Foreign Language Study from the Comfort Zone
Odie
I remember when I was a kid that I wanted to learn to speak French. It sounded beautiful to my ears and I used to make up my own version of the romance language accompanied with my version of the oola-la accent straight from Pepe Le Pue in my favorite Looney Tunes cartoon.
Way back in the dark ages of my childhood, it was not customary to learn a foreign language until high school. Unfortunately my interest and proclivity for grasping the nuances of French waned considerably by the time I reached my teens. Valiantly I carried on through three years of problematic study to actually use the language while on an extended stay in Montreal after high school. Much to my chagrin, no one could understand me or would not admit it if they did during my trip and the best I could accomplish is reading signs and some of the newspaper headlines.
Since then I have taken a semester of Spanish and Russian as humanity requirements in my college courses. Retention remains minimal in either language except the few commands, questions, or greetings that somehow lodged in my now middle-aged brain. I know how to say, Good day to you in Russian, I have no money in Spanish, and Where is the library in French, but that is about the extent of it.
Receiving a press release on Language Resources Ltd., about an event called FoodTalk that was happening at various libraries in Lake County, I found myself drawn to the concept and wanted to find out more. I am much better with food than learning a language, but having a chance to combine them seemed to me a winning recipe, if you can excuse the pun.
In the FoodTalk series, a particular cuisine is linked with the foreign language it pertains to culturally. The students learn through interaction. They are taught the words for the ingredients, utensils, and steps required for the making of the dish in the language it came from. Once the meal is prepared everyone sits down and eats their creations, while learning social phrases to compliment the evening. The recipe and phrases learned are sent home with the participants as review. FoodTalk is also available for private parties.
Ruth and Miles Hoffman, Co-Principals, in Language Resources have put together a unique interactive program called Comfort Zone Learning which is used in the FoodTalk series and in a full-range of language training, interpreting, translating, and cultural awareness services for businesses and individuals.
Started in 1983 in South Bend Indiana, their first client was the Bendix Corporation who needed to communicate with suppliers and customers in France. After moving to Chicago’s northwest suburbs in 1991 and their home-base in Lake Zurich, the Hoffmans have serviced many corporations and businesses locally and internationally using their Comfort Zone approach that includes: Abbotts, American National Can, Baxter, McDonalds, Motorola, Toyota, and Whirlpool. Their individual clients come from programs at local public locations, such as libraries, park districts, churches, and schools.
Both educated at the University of Chicago and have taught at the college level, Ruth and Miles have found most people need to learn a second language the way they learned their native one. First you begin by understanding what is being said, then speaking in that language, followed by reading, and writing.
They explain further. You learn to understand by following commands that are given and are rewarded for taking the correct actions. Comfort Zone Learning helps to communicate in the new language by training your ears and eyes to link phrases with actions. Foreign words don’t always correspond to words in English, but do to ideas. There is no grammar, writing, or translating words in your head. The simulations and role-playing used are based on relevant situations and topics. This seems to facilitate an understanding that most adults lose, as they get older.
They provide instruction for children, adults, and English-language learners in a myriad of languages including: Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese Chinese, German, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, French, and Arabic.Language Resources Ltd., is a member of both Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce and of the GLMV Chamber.
In 2002, the Hoffmans were honored with the Community Connections Citizen Diplomat of the Year award from the International Visitors Center of Chicago for providing cultural and professional assistance to the US State Department- for sponsored visitors to Chicago.
Checkout their website at: www.language-resources.com for upcoming FoodTalk events or one their classes. The last one in the current series is FoodTalk French with a Moroccan dish on April 19th at the Bloomingdale Public Library. I can’t wait for another to come to our neck-of-the-woods. I always learn better with food, don’t you?
