Setting up a High-Tech Language School? 332
Bakerybob writes "My wife and I are currently setting up a small Japanese language school, and I am in charge of all of the technical aspects, with a small but not tiny budget. What would Slashdot recommend as technologies we could use to improve the student experience (and hopefully to interest more students in the school!)? We have the easy bases (free Wifi access for students, a stunningly poorly designed homepage, and a few cheap computers lying around for them to play on between classes) covered, but I'm sure there are a lot of better ideas out there. Has anyone used Moogle? What about online lessons via webcam? Give it your best shot, revolutionary thinkers!"
PDAs (Score:3, Insightful)
Not PDAs, iPods! (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, some schools are using iPods.
Aside from the standard "My pencil is yellow" fare, you cold load them up with popular Japanese songs (and traditional ones.) Mini-immersion, if you will.
The iPods even have some PDA functionality, so you get that, too.
PLUS, for c. $250 per pupil, you can add some serious 'polish' to people's perception of your school. "You get an iPod? To keep?" You'll be amazed at what that does to their willingness to fork over the big dollars! (There's almost certainly a discount for schools, too.)
Heck, set up a 'podcast' exchange with a Japanese english school. (Podcasts are recordings meant to be downloaded for later listening in the iPod.) Have the Japanese students do three minutes of dialog in Japanese, and in exchange the Yanks do three minutes in American.
OR, distribute lessons in podcast format, and charge people for distance-learning! (OR, distribute them for free and charge for the testing!)
Good Luck!
Re:Not PDAs, iPods! (Score:2)
Re:Not PDAs, iPods! (Score:2)
How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2)
Re:How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2)
How's this for a "rest of the story"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh sure (Score:2, Insightful)
Are you insane? You opened up the door to an entire world of culture, literature, games, movies, and people, and you're saying you wasted your years? Also, I mean, come on, how much of those years did you actually spend studying japanese? About a fifth of each, right? One class out of five.
Re:Oh sure (Score:3, Funny)
Actually, there are other (and pretty stupid) reasons [idge.net] to learn japanese.
Re:How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2)
Languages are always supplemental, they never make the main thrust of a career, so learning them in college is probably a bit of a waste.
OTOH, picking up Japanese in your free time just to watch anime is worthwhile, imo
Re:How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2)
Overall profile (Score:2)
Re:How about a disappointment booth? (Score:2)
Shamelessly biting School of Rock,
-truth
Extreme Language Courses (Score:2, Funny)
What you do is give them a few hours of very basic vocabulary training, then drug them and transport them to a part of the world that predominantly speaks that langauge, and only that language (ie if it's Japanese, drop them off somewhere in backwoods Japan). Give them a few yen to get started, and leave them to their own resources.
When they show up at your door (possibly armed), a few months down the line, they will have a far greater command of the languag
Re:Extreme Language Courses (Score:2, Funny)
I thought the next step after 'drug them' would be 'Put them on a island, each with random weapons, and tell them to kill each other off before 3 days are over'
I guess that would only force them to respect the older generation, and not learn another language...
Computers and education (Score:5, Insightful)
I know there has been this massive rush to get computers into everything-education, but its simply not needed.
The tech you need is a good language teacher, some dictionaries, and maybe a few textbooks/workbooks.
Maybe a japanese->english english->japanese dictionary could be useful, but even then it could make for some seriously lazy students. But I imagine those kids already know about babelfish.
Maybe I'm being shortsighted, but I feel that, in this specific case, computers would be more of a distraction then a benifit.
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
In fact, most of the Japanese I learned I learned using computers. Now, please don't misunderstand, I don't speak Japanese, but I learned a few phrases and learned Katakana.
The most effective language learning tool I ever saw or used was an online Flash application for learning Japanese alphabet. It used a very simple approach - it taught you something, then tested
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
This simply isn't true. You are a shortsighted and uninformed person with latent luddite tendencies. Please stop spreading FUD about computers.
Computers suck when it comes to teaching languages. Sorry, it's true. I happen to speak Japanese and Arabic, and I have *never* found a computer program that was worth a used butt cheek.
The best practice for language is sitting at a desk, reading, repeating to yourself, and writing the characters over and over and over - with your hand.
And before you label me a l
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
It's not the computers that are to blame - people who don't know how to apply them are. You need a great educator who also understands computers very well to design an efficient learning experience. But the good thing is that on
Re:Computers and education (Score:5, Informative)
Bottom line: You are wrong when you assert that computers can be programmed to replace competent language instructors. But, the grandparent of this post is also wrong when they claim that they are not good for classroom instruction.
