NEW issue of Go English magazine is here!

Go English n°46
March-April 2011

Read all about it!

The best American souvenirs
Louisiana tour guide
Roman Britain
British customer service
Scarlett and Rhett in Atlanta
Visiting National Parks
British inventors
Generation Y in debt

Also inside: Tongue Twisters, Grammar Pages, Business Matters, British Humour, Numbers Talking

Order this issue and its audio CD from Language Routes (payment in $) or from Editions Entrefilet (payment in €).

Have you read English Now n°54?

Issue 54 of English Now magazine is in the newsstands across France! (Of course, it's also available from our website.) English Now is different from any other language learning magazine in that it its articles are written specifically for French-speakers learning English who are at beginner to intermediate level.

Each page has keywords translated into French. No need for a dictionary here - we've done it for you. Also, the feature articles are available in CD format with 60+ minutes of audio read by native English speakers from Britain, the US and Australia to help the learner tune their ear to different accents.

So what's in this issue?

- celebrate Valentine’s Day like the British and Americans.
- learn about the best London pubs and pub history.
- explore an American living room.
- get key vocabulary for greeting a visitor.
- read about expressions of quantity.
- test your knowledge of pub grub.
- learn about Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
- meet a consulting fashion director, juggling brothers and a veterinarian.
- keep up-to-date on the latest news from English-speaking countries.
- acquire vocabulary for going to the post office.
- learn to play a game with pub signs.
- test your comprehension with exercises!

Find out more here, or join us on Facebook.

Music & language

The link between music and language has been well-established. Speakers of tonal languages are much more likely to have perfect pitch, for example.

But let's look at it from a different angle, or tune, if you will. How can music be used to help learn a language? Listening to music in your target language helps build your vocabulary, but singing along also helps you match your pronunciation, intonation and speech rhythm to that of the native speaker (or singer, as the case is here). Also, a recent study found that singing words, rather than speaking them, improves the listener's ability to distinguish the end of one word from the beginning of the next. (Anyone who has ever heard a string of unending French can identify with this challenge!)

NPR's World Music is a good place to start discovering music in your target language. (This is where I first heard Malian singer Rokaya Traoré, one of my current favorites.)

Thanks to the Matador Network, I've also been listening to Souad Massi, an Algerian woman who sings in her native Arabic, as well as French and Spanish.

Shifting musical style gears, but staying within the French language, Benjamin Biolay is offering a free download of his song 'La Superbe' until October 19th. Sounds like a good (free!) place to start to me.


What about you? Do you use music for language learning or as part of cultural immersion? Who do you recommend we listen to? Merci d'avance !

Global wisdom

Is maith an scáthán súil charad.
A friend's eye is a good mirror. (Irish)

Dëgg, kaani la.
Truth is a hot pepper. (Wolof, spoken in West Africa)

Aki másnak vermet ás, maga esik bele.
If you dig a hole for someone else you'll fall into it. (Hungarian)

An áit a bhuil do chroí is ann a thabharfas do chosa thú.
Your feet will bring you to where your heart is. (Irish)

Делать из мухи слона
To make an elephant from a fly (Russian)

Ăn có nhai, nói có nghĩ
Eating needs chewing, talking needs thinking. (Vietnamese)

Η καμήλα δεν βλέπει την καμπούρα της
The camel does not see her own hump. (Greek)

Un jour sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil.
A day without wine is like a day without sunshine. (French)

Benn loxo du taccu.
One hand can't clap. (Wolof)

A fehér liliomnak is lehet fekete az árnyéka.
Even a white lily can cast a black shadow. (Hungarian)

Đường đi hay tối, nói dối hay cùng.
Lies have short legs. (Vietnamese)

Now, don't you feel wise in the ways of the world?

NEW issue of Bien-dire is here!

Bien-dire n°74
janvier-février 2011

Allez plus loin en français

La SNCF, géant du rail
Jacques Chirac, retraité
Chic ou pas ?
Voyage en francophonie
Marie-Antoinette, reine de la France
Les mots-clés pour le marché
Une escapade à Saint-Malo
Arrivée en station de ski
Un quiz sur les accents
Les goûters d’enfance
Le salon de l’agriculture

Bien-dire is a magazine that is written for you, and remains the only magazine written and created in France for learners of French. Order this issue and its audio CD from Language Routes (prices in $) or from Editions Entrefilet (prices in €)

NEW issue of Go English magazine is here!

Go English n°46
January-February 2011

Where is English going?

Language: Estuary English
Travel: London’s livery companies
Insights: Car boots and yard sales
Profile: Michelle Obama
News: London’s 2012 Olympics
Vocabulary: Coffee talk
Food: American snacks
Tourism: American Civil War sites
Tips & Techniques: Talking about the weather
Business: News and a donut

Also inside: Tongue Twisters, Grammar Pages, Business Matters, British Humour, Numbers Talking

Order this issue and its audio CD from Language Routes (payment in $) or from Editions Entrefilet (payment in €).