Solving Inequalities With Absolute Value

Solving Inequalities With Absolute Value Absolute value of any number whether its negative or positive represents only its positive version. Absolute value is actually the distance of the number from the center and is denoted by | |(modulus sign). Hence absolute value is never negative. Absolute value is the magnitude of the number not the sign. Absolute value equation contains the variables and numbers with the absolute value sign in it. Example 1: Solve for the variable x in the inequality | 5x | 25? Solution: Given is the equation |5x| 25. Here the unknown variable which needs to be solved for is x. First step: The absolute value gives two cases; 5x 25; 5x -25. Dividing by 5 on both sides of the given equation. (5x)/ 5 25/5; (5x)/ 5 -25/ 5. This gives x 5; x -5. Hence the solution contains two intervals x 5 and x -5. Example 2: Solve for the variable x in the inequality | 2x + 4| 24? Solution: Given is the equation |2x + 4| 24. Here the unknown variable which needs to be solved for is x. First step: The absolute value gives two cases; 2x + 4 24; 2x + 4 -24. Subtracting 4 on both sides. 2x 20; 2x -28. Dividing by 2 on both sides of the given equation, x 20/2; x -28/2. This gives x 10; x -14. Hence the solution contains two intervals x 10 and x -14.

Latin Declensions Our Memorising Tips

Latin Declensions Our Memorising Tips How to Learn the Latin Declensions ChaptersWhat Are the Latin declensions?Latin Declensions: Learn Using Multiple IntelligencesMemorizing Techniques to Learn the Latin DeclensionsLatin Declensions: Doing Exercises to Boost MemoryLatin Declensions: Study with a Private Tutor!Latin can be complicated for beginners learning the language. Latin grammar is not necessarily obvious, especially because Latin nouns can be quite problematic.In fact, all nouns correspond to a Latin declension according to their position in the sentence. Learning Latin, therefore, requires you to memorise all the Latin declensions and cases.Don't fret, Superprof is here to give you some tips to help you remember these pesky grammar rules!For the masculine or feminine parisyllabic nouns, the example used is civis, civis, m (citizen):CaseSingularPluralNominativeCivisCivesVocativeCivisCivesAccusativeCivemCivesGenitiveCivisCiviumDativeCivisCivibusAblativeCiveCivibusFor neutral parisyllabic nouns, the example is mare, maris, n (sea):CaseSingularPlural NominativeMareMariaVocativeMareMariaAccusativeMareMariaGenitiveMarisMariumDativeMariMaribusAblativeMariMaribusFor the imparisyllabic masculine or feminine nouns, the example we've used is consul, consulis, m (consul):CaseSingularPluralNominativeConsulConsulesVocativeConsulConsulesAccusativeConsulemConsulesGenitiveConsulisConsulumDativeConsuliConsulibusAblativeConsuleConsulibusFor neutral imparisyllabic nouns, the example is corpus, corporis, n (body):CaseSingularPluralNominativeCorpusCorporaVocativeCorpusCorporaAccusativeCorpusCorporaGenitiveCorporisCorporumDativeCorporiCorporibusAblativeCorporeCorporibusFor the fourth declension, masculine or feminine, we will use manus, us, f (hand) as an example:CaseSingularPluralNominativeManusManusVocativeManusManusAccusativeManumManusGenitiveManusManuumDativeManuiManibusAlbativeManuManibusFor the fourth  declension for neutral nouns, we will use cornu, us, n (horn):CaseSingularPluralNominativeCornuCornuaVocativeCornuCornuaAccusativeCornuCornua GenitiveCornusCornuumDativeCornuiCornibusAblativeCornuCornibusAs for the fifth declension, there are only feminine nouns, with the exception of dies, ei, m (day) but which is also feminine when it means the date. We will use the example of res, rei, f (thing):CaseSingularFeminineNominativeResResVocativeResResAccusativeRemResGenitiveReiRerumDativeReiRebusAblativeReRebusYou can easily find all the Latin declensions in an English-Latin dictionary like the Oxford Latin Dictionary or even online.Latin Declensions: Learn Using Multiple IntelligencesMaking a colour-coded diagram can help you remember the declensions. Source: Visual HuntThe theory of multiple intelligences was explained by the psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983 and later developed in 1993.This theory is a tool used in educational science to allow every student to flourish, to learn to how to learn and help them think differently about their education.He suggests that there are several types of intelligence:Linguistic: the ability to use language to understand others and express what we think. In terms of Latin and the declensions, it may mean we comment on what we see and express what we think of declensions to memorise them better and simplify learning,Logical-mathematical: the ability to manipulate numbers and problem solve. By making diagrams of the declensions, pupils can appropriate them and retain them better,Spatial: the ability to find one's way and establish relationships between objects in space. Making colourful drawing can allow students to make the declensions more tangible and thus memorise them more easily.These first three types of intelligence are the ones most used in schools to help students memorise an abstract topic. Each student then gradually discovers which intelligence is most effective for them.There are also other strands of intelligence described by this theory that may prove useful to some students:Intra-personal: the faithful and realistic self-representation and proper use in everyday life,Interpersonal: the ability to understand others and anticipate behaviour,Body-kinesthetic: using your body to express an idea or carry out a given physical activity,Musical: the ability to perceive and create rhythms and sounds. This can be useful when learning declensions, you'll soon see why!Naturalist: understanding your environment and having awareness of living things,Existential (spiritual): the ability to question the origin and meaning of things.Test your knowledge of Latin history and culture by identifying these 20 quotes!Sing along to the video then before you know it you'll be singing it in the shower!To learn the declensions, a father and son created their own lyrics set to the music of Get Lucky by Daft Punk:Have you tried using any familiar tunes that you've come up with yourself? If not, use well known tunes like nursery rhymes you learned as a child or even your favourite pop song to help you learn.Discover also the history and evolution of the Latin alphabet...Latin Declensions: Doing Exercises to Boost MemoryAfter you've learned the declensions and you think you know all of them by heart, test yourself with Latin exercises. You will find tons of these on the internet which will allow you to read Latin texts to enrich your Latin vocabulary, improve your Latin syntax, but most importantly, make sure you know your declensions.On the website latinedisce.net, you can browse through basic Latin-English dictionary as well as do exercises and tests to practise Latin vocabulary, the verbs and declensions.Another great resource for Latin games and quizzes is latinteach.com which is a fun learning website for all levels. Learn through flashcards, crosswords, games and puzzles to master latin grammar.Do you know about Latin's linguistic legacy?Latin Declensions: Study with a Private Tutor!Traveling to Rome? You'll be able to understand all the engravings! Source: Visual HuntIf  you get stuck and find learning Latin a real ordeal, yo u should consider taking private Latin lessons for beginners.A private teacher is there just for you and to meet your needs as a student. If your difficulties come from learning the declensions, a tutor will have a range of learning techniques to help you memorise them.Learning Latin with a private teacher is usually more motivating too. You will have goals to reach every week and you have no excuses not to do the work. Generally, you will not want to disappoint your teacher, who you can form a relationship with and who is likely to be much more interesting than your Latin teacher at school!On Superprof, there are tons of Latin teachers offering lessons for all levels, as well as thousands of other teachers in all Latin languages. They each have a different experience, from retired teachers to classical literature students to passionate mythology, ancient Greek and Latin students.A private class doesn't have to break the bank! With Superprof, Latin prices start at around fifteen pou nds. Of course, it depends on your level, your location and the teacher's experience. A beginners class will definitely cost less than a college course in Latin anyway!So, are you ready to test yourself on the Latin declensions?Now find the answers to all of your questions about the Latin language...

