9 Peaks - From Nepal to the world

Language: English

In this talk, I will be doing the presentation in the 9 languages that I speak in varying degrees of fluency. I will talk about the relationship between those languages such "Nepali/Hindi", "Spanish/Portuguese/French", "Japanese/Chinese", etc. I will also talk about my ethnic language "Newari", which is a native language of the Newar ethnic group in Nepal.

Anish Man Shrestha

Born in Nepal, the land of Himalayas, Anish learned 4 languages as he was growing up (Nepali/English/Newari/Hindi). After finishing high-school, he moved to Japan when he learnt Japanese and did his engineering studies (computer engineering) entirely in Japanese. When he started learning Spanish as a hobby during his university days, he realized that he really enjoyed learning languages and embarked on his lifelong journey of learning various languages which led him to additionally study Portuguese, French and Chinese.

A Família Linguística Tupi-guarani

Language: Portuguese

Uma das famílias linguísticas mais importantes da América do Sul, a família Tupi-guarani engloba várias línguas indígenas, das quais a mais representativa hoje é o Guarani, um dos idiomas oficiais do Paraguai. A família está compreendida no tronco Tupi.

Vamos conhecê-la?

Flávia Scaldelai da Silva Rezende

Flávia é uma professora brasileira de português para estrangeiros, inglês, espanhol, alemão e francês e atualmente vive em São Paulo.

Começou a estudar inglês aos 9 anos, espanhol aos 16, alemão aos 20, francês aos 26 e devido a sua paixão por idiomas, adicionou mais alguns idiomas ao seu currículo: esperanto, italiano, guarani, catalão e galês e latim. Além de idiomas, Flávia ama os Beatles, ama dançar forró e ama cachorros. Hoje ela está grávida e pretende criar um filho trilíngue desde o nascimento.

Acquiring Ukrainian: feel as a child again

Have you tried acquiring a language before? Of course you did, al least your mother tongue. How about other languages? Whether you responded yes or no, you will find something for you during this interactive workshop "Acquiring Ukrainian". We are going to practice some ways of acquiring a language: you will be able either to find out new information or share your experience. Moreover, you will be able to learn some Ukrainian and to brag about your new acquired knowledge after the workshop. Let's do it together! До зустрічі!

Marta Melnyk

Marta Melnyk is a polyglot coming from Ukraine. Learning languages is her hobby. She teaches German for fun and creates languages courses in her spare time, while her main field of work is in IT. She speaks fluent Ukrainian, Polish, German and English, but has different levels of other languages. Her polyglot mission is to encourage others to learn Ukrainian.

All about English: everything you need to know about the world’s global language

Language: English

Love it or hate it, you need English to live your best life in the 21st century. Let’s discover why English became the world’s global language and it’s influences on and from other languages.

To do this we’ll cover a brief history of the language and country it originated from, as well as the current and possible future state of global English, or “Globish”.

As we unpack communicating in an increasingly interconnected world we will see that English is however not the one and only answer to effective intercultural communication… come to the talk to find out why and what you can do about it too!

Emily Martyn

Emily Martyn is uTalk's Languages Manager and in-house language specialist; uTalk is a fun, interactive app for learning 150+ languages, from any language (no English required!) Emily is passionate about linguistic diversity and intercultural communication; just a few words can make all the difference!

Are You Afraid of the Newspeak?

Good, ungood or doubleplusungood?

What is a Newspeak anyway? English writer, George Orwell describes Newspeak as a language that has simplified grammar and restricted vocabulary; it is designed to diminish the range of thoughts, to limit personal identity, self-expression, and free will. It is a language of a dystopian world. Or is it?

In my speech, I will talk about the background of Newspeak. I will try to answer some questions, for example: While language development is a natural process, what about language simplification? Is it natural or artificial? Is there a danger in this process? I will also show the principles of Newspeak according to George Orwell and compare them to the real-life examples.

Marta Melnyk

Marta Melnyk is a polyglot coming from Ukraine. Learning languages is her hobby. She teaches German for fun and creates languages courses in her spare time, while her main field of work is in IT. She speaks fluent Ukrainian, Polish, German and English, but has different levels of other languages. Her polyglot mission is to encourage others to learn Ukrainian.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Language: English

There are many ways to communicate. You have heard of languages like French, Chinese, English, and American Sign Language. However, these are just a few examples of how someone could communicate. AAC, which stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, includes a number of different forms of communication.

Isabella Nyiri

Isabella Nyiri, from the United States, is passionate about working with people who have disabilities as well as English language learners. She also enjoys learning world languages, and so far has studied Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Building a chatGPT for learning languages

Language: English

Get ready to dive into the exciting world of chatbots and language learning! In this talk, Fabien will share his journey of building a multi-lingual chatbot that helps users practice and improve their language skills.

From understanding the basics of natural language processing to overcoming the challenges of integrating multiple languages, Fabien will walk you through the process of creating a language-focused chatbot. You will learn about the tools and technologies he used, the difficulties he faced, and the triumphs he achieved along the way.

This talk is not just about building a chatbot. It's about the joys and pains of being an indie maker and the lessons learned along the way. It's about the power of technology to connect people across cultures and languages. And it's about the never-ending pursuit of creating something meaningful and impactful.

So, whether you're a language learner, a tech enthusiast, or just curious about the world of chatbots, this talk is for you! Join Fabien and discover the inner workings of a chatbot designed for language learning and gain a deeper understanding of the potential of technology to enhance the learning experience.

Fabien Snauwaert

Fabien’s journey to becoming a multilingual speaker began with the joy of teaching himself English through video games. He then added Hungarian, Spanish, and Russian to his language skills. A passion for creative and effective language learning techniques led him to start creating language learning products in 2007. His talks are a must-attend for language enthusiasts and tech-savvy individuals looking to enhance their language learning experience.

Church Slavonic: The Key to Learning Slavic Languages

Slavic languages are known for being daunting, but if you learn one you can learn any other, as many polyglots may know. But which one should you learn first? Which one should you learn second? Regardless of which one you learn first, following it up with Old Church Slavonic, the first attested Slavic language, will immensely help you on your Slavic journey as it offers you the key to understanding all the similarities and differences in Slavic languages so that you could easily understand them without having learned them!

Ian Aleshkevich-Suslov

Polymath, chemistry major, chemistry teacher; studied numerous Slavic and Germanic languages, a few Romance languages, Latin, Norse, Old English, Old Church Slavonic, Japanese, Hungarian and Scottish Gaelic. Strong advocate for sustainable development and de-growth.

Clilstore, Wordlink and Multidict: tools at multidict.net

Language: English

muiltidict.net has three tools for language learners and teachers, created and made freely available thanks to a series of EU-funded projects. Multidict makes it easy to find and swop between online dictionaries in very many languages. Wordlink can link many webpages word-by-word to online dictionaries via Multidict, thus enabling learners to read interesting authentic materials which would otherwise be a bit beyond their ability. Clilstore makes it easy for teachers to create online “units” for learners, usually consisting of an embedded video or soundfile, plus a transcript which has every word automatically linked via Multidict to online dictionaries in many languages, and it has a store of several thousand such units already created in many languages. The talk will demonstrate the use of these facilities.

Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle

Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle taught computing through Gaelic for many years at the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye, and was the programmer and developer in a series of EU-funded multilingual language-learning projects which produced the resources available at multidict.net and clilstore.eu. He has produced many other Internet resources including the cognates database Bunadas. He is fluent in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, conversant in Manx, French and German, and dabbles in lots of other languages including the other Celtic languages.

Comment Rester Polyglotte dans un Contexte Non-Polyglotte

Language: Français

C'est très dur d'apprendre une nouvelle langue et de ne pas trouver quelqu'un pour la pratiquer dans la rue. C'est ça ton cas ? T'inquiète pas, viens m'accompagner dans cette toute belle présentation où tu trouveras des astuces pour rester polyglotte dans un contexte assez monolinguiste. On est aujourd’hui au sommet d’Internet et la technologie, donc pas plus d'excuses pour ne pas garder ton bon niveau d'espagnol, italien, japonais ou russe. Mais savais-tu qu'on peut aller beaucoup plus loin même sans rien d'autre que ton propre esprit ? Seras-tu vraiment préparé.e pour que je te dévoile ces grands secrets ? Alors entre et découvre-les. (ATTENTION: Ils commencent dès la présentation elle-même...)

César Manuel Martínez Soto

Hi there! My name's César, a 19-year-young college student who's always surfing the net in his free time (do people even say that slang anymore?). Currently working on Japanese as my fourth language, so please get in touch with me if you are up for practicing along (and even if you don't, I am always up for a nice chat). Passionate about Latin American literature, football, chess and jazz music. Last thing: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb? Ten: one to screw it in and nine to keep everything else Ceteris Paribus.

Comment parler une langue dès la première heure de votre apprentissage?

Language: French

Après avoir travaillé dans la finance, j'ai découvert cette technique et j'ai quitté mon travail à la banque pour partir à l’aventure. La vie m'a donné un signe et une direction : j'ai gagné une bourse pour faire mes études MBA à Chypre. A partir de ce moment-là les langues sont devenues une passion pour moi. La langue turque pour travailler à Chypre, le français pour vivre en France, l'italien et l'espagnol pour voyager en Italie et en Espagne, l'anglais pour mes études, le russe pour enseigner, le biélorusse pour lire des livres... J'avais envie de partager cette technique avec les autres et je suis devenue coach de langues. Mes élèves parlent dès les premiers cours et n'imaginent pas d'autre façon d'apprendre.

Olga Borkovskaya

• Née au Bélarus, habite actuellement en France.
• Économiste (2010-2012), responsable de la coopération internationale (2012-2013), responsable des projets de la coopération franco-biélorusse à l’Ambassade du Bélarus à Paris (2016-2017), coach de russe depuis 2017 et créatrice du projet Parle Russe.
• MBA (International Business Management), Programme d'échange international, ISC Paris Business School
• Certificat « Méthodes d’enseignement de la langue russe comme une langue étrangère »
• Les méthodes d'enseignement et d'apprentissage des langues sont sa passion depuis plus de 10 ans.
  
  

Conference interpreting: way more than juggling languages

While interpreting has existed since the first cultural and commercial exchanges, conference interpreting is a recent profession born after the second world war. Conference interpreting does not only require a deep knowledge of a least two languages, but a whole plethora of skills. In this talk, I will try to explain the main types of interpreting and how does the interpreter's brain deal with the translation process.

Ángel García Manso

Ángel García Manso is a Spanish entrepreneur and language enthusiast who has learned more than 10 languages. He works as a freelance Language Services Provider (LSP) and provides translation, interpreting and language teaching and mentoring services in Spain and abroad.

Connecting Impostor Syndrome to How We Approach & View Language Learning

Language: English

Impostor Syndrome (IS), feeling like we’re frauds and undeserving of praise we receive, is prevalent among language learners. Considering that we intentionally immerse ourselves in a new world searching for connection and identity, it makes sense that so many of us experience IS. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t go away as we improve our skills, master more languages, or function socially or professionally in our languages. The feeling of being an impostor may actually intensify as our abilities advance and we lose the sense of being a student of the language. We’re not beginners, but there’s a gap between our skills and our identities as speakers of our languages.

As someone who began learning languages in adulthood, I’ve observed several connections between impostor syndrome and the way we view and talk about language acquisition. In this presentation, I identify several themes found in language learning discussions that feed into IS. I share my personal experience with IS and how uncovering these connections has helped me shape a joyful and confident language life. I also propose several strategies that support a shift in mindset toward believing that we are legitimate, and we do deserve for the work and progress we’re making.

Heidi Lovejoy

Heidi Lovejoy is the host of Love, Joy, and Languages podcast, which she created to share her story discovering languages in her 30s. Today she shares her personal experience with impostor syndrome as an adult language learner. For years, Heidi approached language learning as a perfectionist, and as she worked to heal herself from the negative mentality of perfectionism, she started making connections between impostor syndrome and how we view and talk about languages in this community. Heidi is on a mission to discuss the hard parts of language learning to help others find joy and harmony in languages.

Cómo hackera el vocabulario inglés

Language: Spanish

Todos los expertos están de acuerdo en que el vocabulario de un idioma es imprescindible a la hora de aprenderlo, ya sea leyendo, escuchando, escribiendo o hablando.

El libro está escrito específicamente para hispanohablantes que quieren aprender inglés, y trata todas las áreas de dificultad más frecuentes. Encontrarás todos tus false friends, palabras engañosas, otras sin traducción directa y una sección sobre palabras que nunca se pronuncian bien.

Si aprendes inglés como hobby, como parte de tus estudios de filología o de traducción o lo necesitas para trabajar o viajar, y realmente quieres mejorar tu vocabulario inglés, esta charla sobre mi libro será super interesante.

Simon Brampton Dodson

Originally from England, Simon has an honours degree and post grad in psychology and has been living and teaching English in Spain since 1989. He set up his in-company language school in Barcelona in 2004 (now with over 60 company clients), and in recent years has been a voice and skills coach and public speaker. He also speaks Spanish, Catalan, French and some Afrikaans.

Encuentra tu propio camino – cómo ser un autodidacta exitoso / Find your own way – how to be a successful autodidact

Language: Spanish

¿Quieres aprender un idioma por tu propio esfuerzo, pero no sabes cómo empezar? ¿O ya lo empezaste, pero te quedaste atascado y no estás seguro cómo avanzar? Ser autodidacta te da mucha libertad en tu aprendizaje, pero también conlleva mucha responsabilidad. Todos somos capaces de aprender por nuestra cuenta, pero si no sabemos cómo, podemos quedarnos desmotivados fácilmente. En esta plática vamos a ver las tres preguntas más importantes y sus posibles respuestas que tenemos que considerar antes de empezar a aprender un idioma de manera autodidacta, para que seamos existosos a partir del primer día, y para que aprender un idioma siempre sea de gozo. Vamos a enfocarnos en conocernos a nosotros mismos, en técnicas y consejos valiosos, y les voy a compartir historias motivadoras.

