Strengthen Your Child's Language Skills on a Nature Walk

Being outdoors among the birds, insects, plants and puddles gives your child endless hours of interesting things to do and study. Taking a nature walk with your young child has so many benefits! Being outdoors helps with important developmental things, like improving attention span and increasing creativity. It gives your child a chance to use his "outdoor voice" without getting in trouble. It gives you and your child physical exercise. Plus, the natural benefits of fresh air and sunshine give you both a healthy physical and emotional boost. Did you know that a nature walk is the perfect time to help strengthen your child's language skills? It's true. Learn more about the different ways you can incorporate language learning into your nature walks.

First and Most Importantly, Be Present

As a parent, you should be right there with the child, marveling over a wildflower, wondering about a birdsong, examining the sky for cloud-shapes. Spending time with your child helps them feel secure and free to play, imagine, and learn. Spending time outdoors with your child also lets your little one know that you think it is important to get fresh air and exercise. If it's important enough for you to take time to be outdoors, they will also learn to make it a priority. When you are spending quality time with your child (and not tuning out your child while you look at your phone), you have a connection with your child. It's this type of connection that makes you perfect for teaching your child language skills. You know the right times and right approaches to best reach your child. No one knows your child like you do! Take advantage of that fact.

Provide Plenty of Free Time, and Watch for Opportunities to Play Language Games

Although some trips outdoors might be only a few minutes, make sure there are times when your child can explore nature unhindered for long periods of time. You don't need to hike a 5-mile trail. Your nature walk could be a meander around the neighborhood park. Allow your child to get bored outdoors! A bored child soon finds ways to amuse himself. Boredom also provides an opportunity for you to step in and introduce something in another language. For example, if your child is learning the names of colors in Spanish, you can begin a game where you find objects that are rojo.

Explore Different Scenery

Take your child to different outdoor locations. Walk a nature trail in a wooded area. Visit a beach. Spend time on a farm. Sail toy boats in a small stream. Travel to the mountains or the plains. Go sledding in the winter, or play in the yard with umbrellas while it's raining. Don't leave out the beautiful night sky! A safe adventure in the dark, catching fireflies or running around with flashlights, could be one of your child's favorite memories. Nature has many faces; go out and meet them! When you are finished exploring, ask your child to tell you what she saw. Encourage her to use vocabulary words from the language she is learning. After some practice, this exercise becomes easier and helps your child focus. You might be amazed by what she notices, and you might also be amazed by the words she remembers!

Take Your Meals Outdoors

Nothing says fun like a picnic! Make a special occasion of the first picnic of the year, and then continue to eat out as often as possible. Picnics can be enjoyed on a blanket in the backyard, on your front porch, at a park, or even in the back of your pickup truck. Be sure to pack plenty of water and healthy snacks; fresh air and exercise works up a little one's appetite! As you set out the food, point to each item and say its name in the language you are teaching. Have your child repeat it. Keep up the fun by being lighthearted. If you come to something particularly delicious, rub your tummy and call it "All mine!" Your child will probably know you're teasing, and you can share the joke again later.

Take Books and Toys Outdoors

Do you and your child share special times reading books together? Many special things you do indoors can also be done outdoors. Pack some picture books written in the language you are studying. When you are taking a rest from your nature walk, you can enjoy the book together, perhaps sitting on a low branch in a tree. Other small toys can be brought along in a bag, too. Bring a favorite stuffed animal or doll and have your child be a tour guide to it, using words from the language you are learning.

Find a Special Place to Call Your Own

Your home is your special indoor place, but you can have a special outdoor place, too. This could be a spot under the big oak tree at your favorite park. It could be a picnic table that you return to again and again. Maybe it's a big rock that your child loves to sit on. Whatever it is, it's a special part of the outdoor world that your child claims as his own. Possession and familiarity with just a small part of nature really helps your child feel comfortable outdoors, and he'll want to return again and again. When you're at your special spot, make sure you notice certain things about it, using the vocabulary you're learning. Reinforcing these words will really help your child connect the real object to the word.

