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This blog is about the joys and challenges of self-publishing worldwide

The Benefits of External Keyboards

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They are essential for desktop computers, but has it ever occurred to you that external keyboards can come in handy for other purposes as well?

For laptops

Some advantages will not be obvious for everyone, but in case you type as much as I do, laptop keys could be jammed and become useless sooner rather than later.

It is much cheaper and more convenient to buy an external keyboard from the start. You will then still be able to use the laptop’s internal one as long as you want to and whenever it makes sense, for example. while typing in bed or on a sofa.

Unnecessary costs can also occur, if you, like a friend of mine, accidentally spill a cup of coffee on a laptop and have to buy a new one. This is another example when an external keyboard would have been cheaper and easier to replace.

Laptop with external keyboard indoors

Other uses

In the past, I carried a big laptop around with me, whenever I was out and about to write.

Another little old 10” laptop/tablet gathered dust in a corner, and I didn’t use it much, because I found the small keyboard too fiddly to type on. I thought about getting a medium-size laptop for writing away from home, but then I found a better solution.

Now I am often using my smartphone with an external keyboard when I am writing away from home, which is not as bulky and allows comfortable typing.

And there are more advantages: My keyboard Logitech 380 features three extra buttons to assign different devices. When I bought it, I did not expect to need this function but discovered later that I can now quickly and easily switch between my laptop and mobile phone and could use a tablet as well, if I wanted to.

Besides, I always hated writing lengthy messages on my phone in the past, but they are now a breeze.

Things to watch out for

Before I bought my current keyboard, I was looking for a typing experience that I liked and chose my laptop for this reason. There is even a case available if you want one.

Just note that mobile phones do not work with all wireless keyboards. Those with USB receivers are unsuitable; they have to be Bluetooth enabled.

It is also useful to make sure you have a keyboard with the right language layout.

The one I mentioned above comes in two different versions. As I do not just type in English, but in German as well, I need letters that I don’t find on English keyboards (ä, ö, ü and ß.)

Changing the underlying language to German in the settings is okay to a certain extent since I touch-type and know where the letters are, but special characters are a pain to deal with because I need to look at the keyboard to find some of them and would hit wrong keys too often.

These special characters can even be annoying within one language. If you, for example, normally touch-type on a US keyboard and are suddenly using a UK layout, you might be annoyed, when you find out that certain keys are not where you would expect them to be.

My laptop itself is UK English, as I live in London and bought it here, but this is no problem, as long as my external keyboard is German.

I am already looking forward to warmer and more mobile times, although not even the Coronavirus lockdown and the cold can now prevent me from doing short writing sessions outside with my mobile phone and an external keyboard!

Outdoor writing

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Overcoming Language Barriers with Pictures

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It’s a visual world and we may use it to our advantage

If you are reading this, I assume you like the written word, but let’s face it, what captivates and inspires our imagination more than anything? Pictures evoke immediate emotional reactions. They can therefore draw attention to material in foreign languages and spark curiosity.

Book covers can make an impact around the world

In my opinion, book covers can play an important role in achieving global success. One example is the cover of Er ist wieder da with the now well known Hitler image. The picture draws you in, even if you do not understand the language and you just want to know what this is all about. Unsurprisingly, the book was translated into many languages and they kept the idea of the image for all foreign editions.

Music is different

I used to think that English is accepted around the world and if in doubt, I would still go for it, but I discovered that hardly anyone of those who read my German blog are interested in what I say in English on social media.

When it comes to texts like books and blogs, I have the feeling that most readers are still expecting discussions in a language that they are really comfortable with, and this is usually their mother tongue.

In another article I touched on how social media in English works for international music, but I have now come to the conclusion that you cannot always compare it to books, articles and other texts. Like pictures, it appeals more directly to our emotions and in most cases, lyrics are not that important and they don’t have to be understood to enjoy the songs. Once the audience really likes or dislikes a piece of music though, people are more willing to discuss it in English, however basic their English knowledge may be. Sometimes they comment in their own language, even if hardly anyone else is able to understand it. And many listeners seem to care more about the visual appearance of musicians than about song texts. On the other hand, music itself can bring people from differnt countries together.