It takes some knowledge about what makes for effective foreign language learning. What it boils down to is interaction. The traditional school of thought used to be that foreign languages would be learned by studying the grammar of the language first, understanding the grammatical transformations that go on from L1 to L2. Then, drop in the appropriate vocabulary, and boom. You're bilingual! Problem is that this made people very good at translation but barely passable in communication. After this, another trend of thought was that students would learn the language with a shitload of input. Just keep hammering them with endless streams of data, and eventually the innate learning algorithms of the brain would kick in and bilingual ability would magically appear. Hence the number of hours one has to pull at language labs. Most students sleep at these labs. There are a zillion and one approaches that claim to be superior but are, more often than not, a theory for a dissertation. In alot of these cases, the "superiority" claim comes from the nature of the evaluation criteria. Like I said previously, those taugh tin the old school "learn the grammar then the vocab" school of thought were really good translators, but horrible at communication. Both of the methods above are illustrations of transmissive learning. The idea that students are just empty cannisters waiting to be filled with facts and figures and somehow, they will magically think and solve problems.
Fast forward to today. Educators have found that the most effective methods for learning are those that allow students to be actively involved in the problem domain. Allowed to explore and discover structure and make observations on their own with little guide posts to keep them on topic, students gain a more thorough understanding of the underlying principles.
The same is true for foreign language learning. Some of the best results come from students who are allowed and encouraged to vocally produce their own sentences (NOT simply read, write, or translate) in dialogues with other students or people fluent in the target language. Given feedback during the conversation, either implicitly or explicitly, students are allowed to explore and learn from mistakes while engaging in an activity that was, on the whole, more enjoyable than lecture or "drill-and-kill" exercises. This makes sense in light of research on language acquisition in infants which shows that social interaction is crucial for proper development of language skills. It is also anecdotally observed by all learners of a foreign language that one doesn't really learn the language to the point of communicative competency until one actually goes to a country and interacts with people in the language. (Where else will you learn that when you say "gan4", instead of "gan1" in Mandarin that it means "fuck" instead of "bottoms up?" Trust me, when I say "gan1" these days, my pitch is nice and level!)
This sort of activity isn't really encouraged in most foreign language learning classes. Especially at the high school level. In some universities it is, but for the most part it isn't. Most universities have the model of classroom time/lab time with tapes. One of the problems is student teacher ratio. When one is teaching 30 students, it's difficult to have proper dialogues with them... most resort to having students repeat phrases or reading scripted dialogue.
Another problem is that students might feel shy about speaking the language. No one likes to make mistakes, and among peers, this can be a particularly acute fear.
This is where computers can fit in. Dialogue systems (in the researc
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
One is that I was talking in generalities. Everyone has their own learning strategies that work best for them. For example, in general education, I find that I hate lecture unless the teacher provides some sort of insight into material that I can read myself. I find that I learn stuff best when I actually go about writing a program or actually applying the knowledge in doing something. In learning a foreign langauge (I've studied both German and Chinese. German unsuccessful
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
There's no substitute for practice, but computers can cram a lot in really quick.
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
I totally disagree. This is one of the best types of classes for computer-based learning. A lot of the time in languages is just memorization or applying simple algorithms over and over and over (such as conjugation in Latin-based languages). That's very tedious to do. But it's also something a computer can check easily. I've seen simple, surprisingly addictive computer games that improve your vocabulary and conjugation.
In other words, comput
Re:Computers and education (Score:2)
You're missing the point: this isn't an either/or. Memorization is valuable, and it takes a lot of time. It's better if that's not classroom time, and it's better if computers are used to keep it interesting. Conversations are v
Re:Computers and education (Score:3, Insightful)
My dream would be a japanese class where I could speak for hours (I'm serious!) with real life people. Speak and practice! that's what I miss the most because in the end, it's always some guy speaking alone (and this guy doesn't really care, he's the teacher, he has nothing to learn...)
Don't ask us (Score:3, Funny)
Set this [engrish.com] up as the home page.
force them into using it (Score:2, Interesting)
Computers are only tools, in school we have to learn how to use our mind as a usefull transparent tool By forcing the students to use their foreign language they will understand things better and quicker.
Minor Advice (Score:2, Funny)
VoIP to speak with live native Japanese speakers (Score:3, Interesting)
Anime... (Score:2)
I'd also layer some artwork on top of various letters and let the kids make up their own stories for them.
ie: (That's Ku I think) drawn sort of like O and calling it a "Ku ku bird" makes the memorizing muuuch easier.