Remember that language is a natural part of our lives. It grows out of our everyday habits and conversations like flowers grow out of the ground. Extending your child's language skills into the natural world should not be difficult or feel unnatural. In fact, it may be the perfect way to grow enthusiasm and love for your child's second language. If you would like to know more about Little Pim's natural immersive method of teaching languages, please contact us.

Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash

12 Days of Little Pim Giveaways - 2018

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In the spirit of the holiday season, we're giving away Little Pim Digital Discovery Sets ($49.99 value) in your choice of 12 languages during our 12 Days of Giveaways event. The set includes your choice of Little Pim's award-winning foreign language videos available in 12 languages and our Little Pim Panda Plush. The videos are sent instantly to your email address and the Panda Plush will be mailed to you. 

You can enter to win a free Little Pim Digital Discovery Set up to three times per day by liking or sharing our post on our Facebook page, Instagram, or by retweeting our tweets on Twitter. Twelve lucky winners will receive the gift of a new language for their little ones this season.

The more your participate, the greater your odds of winning! Starting Saturday, December 14th, we will choose one lucky winner per day at midnight EST.

You can also enter the giveaway, by filling out the form below (limit three entries per day per household):

Check back here daily to see if you're one of the lucky winners. Winners will also be notified via email and/or social media. Comment below with any questions. Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

Day 1 Winner: Randi W. from Instagram

Need a last minute gift for kids? We've got you covered! Subscribe to get unlimited access to our 12 language learning programs designed for kids ages 0-6, plus NEW episodes & content when released. Shop Now >> www.littlepim.com - Little Pim Team

ENTER TO WIN A LITTLE PIM DISCOVERY SET

Fill out the form below for (1) entry per day and be sure to visit our social networks for additional entries to increase your chances to win!

Foreign Language Learning in the U.S. versus Europe

This past week, data from the Pew Research Center highlights the discrepancy between language learning in the United States compared to that in Europe. An average of 92% of the European population is taught a foreign language at a young age, compared to only 20% in America. The reasons for this may be multi-faceted, including: 

1. English is frequently spoken throughout the world as compared to most of the European languages. 

English is described as the language of globalization. There is not as much pressure for American students to have to learn a foreign language if in many places English is regularly spoken. This is in contrast to other parts of the world, where one can very often expect to be greeted in a different language in a neighboring country. Even within a single European country itself, there may be more than one language as a country's official language. In Europe, it is common to study even more than one foreign language, with this being required in school for at least a year in over 20 European countries.

2. There's no uniform standard for foreign language acquisition in schools in the U.S.

National standards for test-taking in Europe incorporate the importance of foreign language acquisition. On the other hand, no such national standard exists in the U.S., where requirements are generally set at the state or district level. In the United States, the rates of foreign language study vary to as low as single-digit percentiles in some states. Even the higher percentages of states mandating foreign language study lag behind the countries with the lowest percentages in Europe.  

3. Timeframe for learning a foreign language in Europe versus the U.S. is generally different.

In Europe, students often begin studying their first foreign language in school between the ages of 6 and 9, in contrast to the United States where foreign language is typically not taught until at least Middle School or High School. Multiple studies have shown that language acquisition is overall easier the younger one is.

Many prominent voices stress the importance of foreign language acquisition. Memoirist Eva Hoffman described loss of multilingualism as "the loss of a living connection". Studies increasingly display the importance of  "cultural intelligence" in our increasingly globalized society. As the Livni article summarizes for the importance of learning another language:

“It’s a window on to a new worldview, a way to understand how our fellow humans think.”

— Ephrat Livni

As parents, probably one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the gift of being able to communicate in a second language. Why not give your children a subscription to the #1 learning program for foreign language for kids, Little Pim? Subscription plans are available for a single language as well as the option to access all 12 of our included languages. Experience the wonders of a gift that can last a lifetime.

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Sources: Devlin, Kat. Most European students are learning a foreign language in school while Americans lag. Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/06/most-european-students-are-learning-a-foreign-language-in-school-while-americans-lag/: Accessed 08/13/18.

