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Wikipedia offers you a great way to push the boundaries of your comprehension-in-context skills. There are millions of articles in English; hundreds of thousands in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, and Dutch; and anywhere from a few hundred to over a hundred thousand articles in several other languages. Here's how to use Wikipedia as a language learning tool. First, of course, go to the Wikipedia homepage, and select English. Then think of a topic that's likely to lead to a relatively short and straightforward article. So, for example, you might choose something like "kayak" instead of, say, "colonialism." Search for an article on that topic in English, and read it as a preparatory step. This will help you later in the target language - the one you're learning - because you'll get a sense of what to expect, and you'll probably be keyed into some cognates (similar words with the same origin, like the English house and the German Haus). Once you've read your article in English, go back to the Wikipedia homepage and select the foreign language you're learning. Then do a search for the same topic. Of course, you'll need to know how to say that topic in your new language, but a dictionary or translation tool like Google Translate or Yahoo! Babelfish will help. Then, read your article. It won't be a translation of what you've just read in English, but since you'll have chosen to explore within a controlled environment (simple topic, familiar context, certain range of vocabulary, hopefully some cognates), you'll be surprised at how much you can understand. If you need help, there's always those translation tools, which aren't quite perfect, but get the job done in a pinch. (Sentences can get screwy, but the vocabulary is generally on target.) If you want to make the new vocabulary from your article stick, jot down the new words you recognize, and look up the ones you don't in a dictionary or online translation tool. And for tips on how to memorize new vocabulary, check out this Living Language blog entry. If you do this little Wikipedia exercise once or twice a week (or even once or twice a month), you'll really give yourself a good workout. Tags: language learning, newsletter, translation, vocabulary, Wikipedia
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