Useful English Expressions with the Word THING - Speak Fluent English

Useful English Expressions with the Word THING - Speak Fluent English I covered this recently in a lesson with my students. You might be interested in reading about it or  refreshing your memory about the topic. The following are useful English expressions with the word THING.THING is often a word we use when we are stuck for (cannot remember) another more appropriate  word or we do not actually know what this THING is really called. For example, you often hear Pass  me that thing over there!! or Could you pass me that thing, you know the thing for opening this  bottle! So THING has many uses and people always seem to know what we are referring to.However, THING is also used in many English expressions with real meaning. Here are some of those  uses with examples. Useful English Expressions with the Word THING A THING OF THE PASTWe use this to describe something no longer in use or that is outdated.ex. The fax  machine is a thing of the past. Who uses them today? The typewriter is a thing of the past. Everyone  uses a word processor.TO HAVE A THING FOR SOMETHING (SOMEBODY)We use this expression when we remembersomething or somebody we really liked or enjoyed or still enjoy today.ex. When I was young I had a  thing for postage stamps and I had a huge collection. As I got older I lost interest. He has a thing for  Julia Roberts the actress. He really thinks she is beautiful and watches all her movies.JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGSWhen we cannot explain something fully but know it is an issue then we often use this expression. For example, if someone is trying to explain why he likes or dislikes something without being able to give a specific reason then you will hear them say ah its just one of those things”.ex. Why do you not like going on a rollercoaster? Are you afraid? No, not really I can not  explain it. It is just one of those things. Do you not like travelling on trains? Why? Is it the noise or the movement from side to side. I don’t really know it is just one of those things.ONE THING LED TO ANOTHERWhen a series of events take place resulting in an action then we can say.one thing led to another… ex. Why are you home so late? And you are a little drunk! I know, I am sorry. I met my old school friend we got talking then had a beer. Then one thing led to another and we decided to have a few more! English Collocations with THING Enjoyed this infographic? Here’s what you can do next: THE IN- THINGFashions come and go and come again or so it seems. When something is in fashion we  say it is the in- thing! So at the moment a particular hairstyle or a particular style or design of  clothes will be the in-thing.ex. Hi how are you? Wow, I love the shoes. Where did you get them? They were my Mum’s they are the in thing these days all the 70’s clothes are back in fashion.FOR ONE THINGA very popular way to give a reason or reasons why we like or dislike someone or  something.ex. Are you going to the match on Sunday ? No, for one thing the tickets will be a crazy price and I think I have to work as well.ITS A GOOD THING THATWe use this expression in situations where we are fortunate or lucky that we did something without really thinking about it.ex. Oh dear its raining really heavy outside. Well it’s a  good thing that I brought the umbrella! It’s a good thing we left early for the airport. The traffic is  terrible there must have been an accident.Now you know most of useful Englsh expressions with the word THING. And you know what we mean when we ask you to pass that THING over there!Check out my packages of Skype English lessons. My English lessons over Skype will give you an excellent opportunity to improve your English language skills in efficient and affordable way.

Focused Training The Key to Building Academic Skills and Improving your IQ

Focused Training The Key to Building Academic Skills and Improving your IQ Improving Academic Performance Over the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and a fair amount of writing on this blog, around what truly drives academic performance. One of my favorite (and most important) insights has been that IQ, or natural intelligence, is far less important than people assume it to be. This article considers that insight from a different angle, and introduces an interesting new book about how it may be possible to improve your IQ through targeted training. Put succinctly, it appears that although IQ is less important than most people think in determining how one performs in school, it obviously still matters. However, it turns out that IQ itself is something that can be improved with practice, just as academic skills are built through sustained effort and deliberate practice. What matters more? Effort or IQ? Or Strategy? I think it’s safe, for the purposes of this discussion, to consider “intelligence” or “natural talent” or “IQ” as fundamentally very similar ideas. They are, in theory, all unchangeable traits that you are either born with or not born with. The average person seems to believe that, for example, there are math people, who probably have a very high IQ, who have a natural talent for math. These people are the ones who do very well in high school mathematics, end up in Calculus classes in high school, and are far more likely to become mathematics majors and then mathematics PhDs, or professional actuaries, etc. But, the general theme that seems to be emerging from lots of recent research, contrary to what the average person might still think is true, is that IQ or talent might matter, but other concepts related to how much and how we practice are more important in determining whether you are successful. In other words, how much and how we practice (i.e., do you engage in deliberate practice when studying?) intersects with our natural intelligence to determine how well we perform or how “good we are” at something. The evidence that specific types of hard work and approaches to learning might matter more than talent or IQ seems to be mounting. Carol Dweck teaches us that simply having a growth mindset, meaning you think about your intelligence as something malleable, not something fixed, makes it significantly more likely that you’ll excel in school, because you’ll keep an open mind and keep trying to learn new things. Angela Duckworth introduces us to the importance of grit and plain old-fashioned perseverance in determining who succeeds academically. She has developed a grit score where you can measure your personal level of grittiness. Barbara Oakley’s book “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science” offers strategies for how to engage in math and science in new ways to increase your chances of efficiently learning new material. She writes about how to progressively turn ideas into chunks or groups of larger ideas (and thus become better at recalling and manipulating them), why conducting frequent “mini tests” is important, and how to take notes by summarizing concepts vs. copying what you hear verbatim. The Mathematics PhD teaching you Calculus during your freshman year of high school might find mathematics easy and intuitive, but he might not. He may have studied very hard and in the right ways, sticking with problems for a long time until he understood them, and constantly challenging himself, such that over time, his mathematics skills grew far beyond what the average person could imagine is achievable without some sort of special gift. All that really exists are mathematics skills, which are acquired through practice. Natural math “talent” doesn’t really exist. For example, Cal Newport, an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University with a PhD from MIT, runs a blog for high school and college students called Study Hacks. In it, he notes that he personally took AB Calculus AB during his senior year of high school, struggled a little bit, and earned a “4” on the AP AB Calculus exam. The highest AP exam for Calculus is called BC Calculus, and the top score is a 5. Some high performing high school students take BC Calculus during their junior year, score a 5, and then take more advanced mathematics classes at local colleges during their senior year of high school. But there’s Cal, taking AB Calc, earning a 4, and then going on to earn a PhD in Computer Science from MIT. I might direct you to this previous article we wrote about whether effort or IQ matters more. In it, we discuss a formula that involves talent, skill, and effort. The gist is that even if natural talent exists, it gets combined with effort to determine your skill. And then your performance in a class is determined by your skill and the amount of effort you put forth. Because effort shows up twice in this story, it can be thought of as