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Survey Shows Study Abroad Increasing Again


A new survey by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Forum on Education Abroad has found that study abroad by U.S. college students was on the rise in 2009/10, after experiencing a slight downturn the previous year. After reporting decades of steady growth, reaching a high of 262,416 students studying abroad on official programs in 2007/08, IIE’s Open Doors report showed that study abroad by U.S. students had decreased by just less than one percent for the 2008/09 academic year, when 260,327 students studied abroad for academic credit at their home institution.

To get an early indication of current study abroad enrollments, IIE and The Forum joined together to ask campus administrators about study abroad trends this past academic year for their students. The online survey conducted in October 2010 included questions about increases or declines in the numbers of students studying abroad, changes in student choices, changes in campus study abroad budgets and staffing, and steps taken by campuses to increase study abroad. Educators at 238 campuses responded, including 169 campuses that each send over 100 students abroad annually.

More than half of the campuses (55%) indicated that there had been an increase in the number of their students studying abroad in 2009/10, compared to 32 percent who indicated they had seen a decline. This response suggests that study abroad enrollments are rebounding, when compared with findings of a similar survey conducted last year, the Forum on Education Abroad’s Survey on the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Education Abroad (September 2009). In that Fall 2009 survey, only 39 percent of respondents indicated an increase in study abroad during academic year 2008/09, and 59 percent of respondents indicated an enrollment decline. In the Fall 2010 survey, many campuses said they were taking steps such as forming new international partnerships to enable more students to have overseas experiences, and that they were not seeing as many cuts to their study abroad budgets and staffing as they had in 2008/09, immediately following the economic crisis of 2007.

Study abroad to China continues to increase in popularity, as well as study abroad in other non-traditional destinations, such as the Middle East and Africa. Compared to the previous year, 54 percent of respondents reported increases in study abroad to China in 2009/10, half reported increases in study abroad to other Asian destinations, and 41 percent reported increases in study abroad to the Middle East and North Africa. This is consistent with the trend in recent years for more students to study in countries beyond the traditional study abroad destinations in Western Europe, and indicates that this trend is likely to continue.

Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, said, “International experience provides key skills needed by American graduates to succeed in the global workforce. From this survey, it is clear that U.S. students continue to be deeply interested in studying abroad, and that students and campuses are working together to find ways to enable them to take part in these important opportunities. As educators our challenge remains one of making international a part of what it means to become educated.”

Brian Whalen, president and CEO of the Forum on Education Abroad, commented, “Education abroad can serve as an essential component of a student’s global education and I am very pleased to see that participation is rebounding this year. U.S. campuses, provider organizations and overseas partner institutions have made this possible by working together during these challenging economic times to make education abroad accessible for more students.”

Campuses reported that students were making some changes in the types of study abroad programs they enrolled in due to the economic downturn. Students are increasingly choosing shorter programs (46%), less expensive programs (45%) and programs in which their financial aid can be used (43%), as well as programs going to less expensive world regions (33%).

Campuses also indicated that they had taken steps to strengthen study abroad participation in the past year. Many institutions reported having developed new partnerships with either foreign or domestic institutions (29%) and programs (17%). Some institutions also hired more staff or devoted more staff time to study abroad programs (18%) and spent additional funds on marketing and promotion of study abroad programs (14%). Nine percent reported taking other steps such as increasing the number of study abroad scholarships available and increasing program offerings, including adding lower cost or shorter programs.
The full survey report is available on the Open Doors website at www.iie.org.

December 2010

Hard Times, Higher Goals

December 2010 Cover

Last month, Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, delivered the keynote address at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages convention which repeated the familiar theme that during budget cuts, we need to find convincing reasons to justify funding for language programs, namely national security and international trade. The conclusion of this argument is that we have to concentrate our linguistic efforts on Chinese, Arabic, and the languages of conflict zones. Yet the most remarkable aspect of the speech has been the reaction to it.

Russell A. Berman, vice president of the Modern Language Association, condemned this utilitarian approach, concluding his article in Inside Higher Ed (“Foreign Language or Foreign Policy?” 11/23/10) with, “Language learning is not just an instrumental skill, any more than one’s writing ability is merely about learning to type on a keyboard. On the contrary, through language we become better thinkers, and that’s what education is about, at least outside Washington.”

The acquisition of any second language does even more than improve critical thinking — it reveals a new perspective to the world. Berman touched a chord and frustrated educators chimed in with a barrage of comments critical of the way in which we have so limply allowed the focus of our educational system to become the passing of mediocre tests rather than aspire to the higher ideal of producing young people with the educational catalyst that will enable them to develop and make the most of their lives.