I'd also throw in some songs... my favorite was. Heh...
Hitori, fu
English school (Score:5, Interesting)
Microphones and webcams are pretty cheap. Yahoo Instant Messenger is probably more than adequate for your communication needs.
Have the Japanese-speaking people speak as much English as they can, and have the English-speaking people speak as much Japanese as they can.
Nothing beats talking to a real human.
Re:English school (Score:2)
So it might be slightly difficult to coordinate schedules for an hour of conversation - but not impossible.
Re:English school (Score:2)
Re:English school (Score:2)
You could always learn this from the teachers, then practice conversation with the native speakers... Seriously, how are you going to improve your skills without talking to a native speaker of another language? There's going to be a lot of times where the person you're speaking to won't understand your native language, and you'll just have to make do. The more practice you have, the better you'll be prepared for this situati
Re:English school (Score:2)
Sounds good.
Half-hour in Japanese, half-hour in English. Strictly enforced on both sides. The following week, do it first in English then in Japanese.
The point I was trying to make is that speaking with natives is absolutely the best way to immerse yourself in a language, which is the best way to learn the language. The extreme liklihood of a similar classroom existing halfway around the globe, but
Japan discussion listings. (Score:2)
You could check our Japan [chatmag.com] discussion and chat listings for some online help.
More details, please (Score:3, Insightful)
Is that a school in Japan, or a Japanese language school in the US (or elsewhere), or a school where all the classes are taught in Japanese?
I 'think' youre talking about a school where Japanese is taught as a second language (spoken? written?), but it's not entirely clear.
Define 'small'. 10 students? 50, 100?
small but not tiny budget
Define 'small' budget. $500, $500, $50,000?
What about online lessons via webcam?
What kind of classes? Some types work better, some don't. Teaching Japanese might fit into the "don't" category (resolution and frame rate).
It's not entirely clear what you are trying to teach, or what problem the 'high tech' solution is supposed to fix.
Technology not always the answer (Score:2)
Re:Technology not always the answer (Score:2)
I was trained as a Russian liguist by the US Army, and I strongly agree with your asessment. We had periodic language labs where we listened to boring tapes or watched low quality video tapes, but most of the time we sat in the classroom conversing with instructors. Class siz
Check out the Hippo Family Club (Score:2, Insightful)
Transnational College of LEX - Hippo Family Club [lexlrf.org]
Make everything accessible via the web. (Score:2)
And you'll be able to do it all with OSS, if you like - PHP and Postgres or MySQL will get you most of what you need right there. Serve your study documents in someting everybody can read - PDFs of you don't want people changing things.
Blessing and curse... (Score:2)
On the other hand, if students use laptops during class, I'd be wary of offering free WiFi. The internet is great for a lot of things - but it is also a remarkable time-was
Older technology (Score:2)
Movies.... (Score:2)
If that is the case, have you thought about getting some movies in which are in Japanese. I don't know your class demographics, but many may enjoy Japanese Anime, or classical Japanese theater, or the many, many other Japanese movies that are out there. I have had four friends learn Japanese so they could better un
What is the technology for? (Score:2)
An alternative goal is technology that actually helps with education. There's plenty in this regard to. For instance, my lab
Moogle? (Score:2, Informative)
Has anyone used Moogle?
Don't you mean Moodle [moodle.org], the online educational tool similar to Blackboard or WebCT? Moodle can be a great tool to assist the classroom experience; we're testing it out in my department and will hopefully deploy it throughout our private prep school for the next academic year.
foreign lang lab (Score:2, Informative)
Past Experience (Score:4, Informative)
1) Technology should be used to supplement langauge lessons - never teach them. Distance learning can be done via webcam if absolutely necessary, and you can take advantage of existing technologies for that. Look into Placeware or more likely WebEx.
2) You can license existing e-learning platforms from companies like Auralog, they sell on a sliding scale.
3) Students love to be able to see schedules and homework assignments online. Computer software applications also make great supplements for at-home practice. Also consider setting up a community bulletin board for students to communicate with eachother in their non-native tongue.
I know none of this is revolutionary thinking - but it is sage advice for teaching language with technology. My company tried to teach through technology alone and it failed - the lesson learned was even eLearning needed to be a supplement - not the basis for learning.
Best Luck!
Re:Past Experience (Score:2)
How true. My company tried to build a heavier-than-air vehicle to fly and failed - the lesson learned was that you need to make it lighter-than-air - not heavier.
