I was struggling a little bit as to what resources I could use to improve my learning of German. And then the idea dawned on me as I was working on an environmental biology assignment. This particular assignment required me to utilize ChatGPT to create a one page essay rough draft, which I would then refine into a workable paper. With AI becoming fairly prominent in modern culture, I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to see what it could produce.
I first asked for German learning sites. The results provided some stuff I’ve heard about, such as Duolingo, Babbel, LingoDeer and Rosetta Stone. However, it also provided other resources that I never heard of before, such as Deutsche Welle, FluentU, Memrise, and the Goethe Institut. I have chosen the latter two to dive into in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for that!
Once I scouted those resources, I was curious as to ChatGPT’s capabilities in language and how it can help me learn. I asked if it spoke German in German, and it responded in German! Same with French. I’m sure it would have continued to speak in German had I known more questions in German to pose.
I then asked it to teach me German. I knew it was going to give me broad strokes, but I took it on as if I was a complete beginner, with no prior knowledge or experience. I then went through the various aspects of the language itself, such as verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs, and even sentence structure. It did a fairly good job at explaining the different concepts.
It was at that point, I wanted an easy way to learn about colours. One of the tips ChatGPT gave was to learn the colours through songs and rhymes. I completely forgot that form of mnemonic, as I didn’t utilize it all that much. I then asked to give me a song or rhyme and it produced this:
When I spoke the rhyme out loud, it made so much sense. It was such a fun little rhyme too, nothing too complicated. I’ll continue to remember it for a long while.
I’m still unsure of AI as a whole, but this experience was a positive one. I wouldn’t recommend people to use AI as a crutch to learn a language. However, I think AI can be used as a tool and can be helpful in little instances, especially coming up with mnumonics and resources.
What are your thoughts on AI and learning languages? Or using AI as an introduction to a new subject? Share in the comments below!
Howdy Folks! How are you guys doing? It’s been a minute. Hope everything in your life is doing alright.
So today, we’re going to explore an app called Drops. I found this app in the google play store one day as I was browsing around. When I read the description, I noticed it was from the developers from Kahoot! Colour me intrigued indeed. I like Kahoot and how interactive it can be, especially in the classroom. I figure I’d give it a whirl.
I gotta be honest, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It felt like a downgraded Duolingo knockoff, where it focused primarily on vocabulary and phrases using visual aids. For me, it comes back to visual pattern recognition, which I find is great in the short term, not so much in the long term. I tend to associate the picture with the phrase, not the other way around. I’m not actually thinking about the phrase itself.
I wouldn’t necessarily count it out though. It may not work for me personally, but I can see it working really well for some individuals. If someone finds Mango (check out my previous post) a little dull but finds the flash card system effective, Drops is definitely the way to go. Another positive is that it covers a wide array of vocabulary topics (I think more than Mango) and includes modern niche topics like Diwali, Chinese Zodiac, Board game lingo, etc…
Unfortunately, the amount of content is somewhat limited without a premium subscription. The other drawback is that you can only spend a maximum of 5min/day.
At this point in time, I’m learning more from Duolingo and Mango than anything else so far.
What do you think of Drops? Have you ever tried it? Let me know your thoughts
When I reflect on Wesch’s video, I think it’s fascinating how explosive the culture of participation grew. There are more viral videos and memes floating around the internet every week compared to the internet’s infancy. That being said, the trend fades more quickly than those of the internet infancy. One week it’s a trend, 2 weeks later it dies. There are constantly new ways people innovate how to participate online. Some are reaction videos on content itself (ex. React channel), while others use the audio of a viral video to make it their own (tiktok). After watching the video, I went to Wesch’s youtube channel in hopes to find an updated video on the subject 15 years later. Unfortunately, he has not made an updated video on the modern internet. However, he did make some comments on another video about teaching and engaging with students online, which I found pretty interesting.
I think there’s a possibility where the new culture of participation can coincide with the future classroom. The participation can be used as a way to engage with the students and potentially be used for teaching depending on the subject material. For example, the ALS ice bucket challenge spread across the internet in 2018 to raise money for charity. In a biology class, you could potentially participate in this challenge and then afterwards teach the class on what ALS is and how it affects the human body. Another way to potentially engage students is through memes. Depending on the meme itself, you could break the meme down in scientific or sociological terms and how it relates to the subject matter.
I think one of the best ways to balance the challenges and possibilities is talking to the class about expectations. Being open to talking about internet and participation trends for the first 5 minutes of class engages with the students. You could inquire about the trend interest via polls and opinions, and again, attempt to find a way to connect it to the subject material itself. On the other hand, trends should also have a time and a place – it shouldn’t take up the whole class and take away from a student’s learning.
Welcome back to another week of learning German, where the title for this post sounds like a key phrase spies like Johnny English and Austin Powers use.