Even before the current recession started to bite into budgets, language teachers found themselves having to justify their costs — English as a Second Language and bilingual  educators were criticized for not producing English speakers overnight, and the value of teaching most world languages was questioned as economic and military foci shifted from Europe to Asia.

Yes, underfunded schools are struggling to make sure that all their graduates can read, write, and do basic math but surely the lack of inspiration in our core curricula is contributing to disaffection amongst students and teachers alike.

Of course, we should be encouraging the learning of Chinese and Arabic. However, neglecting other languages is a false economy. Not only does study of French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Italian open the mind to many of the great works of literature and philosophy on which our society is based, it also makes long-term economic sense. There are already 220 million French speakers and that figure is predicted to increase to 700 million by 2050 (Language Magazine, Nov 2010, p.39), while there may be more than 900 million Spanish speakers by 2050 (see p.14), and who knows what the socio-political landscape will look like by that date?

Communication skills are valuable in every aspect of our lives and research shows unequivocally that learning second (or third) languages improves first language comprehension.

As we move into a New Year and step back to look to the future, maybe we should consider how our educational system can best prepare students for life in the 21st century, recognize that workforce preparation is not its sole purpose (as Dickens did more than 150 years ago), and how we can enrich lives with the gift of a second language.

IN THIS ISSUE:

2011 Planner
Workshops, classes, conferences, grant deadlines, awards and the first National Spanish Spelling Bee happen next year

The Gift of Learning
Language Magazine presents a selection of volunteering options designed for mutual learning

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Christopher Stillwell demonstrates how skilled questioning can facilitate learning

Interpreting the Law
Patricia Kilroe considers court interpreting as a career in California

Survey Shows Study Abroad Increasing Again

Last Writes
Richard Lederer with a dog’s Night Before Christmas

Plus all the latest news in language learning technology, book reviews, and source information on language funding

Conjugal Bliss

The Spanish Verb Conjugator:
The Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Spanish Verbs
Jeanne M. Bielejeski (2009) Roche Publishing, Little Falls, Minnesota
7.5 in. X 5 in., 360 pages, Paperback ISBN: 978-0-615-26587-2 $24.95

For Spanish beginners, difficulty
with verb conjugation can often lead to frustration which limits progress and may even lead some students to give up on the language completely. Therefore, any device which helps learners with irregular verb patterns found in frequently used Spanish verbs is to be welcomed.
The Spanish Verb Conjugator: The Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Spanish Verbs is designed specifically for beginners of any type: classroom students, self-study students, professionals serving bilingual populations, and travelers in Latin America. Many verb reference books assume an advanced level of comprehension which can prove intimidating for novice learners.
What I particularly like about the book is that students can focus on the present, preterit, and imperfect tenses of Spanish through the most frequently used irregular verbs. Building skills in these areas provides a solid basis for language development while reinforcing the essential verb modeling that leads to verb fluency. Many Spanish learners find the preterit difficult to comprehend but this book really helps reinforce it.
The Spanish Verb Conjugator will complement any beginning to intermediate Spanish program or class. The clear format of its charts, its bold fonts and its construction of verb family types assist in locating and learning conjugations. The handy size of the book makes it easy to carry with you while practicing Spanish in the real world, away from the classroom or computer, where true second language integration takes place.
With all the advances in language learning, it’s great to find an old-fashioned grammar “primer” which students intuitively know how to use and which soon becomes a trusted friend on their route to Spanish.

Nathalia Madera teaches Spanish in Bristol, United Kingdom.

November 2010

Devolve and Evolve

November 2010 Cover

So often when we talk about learning, we refer only to students in educational institutions even though we know that it is an ongoing process which hopefully continues for every single day of our lives. When it comes to educational methodologies, however, most of our policymakers seem to have such entrenched, preconceived opinions that they seem unable to learn from practices that work.

The current obsessions — standardized testing, value-added teacher performance, and charter schools — all have their place in our public school system but, thanks to the desperation to meet Race to the Top criteria and stringent No Child Left Behind requirements, they have been given the elevated status of solutions which will cure our ailing schools. When will we learn that there are no universal cure-alls?

According to the latest brief from the Urban Institute, “Young Children of Immigrants: The Leading Edge of America’s Future” (see News, p.10), we need to start learning very soon. A quarter of all pre-school age children in the U.S. are English Language Learners (ELLs) — that is to say that they are learning another language before they learn English. For those of us in areas with large immigrant populations, that figure may not seem daunting, but keep in mind that it is a national average which includes many areas where there has been little experience of immigrant education.

