Multilingualism
I must confess having enjoyed reading this post the other day about the benefits of being bilingual and what they do for the brain. Growing up with speaking one language at home and another at school I am glad to see the benefits.
Wikipedia indicates that there are more multilingual people in our world than that there are monolingual. Surely this trend will continue as we travel more easily around the globe.
Aside from the benefits mentioned in the post above, there are also social benefits to commanding a second language. The two words, “eavesdropping” and “picking-up strangers” at the end of the post did ruffle my feathers a bit as these are activities which do not necessarily require the use of a second language.
The overall benefits of mastering a second language are clear and the sooner one is introduced to multiple languages the better.
For children it might not always be easy, yet there are fun and engaging ways to introduce them to a second language. There are many books that focus on this topic. The growing use of technology is also making this easier and more fun. Take this iPad app BoeQje for example. It is a new and interactive way to introduce children to a second language. They can learn some simple words while interacting as a large book.
Why is google bookmarks in Russian language by default
When I try to access www.google.com/bookmarks something strange happens. The entire site loads into Russian. This while my normal profile setting is in English and I am located in The Netherlands.
If I am already logged into the browser the site goes directly to all my bookmarks but everything is in Russian. If I use a browser window where I am not logged in, it still is in Russian, but at least there is the option to switch back to English. That is of course providing that you are able to recognize the word “Pусский” as meaning “Russian” and know that is where you need to select your preferred language option.
At first I was worried that my computer might have contracted some kind of digital disease. I quickly checked if the same was happening on the other computers: iPhone, Linux and Windows. On the latter two, I checked in both normal and private browsing modes. For the browsers Chrome, Firefox, Chrome and IE the results were always the same.
Verifying the certificate information seems to suggest that everything is fine and there is no redirecting going on.
I am not sure if this is due to my location, however here are the potential solutions
Not logged in
As mentioned if you are not automatically logged in, then scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the select option where it says “Pусский”, the word for “Russian” in Russian. There you will be able to select the language of your choice.
If you are already logged in you can do the following
In the address field there should be the string “https://www.google.com/bookmarks/?hl=ru“
That “ru” at the end indicates that the language is Russian. To change that to English, replace the “ru” with “en”. For French it is “fr” and Spanish it is “es”.
For English the address will now look like this ”https://www.google.com/bookmarks/?hl=en“
Other language codes can be applied by looking up the languages that google supports and using the international language shortcuts for those languages.
I hope this helps.
iPhone and Learning
Ever since I had my first iPhone I started using it more and more for learning. At first I was just listening to music and then I discovered some great podcasts. I started listening to them on regular basis and realized that I could be learning something new by listening to great podcasts such as BBC’s click and the naked scientist podcast. For entertainment I would listen to NPR’s wait wait don’t tell me. Getting stuff done that were usually not fun to do could now become a welcome break and an opportunity to learn something new.
Thinking about how this might develop, imagine one has a course to listen to that would be available on a device like this. It would not replace the normal classroom lessons that one might take to learn a subject but augment it. That alone could ensure that the subject is better understood and mastered within a shorter timespan. In addition these podcasts have the opportunity to be fun and entertaining, encouraging the learner to want to learn more.
Thanks to the iPhone I am never really bored. When I am waiting for the train I can read a book that I have downloaded and keep just to read on the go. When I am moving about the city, I listen to podcasts or a book. The kind of content depends on the amount of ambient noise around. I have to admit that if I am doing something mentally intensive I have to turn it off. On more mundane tasks it is perfect to maximize the use of my time and help me to enjoy the task more.
Audiobooks are another favorite. This is how I “read” for example, The 7 habits of highly effective people on a drive from Amsterdam to Paris. A trip that has the potential to be a 5 hour long boring drive now becomes an opportunity to do something new. I can’t wait for google’s self driving cars to become mainstream.
Sure there are other phones out there on which this is possible. The iPhone is a true enabler though. It makes the task so easy it is almost silly not to do it.
The Revolution of Online Learning
For some time now I have been monitoring the online learning space. There are many good developments in this area and they are only going to get better.
Personally I have been using many sites to augment my skills. iTunes U (iTunes University) has a wealth of knowledge that is growing everyday. What the Khan Academy is doing is simply amazing. The list goes on with others such as TED.com and the recent ed.ted.com.
Not taking advantage of these resources is not an option as I try to learn something everyday. The best thing about these sites is that the content is free, providing you have an internet connection and a computer of course.
The benefits of these lessons are immense. As Mr. Khan said, if you don’t understand you can play that section of the video again until it makes sense. You can study at your own pace and where ever you want. Generally the more quality lessons should bubble up improving the quality as more and more videos are produced. When you think about it, in class rooms so far teachers have been repeating the same material every year. No wonder it is a model that is facing difficulties. In business we are always looking for ways of optimizing production while keeping the same quality. Why can this not be true for education?
As with everything there are downsides however. Students may have questions for example but there is no one to address them to and there is no networking with the other students. The structure of the online videos could be considered somewhat fragmented, though I have to admit that the Khan Academy has solved that and others are following suit. Motivation is a key factor as well. How do you motivate children to learn something where the immediate benefit is not visible? I see games playing a role in the solution to this issue. There are ways of making education engaging and fun to the point that students will take to them automatically. We have the knowledge, the technology and the capability to do it.