Pinterest is a visual social media platform

Thanks to blogger Renate Oetjens, who explained the benefits to me, I have now joined Pinterest. This social media platform relies very much on pictures and images do indeed often speak louder than words. I am still a newbie on this platform and I am learning more every day.

On Pinterest, you usually discover pictures before persons, although you can follow individuals if you want to. Therefore it shouldn’t be a problem to use the platform in more than one language, whereas this can sometimes frustrate people elsewhere if they have no clue what you are talking about and might feel left out when something interesting seems to happen in a language they do not understand.

At the recent Problogger conference, one of the speakers even described Pinterest as a “must” for bloggers. As much as I like it myself – in my opinion, nobody has to use a certain platform if it is not for them for whatever reason. For example, most people say you have to be on Facebook, but I disagree. I think it helps to really like what you are doing, otherwise you might give up sooner rather than later or readers can tell that you are doing something only half-heartedly. If you want a strong focus on pictures but don’t like Pinterest, you might prefer Instagram or Flickr instead as visually focused social media platforms.

Videos are popular and don’t always need spoken words

When it comes to visuals, one medium holds special attraction for many and that is videos and they can be shared on Pinterest as well. Therefore I have experimented again and created a new mini video with images and subtitles to show you another way to combine visuals with more than one language. This time, the film has no spoken audio, but comes with subtitles in English and German. You could even add more languages, if you wanted to. In case you are wondering: the music that I am using is from YouTube’s own audio library and I took the pictures myself, therefore I didn’t have to worry about copyright.

You can activate and deactivate the subtitles by clicking on “CC” at the bottom of the video once it is playing and if it doesn’t show the language you are looking for, the settings can be changed via the icon next to it.

 

 

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7 Ways How Writers Can Benefit From Foreign Language Skills

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All writers can benefit from foreign language skills and authors, who aim for international self-publishing success, have even more advantages. Read on to learn more.

 

1. Become a better writer and editor in your own language

Language structures can vary a lot and if you are new to learning foreign languages, it may feel odd when you find out that you cannot simply translate word by word. You may also come across metaphors that are very different from the ones you are used to. But all of this is great for authors, as you have to think outside the box and develop the skill to juggle with language in a new way, which enables you to express yourself more creatively in your own language as well.

2. Boost your brain power

Scientists have found out that foreign language skills can contribute to developing a sharper mind, improved memory and your overall creativity may benefit as well.

In addition, people with a predisposition for Alzheimer’s usually develop the illness later, if they speak a foreign language, regardless whether they learned it as a child or as an adult.

It is not enough, however, if you acquired your knowledge in the past and forgot about it later – you have to actually use it. But don’t think you are ever too old to learn a language or brush up on rusty skills: I have seen students at retirement age who were better than many young people. In my experience, motivation and passion are more important than anything else.

earth-in-leaf-scaled3. Discover new markets and earn more money

If it has never occured to you to publish a book in a foreign language, you may want to reconsider, as it can give you extra income.

What if your book could be as popular or even more popular abroad than in you own country, because it covers something that people are particularly interested in elsewhere? Wouldn’t you regret missing out on this? Well, if you don’t speak the language, you might never know…

You have three options to check out foreign markets: you could hire someone to do this for you and the second way would be to wait until information about your area of interest becomes available in English, but this might never happen. The third alternative, i.e. doing research yourself on foreign markets in the language of the country, is by far the most efficient one. It gives you the added benefit to stay up to date with any new developments. As we all know, things are changing very fast in the publishing world.

And when it comes to international book fairs, Frankfurt is certainly the most important one. Last year, they offered a two day programme for self-publishers in English. In addition, there was a lot more information available in German during all 5 days of the Fair, which I found really useful.