Tímea Judit Varga

Tímea Varga is a young language teacher, passionate about cultures and life-long learning. She is from Hungary. She started to learn her first foreign language, English, when she was only a toddler. When she was 7, she saw a Mexican movie. At that moment she decided that she would learn Spanish to be able to speak with Mexicans. When she was 12, she started to teach herself Spanish and became a Spanish teacher with a C2 master certificate. Later, either of interest or because life just drove her there, she studied Turkish, Italian and Norwegian. Now she lives in Mexico.

Escape Room de idiomas

Language: Spanish

Entra en el escape room de idiomas y resuelve los enigmas de las estructuras lingüísticas de 4 lenguas poco conicidas con la ayuda de algoritmos lingüísticos. Aunque no conozcas estos idiomas, sus reglas naturales están instintivamente dentro de ti. ¿Estás listo para decodificarlos y obtener el código secreto?

Tímea Judit Varga

Tímea Varga is a young language teacher, passionate about cultures and life-long learning. She is from Hungary. She started to learn her first foreign language, English, when she was only a toddler. When she was 7, she saw a Mexican movie. At that moment she decided that she would learn Spanish to be able to speak with Mexicans. When she was 12, she started to teach herself Spanish and became a Spanish teacher with a C2 master certificate. Later, either of interest or because life just drove her there, she studied Turkish, Italian and Norwegian. Now she lives in Mexico.

Falemos português juntos

Language: Portuguese

Brasileiros, portugueses, angolanos, caboverdianos, todos os representantes do mundo lusófono, ou extrangeiros que estão a aprender português! Sejam bem-vindos ao meu workshop lusófono para practicar português comigo!

Olga Koeva

Olga Koeva is a Bulgarian hyperpolyglot and a professional organist and pianist. She has a Bachelor's degree of sacred music, a master's degree of organ improvisation and a Bachelor's degree of International Relations and Management. Currently, Olga is reading a Master's degree of Management of Intercultural Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany.

She has always been interested in studying, practising, analysing and improving languages. Olga speaks 13 languages fluently and is still improving them by reading literature in all these languages, listening to radio and communicating with her friends.

GPT for polyglots and language learners

A member of the GPT family of Large Language Models (LLMs), ChatGPT has transformed online search with its ability to generate text and code in various languages. But it is not limited to these functions. This talk will give a short overview of common tasks that GPT models can perform (such as text generation, inference, summarization, translation) and show how they can benefit both language learners and seasoned polyglots.

(Disclaimer: this description was produced by a LLM as well :) )

Alexander Galkin

As a Software Engineer in Microsoft Bing's Whole Page Relevance team, Alexander Galkin contributes to improving multi-language search. He leverages his enthusiasm for languages to assist the team with evaluating and refining results across 11 different languages.

Hablamos español: Spanish present tense crash course

Language: Spanish and English

Do you like grammar? I surely do!

If you have just begun your adventure with Spanish language or if you have been already learning it for a while but would like to brush up on the conjugations in the present tense, this crash course is for you!

By the end of the class you will have mastered many verb forms of both regular and irregular verbs and be able to talk about the present in Spanish.

¡Nos vemos!

Sonia Maćkowiak

Sonia Maćkowiak is a Spanish teacher and Spanish Linguistics PhD candidate. She is originally from Poznań (Poland) and is now based in Valencia after having lived many years in Madrid. She has been teaching languages for 13 years and has worked in Poland, Spain and the UK. She specialises in teaching Spanish to Polish and English-speaking adults who have relocated to Spain or are planning on doing so in the nearest future.

How I expand my vocabulary?

Language: Arabic with English subtitles

I would like to speak on 'How I am finding new words without spending more time on dictionaries' and 'My strategies in memorizing words'. All contents of my presentation are gleaned from my personal experiences during my schooling and teaching period.

Fazil Mannil

Fazil Mannil: Post-graduation student in German Translation at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has another Post-Graduation in Arabic language. He has command in Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam (Mother Tongue), English, German and Persian.

Insights Gained from 1000 Days of Recordings in 6 Languages

Language: French

Having organized the 30-Day Speaking Challenge for 6 years, I'll be sharing the top insights gained from making daily recordings in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Russian since June 1, 2020. This is an update to my previous presentation 2 years ago when I completed 365 days of recordings.

Jonathan Huggins

Jonathan Huggins, the founder of the 30-Day Speaking Challenge, is an American polyglot and language coach. He has been learning languages for the past 28 years and teaching for 24 years. He speaks Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Russian. He has lived and taught in the United States, France, and Mexico, where he currently lives. In addition to language coaching, he is raising two trilingual children.

Is Poland a monolingual country? "New" languages and literacies

Language: English

Poland is typically thought of as a country with very little linguistic diversity, to the point of even regional accents in Polish being much less marked than in most European languages. But if you take a closer look it turns out that a surprising number of languages are and have always been spoken here, and some of them are reviving or building afresh their literary traditions. This talk is a glimpse into "languages of Poland other than Polish" – from big ones like Silesian and Kashubian to microlanguages such as Masurian and Wymysorys

Piotr Kozłowski

Piotr is a career diplomat working for Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a life-long learner of languages from all corners of the world

Kom en oefen Nederlands met me!

Language: Dutch

Je bent momenteel Nederlands aan het leren? Of je bent moedertaalspreker of beheerst de taal van Sweelinck en van Eyck op een heel erg hoog niveau? Iedereen is welkom! Kom en oefen een beetje Nederlands met me! Welk accent dan ook, welk niveau dan ook!

Olga Koeva

Olga Koeva is a Bulgarian hyperpolyglot and a professional organist and pianist. She has a Bachelor's degree of sacred music, a master's degree of organ improvisation and a Bachelor's degree of International Relations and Management. Currently, Olga is reading a Master's degree of Management of Intercultural Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany.

She has always been interested in studying, practising, analysing and improving languages. Olga speaks 13 languages fluently and is still improving them by reading literature in all these languages, listening to radio and communicating with her friends.

La oss snakke norsk!

Language: Norwegian

Du bor i Norge og vil forbedre norsken din? Eller du har aldri vært i Norge og har lært deg norsk bare for nysgjerrighets skyld? Du er flytende i norsk eller har nettopp begynt å lære det? Alle er velkommen til samtalen min! La oss snakke norsk sammen!

Olga Koeva

Olga Koeva is a Bulgarian hyperpolyglot and a professional organist and pianist. She has a Bachelor's degree of sacred music, a master's degree of organ improvisation and a Bachelor's degree of International Relations and Management. Currently, Olga is reading a Master's degree of Management of Intercultural Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany.

She has always been interested in studying, practising, analysing and improving languages. Olga speaks 13 languages fluently and is still improving them by reading literature in all these languages, listening to radio and communicating with her friends.

Language Learning Pedagogy

Language: Hindi

As a child, I was always hesitant and afraid to speak in English, not being my native language. It took me 11 years, to find out how my brain can store and remember things better. One of the colossal mistakes I made in those 11 years, was not communicating verbally in English. Listen to my talk to know about how I learned English in just 3 months which I wasn't able to do in 11 years, not only that I learned Japanese and Italian with the likewise strategy. As the youngest researcher based in India, I explore how auditory memory is most affected by learning a new language.