The good news is that some schools are succeeding in helping English learners reach remarkable levels of achievement. A new report on the role that charter schools play in the education of Latinos and ELLs (see News, p.14 and “Charting Success,” p.38) documents the success of certain charter schools with high ELL populations. However, it makes the point that these schools have been successful due to particular strategies that may be employed in nearly all public schools, not simply because they are charter schools. This is exactly the sort of approach that we need to employ if we are to learn from experience. Despite the popular and attractive misconception, research points to the conclusion that charter schools are no better than other public schools. However, some charter schools have adopted strategies that are proving successful and therefore deserve to be studied.

Another positive, according to the Urban Institute’s brief, is that by age eight, half of the children of immigrants are bilingual — they speak English very well and speak another language at home. We need to do all we can to increase the language capacity of Americans, and encouraging the retention of heritage languages is proving to be the most efficient means of doing so. Unfortunately, the suppression of bilingual education programs in certain states may well curb such progress.

The most important lesson to be learned from these reports as well as thousands of others released over the years is that we are not going to overhaul our schools with a simple stroke of policy. We need to listen and learn from research, experts, and experience.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Dual Language Italian Style
Ross Nelhams explores the benefits and challenges of teaching a class of Italian first graders in English, and asks what we can learn from them

Streaming Aloud
Tim Stewart analyzes literacy and communication skills in the liquid-modern world

Arresting Fossilization
Susanne Gardner offers solutions to the case of an incarcerated adult second language learner whose progress has halted

French Forecast
A new report examines the current worldwide importance of the French language and predicts that it may be spoken by more than 700 million people by 2050

Last Writes
Richard Lederer, Language Reporter at Large

Plus all the latest news in language learning technology, book reviews, and source information on language funding

The State of French in 2010

French is on the rise in Africa

French is spoken by more people than ever

220 million worldwide, 20 million more than in 2007, according to a new report launched by the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) at its summit in Montreux, Switzerland, this month. With 96.2 million Africans speaking French at the moment, the OIF believes that rising rates of literacy and birth rates mean there could be 700 million French-speakers in the world by 2050.

The report takes into account the 70 member countries and observers of the organization, including Algeria, Israel, the U.S., and the Val d’Aosta, which joined this year.
About half of all French speakers live in an African country. However, this data is probably not completely accurate, since the statistics used include only people who understand, speak, read, and write French. Therefore, those who practice the language only orally have been excluded which may mean that the figure of 220 million French speakers is an underestimate — especially in Africa. The OIF has 56 members plus 14 observers, of which 26 are on the continent.

According to the OIF, Africa could represent over 85 percent of the Francophone world by 2050, if the population growth does not slow, and if literacy continues to improve thanks to increased schooling. The actual teaching of French will therefore be very important for the language’s development on the continent. Amazingly, the report finds that French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the world (116 million people are learning and programs are available in every single country worldwide), so there should be no shortage of role models.

The number of speakers of the language of Voltaire has increased in recent years thanks to the African population explosion. In many parts of Africa, French is the language of instruction, so its use should grow with the spread of education on the continent.
The head of the OIF’s observatory of the French language, Alexandre Wolff warns that the growth is far from guaranteed. French is a second language for most of its speakers, so it will only continue to flourish if countries keep it on their school syllabuses. “French is the mother tongue in a few countries: France, francophone Belgium, francophone Switzerland, Quebec and some Canadian provinces, Luxembourg and Monaco, i.e., 75 million people,” says Wolff.

If all the predictions that this will be Africa’s century prove true and its economic development really accelerates, then demand for French will skyrocket. Forward-thinkers are well-advised to start studying French now.

Excessive Testing Curbs Creative Teaching


Howard Karlitz, in our October 2010 issue, argued that standardized testing should be used to help teachers improve their instruction

