Tag: linguists

AI for Language Learners by Rich West-Soley; ChatGPT, Bing and more for your languages study

AI for Language Learners – Book Now Available!

3 Comments

It was a labour of love that happily took up most of my summer, and it’s finally out! I’m very chuffed to announce that my book AI for Language Learners is available on all Amazon stores.

 

The book is the product of months of tweaking, prodding and experimenting with emerging AI chat platforms. If you’re a Polyglossic regular, you’ll have seen some of those nascent techniques appear on the blog as I’ve developed and used them in my own learning. The blog has been a bedding ground for those first book ideas, and I’m thankful to everyone who has followed along with my own AI journey.

What we’ve come to call AI are, strictly speaking, actually large language models (LLMs). These LLMs arise from billions of words of training material – truly staggering amounts of data. The resulting super-text machines are perfect matches for subjects that benefit from a creative flair with words, and as language learners, wordplay is our currency. The book contains over 50 rich prompts for getting the absolute most out of AI’s impressive capacity for it.

The process has been huge fun. Of course, that’s thanks largely to the often unintentional humour our non-sentient friends ChatGPT, Bing and others. I try to get this across in the book, which has its fair share of lighthearted moments.

I hope you have as many smiles trying the recipes out as I did putting them together!

AI for Language Learners is available on Amazon Kindle (UK £2.99, US $2.99) or in paperback (UK £7.99, US $7.99). Even better: if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member, you can download and read it as part of your subscription.

Christmas is coming! Make it a language learning one.

Christmas Gifts for Language Lovers : 2020 Edition

Leave a comment

It’s here again! And if you’re struggling for Christmas gifts for language-loving friends (or yourself!), you’re in the right place. Let me fill you in on a couple of the more exciting goodies 2020 has to offer.

Virtual Christmas

2020 was the year that Virtual Reality became portable and affordable. And the fantastic Oculus 2 Quest headset is more than just a fancy gaming device – it has real potential for language learners.

Whether for roaming far-off locations in Wander, or adventuring in German, Japanese, Spanish or more, it’s a whole new world out there. And given the year we’ve all had, getting out and about virtually might be just what the doctor ordered.

More Books (Because… Well, Books!)

Every year, there are always a few juicy new titles out for language lovers. This year saw the expansion of the quite wonderful “Short Stories In…” series by Olly Richards, including Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. An absolute dream for Nordic nerds like me!

Even more excitingly, they are available as audiobooks from Audible, making them perfect reading and listening pairs for learners. For next year’s Christmas list, I’m asking Language Santa for versions in Greek and Polish, please…

Disney+ Subscription

Consuming media translated into our target languages has long been a favourite pastime in the polyglot community. I’ve lost count of how many fellow linguists have enjoyed the Harry Potter books in multiple translations.

Disney, too, is a frequent favourite – and who doesn’t love a cute Disney animated classic? Lucky for us, then, that Disney+ makes them available with a generous selection of foreign language soundtracks. Plenty more, in fact, than Netflix seems to offer on its range of shows.

It’s my mum’s gift to the family this year (thanks Mum!), and already I’ve been getting lost in the likes of Norwegian Aladdin, German Beauty and the Beast and more. Happy, cutesy, language Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

However you spend this year’s holiday, have a wonderful one. I’ll be spending a good chunk of the downtime on my languages, as I’m sure most of us will. Well, that, and the odd mince pie. Merry Christmas!

football

Football: beautiful game, beautiful way to learn languages?

1 Comment

As an Englishman (despite being based in Scotland), I must admit to getting a wee bit excited over the past couple of weeks. And I think I can be forgiven. It’s not incredibly often that the World Cup goes our way. You see, it’s not always about Eurovision with me – football gets a look-in, too.

It was a long time coming for me, this love of football. As a sports-shy teen, I was more interested in books than boots. But there’s something wonderfully enticing about international sports competitions – something that plays right into the hands of language lovers. Pelé’s jogo bonito (beautiful game) can be a beautiful way to switch on to languages, not least in the role model department.

Multilingual football players

Football players often get a bad rap for being overblown idols. We all know the stereotype of the precious, overpaid divas (perhaps fairly earned by a few!). But look a little closer, and there are some remarkable people hiding behind the headline-hoggers. Some of them make perfect polyglot pinups.

As a prime example, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku is a standout. With six languages – or more, if you count the fact that he is currently learning German – he earns the badge of hyperglot football star, let alone polyglot. Truly a world citizen. And Lukaku has more than that to celebrate right now, with Belgium making the final four for the football trophy this week (allez les diables!).

Breaking the stereotype

On the other hand, Brits have a pretty poor record when it comes to language learning. For whatever reason, it’s a reality language teachers are working hard to change in British schools. But with international signings going both ways, some British players, like Gary Lineker, have managed to overcome this national stereotype in the past. Modern football is anything but an exclusively anglophone field (pitch?). The message to sports-mad kids is clear: love football? Then embrace language as an integral part of that!

For an inspirational line-up, there is a handy YouTube video profiling polyglot players with four or more languages (with rather more recent examples than Gary Lineker!).