Kavya Kadia

One of the first researchers in India at the age of 15 published her work in a Ph.D. journal about the relationship between language learning and long-term memory. Kavya is multilingual, considering language is the sole gift of nature. She is an avid traveler exploring cross-cultural communications and relations, she is said to be a "thirsty fish in the pond" when it comes to learning a language or talking in sign language.

Language Learning with Computer Tools

Language: English

Join me for an engaging and informative talk where I’ll share my proven methods for language learning, utilizing powerful tools like Anki, VocabTracker, ChatGPT, and mnemonics.

Discover the secrets behind these key topics:

1. The importance of spaced repetition systems and why Anki is the ideal choice for mastering them.
2. The limitations of simply rereading material and how my methods can improve your learning efficiency.
3. The research-backed, most effective flashcard format for retaining vocabulary.
4. How to leverage free tools to generate hundreds of flashcards from the books you read, saving time and effort.
5. My personal experience learning 500 Arabic words in just 5 days in preparation for Professor Arguelles’ Arabic class at his renowned language academy.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your language learning process and achieve your goals faster than you ever thought possible!

Robbie Kunz

Robbie Kunz is a passionate polyglot with a deep-rooted love for foreign languages. His linguistic prowess spans across a diverse range of languages, including Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and French. Currently, Robbie is enthusiastically expanding his linguistic repertoire by immersing himself in the study of Korean, German, and Arabic.

Language as a form of Trauma and Storytelling: From abandonment in one language to learning 9

Language: English

My language learning journey started when I was abandoned at a Buddhist temple. I wasn't even two years old. Already, my life was heading towards a trajectory that would forever change the way I learned languages and how I integrated my life story into that process.

Go on a journey with me as I explore the true depths that our stories behind the foreign languages we speak can take us. We are whole people, not just the amount of languages or proficiency levels, behind the languages we speak.

We all have a story that got us to learn the languages we do.

Learning a foreign language is not only for us to meet fluency goals, learn through textbooks, and expand our interests of different cultures. They also uncover negative emotions, our feelings of perfectionism, loss, or feeling unworthy. For me, they also uncover trauma. They take us on an unpredictable journey back to ourselves.

This is just the beginning of mine.

Emily Harris

Emily is a language enthusiast and creator of Language Travel Adoptee. She is a transracial adoptee, born in China but raised in the USA in a white family. She has found that by embracing her story, she can apply the same, self compassionate mindset to language learning. Emily advocates not shying away from difficult feelings in language journeys, self care, and delving deeper into the stories of the languages others speak.

Languages in Emergency Comminications

In cities with diverse populations, communicating about emergencies and disasters in multiple languages is critical to preserving life and property. In this session, we will discuss the work being done in New York City and other cities to reach English and non-English speakers before, during, and after natural and man-made disasters.

Laura McKenna

Laura McKenna has worked in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery since 2011, when she volunteered to assist residents impacted by Superstorm Sandy, a major Hurricane and storm surge that hit New York and other US East Coast cities and caused loss of life and billions of dollars in damage. During the first year of recovery, she was Vice Chair of the Brooklyn Longterm Recovery group, and since 2019 has led the Southern Brooklyn COAD, a coalition of 40 nonprofits and businesses in and around the Coney Island Peninsula focused on emergency preparedness. Multilingual, just-in-time messaging in advance of extreme weather events and other threats is a core focus of the group.

Learning Indigenous, Endangered and Vulnerable Languages

Language: English

Looking at the considerations for learning indigenous, endangered and vulnerable languages. What do we need to think about in terms of materials? And how do we go about studying it? How far should we take it? And what about the community that uses it?

Richard Simcott

Richard Simcott is a British polyglot, who has studied over 50 languages. HarperCollins described him as one of the most multilingual people in the United Kingdom, and the Goethe Institute gave him the title Ambassador for Multilingualism.

He has many years of consulting experience using languages with diverse clients and offering his expertise on multilingual and multinational projects.

He is the original founder of the Polyglot Conference and The Language Event and manages a popular Facebook page called Speaking Fluently.

Learning Languages with TV Shows: What Does the Research Say?

Language: English, Spanish, French

We enjoy watching TV series to help with our language learning.

Pero, ¿es realmente eficaz?

On présentera la recherche et discutera des idées qui peuvent aider à améliorer cette méthode d’apprentissage.

Lauren Williams

Lauren has been a passionate language learner from a young age. After starting a career in speech-language pathology, Lauren wanted to contribute more to the language-learning community and founded Polyglot Station.

Within this business, the Language TV Club was created and now Lauren gets to help many people who feel stuck at the intermediate level improve their language skills with TV and friends.

Les mots d'amour en 6 langues

Language: French

Quelle langue est la plus romantique selon toi? Le français, l'italien, l'espagnol, l'anglais, le portuguais du Brésil ou encore une autre? Peut-il bien le polonais parler d'amour? Découvrez avec moi les petits mots d'affection à travers le monde. Vous êtes prêts? Allons-y! :)

Agnieszka Barbara Gauza

Agnieszka Barbara GAUZA est une polyglotte polonaise. Elle connait 9 langues. Elle est titulaire d'une Maîtrise en linguistique française et a vécu dans plusieurs pays comme la Pologne, la France, l'Espagne, la Suisse, l'Allemagne, le Mexique et le Brésil.

Linguistic wanderlust? Embark on a language immersion travel!

Language: English

Would you like to get the know-how to get invited to local homes? Are you planning to embark on a trip to a target country to “speak” a language you have been learning for long time? Do you feel a bit uneasy to interact with locals at your current level? This is the talk for you!

On the first day in Germany Zhiting was hosted by a family when she wrongly ended up in Potsdam instead of Berlin. On the second day in Ukraine, a Ukrainian lady told her “I have a very beautiful house next to president residency and you are welcome!" She was invited to different nubian household in a neighborhood in Aswan, Egypt for months. She was offered free camel, boat and many car rides. How did she make it?

It was not the story when she was a novice language learner and traveller back then. She developed all her skills through trial-and-errors on the road. She now ALWAYS gets invited in every of her trip by people she encounters in the street! In this session she will share with her stories and thoughts on this topic.

Ziting Wang

Zhiting is a CATTI-certified Chinese-English interpreter from Taiwan. She provides her interpretation and translation service for clients in public and private sectors and gives group and 1-on-1 courses of Chinese, English and French. While working remotely, she travelled to deep mountains in eastern Europe and to villages in western Europe. From M’hamid in Morocco to Constantine in Algeria, from Shalateen the disputed territory in Egypt to Ani Ruins in Turkey bordering Caucasus, she had her most memorable adventures in Middle East with its overwhelming hospitality. She is learning German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, Hokkien and Russian (for the next odyssey!).