Seriously, if you failed, that most likely means that either a) you suck or b) the task is hard. Rarely the reason is that c) it's impossible.
I wrote elsewhere in this discussion with my
Re:Past Experience (Score:2)
I don't think this is important. Yes, the tasks are different, but I was talking about the teaching methodology, not the content. From my personal experience I can conclude that an automated computer teacher with an avatar of an attractive anime girl can be en effective mentor.
A computer is a very useful tool for drilling and repetitive tasks, such as practicing hiragana, or kanji. But it's not a good substitute for rea
Two words (Score:2)
Nothing beats the low-tech approach (Score:2)
any good stuff on DVD? (Score:2)
Have students use iPods (Score:2)
The New York Times had a recent article about how one foreign language department was using Apple's music player to record and play back language lab materials. I have found a grant proposal [writersu.com] while looking for a link to the article. The Times article suggested the use of iPod voice recorders as well.
Of course you are looking for specific technology and technologies, as opposed to curriculum and methodologies but I have a dear friend who teaches the more advanced courses using a mix of history and the count
Just got back from Japan in July (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Just got back from Japan in July (Score:2, Interesting)
I've been self-studying Japanese for a few years now, and I still learn new cultural tidbits on a near daily basis.
I don't mean that watching anime is the key, mind you; I'm sure others will try to suggest that. But live action and dramas work wonders on both the cultural aspect, and introduce the viewer to the vastly different landscape
Moogles! (Score:2)
Kupo!
No need for fancy gadgets (Score:2)
Your main concern would be to promote the cultural aspects of learning the language: arrange for some kind of e-mail exchange program with Japanese speakers, have som native guests once in a while come to the school, organize Bunka no Hi even
Minority Languages (Score:2)
spoken archive (Score:2)
I think the ability to archive, search, and playback are the computer's best qualities for language instruction.
Japanese? (Score:2)
Re:Japanese? (Score:2)
I personally recommend news shows. The announcers are chosen for clarity of voice, the news scenarios are generally familiar to Americans (crime, economics, sports, etc.), and there are a lot of interviews with people at all levels of speech and many different dialects, oftentimes the interviews are subtitled in kanji.
PDA Dictionaries (Score:2)
(shameless plug) My company, Pleco Software [pleco.com] makes a similar product for Chinese, and we've found that for a lot of people ready access to a character dictionary can greatly assist with their studies and their later word recall.
Classrooms of the future (Score:2)
Has anyone used Moogle?
That would be Moodle [moodle.org]. The section on Moodle for Language Teaching [moodle.org] has some interesting ideas and shows it is widely used for this purpose.
An essay [moodle.org] on using Moodle has this comment:
I am in a good Japanese class and... (Score:2, Interesting)
Free POP3 Accounts for the Students (Score:2)
Multimedia and reference materials (Score:2)
Skills like desktop publishing, A/V creation and editing, and programming were not taught in seperate classes or even as subjects in their own right. Instead, students worked on quarterly projects that included research, design, and presentation of their finished product. That meant that we h
Restrict access to .jp (Score:2)
Buy Cartoon DVDs for the subtitles (Score:3, Informative)
DVDs because the multiple languages and subtitles are a great way to learn a new language. Cartoons because animation has simpler phrases.
Re:Buy Cartoon DVDs for the subtitles (Score:2, Funny)
(Wait, you mean they make other kinds of cartoons, too?)
Some insight... (Score:2)
For example, the methodology at Cornell is to build both understanding and automa
Talking Panda (Score:2)
"Talking Panda iLingo sets a new standard for language translation software. Designed for the iPod, it's stocked with over four hundred essential words and phrases of the language you want to speak, organized for instant access. Download and install the program right now and begin your adventure abroad. Virtual fluency available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Japanese."
computer aids to learning Japanese (Score:2)
As several people have already said, don't rely on the computers for the basic language instruction. What is far more important are good textbooks and good instructors. That said, there are two things for which computers are useful.
First, once the students have a sufficient grounding, computers can be used to provide them with opportunities to use Japanese outside the classroom. These range from reading Japanese websites through IM and email with Japanese speakers to videoconferencing, though this last
Since I earn money with e-learning... (Score:2)
Webpage (Score:2)
I suggest you fix that for starters. The web can be an absolutely huge customer draw if you let it. The idea here is to become a (minor) authority on your subject in order to attract interest. If people Google for information on the Japanese language and culture, and your site provides it in detail and in a pleasing-to-the-eye manner, a percentage will translate into customers. Its a chance to demonstrate your style of teaching and gets word of mouth if done properly.