mattering twice as much as talent or IQ. Finally, across all disciplines, including academic ones, I further believe that employing strategies is critical to being successful. Employing a strategy simply means you set a goal, and consciously choose what to do, and what not to do, in your quest to reach that goal. All that said, IQ still matters. It’s obviously an important factor in determining academic success. But all of the above does make you wonder. Has the pendulum swung perhaps too far in one direction? Sure, hard work, persistence, and specific study habits can lead to success in math and science. But I’ve personally never thought that pure intelligence or “IQ” wasn’t important. I don’t believe it’s the most important factor, but it’s an important factor, in determining who does well in school. Mathematics skills might be something you acquire through practice, and the harder you work and the more you practice, the more mathematics skills you’ll acquire. That said, doesn’t it make sense that the higher your natural propensity for learning, the higher your fluid intelligence and IQ, the easier it will be to build math skills (or skills in any other academic subject)? In other words, the higher your IQ, the more you’ll learn in any given hour of studying â€" meaning the more likely it will be that you’ll achieve a particularly high level of skill in a given subjec t? IQ may not be fixed. It can likely be improved. In Smarter, The New Science of Building Brain Power, Dan Hurley suggests we’ve gone too far in minimizing the importance of IQ or intelligence (another common term and synonym to IQ is “fluid intelligence” or the capacity to reason and solve problems, independent of any prior knowledge.) However, the main theme of his book is that, just as one can adopt a certain mindset, practice deliberately, and have grit to succeed academically, one can also take steps to improve their IQ or fluid intelligence. In other words, IQ matters. It might matter a lot. But, it isn’t fixed. With hard work, it too can be improved. In his book, Hurley discusses how, up until 2007 or so, most academic researchers agreed strongly with the prevailing societal belief that IQ was a fixed trait that could be measured. Around that time, however, research started to emerge that performance on tests of fluid intelligence could be improved over time through training of various sorts. Hurley goes through a fair amount of science behind how fluid intelligence operates. But most interestingly, he reviews the various strategies and tools that can be employed to improve your IQ. Some of the strategies he reviews are what one might call “direct” braining training tactics that involved paying attention to numbers or images and identifying patterns and following movements of images on a screen. These strategies seem like ways to directly improve your cognitive function. Others are more “indirect” and involve, for example, getting more exercise, eating better, or learning a musical instrument. Hurley discusses and reviews the following strategies, which, to one degree or another, scientific evidence suggests can improve your IQ (the book discuss the science in detail of each strategy below): Online brain training from Lumosity In-person brain training from Learning RX Common activities most people recognize as generally healthy anyway but which also appear to improve IQ: Regular exercise Eating right Sleeping enough Practicing mindfulness meditation Learning a musical instrument Taking certain drugs In the book, Hurley shows how, by reviewing the above strategies and choosing to adopt those that appeared most promising, he improved his IQ by an impressive 16%. Summary There is strong evidence that performance in most academic subjects is within your control. A growth mindset, hard work, deliberate practice, specific learning strategies, and substantial grit can, certainly when combined, overcome an average or below average IQ. But interestingly, your IQ can actually be improved directly through targeted training. To learn more about how and why that’s true, you can check out Hurley’s book.

6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner

6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner 6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner Twitter.It sounds innocent enough.But the staggering view from your timeline will show you its anything but.And regular use will have you so addicted  youll soon be checking it from the remotest areas where you can get service.If youve been paying attention for the last few years, you know that Twitter can accomplish unimaginable things. It can change the world!And make no mistake, Twitter is a one-of-a-kind tool that language learners everywhere can use to achieve fluency.In this post, well look into techniques that language learners like you can use to make the most out of the platform.So get ready to transform those simple tweets into serious learning! What Makes Twitter Perfect for Language Learners?Its short-form.With only 140 characters a tweet, the platform was virtually made for language learners. Even when the limit was doubled to 280 characters in 2017, the average tweet length, according to CEO Jack Dorsey, remained the same.Twitter is short and simple enough that langua ge learners are able to study and mine tweets for language gems. Its bite-sized nature makes it very digestible. It lives right in that vocabulary sweet-spot where you have just enough context to make out what words might mean in a foreign language.Everybodys already there.The language learning website youre subscribed to is probably on Twitter. The language teachers and target-language vloggers whose YouTube videos you love probably also have Twitter accounts. They might even be dishing out unique content there. Everybody, including regular native speakers who have some very interesting things to say, is available for the Follow.Youll not run out of language material on this platform. Many people are tweeting daily. Active users are tweeting multiple times a day. What you get is authentic material that mirrors how native speakers actually use their language. Very often, how people tweet is also how they would speak in real life.Plus, you get material thats fresh and relevant to the news or trending topics of the day.Its multimedia.What began as a text-based phenomenon has exploded into a multimedia domain. Twitter isnt just a place to post your thoughts as text. You can also post images, GIFs, podcasts and videos. You can practically link to any content from anywhere on the internet.And if you follow the right people, your feed will be fat with multimedia goodies that are a language learners dream. On Twitter, you have the best of all worlds, linguistically speaking. You have the most interesting stories curated by a community of users all in a language that youre learning.This makes it a great tool to use with FluentU. FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons.With FluentU, you hear languages in real-world contextsâ€"the way that native speakers actually use them.Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of FluentU videos on offer:FluentU really tak es the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It’s already hand-picked the best videos for you and organized them by level and topic. All you have to do is choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started!Each word in the interactive captions comes with a definition, audio, image, example sentences and more.Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and easily review words and phrases from the video under Vocab.You can use FluentU’s unique adaptive quizzes to learn the vocabulary and phrases from the video through fun questions and exercises. Just swipe left or right to see more examples of the word youre studying.The program even keeps track of what you’re learning and tells you exactly when it’s time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app fr om the iTunes store or Google Play store.You can easily find current stories in the news or entertainment worlds on FluentU and then go see what people are saying about those stories on Twitterâ€"you can also follow trending topics on Twitter and search for related videos on FluentU.Twitter should be part of a whole rich repertoire of tools that you use for learning a second language. With that being said, lets now turn to six very powerful strategies that will make your Twitter account (or your future Twitter account) a language learning machine.6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner1) Follow the right accounts.First of all, with the things that youre going to do here, it would be best to have a dedicated Twitter account for the purpose of language study. Its not optimal to have your language feed get mixed with tweets in your native language from Miley Cyrus, that football team you follow and that late night show host who posts video clips of comedy sketches.Tha t said, here are some of the accounts that you should follow:The accounts of native speakers.Whether youre learning Spanish, French, German, Italian or whatever, there are likely plenty of native speakers whose tweets you can learn from. This is really not a big commitment thing. You can follow a couple of accounts that you think would be interesting. If you later find out theyre not up to snuff, then you can simply unfollow and pick somebody else. Youll probably have no shortage of native speakers who can give you an authentic taste of your target language.Accounts related to language learning.Like I said, everybody is on Twitter. Well, practically everybody. So youll be able to easily find accounts run by known language bloggers, polyglots, teachers, tutors, language exchange sites and people who simply love learning languages. Their tweets are a goldmine of lessons and insights.Twitter is also a great way to see the latest FluentU postsâ€"follow us and well keep you in the loop!A ccounts related to your hobbies but in the relevant language.Say youre a foodie. Well, you can still be that and have second helpings with a second language, and you can indulge your other passions with your love for languages, too. If youre a motorcar enthusiast who also happens to be learning German, then follow relevant accounts so youre hitting two birds with one stone.Humorous accounts that tweet in the target language.Humor is a powerful language learning tool. So if you can find funny accounts in the target language, tail them like a police officer tracking a stolen car. These accounts will not only give you access to memorable quotes, wit and quips, they’ll also be regularly serving you funny videos that feature the target language in a more authentic setting.To find any of the above for your target language, do some Google research on what youre looking for, for example, professional comedians who speak the language youre interested in. Any account you follow and read reg ularly in the language will make for good memory anchors and help you pick up the language quicker.2) Utilize advanced search to its full potential.Grab your laptop and use Twitters advanced search.You can get there by first doing a regular search.Click on advanced search and youll be taken to a page where you can further refine your search requirements. The most relevant filter will be Written in, where you can direct Twitter to search items in your target language.If you want to search for a specific phrase or expression in the target language, you can use This exact phrase to look for instances it has been used by others.3) Change the language settings.Besides searching for tweets in the target language, another thing you can do is change the language in which you use Twitter. This means the Twitter interface will appear to you in your target language.Again, youll have to use your desktop or laptop for this one.Click on your profile pic to open a pull-down menu. Click on Settings and privacy. This will give you a page that allows you to change your profile preferences. In the Account section, choose which Language you want Twitter to be in.Scroll down to Save changes and voilà! You’re doing Twitter in French.4) Google the trending hashtags in the target country.You can also use Google to find the trending hashtags in the country or countries where your target language is spoken. If youre learning Italian, search trending hashtags in Italy and youll get results for the most recent topics that are sweeping the nation.Curating trending hashtags by country will let you meet native speakers who are tweeting about burning issues. Youll also undoubtedly see videos and linked articles about those issues. This strategy will easily fill your feed with more language material than you know what to do with.5) Mine the tweets for language lessons.So, you now have an account that regularly serves you up with tweets in the target language. What do you do?Read the tweets aloud.This may come as a surprise, but you wont pick up the language just by reading with your eyes. You need to get that mouth moving and that tongue wagging. Read the tweets aloud, over and over. The advantage of reading tweets out loud over other written material is that tweets often sound more authentic. Native speakers often tweet the way they speak, so what you’re able to practice may closely resemble spoken language.Figure out what the tweets mean.This is fun. Youre staring at something thats foreign to you, so how do you figure out what the words mean? A little sleuthing will be required on your part, but it will explode your vocabulary.Copy the tweet and ask Google to translate it for you. Or, make it even more fun by doing it in parts. Its best to  get a few choice words translated and try to guess the meaning of the whole tweet. This develops your context reading skills, which is very important in learning a language.Use emojis to help you suss out a tweets meaning. If a video comes with a text intro, watch the video first and use it to figure out what the tweet says. Language learning becomes fun when youre able to make a simple game out of it.Dont worry about getting the most accurate translations. The important thing here is that youre working with the language and becoming more and more familiar with it.Study grammar and sentence construction.Tweets can be a good way of learning not just vocab, but grammar. Grammatical rules and structures can be gleaned from how sentences are formed. Because of the inherent limits in length, youll often see simple sentences in tweets that are easily digestible.However, because of the inherent limits, people have also developed lots of ways to pack information into little packages. So even if sentences are short, theyre still often fat with content and meaning.On Twitter, you have the chance to see complex sentences, compound sentences, nested clauses, etc. Watch for complex elements in those tweets that get close to the 280 character limit. If a thought or sentiment is spread over several tweets, then chances are, it will contain some more complicated thoughts and sentences. Twitter threads are perfect material for intermediate and advanced language learners.Studying tweets can be a good way of looking into how words relate to and support each other. The vocab sticks in your memory because it doesnt exist in a vacuum, but as part of a meaningful tweet.Follow dialogues, conversations and discussions.Sometimes, tweets go viral or become controversial. These get not only retweeted but also replied to. Emotional conversations, fat with context, can be like candy to a language learner. If you can learn from a single tweet, imagine how much youll learn from a series of tweets where theres a healthy back-and-forth volley of words between people who are incapable of backing down.As you figure out what each tweet and counter-tweet means, it will feel like youre piecing together an unfolding sto ry.Youll get emotionally charged dialogues when you click on or search for trending hashtags. Politics and religion are two examples of hot topics that can encourage these animated discussions. (Hey, it’s also a good way to learn some slang!) Just be aware that since theres all kinds of content and interactions on Twitter, you may want to adjust your settings to control what you see and whos able to interact with you personally.6) Tweet in the target language regularly.The only thought that can stop you from doing this is What if I get the tweet wrong? Then everyone will laugh at me!Hardly. Native speakers will barely care about your grammar, theyll likely assume youre a native speaker like them. Theyll be more interested in what you have to say and respond to that. Besides, if youre using a dedicated account for second language learning, you can give yourself some degree of anonymity, if that helps.To use Twitter for language learning, commit to tweeting at least three times a da y.You dont have to write long and complicated tweets. Start with simple expressions. If you find a video funny, share it and say the equivalent of This is funny! in your target language.Ask a question if you want. Say Agree! if you do. Start a friendly conversation. Support someone. Get in there. Your tweets need not be perfect, you just have to tweet. Thats it.Its all about you working with the languageâ€"composing your tweet, checking translators and looking for synonymsâ€"thats what develops your skills and hones your insights.So, what are you waiting for?!Create that new account and start taking advantage of Twitter for language learning.It really is a powerful tool that can bring you closer to your language goals.Good luck!