Livni, Ephrat. Only 20% of US kids study a language in school—compared to 92% in Europe. Available at: https://qz.com/1350601/foreign-languages-are-studied-by-just-20-of-kids-in-the-us/: Accessed 08/13/18.

By Alexis Dallara-Marsh

Benefits of Raising Bilingual Children on Fox 5

Recently on Fox 5 NY, the International Academy of New York discussed the benefits of raising bilingual children, sharing that their students spend around 40% of their week functioning in either Mandarin or Spanish. Research shows that some of the benefits of raising bilingual children include:

• Children are much more focused and less distracted
• They are more able to switch tasks spontaneously
• They have more flexible and nimble brains
• By middle school, bilingual kids typically outperform their peers in both math and verbal standardized tests

The interview also explains that human contact is important when teaching children a new language. Singing, reading, and talking with your children in the new language and taking children to cultural events also help encourage language learning. At Little Pim, we believe introducing your child to a new language at an early age can give your child many advantages. The best time to learn a language is under the age of 6. Don't miss the window of opportunity when it's easy for them to learn. Invest in their future…A little language goes a long way.

Little Pim's Language Learning iOS App for Kids

At Little Pim, we believe all children deserve to learn a second language. Our language learning series makes learning a foreign language easy and accessible to all kids–at the age they learn best, from 0 to 6 years. Now, your little ones can learn a new language with Little Pim on-the-go with our new iOS app!

If you are a recent customer of Little Pim (as of Nov 2016), you can download the app to watch Little Pim on your iPhone or iPad. Simply follow the steps below to setup your iOS device to play our videos for your little ones at home or on-the-go. If you purchased Little Pim prior to this update, please contact us and we’d be happy to create a new account for you upon proof of purchase.

Download the free Little Pim app so you can watch all of your Little Pim content purchases.

Logging in to the Little Pim app:

Open Little Pim app on your device.

1. Click the "I Already Have An Account" button
2. Enter the email address you used and password you created to purchase Little Pim’s video content. If you need help with your account, please email us at help@littlepim.com.
3. Click Login
4. Your "unlocked" or previously purchased videos will load on the screen and you're ready to watch!

Watching videos

1. Once you’re logged in and your library has loaded, tap the thumbnail image of the video you want to watch.
2. You can also choose to turn on the subtitles in the app by tapping the subtitles icon.
3. You can also print out our companion guides and scripts on our website to follow along.

If you have any trouble accessing your videos or login information, please contact us via live chat during office hours, via email: help@littlepim.com, or send us a message on Facebook. Thank you and best of luck on your language learning journey!

New to Little Pim? Welcome, Bienvenue, Bienvenido, Willkommen...!

Get started on your child's language learning journey by downloading our new app. Please read below about more information on our iOS app and the volumes you can purchase using your Apple ID. You can also purchase your 3-pak digital set on our website to login via the steps above.

Features

: 12 languages to choose from: Spanish, French, English, Mandarin Chinese, German, Italian, Russian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, and Korean Entertainment Immersion Method® makes language learning fun & easy for kids ages 0-6 Videos are segmented into 5-minute episodes to accommodate a young child’s attention span Teaches your child up to 360 words and phrases Keeps your child fully engaged as they learn a second language with Little Pim Kids respond enthusiastically to Little Pim’s combination of animated and live-action videos Your child will love following along with Little Pim, the adorable cartoon panda bear who serves as the “teacher” Each of our educational videos has a unique child friendly theme, such as eating, playtime and feelings Simple sentences are broken down into easy-to-understand parts and are reinforced through repetition by native speakers No Foreign Language Background Needed (print out our

companion guides and scripts

on our website to follow along)

Our Story

: Inspired by her own bilingual childhood, our founder

Julia Pimsleur

(daughter of Dr. Paul Pimsleur, who created the Pimsleur Method), wanted to give her young son the same opportunity to learn a foreign language.When she discovered that there were no high quality education materials for teaching toddlers a foreign language, she set out to create them herself. She was uniquely qualified given her background as an award-winning filmmaker, language teacher and mother.Pimsleur sought to create a program that would delight and teach young children a foreign language at the same time. Working with leading neuroscientist Dr. April Benasich, educators and native language experts, she spent several years developing the Little Pim language program. Not only is it the first comprehensive at home program, it can be used effectively by parents even if they don’t speak a foreign language.