Game that teaches Japanese (Score:2)
decent projector or television and good sound (Score:2)
Moodle (not Moogle) is awesome! (Score:2)
Moodle is GREAT. There's no other way about it. It's easy to use, very featureful, easy to admin, simple to setup and get moving, and still powerful. It blows away anything else we've ever done before -- personal webspace, other course management systems, etc. We did a survey about how many faculty used
Technology should serve the purpose. (Score:2)
I'm guessing your wife is Japanese and knows how to teach Japanese sufficiently. So that part assumed, ask HER how she wants to run the courses. And if you're all geared up to computerizing it as much as possible, then I dare say that you're running the risk of walking on new ground.
You're asking Slashdot, so you know the answer 9 times out of 10 is "Linux" and/or "Open Source." I offer thoughts along those lines. Speaking as a student of Japanese, I know that l
Anime :) (Score:2)
Have a library of anime.
Seriously. I learned more Japanese listening to the anime I like in the original language than trying to learn it from a book. Plus it's fun. Motivation. Non-tedious. And you get the correct pronunciations for stuff. Plus how people really speak versus the business type speech in most language books. Plus the culture in some of shows.
In order to retain a language it must be used and excercised. Have newspapers/recorded news shows
huh? (Score:2)
I thought most technically savy people were aware of the shitty nature of all the schools which claim to be "high tech" schools, such as DeVry, ITT Tech, etc.? Maybe you aren't. Let me i
Having just finished taking a japanese course... (Score:2)
I take engineering at the University of Alberta and decided to take introductory Japanese as my fourth year complimentary studies elective course. All I can say is that I -highly- recommend against using computers as an aid to learning a foreign language. There is simply no substitute for verbal and written practice.
Our university made extensive use of "web Course Tools" (webCT), including weekly marke
Moogles (Score:2)
On an unrelated note, Moodle [moodle.org] is a quite nice bit of lesson management software; we've started testing it in our school, and it seems fine so far :)
High-tech Language Learning (Score:2)
How I learned French in one year [mricon.com] using the Internet, an mp3 player, and a Netflix account.
Written by a fellow geek. :)
Example... (Score:2)
Outside this small technical flaw, though, you'd probably find some inspiration in the course content, which is for advanced learners of German as a foreign language. They've included a lot of multimedia elements, movies, audio streaming and so on, and a lot of (vaguely) fun puzzles of the 'join the weird
Hire overseas conversation tutors to use Skype... (Score:2)
to move to Japan for a year or so...
Also, some can't get the work permit needed
to allow them to work as tutors, eg, due to
their age (only younger tutors get them).
So, Skype is a great way to let small
groups (or even one-on-one) tutoring
sessions go forward, with student(s) &
tutor in different lands.
Saves travel $$$'s - both for the big
airfare trips at the start & end of
the contract -and- each working day.
This might be a way for
IBM with BOOK (Score:2)
Sorry but I agree with the other poster, it's a sunk cost.
Unless you have in the upper tens of thousands of $$$ to spend on a full blown language lab, you'd be better off getting some decent books and recordings. Or more to the point, a well-trained teacher.
My son's school has attempted a 'computer technology based education' and frankly it's a complete failure, & I'm hacked off with myself for being sucked in.
Cool Japanese site (Score:2)
videos (Score:2)
Re:Ask.Slashdot: We'll do your work for you! (Score:2)
Re:Ask.Slashdot: We'll do your work for you! (Score:2)
2. Ask Slashdot for opinions.
3. ???
4. Profit!
Seriously, does he want us to write his business plan for him?
Re:Ask.Slashdot: We'll do your work for you! (Score:2)
might is the key word in that statement. You might was well take the money, go to Las Vegas and spin the wheel, you'd likely have the same expected results. Consultants are a crap shoot, in particular for a single job and a small firm. Besides the guy said he had a small budget, not a medium or big one; Consultants (or at least the ones I have worked with) have a habit of going with expensive options.
Gotta admit tha
Re:Nothing to see here... move along (Score:2)
Re:Anime (Score:2)
- Oh my god!
- Me too!
- I'll kill you!
- Me too!
It brings absolutely nothing to the reader (everything comes from the pictures anyway) unless you get really good mangas (with often a lot of interesting but long texts that you won't read).
What you say!! (Score:2)
for great justice.