6 Top-shelf Sources for Easy Foreign Language Books

6 Top-shelf Sources for Easy Foreign Language Books 6 Top-shelf Sources for Easy Foreign Language Books Ah, to be a kid again.To read picture books… and not get teased for it.To pretend youre Nancy Drew or one of the Hardy Boysâ€"or some other world-famous, super-cool, yet surprisingly humble teen detectiveâ€"as you bravely plunge into The Case of the Missing Clue.Well, let me clue you in on a little secret:Simple books like these are an essential tool for confidently learning the fundamentals of another language.So grab your favorite bookmark and lets get ready to read! Why Go Easy When Reading in Other Languages?Building a foundationEasy language books are perfect for laying a foundation of knowledge. By using simple language, they help you learn the basics.Just like you cant walk before you crawl, you cant read great literature or college-level texts before youve mastered picture books.Avoiding frustrationWhile its great to challenge yourself, you want to build your confidence with realistic reading goals.If you start out trying to read a book thats way beyond your current level of proficiency, you may soon become discouraged and be reluctant to try again.Easy language books are a relatively painless way to get yourself through the mental hurdle of reading a book in another language.Types of Easy Language BooksThere are several different types of easy language books, covering various genres and themes. Lets look at what they are!Childrens books: Young at heartUse familiar fairy tales and simple stories to help you learn a language, just like its young native speakers do.You likely already know many classic fairy tales that are known internationally, which gives you a head start at understanding them in another language.And even if some childrens stories you choose to read in other languages are new and unfamiliar, the elementary-level writing makes childrens books a surefire way to improve your reading skills.Tales for teens and tweensThese are usually original fiction, geared toward a young adult audience.Although the language is more advanced than childr ens books, young adult fiction is still fairly simple to read.However, the themes reflect their adolescent audience: The focus is often on relationships, individuality and self-discovery. The plots can be anything from everyday life to full-on fantasy, or some combination thereof.Graded readers: Making the gradeWritten for academic contexts, these short stories and simple novels help you gradually expand your vocabulary and increase understanding in your target language. Theyre often paired with exercises, glossaries and quizzes, since theyre often designed for classroom use.Bilingual books: Built-in translationsYou can find bilingual versions of everything from childrens picture books to complex classics of literature.While the texts themselves arent always easy, bilingual parallel texts give you a cheat sheet so you can immediately understand more difficult material.Bilingual easy language books are perfect for beginners, since you can easily link the foreign words to their transl ation and not be thrown off by more complex grammar or sentence structures.How to Get the Most Out of Easy Language BooksRead a seriesMany publishers release entire series of easy language books, translating them into many different languages.Familiar characters, settings and other elements will boost your confidence and propel you forward to read more.Try more than one languageIf youre not finding an easy language book quite easy enough, getting a copy in a language you know well will help you better grasp the story.If youre going for polyglot gold by studying more than one language at a time, you might read the same book in each of the languages youre studying. Your skills in one language can buoy your understanding in a language where you feel less confident.Make an easy language dictionaryJot down new words and phrases as you read easy language books. Unlike a regular dictionary that mixes together all levels of vocabulary, your easy language dictionary will keep you focused on mastering the basics.Keep a journal of your progress, noting down which categories of words youve covered. For instance, if you read a childrens book that teaches you the days of the week and the months of the year, you can cross those topics off your list of essential vocabulary to learn.Figure out ways to drill yourself on your new vocabulary. You might even make custom flashcards, using index cards or your smartphone.With FluentU, you can create your own customized flashcard set with almost no work at all! FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons. A customized flashcard set will pull clips from videos all across the site to give you real-life context for learning your own personal vocab list.Put yourself in the storyAs youre reading, imagine that youre a character in the story. Pretend that you speak the target language fluently.What would you say to the other characters in th at language? How would you describe the settings or explain the plot in that language, if you were talking to a friend?6 Top-shelf Sources for Easy Foreign Language BooksReady for some easy-breezy reading? Here are a half-dozen of the best sources for easy language books. For each resource, well look at the available languages and formats, special features and a few of the most happenin titles in each collection.Library of TalesMost of the bookshelves in the Library of Tales are filled with traditional European fairy tales. Originally known as My Grandmas Tales, the collection is expanding to include original books with easy text.Available languages:ArmenianFrenchGermanItalianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianUkrainian  â€¦and several more.Format:Print and e-book (Kindle).Types of books:Adaptations of fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault and Oscar Wilde, plus original stories and creative non-fiction.Monolingual, bilingual or both:Mostly bilingual, with a few mono lingual books in Russian, and a few in English.Special features:The Library of Tales offers unusual bilingual combinations, such as Russian-Spanish, Russian-Italian and Armenian-French.While a lot of foreign language book series focus on Western European languages, the Library of Tales reflects the Eastern European heritage of its creator, illustrator Svetlana Bagdasaryan.Originally from Armenia, Bagdasaryan has a Masters degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Chemistry. After a household accident caused a concussion, she unlocked a previously unknown talent for art. Her beautiful, colorful, distinctive illustrations are the hallmark of the Library of Tales.Where to find them:Library of TalesAmazon.comRecommended reading:Oscar Wildes Fairy TalesThis book contains two Oscar Wilde fairy tales, The Star Child and The Selfish Giant.Wilde is known largely for his witty quotes, satirical plays and farces (such as The Importance of Being Earnest) and his allegorical fantasy The Picture of Dorian Gray.Hes perhaps less well-known for his fairy tales, although The Star Child (one of the two in this volume) inspired a couple of Russian films. The other story, The Selfish Giant, was adapted into an opera in Hungary, a childrens ballet in Australia and an animated TV show in Canada.Fairy Tales (multi-book volume)This title combines three separate storiesâ€"two classic fairy tales, and an original, contemporary fairy taleâ€"that the Library of Tales previously released as individual books, with editions in several different languages.Currently available in German, Russian  and Armenian, this collection is a neat way to sample several eras of storytelling.Youll find this trio of tales inside:Bremen Town MusiciansThe Brothers Grimm classic records the adventures of four animals on their way to Bremen  to make a new life as musicians.Puss in BootsFeaturing a fashionable feline whos the cool cat behind numerous films and a video game, Puss in Boots was adapted by Charles Perrault of Cinderella fame from a 16th-century Italian story (Il gatto con gli stivali) by Giovanni Francesco Straparola.The Underwater Adventures of Christina (Also called The Sea Fairy Tale  in the Russian edition and The Giant Squid: Adventures of Christina and Ramses  in the German and Armenian editions)Set in California, this book is part of a planned original series, written by Gary Mikaelian with Svetlana Bagdasaryan. It stars a young girl named Christina and her German Shepherd, Ramses.Miley SmileyAuthor Miley Smiley transforms familiar household objects into characters in this offbeat collection of original childrens stories.Available languages:DutchFrenchGermanJapanesePortugueseSpanishFormat:E-book (Kindle).Types of books:Contemporary childrens books, mostly written for readers between the ages of 3 and 7.  