As American schools sink deeper into an instructional morass and their ranking vis-à-vis schools in other industrialized nations slips to second tier status, the more we hammer away at the need for standardized tests to not only gauge student performance, but now teacher performance. As an educator with forty-plus years of experience in both the private and public sectors, I’ve witnessed test score mania spread like a California wildfire, leaving behind a wasteland devoid of gifted, creative and effective instructional methodologies.
No Child Left Behind sparked the conflagration. As this flawed philosophy morphed into a flawed operational system, mass quantifiable data in the form of test scores became the only seemingly rational way to evaluate it. A blizzard of standardized tests fell from the rarefied levels of our government’s educational bureaucracies, blanketing state and district school systems in a shroud of examinations measuring everything from reading and math to rock climbing and basket weaving. From the very first day of the school year, educators know that scores are the Holy Grail, and that all instruction is geared to a series of tests that loom many months away. Teachers and students at all levels are now locked into a daily grind of pre-packaged or “teacher-proof” instruction. And nobody up there in bureaucratic heaven seems to grasp the madness of it all, that as a result of this paradigm shift, students are no longer learning to read, but learning to take a reading test; no longer learning science or math or writing, but learning to take a science, math or writing test. And the difference is profound. The former involves creative thinking, higher order reasoning skills and the potential for the love of subject matter. The latter involves regurgitation of rote-learned material that will not only soon be forgotten, but has little or no connection or relevance with other rote-learned, test-centered material. Thus the days of an integrated curriculum, where the learning process flows among disciplines, has passed. And sadly, it is this very process from which true innovation is born. If aspects of creativity involve the ability to see the relationship between variables in diverse disciplines, then teaching subjects within an isolated, cage-like, test-driven milieu limits the possibility of generating innovative interdisciplinary ideas. And this limitation applies to teachers as well as students.
I am not opposed to standardized tests. In fact, I consider them to be an important tool in assessing progress. But the use of their results to assess teacher performance runs counter to everything I believe creative instruction is about. My philosophy has always been to clearly articulate to teachers the goals associated with moving from point A to point B through a year’s curriculum, and then giving them latitude in terms of how they get there. In other words, creative individuality should not only be allowed, but encouraged in regard to day-to-day classroom management. No two teachers should be compelled to teach the same test-defined lesson at the same time in the same manner simply because they are in the same school in the same district. Sadly, this practice is widespread, evolving out of a need to control the educative process by an administrative hierarchy that more and more is losing touch with the true classroom dynamic. It is this assembly line model that limits excitement and spontaneity in the teaching/learning process.
Then why standardized tests at all? Simply stated, for the purpose of improving instruction. At the end of the year, let teachers meet at grade or departmental level conferences to discuss what has worked for some and not worked for others. By sharing this information with a competent principal in a professional, threat-free environment, work can begin on replicating positive practices on a school-wide basis, and restructuring or eliminating those practices that did not yield desired results.
In the end, it is the school community that is improved, not necessarily test scores. And it is the student who ultimately benefits the most, as an environment of creative instruction begins taking form, shifting from a competitive to a collaborative dynamic.

After earning his masters degree and doctorate from Columbia University, Dr. Howard Karlitz joined the Horace Mann-Lincoln Institute, where his research and publications centered on testing, school management and curriculum development. He has also served in numerous administrative capacities including principal, director, and Headmaster of the Meadow Oaks School. (See http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-15/local/me-24154_1_meadow-oaks). He has taught at all levels, both in regular and special education settings, as well as graduate and undergraduate courses at the college level.

Keep Your Brain Young


Read, Be Bilingual, Drink Coffee

Stephen Krashen says there are three things you can do to stay young mentally and you can do all three at the same time

Read

Older people who read more do better on tests of mental ability. In fact they do a lot better. The standard test used to detect dementia is the MMSE, a short test of arithmetic, memory and spatial relations. A research team (Galluccia et al., 2009) found that older people (average age 84) who said they read novels and non-fiction averaged 27.3 on the MMSE, which is in the normal range (27-30). Those who said they only read newspapers averaged 26, which is just below normal. (20-26 = “some impairment,” but those who said
they did no reading averaged 21, well inside the “impaired” range) Smith (1996) reported that in general older people do not do as well as younger people on reading tests. But older (e.g. age 65 and older) who said they engage in a wide variety of types of reading, or genres (e.g. fiction, current affairs or history, religion, inspiration, science, social science) not only read better than their age-mates who read less widely, but read just as well as younger adults (age 19 to 24) who read just one type of reading material. Smith concludes that “ …extensive reading practice may help to ameliorate possible cognitive declines later in life” (p. 217).
A popular research design in dementia studies is to test older people who don’t have any signs of problems, and then retest them years later, comparing those who develop problems and those who don’t, called “prospective” studies. In one prospective study, Verghese (et al., 2003) reported that 68 percent of those who developed dementia five years after initial testing said they read books or newspapers frequently (at least several times per week), but 86 percent of those who did not were frequent readers, a significant difference. Geda and colleagues (2009) recently reported similar results.
One study found that older people (average age 80) were better than younger people (average age 19) on vocabulary and general knowledge, but statistical analysis revealed that age had nothing to do with the difference: The difference was entirely because the older people had read more (Stanovich, West and Harrison, 1995). In the same study, younger people did better on tests of logical thinking and “working memory.” More reading meant somewhat less decline in working memory but not in logical thinking.