Multilingual football teams

It’s also notable how multilingual teams are the norm these days. Players drafted from all over the world must learn to communicate with each other from day one.  Just look at Tottenham Hotpur: its current squad includes speakers of Dutch, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili.

And it’s not always the case that English rules all as lingua franca. International sports sites must cater for all areas of the world, and English is not spoken by everybody. The FIFA site reflects this nicely in its language options, with material in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Russian and Spanish. The multilingual nature of sites like this make for excellent target language resources.

Football news

Similarly, it goes without saying that the World Cup is a fantastic time to access foreign language content about national teams in particular. And if you get into the football, you benefit from that boost to learning that is personal interest. Learners are much more likely to stick with texts that contain exciting, valuable info, rather than those with little relevance to their lives.

Most media outlets will have dedicated World Cup mini-sites, like this section from French newspaper Le Monde. ‘Unofficial’ news sources such as this YouTube channel on football in Spanish can also be great stretch goals for comprehension.

So, football can be a wonderful way in to the world of language learning, whether you need resources, or just some new, inspirational role models. Could it be what you, your language buddies and colleagues, your kids or your students need to spark the passion? With a week of the World Cup to go, milk the multilingual excitement for all it offers!

Finally, best of luck to Belgium, Croatia, England and France next week… With perhaps an understandable, healthy and sportsmanlike bias towards England on the part of this proud, international linguist!

Edinburgh Castle is a stunning backdrop to the Edinburgh Fringe each August (EdFringe)

Edinburgh Fringe for Language Lovers: Shows for Linguists!

1 Comment

Edinburgh Fringe has filled the streets of Scotland’s capital for another colourful August. There are literally thousands of shows available to see. The sheer number of them means that there is bound to be something of interest to everyone. And that includes linguists!

After trawling through the masses on offer, here are some promising-sounding events for students / teachers / fans of languages. Inevitably, it’s the ‘mainstream’ languages of French, German and Spanish that crop up most. But amongst them, there are shows that will appeal to non-speakers, too. And that’s a great excuse to take along a friend or two to spread the language love!

French

The festival can’t get enough of Piaf this year. There are at least five cabaret shows featuring chansons from the renowned songstress! They include:

If you prefer your music folksy, then a set from Les Poules à Coulin looks like a good bet. For dance / physical theatre with a French slant, check out “La Maladie de la Mort d’Après Marguerite Duras”. Check the website, though, as some performances may be in English translation.

Something that really captures the imagination is a bilingual puppetry and storytelling event in French. “The Wonderful World of Lapin” looks like a particularly cute way to introduce the little ones to a bit of français. Most likely, quite a few big ‘uns would also find it magical!

German

German is a little under-represented compared to French (keine Überraschung, sadly!). However, there are a couple of interesting listings that might be worth a punt.

Absurdist theatre your bag? Well, there’s a show for you, performed in German with some English explanations. “Leere Zeit – Idle Time” is on at theSpace on the Mile, a venue that promises a global aspect to its line-up.

For some more classical, musical entertainment, you can enjoy Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos in the church setting of Broughton St Mary’s.

Spanish

As ubiquitous as Piaf is for French, you can’t seem to get away from Flamenco at this year’s Fringe. There are three shows that feature the quintessential Spanish musical / dance style:

The poetry of Lorca takes centre stage at “Frost and Lorca”. The event features artwork by Sir Terry Frost, inspired by the Spanish writer; the presentation is in Spanish and English, so should be suitable for non-hispanist friends!

And for a proper melting pot of storytelling, try “Mimi’s Suitcase”, which blends English, Spanish and Persian to explore themes of identity and displacement.

Even the good old Edinburgh Ghost Tour gets the Spanish treatment this year. “Tour de fantasmas en español” sounds like a fun way to get a stock Edinburgh tourist tick and practise español at the same time!

Russian

Although it’s chiefly English-language comedy, Abi Robert’s show Anglichanka (Englishwoman) is worth a mention. Abi spent considerable time in Russia, and weaves her many tall tales into a wonderfully hilarious hour of laughter. I caught her performing a similar show at my very first Edinburgh Fringe (quite) some years ago, and it’s great to see her back at the festival with more of that hugely funny format!

Culture (without the language)

As well as the above shows, there are hundreds more without a specific language hook, but of cultural interest to linguaphiles. Russia is under the spotlight in several satirical / topical shows, for example.

Less controversially, Russian classical music is on the programme at a number of concerts. Scottish Sinfonia’s line-up sounds like quite a treat. Likewise, you can learn about imagined lives in Russia at theatre events like “The Girl Who Loved Stalin”.

If the aim is to steep yourself in the culture of Russia (or many other target language cultures), then there is a wealth of choice.

Edinburgh Fringe: take a punt

I’ve always found that the best way to enjoy the Fringe is to take a risk. With shows priced so reasonably, you can easily try something you wouldn’t normally see. Thought you hated Piaf? Give her a chance at one of the several shows on offer. Irritated by flamenco? Then give the Scottish twist on it a chance! Personally, the German absurdist theatre tempts the risk-taker in me. It could be worth a shot! And if not, then at least it gets me out of the house for an hour or two…

Have you managed to catch any of the shows above? Are there any others that you’d recommend? Please share in the comments below!