I mentioned in my first post that I wanted to find useful tools for 3 areas : Verbs, Vocabulary and Sentence structure. I successfully found a verb and sentence tool, as seen in my earlier posts. This week, I found the vocabulary tool.
One of the best things about this program/site right off the bat, is that it’s free! “But Josh, I’m combing through the website and its definitely not free!” A true and astute observation. However, I wanted to add more links to this post and that was one way to do it (sorry not sorry).
The way to access it for free is through a medium funded by the public…. the Regina Public library. Here’s the direct link.
Once you sign into your library account, BAM, its all in your fingertips. I would recommend creating an account with Mango as its a way to track your progress and also be able to login the app via your mobile device. You can choose to do German or another language.
Mango splits German into 5 units, with a varying amount of chapters, each with its own subject and vocabulary that its related to. Depending on where you’re at with the language or if you’re interested in a specific subject, you’re able to bounce around from subject to subject without any major barriers. You can jump from learning vocabulary related to numbers to shopping to airports and customs.
Another nice thing about this program is that it shows you both the singular and plural versions of the same word all in one. The lessons take you through the vocabulary step by step and asks you to recall earlier words and/or translations. All of this is through the age-old strategy for learning exams — flashcards.
This is the tool I wished was implemented in Duolingo. Instead of having to scramble through a Duolingo lesson or two to find a specific word you want to remember, you could interact with a bank of words the game has shown you. If this was implemented, it would allow people to have easy access to jump right back into lessons and succeed, instead of choosing to give up.
That’s it for this week! Hope you’re enjoying it so far and let me know if there is anything I can do to go further! And for fun, comment your favorite spy movie and/or favorite fruit!
It’s been another week and I have taken up the task of video editing! (Heads up, the video is way better than the last 2 posts).
I was always a bit apprehensive with video editing because I thought it was a time eater and too complicated to deal with. After looking at it for a couple of hours, it’s a lot simpler than I expected it. I’m no means an expert, but I can navigate it well enough to continue with these edits in the future (given enough time).
When you open the program to create a new video, one of the first things to pop up is the option to import media, which is as simple as click-drag-drop. Once the video clip is in, you can add it to the template and edit it right away. You can splice sections you’re not happy with (like a long pause or rambling on too much) and add transitions afterwards (if applicable). You can add all kinds of other media (texts, images, gifs, music…) and move them wherever you want, both on the screen and the timeline. There is even an option for automatic closed captioning, which does a decent job of translating the audio. I thought about adding it to my video and editing the closed captioning, but the length of the video was pretty long already and I didn’t want to waste time (maybe next time). There is an option to pay premium to access more features and options, but the free version is good enough for me right now.
If you plan to use this tool in the future, I’d recommend creating short clips first and then edit them in ClipChamp, as opposed to making one long video. It saves a good chunk of time in the editing bay.
I can see myself using this tool as a future educator. I would primarily utilize it to create review videos for the class, in case they were struggling on a particular subject or if they happened to miss a class. It would allow me to assemble the material together in a concise and clear way, without droning on and repeating myself. On the SAMR model, this would likely be regarded as Augmentation.
For Substitution, a teacher could use it to create a funny video that has no educational purpose.
If students were assigned a project and wanted to utilize video to convey the material, ClipChamp would be useful to bring all the ideas together in a fun, creative way. This tool could be an introduction to those unfamiliar with editing technology (Modification),
Finally, for redefinition, I could see a project based around news media outlets/game shows, in which a class-led dramatic scene is filmed and students have to find creative ways to edit the clips to convey certain emotional or knowledge based ideas. The projects could then be uploaded to Youtube for future grades or the public.
Without any further adieu, here’s this week’s progress!
Week 2 is here and I feel a bit more confident than the last post!
In the previous post, I wanted to find a way to understand German grammar and how it was implemented in a basic sentence. After some research, I can happily say I found a site that answered most of my questions!
German with Laura is primarily a site to buy their German course (similar to Rosetta Stone and Busuu). However, the website has some fantastic articles on various grammar topics. It takes a grammar topic (ex. nouns) and explains how it is used in an English sentence. It then compares the English sentence to a German sentence and explains the similarities and differences between the two sentences. It does a great job at breaking down each case, provides a good amount of examples and exceptions to each rule. Some of the articles also give good study tips and advice on how to tackle the subject. This site helped clear a lot of confusion I had when I started Duolingo last week. Now when I use Duolingo, I can use some of the strategies and pattern recognition from German with Laura to clear the units without losing a lot of hearts.