Be Bilingual

Ellen Bialystok and her colleagues (2007) examined those already diagnosed with dementia. The bilinguals in their sample (those who used two languages on a daily basis since childhood) developed symptoms of dementia about four years later than the monolinguals (age 75.5, compared to 71.4).
Bialystok and colleagues (2004) also studied why bilingualism helps keep you mentally young. As people get older, they have more difficulty at solving problems that require ignoring irrelevant information and focusing just on important information. In other words, they are more easily distracted. (Now what did I come downstairs for?) Also, younger people are better at keeping information in their memories while solving a problem. Bialystok and associates found that older bilinguals show less of a decline with age than monolinguals in tasks that require keeping information in mind and ignoring distractors. Apparently, the regular use of two languages helps maintain this ability.
Note: Bialystok’s studies were with those who had been bilingual since youth and who used both languages regularly. We don’t yet know if language acquisition in later life has a positive effect on the brain.

Drink Coffee

Prospective studies show that coffee drinkers show less “cognitive decline” as they age: van Gelder (et al., 2007) found that all of their subjects (elderly men) got worse on the MMSE over ten years. But non-coffee drinkers declined more, averaging 2.6 points, while coffee drinkers in general declined 1.4 points. The group that did the best were those who drank three cups a day, declining only 0.6 points, a decline more than four times smaller than the decline experienced by non-drinkers.
Three more prospective studies found that those who developed Alzheimer’s or dementia were less likely to be regular coffee drinkers preceding the diagnosis. In one five year study, 71 percent who did not develop Alzheimer’s were coffee drinkers, and 57 percent of those who developed Alzheimer’s were (Lindsay et al., 2002), and in another five year study, 67 percent of those considered “cognitively impaired” drank coffee but 76 percent of those who did not were coffee drinkers (Tyas et al., 2001). The difference in this study was not statistically significant, probably because of the small sample size: Only 33 “impaired” subjects were included. Eskelinen (et al., 2009) reported similar results in a 21 year study: The lowest risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s was found in those who drank 3-5 cups per day.
In a retrospective study, one looking back in time, Maia and de Mendonca (2002) reported that Alzheimer’s sufferers consumed an average of between 75 mg of caffeine per day in the 20 years preceding diagnosis. Control subjects, similar subjects without Alzheimer’s, consumed an average of about 200 mg per day.
Note: The average cup of coffee has between 80 and 175 mg of
caffeine. A Starbucks tall coffee (12 oz.) has 260 mg.
Studies with mice (Arendash et al., 2009) suggest that caffeine might be able to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Researchers included the equivalent of 500 mg of caffeine (five cups of coffee) in the drinking water of 18-19 month old mice (equivalent to 70 years old in a human) that had been genetically altered to develop memory problems similar to Alzheimer’s as they aged. After two months, the caffeinated mice performed as well as normal mice on tests of memory and thinking. Similar memory-challenged mice who drank plain water did not show any improvement. Also, the caffeinated mice had lower levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s (beta amyloid) in both their blood and brains (Cao et al., 2009). Apple juice may also have this effect (Chan and Shea, 2009).
The research, however, provides no evidence that caffeine improved the memory of normal mice, even if administered from youth through old age. The effect, so far, appears to be specific to dementia. Coffee, in other words, keeps you normal but won’t make you super-normal.
There is considerable agreement as to the optimal dose of coffee. van Gelder (et al.) reported that the optimal dose to slow cognitive loss was three cups a day (more or less was less effective), and Eskelinen (et al.) report that three to five cups per day was associated with the lowest risk of developing Alzheimer’s. The dose given to mice was about five cups a day (but experimenters did not study the effect of lower doses).
How about all three together?
We need to know the effect of combining all three, reading, bilingualism and coffee. Note that it is easy to do them at the same time: Hang out at Starbucks (drink about three regular cups of coffee a day, according to the studies cited), and read a book in another language.
I would be happy to volunteer as a subject in such a study. Maybe the experimenters will pay for my coffee.

Stephen Krashen is Professor Emeritus at the Rossier School of Education, USC, Los Angeles, Calif.

Carnival of Culture


As Brazil flourishes, it becomes an even more attractive Portuguese immersion destination

Following more than three centuries under Portuguese rule, Brazil gained its independence in 1822, maintaining a monarchical system of government until the abolition of slavery and the proclamation of a republic by the military in 1888-9. Brazilian coffee exporters politically dominated the country until populist leader Getulio Vargas rose to power in 1930. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil underwent more than half a century of populist and military government until 1985, when the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior.

Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America’s leading economic power and a regional leader, one of the first in the area to begin an economic recovery, yet highly unequal income distribution and crime remain pressing problems.

Characterized by well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil’s economy outweighs that of all other South American countries. Since 2003, Brazil has steadily improved macroeconomic stability, building up foreign reserves, reducing its debt profile, adhering to an inflation target, and committing to fiscal responsibility. In 2008, Brazil became a net external creditor and two ratings agencies awarded investment grade status to its debt.