Germany is also currently the most promising country to self-publish a book after English-speaking markets, although I am sure that other countries will catch up. Many people find the language scary, though, as the grammar is not the easiest in the world. But if you want to learn it, don’t be discouraged, there is a rather pleasant way to do this. And consider this: German has fewer words than English, which means it becomes easier when you progress.

4. Find a translator of your choice

English native speakers have an advantage when it comes to getting their book translated, because there are more translators out there who translate from English than from any other language. However, is is not necessarily easy to discover them.

Most experienced translators can only be found via websites and social media in their own language. I do have a few links to other translators on my blog, if you click on “Links” above. If you have skills in the relevant language, you can use it to find translators yourself and check out what kind of books they translated in the past. Reviews on Amazon and other sites might then tell you whether these books have been successful.

Recommendations from other authors can help to find translators as well, but these writer colleagues may specialize in a different area and ideally you want to find someone who is good at translating exactly your type of book.

If you are not a native speaker of English, on the other hand, and you want your book to be translated into English, you will often have different challenges, which can be overcome. I have written another article about it.

5. Publish and market your translated book yourself

Once you have your book translated, you might like to have full control and upload it to platforms yourself, which is a lot easier if you know at least a little bit of the language. You might then also get occasional emails from these platforms, which are naturally always in the language of the country. And as far as marketing is concerned, most self-publishers are doing it themselves and even those who are with publishing houses are often doing a lot of it themselves, provided it is a language they are familiar with. If you can contribute at least a bit to it in another language, you have a distinct advantage. Your own contribution comes with the added benefit that you have more say in how exactly you would like to be perceived elsewhere in the world.

6. Read reviews

Once you have published your book in a foreign market, you certainly want to know what people think about it and read your reviews, which won’t be in your native language either.

cross cultural flags7. Gain cross-cultural knowledge

Learning a foreign language is not just limited to speaking the actual language itself. It also provides more insight into another culture. You discover that certain ways of human behaviour and interaction that you always took for granted can be quite different in other parts of the world. This knowledge can help to understand how your book is received elsewhere, even if you acquire only basic skills and any actual communication takes place in English. Accessing a culture through its language can provide a broader view and you will see more cultural nuances that go beyond the general stereotypes.

 

And finally some words on Google Translate

Google Translate and other automated translation can sometimes help, but you will very often see strange or even funny results. These are not the biggest problem, because you can immediately spot that something is wrong. It is worse to deal with translations that seem right, but are actually not. You assume you know what this is all about, but you don’t. Therefore an actual knowledge of the language, however modest, is always an advantage.

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How I Learn Foreign Languages Easily and Efficiently

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My frustration about the lost language

My native language is German, I have lived in England for many years and there is hardly any better way to learn a language than living in a country where it is spoken in everyday life. English is also useful as a lingua franca in many other parts of the world. So why would I bother with another language?

My frustration started when friends from France came to vist me and I was not able to say just one sentence in French, even though I could speak at an intermediate level in the past. I was determined to talk French again, but because my life was busy, I almost gave up on it. Things finally changed when I started teaching German and I found out several things about learning languages…

Grammar is important and it doesn’t have to be a pain

In my experience, most people dislike learning grammar and therefore some of my students had avoided it as much as they could before they began learning with me. They had been studying German for quite a while and were able to make themselves understood, but they made many grammatical mistakes. Because the errors had not been corrected, they had become so ingrained that it was very difficult to get rid of them. These students could have saved a lot of time and money if they had learned grammar early on.

Some language learning programmes promise to teach languages without any grammar and claim that you can learn it simply by communicating with native speakers, but I don’t agree with this. The students mentioned above were all regularly in touch with native speakers. Unfortunately they still didn’t have anybody to correct them. Native speakers generally use grammar subconsciously. They acquire the language automatically as a child, and hardly anyone is able to explain the rules or answer more than basic questions. Here is the good news, though: You can actually learn grammar in an enjoyable way and I will tell you more about it further below.

I prefer translated vocabulary

Grammar is not the only important thing – about 70% of learning a language is vocabulary. In textbooks, new words are often only listed in the foreign language. Students are then expected to use a dictionary and translate the words which they do not understand. I have never met anyone who likes doing this, including myself, because it is boring and time-consuming.