LudIKON game

Language: Multilingual

Do you speak IKON? Certainement njet, because IKON ist njet speakable, but maybe you kannst read it! Test yourselbst und zee how much you kannst comprendre in deze langue made entièrement of icones ! De LUDIKON game will be présenté by Cesco Reale, Laura Meloni und Yola, from de KomunIKON team (www.komunikon.com).

KomunIKON

KomunIKON (www.komunikon.com) développe und implementa a graphique comunicación systema named IKON und its applicacións en diferentes markets. IKON ist an easy, intuitiva, internazionale und transculturale visuelle langue. It ist a structuré systema that combine icônes und linguistica. By being fun und kreativ, IKON has applicacións en diferentes fields, from comunicación technologie to graphique design, educación, produkt merchandise und humanitaria krisis supporto.

MOOC Initiation à l'écriture Dongba

Language: Français

Dernière écriture pictographique dans le monde, l'écriture dongba est l'écriture de la minorité ethnique Naxi, soit environ 300000 personnes habitant dans le Sud-Ouest de la Chine, mais l’écriture elle-même, au cœur de l’originalité de la culture dongba, est menacées de disparation. Pouvant espérer s’adresser à des centaines de milliers d’apprenants provenant d’une centaine de pays, le MOOC d’initiation à l’écriture dongba propose ainsi d’apporter sa contribution à la préservation d’un système graphique constitutif du patrimoine culturel mondial et menacé de disparition. Le MOOC "Initiation à l'écriture Dongba" est le fruit d’une collaboration internationale entre l’Inalco en France, l’Université de Genève en Suisse et l’Université BLCU en Chine. Dans cette intervention, les deux auteurs principaux présenteront ce MOOC dont le lancement sur la plateforme MOOC FUN(France Université Numérique) est prévu pour le 24 avril 2023.

Joël BELLASSEN , Jue WANG SZILAS

Joël BELLASSEN (initiateur du Projet, spécialiste en didactique des langues et cultures et ancien professeur des universités, membre de l’équipe PLIDAM, Inalco) WANG SZILAS Jue (responsable exécutive du Projet, spécialiste en didactique des langues et cultures avec les TICE, Université de Genève et membre de l’équipe PLIDAM, Inalco)

Mindfulness and Language Learning

Language: English and Spanish

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and bogged down by the challenges of language learning? Are you ready to shake things up and approach language learning with a fresh, new perspective? Well, you're in luck because we've got just the workshop for you!

Join us for an exciting and enlightening session on the power of mindfulness in language learning. Discover how mindfulness can help you connect with yourself, overcome obstacles, and maintain a positive, open-minded attitude on your language learning journey.

But wait, there's more! In this session, we'll be diving into a special gratitude exercise conducted entirely in Spanish. Not only will you learn about the benefits of mindfulness, but you'll also get to brush up on your Spanish skills and connect with a new language in a fun and engaging way.

So don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to improve your language learning experience and connect with a supportive community of like-minded language learners. Join us for a workshop that is sure to leave you feeling energized, inspired, and grateful for the wonderful world of language learning!

Mónica Flores Rojas

Monica Flores is a true linguistic adventurer on a mission to bridge cultures and promote language education in Bolivia through her brainchild project "GoMultilingualBolivia." Monica can fluently speak English, French, and Spanish, and she is currently learning German. Armed with a master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Monica has taught Spanish, EAP, and EFL in France, the United States, and Bolivia. She has even bagged multiple Teaching Awards from renowned universities in Bolivia! Monica's passion for languages and cultures inspires her to create opportunities for cross-cultural education and make a positive impact in Bolivia.

Native vs Non-Native Language Teachers

Language: English

Which is better: native vs. non-native language teachers? We know this is a contested issue and one worth discussing, even if there is no one right answer. We want to hear your opinions and experiences as a language learners and also as language teachers (if applicable). What strengths do each bring to the language learning "classroom"? What weaknesses or blind spots might they have in regards to the languages they know and teach. What other factors should be considered when saying that someone is a good teacher or tutor? (Remember: we will respect everyone during this discussion. No racist, elitist or otherwise derogatory language will be tolerated.)

Heather Koziol

Heather is a French, Spanish, English and Polish teacher from Massachusetts and the host of the podcast “The Future is Bilingual” about raising multilingual children. Her passion for languages began at an early age when she was introduced to Hebrew (though she only knows a few words and phrases). This passion grew even stronger as she became more fluent in French and Spanish. She has been teaching for almost 15 years and holds a MAT (Master in Arts of Teaching) degree with a concentration in French and Francophone studies. She also speaks some Italian and Arabic, and she has dabbled in many other languages for fun.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Language: English

Hei på dykk, kjære vener! Hello dear friends!

Nynorsk is one of the two Norwegian languages, the rarer one. It is a direct descendant of Old Norse along with Icelandic and Faroese. You should come to my talk about Nynorsk if you

• are interested in getting to know a rare European language,
• have ever wondered why there are two Norwegian languages,
• are curious about the only continental West Scandinavian language,
• listen to Wardruna,
• want a key to the Norwegian dialects.

We will also learn some frequent phrases from “Hi!” to “Speak dialect – write Nynorsk!”, get to know Ivar Aasen and listen to his hearty poem “Nordmannen” (“The Norwegian (person)”) – an unofficial anthem of Norway.

See you! Me sest!

Kira Polischuk

Master student in Germanic linguistics. Has learnt a bunch of Germanic languages for 14 years including Norwegian since 2015 and been a Nynorsk activist since 2019.

One Year On, Walking “The Path Of The Polyglot”

Language: English

Professor Alexander Argüelles is a world-renowned scholar of languages and literatures. “Polyglot” might be an understatement to describe his linguistic achievements.

I, on the other hand, spent many years struggling to learn other languages. The curiosity and desire was there, but technique and discipline were not.

Last May, the Professor realised a long-time dream to open his own Academy. After following his work on YouTube for years, I jumped at the chance to join. In one year I’ve gone from a language learner struggling to study one language, to balancing four at once. Tt has been a transformative experience.

This is my one year report on studying in the Alexander Argüelles Academy Of Languages and Literatures, including some of the techniques I’ve learnt and reflections on the mindset changes I’ve had to make.

Shaun Dent

Shaun is a lover of history, literature and languages. His favourite question is “why?”.

He has taught English for 9 years, and now coaches Italian professionals in advanced communication techniques, and runs an online English Book Club.

He has taken up a life-long challenge to become fluent in multiple languages.

Polnischlernen mit Erfolg: Die besten Apps, Lehrbücher und Websites

Language: German

• Warum Polnischlernen mein Hobby ist
• Sprachapps im Check: Babbel, Duolingo, Mondly oder Busuu?
• Online-Wörterbücher und Nachschlagewerke
• Polnisch lernen mit Polski.info und Polskidaily
• Comprehensible input: LingQ
• Die besten Lehrbücher auf dem deutschen Markt
• Streng didaktisch: Das Lernzentrum „E-Polish.eu“
• Reisen nach Polen
• VHS-Kurs oder Einzelunterricht?
• Die besten Kanäle auf YouTube
• Fazit
• Q and A

Johann-Christian Hanke

Johann-Christian has a Master’s degree in English and American studies, and he also studied German linguistics and teaching German as a foreign language. But this was long ago. For almost 30 years, German and English remained the two only languages he was capable of speaking. In 2020, he became interested in his neighbouring country Poland and a new adventure began: He started to learn Polish. (Or he tried.) To be quite frank, he has not really learned Polish so far, but gained a lot of experience on how to do it. This knowledge he wants to share with you!