After record growth in 2007 and 2008, the global financial crisis hit Brazil’s currency and its stock market — Bovespa — saw large swings as foreign investors pulled resources out of the country. Brazil experienced two quarters of recession. However, it was one of the first emerging markets to begin a recovery. The Central Bank expects growth of five percent in 2010.

Brazil is revered for its soccer prowess and its cultural contributions include the music of classical composer Heitor Villa- Lobos and Bossa Nova icon Antonio Carlos Jobim.

At the time of press, the country is on the verge of nationwide elections. On October 3, more than 130 million voters will choose a president to succeed the hugely popular Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, as well as governors, fifty-four (of eighty-one) senators, 513 members of the national legislature, and more than 1,000 state representatives. This will be the first since democracy was re-established in Brazil after two decades of military rule (which ended in 1985), and the first time since 1989 that voters will not have the option to vote for Lula, whose enormous legacy will mark the Brazilian political scene for at least the next decade.

The most direct manifestation of this legacy is almost certain to be the election of his favored candidate Dilma Rousseff to the Brazilian presidency. Rousseff, like Lula, is a long-term militant of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party/PT) and is, in current opinion-polls, running twenty points ahead of her main adversary, the experienced José Serra, who represents the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (Brazilian Social Democratic Party/PSDB).

Dilma Rousseff’s approximately 30-50 percent lead over José Serra will ensure this daughter of a Bulgarian immigrant a first-round victory in what will be the first election she has ever fought; even against a candidate who has been governor of São Paulo; federal representative of São Paulo state in the Brazilian congress; mayor of the city of São Paulo; and successively minister of planning and health.

Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language of the world with 240 million speakers and is the official language of eight countries. And Brazil is a great destination for students of Portuguese. It is one of the largest countries of the world with great beauty, warm weather and amazing beaches.

Rio de Janeiro is the main city of Brazil and one of the best places to learn the language. The city has some important tourist points like the Corcovado (recently elected one of the seven wonders), the Sugar Loaf, and the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.

The city will also host the summer Olympic Games of 2016 and Brazil will host the soccer World Cup of 2014. If you are worried about security, Rio has the same problems as any big city but investments that are being made for these events are decreasing significantly the violence and improving the transport system and the infrastructure.

Diálogo Language School, on the Barra Beach near the historical center of Salvador da Bahia, has been offering Portuguese language and Brazilian culture programs for the last 20 years. It launched one of the first study abroad programs in Brazil, and offers a wide range of accommodation options and activities, including special programs for universities, cultural programs, volunteering, internships, capoeira, samba dancing, and gastronomy classes.

Barra Beach is the most beautiful beach of the city is a quiet and safe neighborhood close to restaurants, stores, banks, post office, cyber cafes, laundromats and a big shopping mall.

The Portuguese programs run for a minimum of a week, but they advise beginners to take a two to four-week course. Group classes never have more than nine students, and the average is five students per group. All of the teachers have university degrees and regularly participate in professional development workshops.

The main objective is for the student to be able to successfully communicate in Brazilian Portuguese. Classes are focused on conversation, though there are also writing, reading, and grammar requirements. Introduction to the Brazilian way of life, customs, politics and culture represent a very important segment of the classes as well. Approximately half of class time is dedicated to speaking and understanding. Students also learn by listening to local music or by role-playing everyday situations. Classes are held in Portuguese, but all the teachers can speak English and other languages such as German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Lingua Solta offers Standard (20h/week), Intensive (24h/week) and Private lessons. The school is located in the center of Rio and has the option of accommodation at the same building as the school. The classes are in the morning with specialist teachers and they pride themselves on offering a “life experience.”

Step1 Idiomas, in Florianópolis, runs a language and cultural immersion program for students of Portuguese. The school offers the opportunity of learning and practicing Portuguese while exploring the many tourist attractions of its unspoiled city.

Students have the opportunity to take part in cultural activities, volunteering projects, sports, dance classes, capoeira, as well as diving at Campeche Island, windsurfing, kayaking at Lagoa da Conceição, and biking through wonderful trails and beaches.

The school offers highly communicative courses aimed at developing proficiency in the Portuguese language quickly. The courses take into account different learning and teaching styles while incorporating task-based strategies centered on the well-known fact that practice in each skill area enhances mastery of the others.

Fast Forward currently offers language institutions in São Paulo and Maceio, Brazil. Each of these cities offers a unique experience in the modern life of the Portuguese language and the people who natively speak it. Maceió, is the capital of the state of Alagoas in the northeast of Brazil. It is a safe, relaxed and modern city with beautiful beaches. São Paulo is the biggest city in South America and one of the three largest in the world. It is considered one of Latin America’s most important industrial and financial centers. Schools offer both group and private instructions, from absolute beginners to advanced levels.