Little Pim’s program supports foreign language learning which multiple studies have shown improves memory and analytic abilities and strengthens problem solving skills. The program helps children acquire a new vocabulary and a near-native accent. Our unique Entertainment Immersion Method® immerses children completely in a foreign language.

How It Works:

1. Download the app to watch a free trial in each language. Ready to start learning? In order to get access to the series, you will need to create an account to purchase a volume set:
   1. Volume 1 offers 3 themes (Eating and Drinking, Wake Up Smiling, Playtime) broken down into a 21-episode set for your child to learn more than 180 basic words and phrases: $34.99
   2. Volume 2 offers 3 themes (In My Home, Happy, Sad, and Silly, I Can Count!) broken down into a 21-episode set for your child to learn more than 180 basic words and phrases: $34.99
   3. Your "unlocked videos" will appear when logged into your Little Pim account so you and your little ones can watch Little Pim ad-free at home or on-the-go across devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch).

This app is only available for iOS devices, but customers can also watch online via any browser on our website or by requesting access on our Vimeo/VHX website (the email address you enter must be associated with your account). We are currently working on an Android version to release later this year. Stay tuned!

The Edge of Extinction

What do snow leopards, African wild dogs, black rhinos, and the Arikara language of the North Dakotan indigenous people have in common? They are all endangered. Just as species’ extinctions threaten the food chain and thereby the ecosystem, language extinctions hurt cultural diversity and thereby our society. To best understand the harsh reality of language extinction, we should investigate some statistics. While differentiating between unique languages and dialects, or just variations of the same language, is very difficult, researchers agree there are between 5,000-7,000+ languages alive today. Studies project that up to 50% of these languages will die out by the end of the century. Some even say the figure is higher at 80%, That is one language dying every few months! This slow and steady leak of linguistic and cultural diversity must be plugged for the sake of our children gaining the exposure to different thoughts and ways of life- exposure that stimulates appreciation and innovation. Admittedly, we, here at Little Pim, do not teach endangered languages, nor have we discussed them in prior blogs. We do, however, always hope to impart that a language is:

• Powerful in the classroom, in the workplace, and on the street
• Empowering in its ability to help cultivate creativity, cultural awareness, problem-solving skills, and pride in one’s roots
• Effectively important to personal and societal growth

In spreading this message in the past (as we will continue to do in the future), we hopefully indirectly made the case for the preservation of dying languages. Additionally, in teaching what are currently actively used languages, we aim to prevent their downfall into the endangered category one day. Yet, today, in this article, we will take a firmer stand for endangered languages, giving them a voice that might otherwise soon be taken away. It is with this voice that endangered languages might return from the edge of extinction.

It is with power in numbers that we can spread the word and reach someone in a position to change an endangered language’s course, so share this if you like the rest of the article. I will explain how we classify levels of endangerment, expound on why you and your family should care, and share what YOU can do to create a better future in which we maintain cultural diversity and awareness.

How do we know when a language is dead?

There are two main measurements of a language’s vitality, the number of speakers and the number of avenues of use.

Number of Speakers

Many languages can be said to have few speakers, but the word “few” is loose and open to interpretation. Determining the exact number of speakers of a language, however, allows linguists to be specific in distinguishing between levels of endangerment. Arikara, which you may recall is in our backyard in North Dakota, is a critically endangered language, with only 3 speakers still alive while the Cherokee language spoken in Oklahoma is classified as a vulnerable language, with only 1,000 speakers.

Number of Functions

The number of functions a language takes on, whether that be in prayer, in scripture, in school, in ceremonies, etc. can quantitatively represent a language’s vitality, because the more sectors of life the language is involved in, the more spoken it must be, and the more it veers away from the edge of extinction.

Some other factors linguists consider with regards to a language’s vitality are the age range of speakers, the number of speakers adopting a second language, the population size of the ethnic group the language is connected to, and the rate of migration into and out of the epicenter of the language.