I found another annoyance with Duolingo. I wanted to look back at some of the vocabulary and sentences I practiced in Duolingo and compare it to the general rules on gender groups (whether the word is masculine, feminine or neuter) from German with Laura. It turns out there are guidebooks as to what kind of material you’ll be learning in the unit, but there is no set list. If you want to find a word, you have to go through some of the review units or redo a previous lesson, which in my opinion wastes time. Perhaps one of the reasons to not include it is to, again, emphasize the game element of the app. I will continue to use Duolingo as it is a good practice tool, but I will search for another alternative that allows me to access vocabulary lists to look at and practice with.
The websites I use most frequently nowadays include Google, UR courses, Youtube and Spotify. To a lesser degree, I also use Facebook and Instagram. Google and UR courses are mostly in line with my academic pursuits in education. I’ve used Youtube as a way to take breaks from school work. To ensure I don’t go down a rabbit hole, I keep my watch history and search history options off. I use Spotify to provide subtle background music when I’m working on assignments. I only have Facebook and Instagram on my PC and check it once or twice a day for a couple minutes. I find if I have those apps on my phone, I end up doom-scrolling for an hour or two, switching between apps as needed. This in turn caused my productivity to decrease drastically. I’ll also use Steam once a week to play games with online friends
No recommended distractions here
I’m fairly old-fashioned when it comes to organization and productivity. The only digital tool I use is Google drive, as it is a convenient storage medium that is easily accessible whenever I use my chromebook or phone. Whenever I write papers on Google Drive, it points out grammatical/spelling errors and it automatically and frequently saves whatever I’ve done.
I have physical paper calendars sticky-tacked to a wall, which have all important deadlines and events coming up, both academic and personal. I create study schedules with a big portable whiteboard and try my best to follow the schedule. I physically write important notes/flashcards when studying for a test and I use my whiteboard to organize my thoughts and ideas for papers and projects. If I feel gross from staring at a screen for a long while, I’ll purposely go for a walk or read a book to readjust.
I believe these methods help create a healthier boundary between technology and myself. My goal is to use technology only as needed. I personally think society has become too reliant on technology. Whilst technology has its benefits, I think it has more drawbacks, especially if it malfunctions or dies at some point. I ask myself “Am I able to do this task if technology is not available?”. If my response is negative, I try my best to find a non-technological method. The reason I do this is to ensure that I have personal growth independent of technology. My identity and abilities are not tied to technology.
Establishing goals is the first step to balance technology and personal wellbeing. Recognizing what is distracting you and how you deal with it are the next crucial steps towards balance. What follows afterwards is maintaining discipline to reach your established goal. Once some time has passed, the final step is re-evaluation. Are you more productive with your academic work whilst having a healthy mental state? Do you need to have a stricter regiment or can you have a more relaxed regiment? Are there any loop-holes you have to address? When you understand that achieving balance will take time and not be instantaneous, you will excel.
I love languages, real and fictional. I find it fascinating to see how different words and sentence structures can be between languages. I also loved the twists and surprises a language can carry in terms of similarities as well. Modern day English is a stew of many different languages.
When I was in grade 6, I decided to go into french-immersion. I recognized it was a skill that would be good to have in the future, for occupational and traveling opportunities. I stayed with the french immersion program till I graduated highschool and enjoyed it thoroughly. There were some challenges to overcome, but I was able to complete them with ease.
When I came to the UofR, I discovered they offered Latin and Greek courses. I took the Latin course because latin is the root of the 5 romantic languages (french, italian, spanish, portuguese and romanian). If I knew some of the Latin vocabulary and how it was structured, I could use it as a baseline for learning other romantic languages in the future. I completed the course with ease, thanks to my French immersion background.
One of my dreams I’d like to fulfill one day is to travel Europe. I’d like to visit countries like England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I’d include more countries, but it’d be pretty expensive for one trip. I’d love to spend a week or so in each country to see the history, to eat unique dishes, and to experience the culture. I believe I have enough French/Latin to do moderately well for half of the countries I’ve listed. The other half is another story because their languages are not based on romantic languages, but rather the germanic languages. The Germanic languages are another branch on the tree of languages with its own vocabulary, verbs and sentence structure that generally have no relation with the Romantic languages.
I believe learning German will prove to be a bit of a challenge considering I don’t know a lot about it. I know a couple of words and some of their pronunciations because of movies and world war 2 documentaries. I have two advantages going into this learning project. One is that I have a general idea as to how languages work and where to begin, thanks in part to learning French and Latin. The other advantage going into this is my knowledge of English. According to the tree of languages, the English language is a branch off of West Germanic, the same branch as the modern German language.
For the first week, I wanted to learn some basic verbs (to be and to have), adjectives (hot, cold, loud, quiet, beautiful, etc…) and nouns (family and food). I decided I would try Duolingo, as it is one of the more popular apps to learn a new language and I know some friends who use it. After using Duolingo for a week, my conclusion for now is that it is an alright app for beginners.
