Review: The Everyday Language Learner's Guide to Getting Started by Aaron Myers

(Justin) I've never met Aaron Myers, but he lives in Istanbul with his family and we communicate by email and blog. Aaron is a language coach, helping motivate others toward fluency. He's given Joni and me ideas that we've incorporated into our learning. Aaron's e-book is a good place to get started as an independent language learner.

You'll notice we've added links on the right to language resources we use heavily, as well as polyglot bloggers like Aaron who are always talking about published research, tips, and tricks related to language learning. I'd recommend adding them to your feed reader.

Language is a journey. Aaron chronicles his attempts to learn a few languages and gives pointers from his successes and failures. He emphasizes three principles:
1. "Input Control": Focus on creating comprehensible input.
2. "Multiple Entry": Find multiple ways to engage with the language.
3. "Integrated Review": Find quick and easy ways to review. 

Getting as much "comprehensible input" as you can is perhaps the most important key to language learning. (I'll talk in a future post about ways I create comprehensible input for Turkish on the cheap.) Live input, recorded input, all are important. His favorite example is Dora the Explorer, a cartoon which uses simple language, visually demonstrates everything, and repeats key words multiple times. It's a cartoon form of total physical response (TPR) used in most ESL classrooms in the U.S.  Check out his post "25 Ways to Find or Create Comprehensible Input."

Multiple "touches" are needed. Aaron cites an article stating that in order to learn a new word you need to encounter it 160 times. True or not, the more exposure the better. In my own economics classroom I had a goal of six "touches" per major topic. I'd mention it in lecture, assign online homework, assign an article reading, assign a discussion post, until I had covered the topic six different ways. In language learning, you similarly need to find as many ways to practice writing, reading, listening, and speaking new concepts as possible. As much balance to those four you can provide the better.

"In learning languages, there is no end." You have to find ways to keep reviewing what you've learned. Flashcards, intentional practice of certain grammar forms, etc. Aaron gives some ideas and resources for using a language helper for all of the above.

I bought this book primarily to support what Aaron is doing but also to find new ideas and resources that I hadn't tried yet. I wasn't disappointed. If you've always wanted to learn a language but didn't know how to really learn it, I recommend starting with Aaron's book, spending some time on his blog (He's got a great collection of links for multiple languages.), and signing up for his 10-week email course.

Vacation, Part 9: Boat Tour & Fish Dinner

Here is the ninth and final installment of our vacation blogs. I hope you've enjoyed seeing so much of Turkey and learning about our experience! To see the first 8 blogs in the series, click here and here.

Since we only had 1 day in Amasra, we kind of wanted to get an overall tour, so we decided to take a tour boat around the whole area.

This wasn't our boat, but ours looked pretty much like this.

We had to wait around on the pier quite a while before the boat left (Like many other forms of Turkish transportation, the boat didn't have a specific departure time - they just wait until they feel like they have "enough" passengers.), but we enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching the people.

There was a lot of activity along the shore with food vendors, swimmers, and fishing boats going in and out!

The boat left from the side of the peninsula that has the free beach, and our jaws dropped at how PACKED it was! We were so thankful to have discovered the less-crowded beach first!

It did have the cool floating slide and trampoline park, though. I'm sure Elias would've loved to check that out!

Then the boat just toured around the whole peninsula, and we really enjoyed seeing the beautiful sights!

Then we went to the restaurant across from our hotel for one of Amasra's famous fish dinners. Justin and Elias split some fried calamari and fried catfish, which they both found delicious. I'm trying to eat a little healthier, so I got a salad,

Fancy!

And broiled fish.

Um, yeah, that's a whole fish with skin, bones, & all. This is pretty much the only way to get non-fried fish here, so if you're squeamish (like me), you just have to get over it.

So we really enjoyed our day in Amasra, and we're thankful to have seen such a beautiful place! In the morning, our bus left before any of the restaurants were open for breakfast, so we packed a picnic breakfast and ate overlooking the beach.

We're so thankful to have had this opportunity to rest, refresh, and see more of Turkey!

Vacation, Part 8: The Beach!

We were so excited about going to the beach! Elias had never been to a saltwater beach, but he has seen them on shows and he'd been talking about wanting to go to one. There were actually two beaches at Amasra on opposite sides of the peninsula, and we were fortunate that our hotel was on the less crowded one. (Come back tomorrow for shots of the other one!) Here's a view of our beach from out on the water.

We think this beach wasn't as crowded because it wasn't free, but we thought it was worth paying 15TL (appx $8) to rent the umbrella and chairs for the day. We brought a little bucket/shovel set, and Elias LOVED playing in the sand!