Monolingual, bilingual or both:Both.Special features:Personified objects, such as a pair of sparkly red shoes, an old chipped teacup or lonely wooden clothespin entertain you as y ou learn names for common household items and other basic vocabulary.Whimsical and witty, most of the titles in this series are available in both monolingual and bilingual forms, so you can choose whichever works best for your learning needs.This series is contemporary, with new titles regularly added. A character named Alexis made her debut a few years ago, leading readers to the Soap Kingdom, the Bug World and the Backward Opposite Upside Down World.Where to find them:Miley Smileys websiteAmazon.comRecommended reading:Two Green BananasAn appealing adventure for lovers of underripe, unappreciated fruit. Taunted by their scornful neighbors in the fruit bowl, two green bananas escape their torment on the countertop by journeying to the outside world.The ClothespinYoull hang on every word of this story! A lonely wooden clothespin tires of his garish plastic companions and goes off to the woods to be with his durable distant relations in the forest.The Sparkling Red ShoesThese ruby sli ppers, beautiful enough to walk down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, think theyre better than the rest of the shoes at the store. When young Lisa and her mother select them to be worn at a party, the arrogant Red Shoes see this as confirmation of their superiority. However, once at home with Lisa, theyre pushed aside in favor of more practical footwear like bedroom slippers and rain boots.KidKiddos  BooksJoin Jimmy the Rabbit and other recurrent characters from author Shelley Admont as you travel the world of languages through these easy, original childrens books.Available languages:ArabicDanishDutchEnglishFrenchGermanGreekHebrewHindiHungarianItalianJapaneseKoreanMandarin ChinesePolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSpanishSerbianSwedishTagalogUkrainianVietnameseFormats:Paperback, hardback and e-book (Kindle and/or PDF).Types of books:Childrens stories, most of which are meant to teach manners, hygiene and good behaviorâ€"with some just for entertainment.Monolingual, bilingual o r both:Both.Special features:All books are translated by a native speaker; at least one other native speaker edits each book, to ensure a smooth and correct translation. Many of the books in the collection are under the S.A. Publishing imprint, with newer titles published by KidKiddos Books.For most languages, you can find all of the available books in both a bilingual (English-other language) and a monolingual edition. (Notable exceptions are Arabic and Hebrew books, which are always bilingual with English, and English books, which are always monolingual.)Because most of these books revolve around teaching good habits and manners to children, theyre useful for learning basic vocabulary for family relationships and household items.The Kindle editions are generally affordable. The low prices make it feasible to collect more of these books, whether youre building a larger collection of books in one language or youre studying multiple languages and want copies of the same story in all of your target languages.Where to find them:KidKiddosAmazon.comRecommended reading:I Love to Keep My Room CleanYou don’t have to be a neat freak to appreciate the lessons that these bunny brothers learn about the merits of personal organization. As Jimmy and his siblings pick up their toys and put their books back on the shelf, youll pick up words for common household items.I Love to Eat Fruits and VegetablesFeed your appetite for instruction! The bunny boys are back to learn about good nutrition. Pull up a chair at Jimmys kitchen table and chow down on a full course of food words. Bon appétit! Sefa Bilingual BooksFormer physician and publishing CEO turned childrens author Ulrich Renz has built an impressive collection of bilingual books on just two stories. His company also offers a new, original fiction series in monolingual volumes.Available languages:EnglishGerman60+ other languages, including French, Spanish, Greek, Thai, Urdu, Farsi, Swahili, Esperanto, Hindi and IcelandicF ormats:Paperback and e-book (Kindle or EPUB). (Some audio and video versions are also available.)Types of books:Fairy tales and original stories make up the Sefa Bilingual collection.Monolingual, bilingual or both:Both.Special features:There are currently only two tales in the bilingual series from Ulrich Renzâ€"Sleep Tight, Little Wolf  (an original story by Renz) and The Wild Swans  (based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale).While the book selection is limited, the languages are not: These two tales have been translated into tens of tongues, resulting in 3,450 possible bilingual combinations.The online Language Wizard lets you choose your custom bilingual blend from two drop-down menus. Renzs team is also developing a set of audiobooks to pair with the written texts of its two foundational books. (The notation MP3 beside the language name indicates that theres an audio version available.)After youve made both of your language selections and clicked the Go button, a short sa mple of the bespoke book youve requested will appear in another tab on your web browser, along with links for ordering the formats of your choice from various sellers.A new, original series, Motte und Co,  has been released in German; its English-language equivalent is called Bo and Friends.  The first three volumes in this monolingual series have already been released, with a fourth in the works.The first German-language volume in the Motte und Co series, Auf der Spur der Erpresser  (On the Trail of Blackmailers), also comes in a simplified edition.Where to find them:Sefa Bilingual BooksAmazon.comRecommended reading:Sleep Tight, Little WolfThe most basic book available from Sefa, Sleep Tight, Little Wolf is the best place to start for an easy language experience.The Wild SwansRenzs adaptation of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale has slightly more advanced language than Sleep Tight, Little Wolf. However, the elements and themesâ€"a castle, a king, a wicked stepmother, enchante d princes and a heroic princessâ€"are quite familiar to anyone whos heard a few traditional fairy tales.On the Trail of BlackmailersAs your reading skills grow in the languages youre learning, fresh adventures await you! Auf der Spur der Erpresser (On the Trail of Blackmailers) is the start of Renzs new monolingual childrens detective series. You can download it for free, giving you a chance to try it before committing to buy the remaining books in the series.German Edition: Auf der Spur der Erpresser (On the Trail of Blackmailers)e-book (MOBI/Kindle or EPUB format)audiobook (MP3 format; also playable online)English Edition: Bo and the Blackmailerse-book (MOBI/Kindle or EPUB format)TPRS BooksTPRS, an acronym meaning Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling,  was the brainchild of a Spanish teacher named Blaine Ray. This teaching method also incorporates the theories of Dr. James Asher and Dr. Stephen Krashen.TPRS Books was founded to provide reading materials that work with the TPRS language acquisition method. Each book is written with a limited number of words to help facilitate the readers understanding.Available languages:ChineseEnglishFrenchGermanItalianLatinRussianSpanishFormats:Mostly paperbacks, with some audiobooks on CD.Types of books:Fictional stories in graded readers.Monolingual, bilingual or both:Monolingual.Special features:These graded readers are novels written in simple language. Many of the same stories are available in several languages, sometimes featuring recurring characters.Geared toward teens, the books subjects are more mature than those found in fairy tales and other childrens stories.Where to find them:TPRS BooksAmazon.comRecommended reading:Poor AnaTravel abroad with Ana! While in a foreign land, she learns lessons that will improve her life back at home.Based on the books language, Anas hometown changes, as does her travel destination.In the sequel, Poor Ana Danced the Tango, Ana travels to Buenos Aires to take an amo rous turn on the dance floor.Bart Wants a CatRemember the Choose Your Own Adventure  books that were a staple of childhood in the 1980s? TPRS brings you the Its Your Story series, which essentially works the same way.Take control of the plot as you choose from several options at key points in the story. Will Bart listen to his parents or his friend? Will he ultimately decide he wants a dog, a turtle or a cat for a pet… or go with a less family-friendly choice, the piranha?Its is all up to you. You can make different choices each time you read it, learning more words as you go.Look for the online teacher guides on the TPRS Books website for extras like a glossary.EMC School World Languages ReadersThis series of slender volumes can broaden your language horizons.Available languages:FrenchGermanItalianJapaneseSpanishFormats:Paperback, with some audiobooks on CD.Types of books:Graded readers with fictional stories.Monolingual, bilingual or both:Monolingual.Special features:Perhaps the most formally scholastic of all our sources for easy language books, the EMC graded readers boast exercises that will test your grammar, reading comprehension and written expression.The books are categorized into 12 proficiency levels, so you can advance step-by-step. They also feature multimedia tie-ins like online projects and matching audiobook CDs.Where to find them:EMC SchoolAmazon.comRecommended reading:Fabulous Fables SeriesEach of the six stories in this series is based on a classic fable from Aesop, Gaius Julius Phaedrus or Jean de la Fontaine. Themed activities and games are included in these books, along with an illustrated glossary.Every story highlights different areas of vocabulary, such as action verbs, parts of the body, telling time and clothing names.Young Readers SeriesDesigned to appeal to adolescents and teens, this series features detective stories and mysteries. Activities, games and exercises accompany the stories for extra vocabulary reinforcement and enhan ced reading comprehension.Story selections vary from one language to another, as do the character names and some other details.So go forth. Go to the library. Go online and order yourself a few picture books, or some tales of teenage derring-do.Remember: Youre not acting like a kidâ€"its all in the pursuit of higher education.