Focus is on communication; beyond grammar books and written exercises, so professors include a variety of oral and listening elements with up-to-date technology to stimulate a comprehensive concept of the Portuguese language. Students are encouraged to interact with their classmates, their professors and the entire staff. The professors also organize various activities during the students’ free time. Enthusiastic and experienced host families also contribute greatly to students’ lives and well-being.

Idiomas To Go is based in one of the most charming and well-located neighborhoods of São Paulo. Situated one hour away from the gorgeous beaches of São Paulo State, its population and visitors are privileged. The school specializes in teaching adults of different nationalities. Besides the language, teachers share important cultural aspects to acclimatize students to the country and to the language learning process.

October 2010

Willing and Ready to Learn

October 2010 Cover

So often when we talk about learning, we refer only to students in educational institutions even though we know that it is an ongoing process which hopefully continues for every single day of our lives. When it comes to educational methodologies, however, most of our policymakers seem to have such entrenched, preconceived opinions that they seem unable to learn from practices that work.
The current obsessions — standardized testing, value-added teacher performance, and charter schools — all have their place in our public school system but, thanks to the desperation to meet Race to the Top criteria and stringent No Child Left Behind requirements, they have been given the elevated status of solutions which will cure our ailing schools. When will we learn that there are no universal cure-alls?
According to the latest brief from the Urban Institute, “Young Children of Immigrants: The Leading Edge of America’s Future” (see News, p.10), we need to start learning very soon. A quarter of all pre-school age children in the U.S. are English Language Learners (ELLs) — that is to say that they are learning another language before they learn English. For those of us in areas with large immigrant populations, that figure may not seem daunting, but keep in mind that it is a national average which includes many areas where there has been little experience of immigrant education.
The good news is that some schools are succeeding in helping English learners reach remarkable levels of achievement. A new report on the role that charter schools play in the education of Latinos and ELLs (see News, p.14 and “Charting Success,” p.38) documents the success of certain charter schools with high ELL populations. However, it makes the point that these schools have been successful due to particular strategies that may be employed in nearly all public schools, not simply because they are charter schools. This is exactly the sort of approach that we need to employ if we are to learn from experience. Despite the popular and attractive misconception, research points to the conclusion that charter schools are no better than other public schools. However, some charter schools have adopted strategies that are proving successful and therefore deserve to be studied.
Another positive, according to the Urban Institute’s brief, is that by age eight, half of the children of immigrants are bilingual — they speak English very well and speak another language at home. We need to do all we can to increase the language capacity of Americans, and encouraging the retention of heritage languages is proving to be the most efficient means of doing so. Unfortunately, the suppression of bilingual education programs in certain states may well curb such progress.
The most important lesson to be learned from these reports as well as thousands of others released over the years is that we are not going to overhaul our schools with a simple stroke of policy. We need to listen and learn from research, experts, and experience.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Excessing Testing Curbs Creative Teaching
Howard Karlitz argues that standardized testing should be used to help teachers improve their instruction

Opening Spanish Eyes
Courtney St.Onge on how Advanced Placement Spanish courses are opening up opportunities for Latino students

Keep Your Brain Young
Stephen Krashen says if reading, being bilingual and drinking coffee can help, why not try all three?

Transitioning Adult ESL Students to College
Lijun Shen demonstrates strategies to address the different needs of college-bound adult English learners

Charting Success
Richard Farias explains how his school starts with 40 percent English Language Learners and ends up with 95 percent college entrants

Carnaval of Culture
As Brazil flourishes, it becomes an even more attractive Portuguese immersion destination

Chile Celebrates in the Face of Adversity
The Chilean spirit is another reason to learn Spanish there

 

 

Last Writes
Richard Lederer with a Mark Twain Centennial

Plus all the latest news in language learning technology, book reviews, and source information on language funding

Pura Vida Española


Kate Sommers-Dawes marvels at Costa Rica as a Spanish immersion destination

Visit Costa Rica’s official tourism site and read its official slogan; “No Artificial Ingredients,” — a mantra of which you will not need reminding from the first moment you step foot in one of the country’s myriad waterfalls or stumble upon one of its one hundred plus species of brightly colored frogs. The country is of a manageable size and the bus network is extensive if somewhat slow due to rainy weather and less than perfect roads. Its two airports allow visitors to crisscross the country with speed but at greater expense (if you’ve got the time, a two peso, six-hour bus ride is hard to turn down — as is the quality time you’ll get to spend with the locals).