The same people who rented us the umbrella & chairs also had a menu we could order lunch from, and they delivered it to us right on the beach!

Then we hit the water! We had heard that the water of the Black Sea was very cold, but it was just cool. It was actually perfect for swimming in since the weather was so hot!

This is the first time Elias got in the water and the only time you'll see him with his feet touching the bottom. As much as he loved playing in the sand on the shore, he REFUSED to let his feet touch it in the water!

So I carried him out to the deeper water...

...and he floated in his floatie! Win!

It's always interesting in Turkey to see the great variety of people. At the beach, we saw ladies in bikinis, but we also saw fully-covered conservative ladies also enjoying their swims. As Justin mentioned previously, many Turks don't know how to swim, so we saw a large number of adults wearing floaties and water wings to stay safe! (Not pictured: The middle-aged man who was rescued while drowning and had to be taken to the hospital.)

We absolutely loved the beach and were so thankful for the opportunity to visit! Check back later for the final (finally!) installment of our vacation blogs where we take a boat tour around the peninsula and enjoy the famous fish dinner!

Vacation, Part 7: Amasra

Leaving Safranbolu, we took a bus 2 hours north to the Black Sea coast. We visited the town of Amasra, which a friend had recommended as having a great beach. She was right!!!

Our first view of the Black Sea out the bus window

Amasra is such a beautiful place! I've never seen anything like it! Justin said it reminded him a little of Venice.

The Black Sea coast is famous for its fishing, so we saw lots of these fishing boats in action

Amazing cliffs and rock formations right on the coast

 

View from our hotel room. We stayed at the Mızıka Pansiyon, and recommend it. Tell the owner we sent you!

The pictures don't do it justice - the water was so clear and blue!

Amasra is definitely a tourist town, though. Everything was quite expensive, and they kept much later hours than usual. Places didn't open until 10am, and we could hear people out partying on the street below us LONG after we went to bed! This is why we chose to only spend one day there instead of our whole vacation!

A tourist market, selling souvenirs and toys

Elias enjoying corn on the cob from a street vendor

Amasra is also full of amazing history. Just like we've seen in the rest of Turkey, the historical sites just blend right into daily life. The historic Amasra was an important port used by Phoenicians, Greeks (it's mentioned in the Iliad), Romans, and of course the Ottomans. The fortress ruins in the picture below date from the Byzantine era. Pedestrians and cars squeezing through fortress walls and cobblestone streets.

The fortress ruins in the above picture were built by the Byzantines and Genoese.

 

This is the museum's courtyard. The museum contains marble statues of Roman emperors and Ottoman artifacts.

People swimming and sunbathing off the ruins. The pictures don't do justice to the clear blue water.

Vacation, Part 6: Safranbolu Luna Park

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

The last thing we did in Safranbolu was visit a little carnival area. Many cities in Turkey have a public "Luna Park" like this one where you just pay per the ride you want (3 TL, or $1.60). There were rides & games, and Elias loved it!

We went in the early evening, about 4:30 or 5, and we were some of the only people there. Turks generally run on a much later schedule than we do. So Elias was able to enjoy having the rides and play area all to himself!

Elias loved this little train ride! In the video below, you can hear him blowing the whistle, it sounds like a siren.

There was a play area with slides, obstacle course, and ball pit. Those are always Elias' favorite!

His first time ever riding a carousel! He loved it! In this photo, he's saying "Giddyup, horsie!"

Then we went to a nearby park for a picnic dinner. Turkish parks often have adult exercise equipment alongside the children's play equipment, and you usually see kiddos enjoy playing on both. Elias really liked this particular machine with spinning seats; he was proud of figuring out how to climb on and off it by himself.

The weather in Safranbolu became increasingly hot as the days went on. We were eager to find a cold sea to swim in...

Vacation, Part 5: Safranbolu Pool

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

The weather was pretty hot and humid during our vacation in Safranbolu, so we were pleased to discover there was a public pool there because Elias has been begging to swim and we've missed having pool access. We've been leery of public pools in Turkey so far, but this one looked clean, spacious, and well-kept, and so we went for it! It was awesome! We didn't stay and incredibly long time the first afternoon we went because it got REALLY crowded (and people were jumping in fully-clothed)! So we went again the next morning as soon as it opened, and we had the whole pool to ourselves! We really enjoyed this nice, refreshing activity. We got to witness some kids taking swimming lessons as well. (Turks by and large don't learn to swim when they're young or may never learn [hence the large number of drownings on the nightly news...] and most adult pools are therefore not very deep.) The cost was 10TL/adult ($5.50), so not as cheap as U.S. public pools. Private pools of similar quality range from 15-35TL/adult ($8-20) for comparison.