Why do we care?

In history, conquered civilizations have had to adopt the language of their conqueror in order to fit into their social structure and economy. This is the case because language is so integral to a culture. From writing literature, carrying out rituals and practicing religion to voting in elections, all the human interactions associated with a culture involve written or spoken word. Effectively when a language dies, the culture associated with it dwindles away as well. If 50%-90% of languages die within the century, 50%-90% of existing cultures will likely die as well.

Many of these cultures that will die out only possess oral histories, so we will lose out on the knowledge they have gained from years and years of experience. Even if some of the cultures whose languages die have been documented, without active speakers, their thoughts and practices will likely be left behind in favor of the ones possessed by the dominant cultures and languages. Accordingly, our future society will lack in a diversity of thought and practice due to a lack of cultural diversity. Not only do we lose diversity of culture and thereby thought when languages die, but also when people conform to speaking one language, as is the case with English in the business world. If we continue along this path, we will become a monolingual, culturally homogenous society. In such a society, people might communicate efficiently because they speak the same language, but creativity would be strangled and progress slowed.

What can we do about it?

To prevent the fate of becoming a uniform society, we must recognize that cultural exchange is a two-way street. People speaking endangered languages are learning other languages to be able to interact with members of their extended community. While it may be hard for us to learn endangered languages, we can educate ourselves on which ones are endangered and why, learn about the cultures the endangered languages are from, and encourage their preservation. For example, the Arikara people were originally a semi-nomadic community that expertly harvested corn and tobacco. This mastery of the land gave way to power over other groups living in the plains until smallpox hit. Would this knowledge of the land past on from generation to generation in their language be lost in translation if the language died? Time will unfortunately tell.

Moreover, to avoid one major language from pushing out the others in the future, English-speaking people could learn other languages to communicate with non-English-speaking people, tapping into a whole wealth of knowledge they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. We cannot become complacent just because English is the “language of business.” Little Pim can open your child’s eyes to these other languages and vibrant cultures in the click of a button… literally. Check out our new iOS app!

Live in a Spanish-speaking community? Try our Spanish for Kids program.

Want to know more than the words for French foods on the bistro menu? Try our French for Kids program.

Works Cited:

https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language

https://www.ethnologue.com/endangered-languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_languages_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arikara

Featured Photo by Mark Rasmuson on Unsplash

Code or Let Language Learning Programs Implode?

“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Whether coding courses should be offered as an alternative to foreign language classes in highs schools’ core curricula is the subject of great debate among legislators. To make my position undoubtedly clear early on in this post, I urge our leaders to vote against a bill that allows coding to substitute foreign language learning. As an intern at a foreign language learning company, my bias is evident. However, I will present irrefutable support to my position on the matter to show you I don’t speak out of self-interest but rather popular interest.

Before I delve into why I vehemently disagree with the proposed course of action, I must qualify that I understand the motives behind the bill. With our president using Twitter as his own media outlet, Facebook allowing cute images of puppies and simultaneously devastating snapshots of war and terrorism to reach millions in seconds, and posting videos to YouTube becoming a career path, I do concur that our world grows ever more dependent on technology. I also understand that this dependency on technology implies a demand in the global economy for individuals educated in engineering and computer science. With only 4% of people graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in the US, compared to 31% in China, for example, it logically follows that other global superpowers are fulfilling this demand in the job market. To become more competitive in the job market and contribute to technology-related fields of the global economy, US citizens must be better educated in the associated areas of study. For these reasons, I understand the desire to integrate coding into the core curriculum.

While I recognize the need for coding classes, I do not understand how they can be viewed pedagogically as comparable to foreign language classes and therefore be offered in lieu of them.  Java and C++ are languages in that a combination of good diction and syntax allow for expression. However, these coding languages

• Only consist of approximately a hundred words (Little Pim can teach you 250 more in the foreign language of your choosing)
• Are not spoken
• Don’t underpin a society’s rich cultural history

These qualities that differentiate coding languages from foreign languages may seem unimportant to a decision about the proposed education bill, but they are actually the very reason we must say no to the bill!

