England isn’t only about bangers and mash and The Beatles and The Stones; it’s about curry, too. In this week’s edition of Saturday Morning Music, we’re keeping with the London Olympic theme and taking a look at another side of England’s music scene. Nitin Sawhney is an Indian-British artist that is considered to be a pioneer in music with his many influences ranging from south Asian, to jazz, hip hop, and flamenco.

This first clip is from NPR’s World Music page which I would so highly recommend putting into your favorites list. Here you see Sawhney’s talent of blending Western and Asian styles.

Here is The video to ‘Distant Dreams’ by Nitin Sawhney featuring Roxanne Tataei. A bit of latin influence here to spice…  read more

This is so cool. We have a hyper polyglot in our midst! Geraldine contacted us wanting to contribute to the Livemocha Blog. How lucky are we that she has shared her tips on how to learn multiple languages (at this point she’s got about six under her belt!)

Here’s Geraldine in her own words:

Hello Livemocha!! I am Geraldine from Bogotá, Colombia.

I was exposed to Spanish and English at a young age (I lived in the States for 4 years) which was a challenge. I could understand everything my parents asked or told me in Spanish but would only answer back in English. Nonetheless, I became fluent once we were back in our home country.

I came to study languages by chance….  read more

Miranda González, Livemocha tutor and co-host of LiveEnglish with Livemocha on Facebook, shares her thoughts and advice for teaching your kids a second language.

In her words, Miranda

In 2012, it’s not just a nice idea to be bilingual – it’s crucial.  There’s no need for me to lecture you about the benefits of being bilingual; after all, if you are reading Livemocha’s blog, you certainly have interest in other languages.  But have you thought about teaching your children to be bilingual?  If you want to teach your child another language, the sooner you get started, the better.  As both a teacher and a mom, I’d like to share with you how I am teaching my kids two languages.  I’m not saying…  read more

Kjera is off on her grand South American adventure. For her second Diary of a language Learner installment, she tells us about how she’s getting along with her intermediate Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, and shares some tips and resources that are helping her, even while she’s away from home.

by Kjera Nunez Rigotti

Well, Chile is a beautiful country, and I feel so lucky to be here.  People say that the best way to learn a language is to visit a country that speaks the desired language.  I definitely think this is true as far as learning to actually speak the language.  I always wondered how well one must know the language to be able to get by in a foreign country. …  read more

As language learners, we frequently hear that singing along to the words of a song sung in our target language is excellent for language acquisition, but it’s also a great way to learn about the culture of some of the people who speak that language. Well, if you haven’t already found it, NPR Music’s ‘World Café’ series is an outstanding resource for finding new music that is presented by experts in their respective fields. Here, Chicago-based music journalist Catalina Maria Johnson curates the 14th installment of World Cafe’s “Latin Roots” music series. (Click on the image below, then click on the ‘Listen Here’ section to hear the interview and the music. Source: npr.org)

Source: npr.org

We’ll be posting different music from around the world on Saturday mornings……  read more

There are more domestic jobs for bilinguals than monolinguals… or so you would think if you’ve looked at the want ads recently. Not everyone works at the global level. We’re not riding the wave of globalization, or forging relationships with foreign businesses (not first hand, anyway.) Lots of us are just regular Joe’s with jobs that serve our immediate communities. From clerks to attorneys, emergency aid workers to childcare providers, bankers, massage practitioners, you name it; bilingualism is becoming more common, and more desired by domestic employers (and consumers) than ever.

Search for the word ‘bilingual’ on any job-posting site and you’ll find a laundry list of companies, institutions, and service providers that are looking for workers who can speak…  read more

If you’re an English language student with Livemocha, you may have come across this gal, Meredith Miller, one of Livemocha’s English language tutors. Aside from helping students with their lessons, Meredith also has a blog called Flowing in English, where she gives tip and tricks to mastering your target language. The following is a post that she wrote last fall that we thought might help you with your lessons. Take a read and let us know what you think.

by Meredith Miller

Originally posted on Flowing In English, September 24, 2011

Don’t worry about where you are with your English right now compared to where you’d like to be or where you think you should be. The important thing is to see your goals…  read more

Learning a new language in a classroom has its challenges and distractions: the buzzing of the neon lights above, uncomfortable desks, the foam that collects in the corner of the teacher’s mouth. Learning a language outside of the classroom isn’t so easy either. Here, Siôn Owen, one of our Diary of a language Learner and regular blog contributors, has made a study of those things that stand in the way of his lessons.

by Siôn Owen

Since I take my language lessons with a private tutor, we don’t have the luxury of a quiet, nurturing classroom environment in which to have our lessons. Also, library hours tend to be set around the limiting schedules of toddlers and senior citizens, and we already got…  read more

An unprecedented number of people (57) shared this article that we posted on the Livemocha Facebook page back on June 19th.  It was clear to us that Mr. Krashen’s views on language learning really rang a bell with our followers. So, we thought that it was worth sharing here to see what you think. (The following is an excerpt, you can find the whole article here.)

 
Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 06/16/2012, By Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post

This was written by linguist Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, is an educational researcher and activist. He has written hundreds of articles and books in the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading.
 

By Stephen Krashen

In a recent issue of the Washington Post…  read more

So many of us who learn another language do so not because we specifically want to advance our careers, rather, we possess and insatiable urge to travel and speak the language of the places we visit. Many times when we hit the road we rely on travel and tourism professionals to do the heavy work for us while we practice saying our ‘pleases’ and ‘thank you’s’. Here, I spoke with Petulia Melideo of Context Travel and asked her about the complexities of doing business in multiple countries that speak as many languages.

How does language come into play when doing business for Context?

At Context we help travelers discover new cities with local experts. I am Italian and am very proud…  read more