I was able to get through 3 units in the Rookie section. I think it is a good tool to practice new vocabulary. I’ve been able to go through some of the units fairly quickly because of the combination of pattern recognition and repetitive practice. The sentence structure portion has been fairly simple, which is understandable given what level I’m starting from. However, I’m disappointed the app has only had me learn partial conjugations for 2 verbs so far – to be and to come. I was expecting to know the full conjugations for those verbs and learn the verbs ‘to have’ and ‘to do’.
Duolingo is one of the free mobile apps to learn a language, but it is also plagued with 30 second long ads after each lesson. The other drawback is that you have a limited amount of hearts/attempts to complete the lessons. If you run out of hearts, you can gain one every 5 hours. This isn’t a great way to learn a language as it punishes you for making mistakes, which is inevitable when learning something new. By the time you get back into the lesson, you may have forgotten what your mistake was, and then get punished again. Duolingo provides opportunities to regain hearts by practicing, spending diamonds (money) or subscribing to their Super plan. I was tempted to try their Super plan to see how much more efficient the course is. However, I recently tried the PC version of Duolingo and because I have an ad blocker on, I don’t see those pesky ads! The heart system is still lingering in the background, so I have to be careful.
For the next 3 weeks, I want to expand my knowledge in 3 areas. Each week will focus on a different verb tense (present, future and past). I want to continue growing my vocabulary and will focus on numbers, colors, emotions, vehicles and more. Finally, I want to understand how to properly compose a sentence or question. This last point may seem odd, considering that Duolingo content seems to imply an English-like sentence structure (from an English speaker’s perspective…technically it’s the other way around). However, the French language places their adjectives and adverbs a bit different from English. With Latin, there is an order to follow where to put nouns, adjectives, adverbs first and verbs at the end of a basic sentence.
I may be a bit ambitious with what I’m wanting to do, but I hope for the best!
I am currently a first-year BEAD student, majoring in Biology and minoring in General sciences towards secondary education. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Psychology at the UofR in 2019.
I’m originally from Chilliwack, a city in the far away lands of BC, the land of rain and hipster culture. Fun fact, there was a band named after it! Hiking is one of my go-to activities in the summer, climbing up mountains and discovering the beauty of nature. When hiking isn’t an option, I love reading and watching movies of all genres. I’m also an avid piano player and a trumpet enthusiast. Exploring new genres of music to listen to is one of other hobbies I do on the side, but jazz and post-metal/rock are my favorites.
Josh is gazing over the Grand Canyon
Throughout elementary and middle school, most of my teachers used overhead projectors and whiteboards to convey their notes. I remember copying the notes and finding it useful because I found I could remember details easier. Most assignments and projects were done in the computer lab, using Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. Some teachers used modern projectors for movies and youtube clips. My French teacher used the modern projector to show websites to students that would help them practice/improve their verb conjugations or grammar structure.
I have more experience with education technology in highschool. Most of my teachers now used modern projectors to show their notes on powerpoint presentations. I remember my math teacher using a SMART board to convey mathematical formulas and graphs. It was cool at the time because the teacher didn’t necessarily have to erase a number, but could drag it to a graph. He also could flip the graph around or angle it to fit the equation he was demonstrating. It was time efficient and was a good visual tool for me. My science class used an app called Socrative, which created quick quizzes and polls online. The overall results were projected on a screen for the whole class to see, but the submitted answers were anonymous. This created a freedom to participate in the quiz/poll with your classmates without having them judge you on a wrong answer.
Let me tell you right off the bat….I am not a blogger or journal person. I’m that guy that loves to talk to people face to face, most of whom I have at least an acquaintance level relationship with. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d put all my thoughts and opinions on a blog and share them with who knows how many people who I won’t have a chance to interact with in person. But hey, welcome to the modern age!
I’m not a blogger because of one of my personal philosophies with posting personal pieces on social media as a whole. The idea is that when posting personal or conversational material, there is a layer of interpretation the reader must decipher. How the reader deciphers the material is going to create a mental image of who the author is, similar to how they interpret a painting. You may wonder how there can be interpretation. Think of a blog as an extended text message. Each text serves a purpose, ranging from a statement to a reaction. But how it was written can alter your perception of the text’s purpose. Afterall, when you text, you most likely don’t include descriptors like adjectives and adverbs. A text from an acquaintance could be perceived as sarcastic or genuine, depending how you interpret it and how well you know them. In most cases, this is not an issue when talking face-to-face because you can listen to the tone of their voice and read their facial/body language.
What insight can a viewer discover about a blogger? Is the blogger being genuine with the content they’re posting? Or are they doing it to fill a prerequisite/goal? If you were to meet the blogger in real life, does it match your online perception of them? How close to the truth can you get?
