Gazette n° 3: contents

Gazette number 3 goes out tomorrow – very different from the first two as it’s all about language learning. The first text, A Writhing Mass (2915 words), was originally published in the creative non fiction section of Spilling Ink Review. It’s an account of my attempt to learn Burmese. (I still have hopes of achieving that but it seemed a bit odd to study Burmese in Mayotte, so I’ve started Shimaoré instead. Not that I’ve got very far with that either). Then there are three short stories in both English and French: The Case of the Missing Guide (1895 words), Believe in Yourself (1972 words) and Shopping with Sally (1783 words). These were written for French learners of English, but to a certain extent it should work the other way round as well. The idea was to take a selection of useful words in English (i.e. those which occur frequently) and incorporate them in a story. So in each story there are 80 target words, which originally were presented with translations and pictures as well as in the context of a sentence. On top of that the words are recycled from one story to another, thus increasing the chance of them being learnt.

This is an ongoing project, with 20 stories planned and only five done so far. Making up the stories isn’t so difficult – what’s harder is to include not just the target words but the words from previous stories to recycle. Still, maybe it’ll get finished one day. If anyone wants to participate in this project, give a shout! Or if you want to know more about the research behind it, don’t hesitate to get in touch via the contact page.

There’ll only be one more issue after this, at least for a while. Not that I don’t have more material in preparation, but I’ve started the third draft of Perfume Island, and that requires the sort of concentration that can only come with sustained bouts of work. Sincere thanks to my subscribers!

Reading in a foreign language – beware!

http://www.paperblog.fr/6319221/autoportrait-de-l-auteur-en-coureur-de-fond/

I used to read a lot in French, not only for pleasure but because it improved my vocabulary. Now I read in English so as not to forget the words I already know. But the other day, a family moving back to the Metropole were selling their books, so we went over to see what they had. And there I came across Autoportrait de l’Auteur en Coureur de Fond (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) by Haruki Murakami. Now, I’m always up for anything he writes and since it’s translated from Japanese, it doesn’t matter if it’s in English or French. It isn’t a novel but an artful comparison between writing and long-distance running, and one immediate consequence was to remind me I need to get fit. So on went the trainers and tracksuit and off I trotted round the block, perfectly happy with my progress until boing! Some sort of muscle behind my knee that I never knew I had. So now I’m hobbling around like Long John Silver. Just thought I’d warn you – though reading in a foreign language may improve your vocabulary, it can have painful side effects.

Do what I say, don’t do what I (don’t) do

Now I’m retired, I can officially claim to be ignorant, but there was a time when I laid a somewhat dubious claim to a field of expertise, namely Second Language Acquisition, and more specifically within that, vocabulary learning. I would eagerly give my students a foolproof method of learning new words. Simplifying somewhat, you write them on a slip of paper with the translation, and preferably a context sentence, on the other side. Test yourself regularly, putting the words you don’t know into a pile for testing again a little later. Every so often, test all the words to make sure you haven’t forgotten the ones you know.

This method works. It’s backed up by a body of research, and now there are apps that enable you to do it on your phone, tablet and bathroom mirror. So naturally, when I set out to learn Shimaoré, I did exactly that. Well, the first part anyway, cutting up bits of paper and writing the words. Unfortunately, I then failed to look at them. Research has also shown that doing the first part without the second is roughly as effective as putting clothes into a washing machine and then not switching it on.

The languages of the four islands of Comoros (assuming Mayotte to be one of them, which it was until recently) are all different but mutually comprehensible to a fair extent. The language of Anjouan, the closest island to Mayotte, is Shindzuani. Given my progress in Shimaoré, I think it unlikely that I’ll understand anything in Anjouan, but we’re going there anyway for a long weekend – so no more blog till Tuesday. So kwaheri (goodbye) till then, and have a great weekend!  🙂