The country, a veritable natural amusement park, offers active volcanoes, stunning beaches (both Caribbean and Pacific), and intoxicating rain forests full of exotic flora and fauna. In the country’s center is the famed Arenal volcano, which is a hefty but picturesque hike from the small town over which it looms. The landmark also overlooks a waterfall and swimming hole as well as a luxury resort based around natural hot springs. Tortuguero National Park, on the Caribbean coast, is an epicenter for ecotourism and a hot spot for sea turtle watching and caring. For monkeys, iguanas, and sloths galore, head to Manuel Antonio National Park, clear on the other side of the country, to hike in a stunning evergreen forest that grows right up to the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. Mountainous Monteverde also offers cloud forests, canopy tours, and ziplining for the ultra-adventurous.

Additionally, for the surfer-expat types, no shortage of laid back, tiny beach towns dot Costa Rica’s shores, offering prime, picturesque, beach-bumming locales.
With its diverse array of landscapes, climates, and activities on offer, Costa Rica, as a nation, could not disappoint visitors even if it tried. The main difficulty facing the language traveler with limited time will be deciding which places to visit first. Occupying a small strip of land between Panama and Nicaragua, Costa Rica is home to fifty plus Spanish schools, including:

Forester Instituto Internacional offers several exciting programs of instruction in the Spanish language. Its short immersion courses of one to four weeks are popular among students. The Institute is located in the capital city of San José, and was founded in 1979. Basic to the school’s philosophy is maintaining a cheerful, congenial atmosphere in which to learn Spanish. The school has partnered with several foreign universities as part of their study abroad Spanish programs. Lessons are offered at beginner through advanced levels in small classes so students who receive personalized attention. For those who are unable to travel and who wish to continue improving their Spanish, the Institute offers online, live, one-to-one instruction via webcam.
David D’Amore, MA, former UCLA professor and Pepperdine graduate, founded La Academia de Espanol d’Amore in 1992 and has trained thousands of students from over 30 countries in the Spanish language and Costa Rican culture. The academy offers a teaching-learning process based on the Communicative Approach through the language immersion modality of learning; courses are therefore conducted completely in Spanish. There are courses available for adult students of all levels, from zero knowledge of the language to advanced speakers.

Additionally, students study Latin American culture and spend one day a week outside of the classroom on various excursions. For example, students study in the jungle learning about various ecosystems within the tropical rain forest. As an alternative choice for the regular academic program, the school offers Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) in four different disciplines: Medical, Business, Legal, and Education for those who want to concentrate on a specific linguistic area. Classes meet for four hours each day, Monday through Friday and are held in comfortable, ocean view classrooms. The classes are small, personal and meet in the morning or afternoons (depending on group placement), leaving enough time for exploring the surrounding area or relaxing on the famous Manuel Antonio beach.

Many of Cost Rica’s schools are in the Central Valley but, in recent years, several have sprung up on the Pacific coast. Conversa Spanish, founded in 1975 by a former Peace Corps language coordinator and linguist, sits on a six-acre mountain-side campus that is a breathtaking setting for learning to speak Spanish. The instructional staff is highly experienced and there is also a large support staff. All stand ready to assist students with their language learning. Language groups are never larger than four students and care is taken to assure that these groups are well-integrated according to age and proficiency level. Staff and students come together for breakfast and lunch in Conversa’s comedor. Activities are offered after lunch to provide out-of-classroom opportunities for practice. The campus has a mock grocery store, travel agency, infirmary, hardware store and hydroponics area. There are several walking paths marked with information on Costa Rican history, geography, flora and fauna. In addition to a well-organized and integrated host family program, Conversa offers on-campus lodging in La Casona, a lovely six-room lodge. La Casita offers two small suites for families that come with children. The school’s owners pride themselves in offering their students (guests) quality Spanish training. This year, Conversa is celebrating its 35th anniversary.

Intercultura sets itself apart from other schools with its atmosphere: students and staff interact constantly throughout the day, whether in class, in the reception and lounges, or in activities — thus, the school quickly becomes a second home for students. There are usually two or more activities per day for students to choose from, so it’s easy for them to practice Spanish, make friends, and learn new things in addition to the language.

Both school sites are beautiful, fully-equipped and comfortable, with student kitchens, lounges, gardens and study areas. The beach campus is actually on the beach: students walk out the gate and onto the sands of beautiful Sámara. Lastly, Intercultura has a high percentage of professors with Master’s degrees in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and the school provides ongoing professional development workshops for staff year-round, enabling teachers to focus on making classes dynamic and interesting while covering both grammatical and cultural topics.

Kate Sommers-Dawes is assistant editor at Language Magazine.

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