1. Word Count

Learning the thousands of words of a foreign language requires the brain to become flexible and switch between vocabulary, grammatical structures, and accents. These skills developed to speak foreign languages are believed to be responsible for bilinguals and multi-linguals divergent thinking, or creativity. The fact that coding languages have significantly fewer words than foreign languages means the skills required to jump between languages, skills that translate to divergent thinking and improved creativity, are less developed. Why should you care? Coding is integral to a successful career in technology-related fields, but creativity is equally imperative in technological innovation. Steve Jobs may have been able to program Apple software, but he also needed the creative mind to come up with product ideas and marketing strategies. Without this creativity, he wouldn’t have been as successful. Thus, foreign languages, in cultivating creativity, are just as important in training people valuable to the tech space as coding classes. Moreover, creativity is appreciated in many other fields, too. Thus, to deprive children of foreign languages, effectively limiting their creativity, is detrimental to the US’ position among tech powers, like not having coding classes at all.

2. Spoken Word

Coding has become important, because our society is so technology dependent. Accordingly, many of us have grown more screen-facing than people-facing in our jobs and daily lives. Changing the foreign language requirement to permit coding in place of foreign languages only reinforces this screen-facing culture, which endangers the quality of our face-to-face interactions and children’s people skills. Tech companies might need coders to build products, but they need to know their consumer in order to create desirable products. Surveys and stats are only so telling of consumer response. Face-to-face interactions, where you can see body language and hear intonation can be far more informative. Thus, successful tech companies also require people-facing individuals. These people skills are acquired through conversation, like those had in foreign language classes. Once again, foreign language classes are as necessary in properly educating individuals to enter the tech space as coding.

3. Cultural Awareness

There is a horrible stigma surrounding Americans that we are culturally unaware and self-centered. With English as the language of business, we are rarely forced to accommodate others linguistically. This unaccommodating nature has leaked into our service industries, like tourism, and beyond, tainting our global image. Foreign languages force students to acquaint themselves with a different culture. The AP foreign language examinations offered to high school students who have taken the course test both language and cultural knowledge. Having taken AP French, I can say that the curriculum truly does touch on culture too. We read French literature, discussed historical events, learned of famous chefs and characteristically French dishes, compared the French educative system to the American one, and more. The class taught me a lot, but most importantly that language is merely a window into culture. With this in mind, coding keeps the curtain over that window, bolstering the negative perception of Americans’ cultural awareness. Furthermore, in a globalized economy, cultural awareness, achieved through foreign language classes, not coding, is more and more important to potential employers, including tech companies.

“…allowing coding to replace foreign languages may create more programmers, but runs the risk of letting those programmers be less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware.”

The fact that coding languages have fewer words, aren’t spoken, and don’t lay the foundation for a society’s cultural background may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet, these aspects of coding entail that coding languages don’t heavily improve creativity, don’t better interpersonal skills, and don’t make coders more culturally aware. Foreign languages, unlike coding, enhance all of these qualities, which are desirable to tech employers and all employers, in fact. Therefore, allowing coding to replace foreign languages may create more programmers, but runs the risk of letting those programmers be less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware.

“In trying to find a solution to the fact that America is behind other countries in the tech space, the proposed bill creates more problems in the form of less well-rounded graduates.”

Moreover, if the same amount of money is allocated to foreign languages while coding classes, which involve very expensive equipment, are included under that umbrella, even less money will go towards foreign language classes. With smaller budgets, foreign language classes will likely have higher student teacher ratios, potentially less enthusiastic teachers, and less immersive curricula. Studies, (like the one in the following article: https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7460958-a-way-to-teach-babies-second-language-if-parents-only-speak-one/), have shown there is a direct correlation between these qualities of foreign language classes and students’ mastery of the language. Effectively, passing the bill wouldn’t only result in less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware programmers but also less creative, less congenial, and less culturally aware foreign language students, meaning all students suffer. In trying to find a solution to the fact that America is behind other countries in the tech space, the proposed bill creates more problems in the form of less well-rounded graduates.