There were three separate pools - an adult one in the back (about 5 feet deep), and kid one that was about 2 feet deep on the right, and then a small baby one that was very shallow. (You can see that one below.) Then there was a large canopy with seating for all the parents who weren't swimming. It was a really nice setup!

Elias LOVED the kid pool, it was just the right depth for him to have fun but not be scared of going under. He got to where he was brave enough to jump in from the side, which turned into his favorite thing to do here. See the video of him jumping in below. He's along the back with the blue ring around his waist.

Elias swimming with Mommy in the big pool the next morning - all to ourselves!

Elias splashing with Mommy in the kid pool.

There was also a playground in the same area as the pool, so after a swim, we stopped to swing for a few minutes. Doesn't get much better than that! Turkey does public parks better than any country we've lived in.

Celebrating My Birthday

This break from vacation blogging (Yes, there are still a lot more vacation photos coming!) is because I celebrated my birthday yesterday! It ended up being a really fun day, and I thought I'd share a bit about it here! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

First of all, I've been needing a haircut for a while, but my language isn't good enough to where I can go by myself. Plus, I've been hearing horror stories about the difficulty of working with Turkish stylists, so I've been putting it off. Finally I asked a friend - Julie, who has been here longer than me - if she could help me go get a haircut! She lives in a far district of town that I have never been to, so it was kind of my like Joni's Day Out Adventure to go to Julie's district (Batikent, for those of you who might be familiar with Ankara. It takes about an hour for me to get to from my house - 30 minutes on a bus, then 30 more on the subway). She took me to her hairdresser who is located in Acity Outlet AVM (AVM is "Mall" in Turkish). For any locals who might be interested in going, it's called Şahika Kuaför on the bottom floor of the mall - ask for Mehmet. Seriously, it's worth the trip out to Batikent for this guy! He was so friendly and professional, and Julie just explained to him what I wanted and he did it. That might not sound exceptional to people who aren't in Turkey, but from what I've heard, that's pretty awesome for a stylist here.

The hairdresser's shop was different from any I had been to before. There were WAY more people working there than I'd ever seen before! You had the stylists, who were like the superstars of the place, and then a whole horde of people I'll call "minions" that were running around doing the dirty work, and it seemed like their jobs were to just anticipate exactly what the stylist wanted and do it without them asking. First, one of the minions shampooed my hair. Then Mehmet began the cut while chatting with Julie in Turkish. At one point, he dropped his comb, and instantly a minion swooped in with another comb - Mehmet never broke his stride. The minion washed the comb and brought it back, switching it out with the other one, and Mehmet just kept working like nothing had even happened.

So he finished the cut and began to blow dry my hair, and another minion came over with a round brush. They had this amazing system where the minion knew exactly where to hold the dryer, when to hand it to Mehmet, when to take it back again, what angle to hold it. It was hilarious! Then when my hair was styled, another minion appeared with a mirror so I could see the back. I loved the cut, and I was also thoroughly entertained by the show! All this for only 35 TL, which is just over $19. I wish I had thought to get a picture of my styled cut - it looked really cute!

Then Julie and I walked the mall for a little bit. I asked her to help me find some shoes, which I've been surprised to have such a hard time! Apparently I have bigger feet than any Turkish woman is allowed to have, so NO stores carry shoes my size! Julie and I didn't have any luck at the mall either, and she divulged to me that she has people bring her shoes from the States. Guess that's what I'll do!!!

Then Julie took me out to lunch for some Turkish food, which was delicious and we really enjoyed just chatting together. Then I caught the subway back into the town center where I had a language lesson scheduled at Starbucks. Usually my teacher comes to my house, but with my plans in the morning, I wasn't sure I could make it back home in time for my lessons, so she met me in town instead. I was glad to get to go to Starbucks - who would refuse a birthday Frappucino on a hot day?!

After a good lesson, I took the bus home to meet Justin and Elias. They had sweet birthday flowers and a homemade card waiting for me! Then the three of us taxied out to IKEA where we ate dinner in their cafeteria (Swedish meatballs - Yummo!) and did some shopping. IKEA has a free children's play area where you can leave your kid up to an hour while you shop, so Elias loves going out there, and we do too!

So it was a fun first birthday to celebrate in Turkey, and I'm thankful for loving friends and family to help me celebrate!