Polskie przypadki bez transferu negatywnego

Language: Polish

If you’ve already learnt any Slavic language (or any of those languages is your native one), however, despite of all the similarities choosing the correct ending is a great challenge for you, this workshop can be a solution.

According to the research up to 68% of inflection errors (wrong form of the word) and 77% of syntax errors (wrong sentence structure) are caused by the negative transfer, i.e. when you pick the words in a target language, but conjugate them or build a sentence based on the rules of another one. During this workshop we will tackle this particular problem, see the strategies, practical tools and resources that you can use to diminish the number of such mistakes.

Veronika Ismailova

Veronika Ismailova is a Polish and Russian as a foreign language teacher from Warsaw. She has more than 12 years’ experience in teaching those languages for the native speakers of other Slavic languages and foreigners learning Polish or Russian as their second or third Slavic language.

She holds several qualifications including BA in Arabic Studies and PGCE in teaching Polish as a foreign language. Her particular interests are comparative grammar and language acquisition of mutually intelligible languages.

Apart from being a teacher Veronika is an active language learner. She also speaks English, Portuguese, French and Arabic. Right before the conference she ran her 4th half marathon. In her free time she likes to read history books, specialising on the Central Asia region where she is originally coming from.

Ricevema Lingvo: tujkomprenebleco por (ne)formale prezenti Esperanton

La historiaj “rivaloj” (en la senco de Roberto Garvía) de Esperanto argumentis, ke la ĉefa limo de Esperanto estas ĝia malalta nivelo de tujkomprenebleco. La prelego intencas montri, ke, laŭ la sperto de la preleganto, veras la malo: sufiĉas harmonie doni erojn de Esperanto en ajna kunteksto. Parolado estu akompanata kun kelkaj specifaj mangestoj, por faciligi la aŭskultado, kun kelkaj trukoj, aparte pri la korelativoj. Eventuale per aptelefono facilas montri skriban tekston, ekz en Vikipedio.

Federico Gobbo

Federico GOBBO (1974) is full professor at the University of Amsterdam by special appointment in Interlinguistics and Esperanto. He has been Visiting Professor at the University of Turin in Italy and at the Nanjing University in China. He participates in various EU-funded projects (MIME, LITHME, APPLY). His publications appear in several languages, mainly in English, Italian, Esperanto.

Rwanda and Kinyarwanda – language and identity

Language: English

You may have heard of Rwanda because of the genocide of 1994. Maybe you've also heard of the current rapid development of the country. Rwanda is different from most African countries in that everybody speaks the same language – Kinyarwanda. I will tell you a bit about what kind of a language it is and how Rwanda's linguistic homogeneity connects (or not) to both to the tragedy and to the success story of the country

Piotr Kozłowski

Piotr is a career diplomat working for Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a life-long learner of languages from all corners of the world.

SWAHILI COURSE FOR BEGINNERS.

Language: Swahili

Umewahi kusikia lugha nzuri, rahisi, inayovutia, iliyo na wazungumzaji wengi zaidi Afrika?

Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu yenye misamiati mingi ya Kiarabu – 35% lakini sasa ya Kiingereza pia – 10% inayozungumzwa katika eneo kubwa la Afrika ya Mashariki.

Lugha hii ina utajiri mkubwa wa misamiati, misemo, methali, mashairi, mafumbo, vitendawili na nyimbo. Kiswahili hutumika kufundishia shuleni na kuna vitabu vingi vilivyotungwa kwa kutumia lugha hiyo, vikiwa pamoja na vile vya hadithi, hekaya au riwaya.

Pamoja na faida nyingine nyingi, Kiswahili kitakusaidia kufanya mawasiliano na watu mbali mbali duniani, aidha hautapata wakati mgumu endapo utabahatika kufika Afrika mashariki aidha kwa biashara, kwa dhumuni la utalii Kiswahili au kwa kusudi lolote kwani lugha hii itakuwa msaada mkubwa sana kwako.

Karibu katika kujifunza lugha hii rahisi sana.

John Emmanuel Magessa

My name is John E. Magessa, having received my Bachelor’s degree of Arts with Education from the University of Dar-es-salaam Tanzania, this will be my nineth year in teaching field.

I have a true passion for working with Polyglot community so as to enhance the facilitation of Kiswahili language.

I look forward to working with this community for the language development.

Systemic Coaching for language learners - Empower your learning and change your perspective

Language: English

Are you looking for a new way to approach language learning? Join the upcoming talk on systemic coaching and language learning! Discover how the principles of systemic coaching can help you identify patterns and beliefs that may be holding you back from achieving your language learning goals.

Systemic coaching is based on systems family therapy and emphasizes the interconnectedness of various factors to create positive changes. The transition to coaching has made it a practical concept for both personal and professional settings.

By examining the pillars of systemic coaching, and relating them to language learning, you will gain a deeper understanding of how to approach language learning in a way that suits you. Additionally, you’ll discover how to use systemic coaching questions to overcome obstacles and achieve your language learning goals.

Discover a new approach to reflect on your language learning!

Julia Butte

Julia is a language enthusiast from Germany, with a passion for coaching and self-development. As an ECA-certified systemic business coach, helping others grow and develop in their personal and professional lives.

Having lived in different countries and working in consulting with international clients, Julia has found ways to apply her language skills to communicate and connect with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

She is currently learning Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch and some Ukrainian.

Système phonologique malgache – Premières acquisitions et mise en pratique

Language: French

Après avoir présenté le système phonétique et phonologique malgache ainsi que les contraintes qui pèsent sur la syllabe, nous mettrons en pratique ces premières acquisitions pour jouer avec le lexique malgache et plus particulièrement avec des mots empruntés. Quelle est leur origine ? Comment les prononcer ? Enfin, nous nous amuserons à mettre en pratique les règles portant sur la syllabe malgache pour malgachiser des mots français.

Louise Ouvrard

Louise Ouvrard est professeure de malgache à l'Inalco et a notamment publié une méthode de langue malgache à l'Asiathèque.

Ses recherches portent sur la didactique et le numérique. Dans ce cadre, elle a travaillé à la conception de diplômes de langue malgache à distance et a coordonné le MOOC de langue malgache dont la première session a ouvert au printemps 2022 sur la plateforme FUN MOOC et la deuxième ouvrira en avril prochain.

Tales From the Translation Industry

Language: English

What are the pros and cons of machine translation? Why are some people predicting an increased demand for French Canadian linguists this year? How do we make our translations gender-inclusive when the official rules of a language are not?

Join Stephanie Horn Prinzing, a translations project manager, as she discusses important trends and issues in localization and why it pays – literally! – to keep up with current events!