Works Cited: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

jane-swift/make-language-

learning-a-priority_b_6801296.

html

https://www.mondo.com/foreign-

vs-coding-languages-in-

schools/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

zach-simon/can-learning-a-new-

langua_b_4998795.html

10 Words English Speakers Are Missing Out On

Uh um eh. We often find ourselves tripping on our words. This inability to articulate our thoughts can be the unfortunate side effect of nerves when addressing a crowd, discomfort talking to a stranger, or tiredness after a late night. However, it’s not always our fault at all. In fact, the English language is missing some words to succinctly describe a situation or feeling. Below is a list of just 10 of these words in foreign languages that efficiently express sentence-long concepts in English. Fun fact: the concepts that the English language doesn’t have words to describe are often unpopular, unaccepted or previously non-existent in our culture, which reveals how critical a role culture plays in language evolution. You may not want to integrate these words into your daily English conversation, but they are perfect for trivia or an icebreaker and they shed light on the power of language to provide speakers with the agency to voice thoughts.

1. German: kummerspeck

Ever drown your sorrows in chocolates after a heartbreak or dive into a pint of ice cream after a cruel day at the office? If you have fallen victim to the emotion-induced indulgence and seen progress in your cookie pack instead of six-pack, you can probably relate to this word, which directly translates to mean “grief bacon.”

2. Japanese: wabi sabi

In English, we sometimes call things “perfectly imperfect.” The Japanese have eloquently expounded on this oxymoron by giving a name to the ability to find the beauty in flaws and to accept life’s cyclic nature of growth and decay. American singer Lana Del Ray’s “Young and Beautiful” asks “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” and is therefore somewhat of an ode to this this subject matter.

3. French: seigneur-terraces

In Starbucks, you can always spot the people who haven’t bought a lot but are really just there to hang out, read a book, research for a paper, answer emails, or just kinda people watch. You know who you are. Well, the French have ingeniously come up with a word to describe these individuals who should owe rent to the coffee shop.

4. Italian: slampadato

The girl or guy at the party who is just a little bit too orange for comfort and definitely owns a membership to the tanning salon is perfectly described by this one word.

5. Mexican Spanish: pena ajena

Overhearing the silence after a colleague makes a bad joke to a group of coworkers or watching on as a woman in heels trips down the steps to the subway can cause you to cringe yourself. This discomfort born of others’ actions and the natural human urge to sympathize is described by this Spanish expression. While there was never a way to describe this feeling in English, kids today have come up with the phrase “second-hand embarrassment.” This goes to show how our language is evolving to fill holes that other languages filled long ago.

6. Russian: toska

Friend: “Are you okay?”

You: “Not really.”

Friend: “What’s wrong?”

You: “I don’t know.”

Such a conversation might ensue when you feel an emptiness or lack of fulfillment that can’t be attached to anything specifically. You might desire something without knowing what that something is.  We have all experienced it, but most of us bottle it up or sweep it under the rug, because it’s hard to communicate to those we trust and/or love. The Russians have crated a solution to this problem by having a word to describe this feeling.

7. Arabic: ya’aburnee

If you were assigned the task to write a paper analyzing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this Arabic word, meaning the desire to die before someone else, because life without him or her would be too difficult, could prove useful.

8. Portuguese: saudade

When your child loses his or her favorite stuffed animal to the devastating toilet plunge, he or she is suffering from this feeling: a yearning for something or someone that has been lost.

9. Chinese: yuan bei

The deal you have been staffed to at your job, the deal whose pitch you spent sleepless nights writing, you ran by seventeen different superiors, you revised thousands of times, and you cried about more than you would like to admit, just closed. That inexplicable sense of pride in yourself and the perfection of your work is no longer inexplicable thanks to this Chinese word.

10. Korean: dapjeongneo

When you ask your significant other, “Does this piece of clothing make me look fat?” or “Do you even think I’m pretty/handsome?” There is only one acceptable answer. If you have ever been on the receiving end of those questions, you know that. This concept of there being a “correct” answer that a person has no choice but to give has its own recently added word in Korean but no English counterpart as of yet.