The Magic Number How Many Words Do I Need to Know in My Target Language

The Magic Number How Many Words Do I Need to Know in My Target Language The Magic Number: How Many Words Do I Need to Know in My Target Language? How many words does it take to get to the center of a delicious foreign language?One?Two?Just like Tootsie Pops, languages are tasty treats  that we rarely notice ourselves getting closer to the “center” of until were  chewing on the chocolaty  goodness of free-flowing conversation and wondering how many steps it took us to get there.Unlike  Tootsie Pops, languages are complex living things, frustratingly resistant to black-and-white measurements of how many words or how many licks it takes to cross the finish line and reach your goal.However, while the number of licks in a Tootsie Pop remains a mystery to this day, there are a few different useful ways of sussing out how many words you need to reach arbitrary labels like being “conversational” or “fluent” in a foreign language, or to truly “speak” the language.Theres no magic number of words that you can learn to suddenly unlock all a languages mysteries, but there most certainly are ways to think about the numbers o f words that add up to fluency.For instance, there are  ranges of vocabulary that correspond roughly to different levels of fluency. There are particular kinds of words you should learn before others to get yourself closer to fluency faster. There are  learner-tested strategies for first learning to understand new words and then learning to use them.But before we start counting, lets talk about what were counting, as well as what counts. The Magic Number: How Many Words Do I Need to Know in My Target Language?When someone mentions learning a foreign language, our minds often  fill up with images of endless  flashcard apps and apartments covered in foreign words written on sticky notes stuck to everyday objects.After all, words are the stuff language is made of, right? The gotta-catch-em-all approach seems bound to pay off at some point.Its true that you cant learn a language without learning the words that make it up, but amassing a huge vocabulary shouldnt be your  main goalâ€"the difference between 1,000 words and 5,000 is a small one if those extra 4,000 are just different versions of the first thousand, if theyre words youll rarely get to use, or if you dont really know how to use them.Before you can wrap your head around the difference between 1,000 words and 5,000, youll need to think about what a word is. The answer depends on who you ask.What is a word?A quick search for how many words are known by the average native English speaker can give you results that vary widely.One source will claim that highly-educated native speakers have a vocabulary of around 10,000 words, while another says that an ordinary speaker who has finished high school knows 35,000 easily.Its not because these studies are fudging their numbers, but rather what theyre measuring is just different.Some word counts count every form of a word. For example, from the verb to run, we get  run, runs, ran, running and many more. By some counts, these would all count as individual words, all with slightly different meanings related to person, number and tense.Other counts  only look at headwords or word families, the forms by which most words are listed in the dictionary and the root word from which all other forms are derived. When counting this way, house and houses would be two forms of the same headword, house. The same would be true of am, is, was and be, all forms of the headword to be.Taking the latter  approach to counting up our vocabulary, you can think of a verb like to run as a word that youve learned, and your ability to conjugate it to the dog  runs would count as grammatical knowledge, rather than an entirely new word.This way of thinking closely mirrors organic language learning, in which we learn one form of a word and, as we learn more about the language and its structures, were able to generalize it and apply it to other situations. The grammatical understanding you acquire over time allows you to make the word plural, past tense, future tense or a d irect object.Perhaps you can already see the gulf of grey area between these two approaches.For instance, if run and ran count as one word, what about the verb to run in the sense of to manage or the noun form, as  in a quick run to the store? Where do we draw the line between one cluster of meanings and the next?When attempting to count words, its important to adopt a consistent standard (what youre counting and how youre distinguishing one word from another).Its also important to remember  that, at the end of the day, its all a bit arbitrary.How do you know what you know?Another complication is defining words we know.Do you know a word if you sort of mostly understand it when you hear it, but are unable to recall it and use it during conversation?This is the distinction between active and passive vocabulary.Active  vocabulary  is  vocabulary that you can quickly remember and actively use when writing, speaking and thinking.Passive vocabulary is  vocabulary that youre passively abl e to understand when you see it or hear it, but that you cant useâ€"or that youre unsure of how to useâ€"when writing, speaking and thinking.Generally speaking, new words  will first be gradually absorbed into your passive vocabulary as you encounter them several times and start to get a feel for their use.Then, once youve gained enough context clues, and once youve heard and read enough of a words different meanings and usages to have a more exact idea of what it means and how its used, itll move over into your active vocabulary.Native speakers and second language speakers alike generally have a passive vocabulary several times greater than their active vocabulary.  For learners, upgrading our passive vocabulary to the active category is one of the best ways to expand our knowledge of the language were learning.How many words do you know, and how many do you need to know?For the sake of this post, lets say that our vocabulary counts are using  headwords  and  word families that are included in our  active vocabulary.So, were not counting all the various forms of a given word, and were not counting anything thats only in our passive vocabulary.When we narrow our perspective  down like this, we can start making approximations.In general, we can describe levels of fluency in a foreign language with these rough word counts:Functional beginner: 250-500 words. After just a week or so of learning, youll already have most of the tools to start having basic, everyday conversations. In most of the worlds languages, 500 words will be more than enough to get you through any tourist situations and everyday introductions.Conversational: 1,000-3,000 words. With around 1,000 words in most languages, youll be able to ask people how theyre doing, tell them about your day and navigate everyday life situations like shopping and public transit.Advanced: 4,000-10,000 words. As you grow past the 3,000 word mark or so in most languages, youre moving beyond the words that make up eve ryday conversation and into specialized vocabulary for talking about your professional field, news and current events, opinions and more complex, abstract verbal feats. At this point, you should be able to reach C2 level  in the  Common European Framework for Reference (CEFR) in most languages.Fluent: 10,000+ words. At around 10,000 words in many languages, youve reached a near-native level of vocabulary, with the requisite words for talking about nearly any topic in detail. Furthermore, you recognize enough words in every utterance that you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context.Native: 10,000-30,000+ words.  