Stephanie Horn Prinzing

Stephanie Horn Prinzing is excited to be back for another Polyglot Gathering presentation (she previously spoke in 2021). She lives in the United States but gets to communicate with people around the world every day in her roles as a translations project manager and ESL teacher. Some of her favorite linguistic topics include the revival of endangered languages, the evolution of inclusive language in different cultures, and improving access to information during emergencies and resettlement.

The 7 Strategies of highly successful language learners. The Personal Language Learning System.

Language: English

Over the last 34 years I've been teaching English, giving workshops on language learning for teachers and students and running an in-company language school in Barcelona, Spain. What I've noticed is the underestimation of students and HR managers about how many hours a student needs to make progress in a language.

5 years ago, I started to gather together my notes and learnings from successful language learners, especially polyglots. I now market my Personal Language Learning System: The 7 strategies of highly successful language learners to students and companies to help them combine their classes with self-learning outside the classroom. I invite you to join me to explore the system together and share your experiences.

Simon Brampton Dodson

Originally from England, Simon has an honours degree and post grad in psychology and has been living and teaching English in Spain since 1989. He set up his in-company language school in Barcelona in 2004 (now with over 60 company clients), and in recent years has been a voice and skills coach and public speaker. He also speaks Spanish, Catalan, French and basic Afrikaans.

The Baltic Languages (Latvian and Lithuanian)

Language: English

In my presentation, I won‘t try to confirm or refute the theory circulating among linguists and philologists claiming that the Baltic languages might be the most archaic Indo-European languages. The main goal of my presentation is to discuss the similarities and differences between the two last living Baltic languages – Latvian and Lithuanian, and try to find the answers to the following questions:

1. Can Latvians and Lithuanians understand each other?
2. How hard is it to learn these languages?
3. How beneficial can be the knowledge of the Latvian and Lithuanian languages in learning other foreign languages?

Inese Pintāne

Inese holds a Bachelor‘s degree in Finno-Ugric studies and a Master‘s degree in Media and Communication studies. Now she is pursuing her PhD in Slavic philology at Charles University in Prague and writing her PhD dissertation on fairy tales from the structural-functional perspective.

The Hmong language and its place in the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area

The Hmong language finds itself in a curious position among its neighbors. On the one hand the family it's part of, Hmong-Mien (or Miao-Yao), doesn't contain any official languages of ancient empires or modern nation-states, and is thus often overlooked when considering the major languages of the region. On the other hand, as a language with a large intercontinental diaspora and a widely accepted writing system, it has a much more noticeable internet presence than some comparable languages of its region, like Zhuang or Karen. In this talk I will give a brief introduction into the language, with particular focus on what it has in common with Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and other languages that comprise what's known as the “Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area”.

Vadim Dominov

Vadim is a language enthusiast who works in international relations. He has lived in a number of countries including Japan, Norway and the United States, and is currently getting back in touch with the place he grew up in, Kazakhstan. His interests include Japanese pop-culture, language self-study and reading about linguistics.

The Power of Illiteracy. Why early literacy is a terrible idea.

Language: English

Millions of students are studying languages but rarely achieve fluency. The problem is: most students concentrate too mucho on reading and writing, especially for languages that don't use the Roman alphabet. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic students should NOT be studying reading and writing until they can actually speak the language semi-fluently. Classes should be taught without reading and writing. Teaching reading and writing early on is a poor use of time for language students. Time should be spend on speaking and listening.

Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown is a polyglot who speaks 8 languages. He is illiterate in four languages. Mr. Brown is a full time tenured professor of Spanish. He has a YouTube video with 3.2M views called "How to Acquire and Language and NOT Learn it." Mr. Brown is a specialist in Comprehensible Input and TPRS.

The Psychology of Language Learning: How to Use an Alter Ego to Master Any Language

Language: English

Do you know what an alter ego is? It's a fascinating concept of another self, a "trusted friend", that dates back to antiquity. Many would argue that using alter egos in a kid-like sense of play is the natural human condition - and I completely agree. In this talk, I will elaborate on what an alter ego is and how you can create one for the purposes of learning a new language (or several). It's a really useful tool, especially if you struggle with mindset, motivation, or discipline. Join me to learn how to kick those struggles to the curb and achieve your language learning goals with this ancient psychology trick.

Stefani Kostadinova

Stefani is a business strategist and management consultant with a passion for languages. An economist by training, she has presented on monetary policy at the World Economic Forum and her work on economics has been published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute. She holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and has advised billion-dollar companies as a management consultant. Along the way, Stefani picked up 8 languages, 5 of which she speaks fluently, and is currently learning 2 more. Stefani is a member of HYPIA, the International Association of Hyperpolyglots, runs the YouTube channel Polyglot Secrets, and coaches people interested in learning a language (or a few ones).

The Science of ERRE: A Fun Anatomical Guide to Roll Your R's in Spanish like a Native

Unleash the power of your tongue and become a Spanish pronunciation pro! In this speech, we'll delve into the science of rolling your R's, exploring the anatomy of the mouth and discovering tips and tricks to perfect your pronunciation. Whether you're a beginner or advanced student, you'll learn everything you need to know to add some flair to your Spanish speaking. The fun doesn't stop there – expect plenty of interactive activities and hands-on demonstrations to make the learning experience enjoyable. By the end of the session, you'll leave with a newfound confidence in your Spanish speaking abilities and the ability to roll your R's like a pro. As Speedy Gonzales would say... "ARRIBA ARRIBA!!"

Josep Marti

Josep Marti is a 31-year-old Spanish polyglot (Spanish, Catalan, English, Italian, and Esperanto). With a passion for language learning, Josep has developed a unique method for reaching fluency through self-study and immersion. For the past six years, Josep has been sharing his language expertise with students from all around the world through his business, PolyglotPanda, where he helps them achieve fluency in Spanish. As a language coach, Josep is known for his energetic and engaging teaching style, making learning a new language an enjoyable and rewarding experience

The joy of learning grammar

Language: English and Turkish

In this talk, I offer a fresh look at grammar learning that is beyond books and exercises. The inability to cope with grammar can cause people to quit learning the language. As a passionate language learner and an enthusiastic teacher, I believe the secret to successful language learning is making it an enjoyable experience. I discuss fun ways that help learners overcome the grammar barrier in any language, and then elaborate on the role of television series in helping learners master the grammar of Turkish. I contrast the Turkish syntax with that of Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebrew. Exposure to grammatical structures in the authentic context of a television series (listening to the dialogues and reading the transcripts) sheds light not only on their form, but on their meaning and use as well. I show a short, beautiful scene followed by examples to illustrate how Turkish word order, subordinate clauses, conditionals, verb forms etc., are extremely different from their counterparts in Arabic and Hebrew. I use this method to teach Turkish and to learn Russian myself. Finally, I will give examples to contrast Russian grammar with English.

My talk will be in English and in Turkish with some Russian. The audience is welcome to ask questions in English, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew, French, Spanish or German.

