another language if you're willing to give up English for a while. These guys decided to learn Spanish by spending 11 weeks in Valencia, Spain. At the time I write this, they've finished the first stop on their trip and have moved on to Brazil to learn Portuguese, then Taiwan and Korea to learn Chinese and Korean.
So how much did they learn in 11 weeks? Check out the video, and watch as they progress. In the first couple of weeks, they struggle to say things like "Silvia ......uh..... my ..... to me ...... to me...... uh..... se..... se ..... sent...... sented to me ..... a message .......... that ....... they're going ...... to ..... the beach...... uh......... tomorrow." Not long after, they rapidly acquire enough vocabulary to discuss the level of realism in the science of the movie "Gravity", and explain how confused they used to feel during the first few weeks. They say that they learned more from spending time with friends than from the few classes they attended. My challenge to you is to take the plunge: stop using English in class. Try to function completely in Spanish. Look for every opportunity outside of class to use Spanish. Listen to Spanish-language music, read in Spanish, watch movies and TV in Spanis

Planning on wasting some time on the interwebs? Do it in Spanish!

11/5/2013

Bored? Planning on killing some time online? Many popular websites have Spanish versions of content you may already be reading.

Check out http://www.buzzfeed.com/espanol for some lolcats, celebrity news, etc. Leave comments of any other sites you find -- share what you use with others!

Theories of learning: Which one best matches the way YOU learn?

11/4/2013

I often ask myself "What's the best way to teach (insert concept here)?"

Unfortunately, every method for teaching something tends to work well for some people, but not others. Educational experts disagree on the best way to teach and learn, and have organized their arguments into theories of learning.

Look at these major theories; which seems to make the most sense for you? Do you like to listen to a teacher explain something until you understand it? Do you prefer to experiment and find your own understanding of a topic? Or do you prefer analyzing patterns until you can explain how something works?

this is just a small section of the image - click here to see the fully detailed infographic. Feel free to comment.

Noche de Brujas

10/10/2013

Did you know that Halloween is celebrated outside the United States? In many Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and parts of Central America, it is celebrated on October 31st.
Even in Spanish, it is often referred to as "Halloween", but also goes by the names Noche de Brujas (Night of Witches) or Noche de Difuntos (Night of the Deceased). Although it is generally considered a secular (or, non-religiously affiliated) celebration, it is followed by the cultural and religious celebration of "Día de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) on November 1st in many countries.

HERE is a fantastic resource if you want to go see some Día de los Muertos festivities right here in Southern California.

Below is a fun gallery of Halloween costumes I've done in the last few years. Enjoy!