Works Cited:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/more-languages-better-brain/381193/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/50698/38-wonderful-foreign-words-we-could-use-english

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/emotions-which-there-are-no-english-words-infographic

https://www.google.com/amp/s/matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/amp/

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170126-the-untranslatable-emotions-you-never-knew-you-had

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.lingholic.com/15-untranslatable-words-wish-existed-english/amp/

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Father's Day Language Learning Fun

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate family, love, and happiness. All of the warm sentiments conjured on this day will mirror the warm weather forecasted in New York, where Little Pim is based, creating perfect conditions to have a wonderful day. What could make the day any better? Foreign language. While a shared appreciation for a father figure unites a family, exposure to a foreign language can unite an immigrant or multicultural family with its roots and can unite a curious family around a common love for learning. Language learning can be seamlessly incorporated into your plans for the day, whether you are attending a barbecue, heading to the beach, or staying in the comforts of your own home. It’s not only easy but fun, so read on for some helpful tips.

Barbecue

As you are slicing the fruit for a platter or tossing the salad to kick off the barbecue, you can make use of the vibrant array of colors on display to teach your child another language. The Little Pim flash card sets include the words for colors for each language offered. Accordingly, even if you aren’t proficient in the language you would like to teach, the cards can provide you with the necessary vocabulary to turn this fairly boring task into a fun language learning opportunity.

Moreover, as the adults surround the grill, and conversations about work inevitably ensue, your child might grow bored. To keep them happy and engaged, you can simply hand over your iPad. While this parenting move often leads to gaming, which isn’t necessarily intellectually challenging or fruitful for your child, you can use Little Pim livestream, to turn this moment into another language learning opportunity.

As the eating winds down and everyone is still gathered around the table or fire pit, you can introduce a fun language learning game to liven up the mood. In the game, you can choose a flashcard from the deck at random. You can’t let your child see it. Similar to the wildly popular game “Heads Up,” your child then holds the card to their forehead. Make sure to have the English translation side face the rest of the table. The other family members and friends have to give verbal hints or act out gestures based on which your child can guess the word in English. Once your child has successfully guessed the word, in order to earn a bonus point, he or she must translate the word into the foreign language of your choice.

Beach

As you pack your bag for the beach, make an assembly line with you and your child. As you pick up an item, pass it to your child and have him or her try to name the word in the foreign language. Many of the words that would likely be useful during this exercise are part of the flashcard sets, but below is a short list with translations into French and Spanish for your convenience.

The highly anticipated ocean entry is another chance for you to involve some language learning into Father’s Day fun. While some kids are hesitant to enter the cold water, you can make it less intimidating by turning it into a game. You can call out what is written on one side of the flashcard and have them translate into or from English. Each correct answer can be a step backward towards “safety,” and each incorrect answer can be a step closer to the waves, or vice versa if your child is excited to go into the water.

The car ride home is perfect chance to pop in a French Bop or Spanish Bop CD. More information and statistics encouraging listening to music sung in a foreign language can be found in a recent blog posting.

Day at Home

If Father’s Day will be low-key at home for you and your family, language learning might be the perfect stimulus to brighten the day. For example, while your child is writing that cute letter to Dad that you will save for years to come, you can teach them how to say some of the words in his or her letter in other languages.

While below is a short list of words and phrases your child is likely to use translated into French and Spanish, Little Pim’s content covers many more languages.

Happy Father’s Day from Little Pim to you and your family! We hope language learning can make an amazing day even better.

Musical Spanish Immersion Class in NYC

We're excited to launch our partnership with The Pineapple Explorers Club (based in NYC) for their Musical Spanish Immersion Class using our Entertainment Immersion Method® and language learning materials. If you're located near New York City, see below for more details or visit their website linked above:

Classes begin MONDAY JUNE 26th at 10 AM in Marcus Garvey Park (upper west corner below playground) & WEDNESDAY JUNE 28th at 10 AM in Central Park (Enter at 79th and walk South, group will meet on the left just before the playground).

Cost: $15 a child (cash or Venmo) or find them on KidPass!