Deborah Azaryad Shechter

Deborah Azaryad Shechter teaches English and Turkish at Tel Aviv University. She is a passionate language learner and an enthusiastic teacher. A recipient of the Rector’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, she consistently receives the highest ratings from her students in teaching evaluation surveys. Her professional development seminars at universities in Germany, Poland, Portugal, Russia, and Turkey have received high praise from hosts and participants. She believes that positive emotions are essential for successful language learning. Deborah is an active member of the International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning. She speaks several languages fluently .

Understanding of Local Culture being Key to Communication

Language: English

People often learn languages from a desire to connect, but in this pursuit, vocabulary skills and grammatically impeccable phrases can only take us so far. To master a language, it’s crucial to recognize how culture is intertwined. Expressions of warmth, affection and hospitality are heavily tied to local customs and therefore can be communicated differently in every language. Things perceived as thoughtful in one culture, can easily be misconstrued as disrespectful in another. This realization has become the blueprint for my approach to teaching language and as a result, I ensure that my students are equipped with both language comprehension skills and an understanding of culture. I’ve learned that without both, I would be hindering my students rather than helping them. This insight is also why I find it so important to utilize different platforms, including entertainment, as a way to boost positive images of a country. Many non-Euro centric cultures are subject to ignorant comments and stereotypes due to a lack of understanding. It is crucial that those from different cultures can share their voice and thus share a different perspective of what a country is actually like. I look forward to discussing these links between culture and language.

Bilen Lemma Regassa

Bilen is from Ethiopia. She has always been fond of exploring cultures and speaks Amharic, English, Hindi, French and a little Italian. During her stay abroad for higher studies, she got to meet people from different corners of the globe and enjoyed participating in many cultural and social activities. This gave her exposure to individuals of Ethiopian origin who were looking for a way to reconnect with their roots. She started giving Amharic classes and in time created Leza Amharic Tutoring, turning her passion into a full time profession.

Unpopular Opinion: Ο πιο επωφελές τρόπος να μάθεις ξένες γλώσσες είναι να τις μαθαίνεις ταυτόχρονα.

Language: English, Greek

"How about you master this language first before you start learning a new one?" If you are a language-aficionado, chances are you get this comment all the time. You can't help it if you're too excited to get started onto the next language, even if you haven't achieved fluency in your current one, and I get it! But what if I told you that learning new foreign languages simultaneously might actually be more effective than learning them one at a time? In this talk, I will share my personal experience with learning languages simultaneously through the compare-and-contrast method: How did I learn 7 languages? What are some challenges I faced using this technique? Why and to whom would I recommend this method? Who should likely not adopt this approach? How should one go about this successfully?

Eleni Gaqo

Eleni is a polyglot speaking English, Greek, Albanian, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. She is a person of many interests, two of which are cultures and foreign languages. With two Bachelors' and a Master's, Eleni strongly believes in the power of knowledge and values education, diversity, and inclusivity. She is of the opinion that foreign languages bring people together and enable us to understand and appreciate the world in new ways.

Using ChatGPT for multilingual language learning

Language: English

ChatGPT has great potential as a new language learning tool. This talk will discuss various ways on how to use ChatGPT for improving your writing, reading, speaking and listening skills as well as getting help with vocabulary and grammar and suggestions about learning resources and methods.

Miriam Zeilinger

Miriam Zeilinger is passionate about learning and teaching languages. She works as a university lecturer in an Intercultural German studies program with focus on diversity and multilingualism.

Wie können Sprachlehrer das Erlernen von Vokabeln unterstützen?

Language: German

Viele Sprachlehrer und Schüler sind völlig überfordert mit der Menge an Vokabeln, die die Schüler lernen müssen, um bei Prüfungen erfolgreich zu sein. Die Zeit im Unterricht reicht einfach nicht aus, und wir können nicht sicher sein, dass die Schüler zu Hause lernen. Was sind die Hauptprobleme? Wie können wir das, was wir über das Gedächtnis wissen, nutzen, um das Vokabellernen zu erleichtern?

Chris Walker

Chris is a language-learner and teacher, currently teaching German in a North London secondary school. He also has experience in teaching EFL to both young learners and adults.

Вивчення української мови щоб допомагати Українцям

Language: Ukrainian with slides in English

Ми обожнюємо мови, але як часто намагаємося використовувати своі досвіді щоб вивчити мов тех людей, яким потрібно підтримка та допомога ? В результаті трагічної ситуації в Україні багато біженців звідти виїхало. У цієї презентації я Вам розповіду як я вивчав українську мову від 24 лютого минулого року та як можемо надати допомогу завдяки знанням української, на приклад можемо перекласти документи біженців, можемо розмовляти з ними та побудувати краще стосунки з ними щоб вони відчували себе більш комфортно у нашому суспільстві. Вивчення української мови також знак солідарності з мовою и народом, які заслуговують на підтримку. Вміємо вивчити мови… для чого не вивчати мову іммігрантів та біженців щоб внести вклад до наших суспільств?

Timothy Douglas

Timothy E.L Douglas is a lecturer in Chemical Engineering and a researcher in Biomedical Engineering. He is passionate about the complementarity of languages and science: scientific careers offer great opportunities for language learning, language learning helps scientific collaboration and careers! He loves the Slavic languages in particular (he knows Russian, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian) and learning less mainstream languages, not least because he finds these more effective in connecting with the speakers!

Як говорити українською без суржику – покроково

Language: Ukrainian

Як говорити без суржику? Що зробити мову мелодійною? Що впливає на кількість суржику у нашій мові? Хто та яким чином може нам допомогти припинити вживати суржик?

Хочу пояснити:

• як наше оточення впливає на нашу мову;
• що потрібно робити, щоб прибрати з мови суржик;
• чи можна вичистити свою мову самостійно;
• як почати слухати та виправляти себе.

Patrick Lencastre

Patrick works as a language coach and he runs a language school. he’s passionate about Slavic languages and he started to learn Ukrainian 2 years ago after 8 years of learning Russian. He has been fighting against Surzhik for a long time and believes he has something to teach about that.

Қазақша сөйлейік! | Let's Speak Kazakh!

Language: English

Have you ever heard about such a country called Kazakhstan? How much do you know about its local people and culture? And, above all, do you have any idea about the language spoken in this country? Yes, about Kazakh? How does the Kazakh alphabet look like? What are the things to know about its grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation?

Has any of the questions above made you think for a while? Would you like to get to know Kazakhstan, its people and culture better? Eager to grasp some basics of Kazakh? Then you might find this Kazakh crash course interesting!

Come, join me and I will make sure that, based on our interactive class, you will be able to introduce yourself in Kazakh like a native speaker from our first session!

I am looking forward to seeing you all soon! Кездескенше!

Almat Apseit

Almat is a language enthusiast who speaks 8 languages. Born and raised in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he moved to Budapest, Hungary in 2019 with the purpose of pursuing his BSc degree in Chemical Engineering. Currently, he is working as a language tutor on iTalki where he teaches 4 languages: Kazakh, Russian, English, and Spanish. He believes that his language learning journey, which had started back in Apr 2020, has changed his life and now he is determined to spread his passion and interest and, thus, popularize learning languages in the whole world.