Total word counts vary widely between world languages, making it difficult to say how many words native speakers know in general. As we discussed above, estimates of how many words are known by the average native English speaker vary from 10,000 to 65,000+.Of course, youll need to keep in mind that different languages have different amounts of words, and thus voca bulary quantities  at different skill levels can vary considerably.Where Quality Meets Quantity: How to Learn the Right Words in Your Target LanguageTheres definitely a way to learn the right words in the right order when learning a language.Dont set out to learn as many words as you can as quickly as possible, but instead set out to learn the words that offer you the most benefit.Which words do I need to learn?A good starting point in any language is a list of high frequency vocabulary, or a handy base vocabulary list for any language.In English, for example, 3000  words make up about 95% of everyday conversationâ€"youll want to be sure you can recognize words like the, is and goes before you concern yourself with learning the names of plants and animals or todays slang.In any language, there are a few categories of words that will come in handy before others. Some of your first linguistic building blocks will be personal pronouns (I, she, your) and basic verbs, which normally incl ude words like to be, to have, to go and to do. Once you learn six personal pronouns and just these four verbs, youll already have a bunch of useful  words in your linguistic arsenal!With these basic tools in hand, youll move on to everyday concrete nouns like words about people (boy, family, hand) and household objects (table, window, refrigerator) to basic descriptors, conjunctions, demonstratives and so forth until your vocabulary numbers in the thousands of words.Strengthening your passive vocabularyAs earlier mentioned, most words wont be added directly to your active vocabulary the first time youre exposed to them.Instead, new words tend to gradually build a home in your passive vocabulary, the words that you completely or somewhat understand when encountered in context but cant independently use on your own (yet).To learn more words in a language, youll need to saturate your passive vocabulary with new information constantly. That means exposing yourself to linguistic input   like TV, videos and reading material, as well as plenty of real-life conversation.Beginning learners, dont fret over not understanding all the new words you expose yourself to every day. Every new word starts as an unfamiliar word, and repeated exposure is the only way to truly learn (rather than memorize) unfamiliar vocabulary.Tips for strengthening passive vocabulary:Watching childrens shows:  TV shows for small children speak in a slow, articulate manner with a simple vocabulary and lots of context clues. This weeks episode about colors might not be as exciting as Game of Thrones, but itll help you expose your brain to the new vocabulary in context, just like children do.Reading childrens books in translation: Green Eggs and Ham only used fifty words in the whole book. Hunt down some Dr. Seuss or other familiar childrens classics and learn new words easily by reading these, as the vocabulary is simple and youll already be familiar with the context.Watching Disney or other animate d films:  Watching a movie youve already seen a hundred times (but doing it in your target language) works on the same principle as reading familiar childrens stories. The vocabulary is simple, and you already know the story so well that youll understand much of what you hear without ever needing to open a dictionary.Learning vocabulary with real-life video with FluentU:  FluentUs online language learning platform uses videos like TV and movie clips to let you expose yourself to real-life language use and suck up some more new words into your passive vocabulary.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch somethin g? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the iTunes store  or Google Play store.Watching documentaries and educational programs: Learning a language with TV is one of the best ways to build vocabulary, and  documentaries and educational programs in particular  often (1) speak slowly and articulately, and (2) speak about something you see visually on the screen, making for a natural language learning setting in which you can start making connections between the words you hear and the images you see.Reading public signs, menus, etc.:  Stop, exit and emergency are all words you can learn quickly by taking a stroll through nearly any town in the world and looking around.Wikipedia pages on familiar topics:  Once youve moved beyond Dr. Seuss, try pulling up your professional field or favorite pastime on Wikipedia and finding the version in your target language on the left-hand menu. Once again, your familiarity with the subject should allow you to recognize and passively understand new words easily.Flashcards and flashcard apps:  Its old-fashioned, but spaced repetition  works. The tighter you tie new words to real-life images, the firmer they stick in your passive vocabulary, and the riper they are for promoting to active vocabulary.Strategies for building your active vocabularyPromoting passive vocabulary to active vocabulary is a question of use-it-or-lose-it.Once youve gotten acquainted with a new w ord and seen its different sides, its time to embark on the anxiety-inducing path of trying it out and using it yourself.Here are some handy ways to go from passive understanding to active use:Translating childrens books:  Translating childrens books is one of the easiest ways to start using your new vocabulary. Pick a familiar book (maybe the same one you read in your target language to help gain more passive vocabulary), and translate it into the language youre learning.Practicing new vocabulary in FluentUs learn mode:  With FluentU, once youve had a chance to wrap your head around a new word in context, learn mode or quiz mode gives you a chance to put it to work by using it actively.Vocabulary games:  Engaging your new vocabulary to accomplish a task is not only good for long-term retention, its also fun!Skype exchanges and language exchange meetups:  It doesnt get better than actual conversation. Check out some sites for Skype language exchange, or look around sites like Couchs urfing and Meetup for local language exchange events you can attend in person.Writing in your target language:  Keep a diary just for you, and dont worry about correctness or spellingâ€"just use your words! You can also chat with friends on social media or use sites like Lang-8 to have native speakers check over your writing.Talking to yourself:  Sometimes youre your own best conversation partner. Find some quiet time to read or watch some target language material and talk out your understanding of new words you hear, playing around with it until you think youve got it right.Taking a course:  If you need a more structured way to learn, you can take a course to help you along. For a very friendly and approachable course, check out polyglot Olly Richards  Conversations course, which is designed to help you set up workable, step-by-step systems for learning your target language and picking up useful new vocabulary.How to Build Your House of WordsWhether youre an absolute beginner or in termediate reaching for loftier linguistic goals, let the size of your vocabulary be a barometer for your progress rather than a goal in itself.Vocabulary is just one of the building blocks that make up a language, and just like building a house, you wont get very far with a bunch of odd-sized bricks or a faulty foundation.As you build your house of words and lay your bricks, remember that the foundation is all you need to get started, that syntactical scaffolding will support it, grammar will mortar it together, and social meaning and pragmatics seal off the roof.And to build up that critical vocabulary, take a cue from the owl in the Tootsie Pop commercial.Just bite into your language  and start chewing!