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/2015

Bilingual people twice as likely to recover from a stroke

November 20th, 2015|Tags: |

Researchers say these studies suggest the mental challenge of speaking more than one language can boost cognitive reserve – an improved ability of the brain to cope with damaging influences such as stroke or dementia.

The difference a language can make

November 19th, 2015|Tags: |

Delicious food at Caraffini's - but book first! I went for a lunch with a friend in a lovely Italian restaurant called Caraffini's, just by Sloane Square in London. Terrific Italian food - served by genuinely Italian staff. At the end of the meal I asked for the bill in Italian...what a reaction! Suddenly the waiter smiled, the owner of the restaurant came over to ask how I knew Italian. I explained I am learning and and that my wife is Italian...we chatted for a while. Suddenly I wasn't a customer - I was a friend [...]

Infusing Fun into Learning a Language: The Benefits of Playing Games

June 20th, 2015|Tags: , , , |

Turning language into a game So you’ve decided to learn a second (or third!) language, and you’re thinking about how to improve your skills. Like anyone learning a foreign language, you want to get better as quickly as possible. Does this mean you’ll have to cancel your weekend plans with your friends because you’ll be paging through textbooks all night until the library closes? Does this mean you’re doomed to lonely nights locked in your room studying lists of vocabulary? Nope. Not only does this not have to be your life, but it actually shouldn’t [...]

The building blocks of language a learning

June 19th, 2015|

There are good ways and bad ways of learning a second language. Bad ways? Learning words from lists and learning phrase by rote. If you learn in this way you'll strait jacket your learning. Good ways? What you really need is to use words as building blocks i.e. get practice at making lots of different sentences with those words and then speak out loud. In this way your ability to express yourself grows exponentially. KLOO uses this approach. And because we use this approach you can learn how to make millions of sentences (yes millions) with one deck [...]

Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street…and learning a second language

June 16th, 2015|Tags: , , |

Summer Holidays are coming! Tune into the language People find learning a language difficult...and some say that the best way to learn a language is through total immersion. I don't think many people would argue with that except it's difficult to arrange and somewhat costly - most of us cannot just up sticks and go to Italy for 2 months (I wish)! But many of us are going on hols - for a week or two abroad. This is when we can immerse ourselves in the language. We are surrounded by foreign signs, menus, and people! So [...]

Can you teach a foreign language, when you can’t speak it yourself?

June 12th, 2015|Tags: , , |

Lessons in KLOO for kids and adults ABSOLUTELY How so? Because it happens with KLOO every day. Teachers use KLOO in their classes even if they themselves don't speak the language. As it's an auto-answering game (a game that answers the questions it poses), players learn without needing the teacher's intervention. In no time at all players will be able to: Build their vocabulary through Discovery Learning Make foreign sentences in under one minute Start playing - even if they are absolute beginners Have a lots of fun Speak the language out loud More and more schools are [...]

Relax! The stress free way to learn a second language

May 31st, 2015|Tags: , |

Adults worry about the grammar, their accent, vocabulary and making a fool of themselves. Getting the language wrong is embarrassing (in their own minds). So they set about trying to learn the language as if it's a machine. They learn all the words from lists and learn phrases by rote. And so they stay in their comfort zones and their language learning stops at stock set phrases. What a shame.

KLOO – Don’t leave home with out it!

April 26th, 2015|Tags: , , , |

I am starting to think about holidays and booking somewhere on the continent. Usually we go to Italy (my wife is Italian) - but I am thinking maybe France this year - or Spain? When I was a kid (admittedly some years ago) Seve Ballasteros, the great Spanish golfer, used to urge holiday makers to not go on their travels without packing their American Express card. I always remember the strapline "Don't leave home without it". He said it in a strong Spanish accent - lovely. Obviously a powerful strapline if I recall it all these years [...]

Am I fluent at languages? No

April 23rd, 2015|

Not being fluent was an advantage when designing KLOO As the inventor of KLOO, I am frequently asked whether I am fluent in languages. Alas no. The presumption is that I must be fluent in some languages in order to have created KLOO.  In reality, not being fluent and having a poor experience of learning languages was an advantage when it came to designing a game, because I knew what issues I wanted to fix. At school I was not particularly good at languages - French and German were my weakest subjects!...I found languages difficult and confusing - and they were not my favourite subjects. [...]

A New Year’s Approach to learning a language

January 15th, 2015|

New Year and a Fresh Approach to Learning a Language. Yes you can! The New Year is always a good time to take stock. What can we do differently? What can we do better? It’s true of life generally – and true of learning a language. There are always improvements we can make that will make the way we learn more enjoyable – more effective. And it can be easy! A little time thinking about ways to improve can pay off all year round. What do you want to achieve? Every year learning a language is one [...]

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