In addition, so-called “false friends”, words which seem to have the same meaning in the other language, can be easily overlooked and mistunderstood. The German word “Roman” is an example: it has nothing to do with the city Rome, but is related to books and means “novel” in English.

Admitting mistakes can be embarrassing

Everyone makes mistakes and especially those who do not learn as fast as others often feel uncomfortable in a group when others become aware of it. Even one-to-one students sometimes feel uneasy when they are corrected.

Most people have little time

And last but not least, learning languages can take time and is often not regarded as a priority in our busy lives. When work gets in the way, students are easily tempted to give up.

Due to my own irregular working hours, traditional language courses were not for me anyway. But after learning what works well and what doesn’t for my students and thinking about my own needs, I searched online, read reviews, tried out several courses and eventually I found what I was looking for.

Learn Languages Easily and Efficiently With BabbelBabbel

The online language course Babbel convinced me for various reasons:

Professional structure

Babbel allows you to learn grammar as you go in a playful way and it can be applied immediately.

You learn all the vital elements including listening, writing, speaking and reading.

After finishing individual courses, you know where you stand, because they are structured according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This scheme determines which kind of knowledge you are supposed to have at which level and if you want, you can download certificates after finishing courses. In addition, you could even switch to traditional courses afterwards if you wanted to, as the Framework is generally acknowledged in language schools.

And not only that:
The EU sponsors the programme through the European Regional Development Fund – they have recognized the benefits.

Efficient spaced repetition of vocabulary

Before I started with the programme, I was already familiar with the flashcard system according to Sebastian Leitner, which I find really useful. You are reviewing flashcards with vocabulary translations at increasing intervals (called “spaced repetition”), and the words that you don’t remember are repeated more often than others. Babbel integrated this system into their online programme, which makes it is even more efficient.

More variety helps to learn better

Babbel does not just teach you to read and write, but you can practise your pronunciation with audio files, and there are images as well – using many senses is an efficient memory tool. You will find dialogues early on and advanced learners may write texts and answer questions relating to what they have just read or listened to. All of this makes learning more varied and interesting. In addition, you can choose specific courses if you want to, for example for holiday or job purposes.

Freedom and flexibility

As mentioned before, I wanted to learn at my own pace. Once I even took a longer break and was able to continue easily just by repeating a bit more. The option to repeat anything at any time is also useful if there are certain things that you find more difficult to understand.

Another advantage of Babbel is the fact that your learning progress is secured in a Cloud. You can work with different devices  and switch between them, like PC, Mac, laptop, tablet or Smartphone, whatever suits you. I personally prefer my laptop with a bigger screen rather than using my Smartphone.

The courses are also well suited if you learned a language at school and want to brush up on your knowledge. I am refreshing my French right now and was very happy when I started being able to speak the language again! I can speak to friends again and as France is in the focus of the world public at the moment, I am glad that I can read French news websites to get to know a bit more about what is going on in this country.

I have been a Babbel user for a while now and I like it so much that I am now learning Dutch and Turkish as well. Dutch comes rather easily as it is similar to both German and English. Turkish is a challenge with a very different structure and vocab, but I am loving it. And my multi-language subscription gives me the added benefit of English. I am using it for words that I find hard to remember. You can add words yourself, by the way. If you are not a “language junkie” like me, though, you might consider using Babbel just for one language, or at least start with one language, especially if you are new to learning languages.

Some more tips on Babbel from my experience:

  • Even in case you only manage to learn 10 minutes per day, you can benefit a lot if you do it regularly.
  • Don’t get upset when you make mistakes – use them as learning opportunities instead – nobody else needs to know about it. (If you knew how many mistakes I make in Turkish…)
  • There are different options to learn vocabulary, so think about what you want. In Dutch and Turkish I decided not to write the words and sentences anymore, when I repeat them, as it is faster like this. Alternatively, you can also work with audio speech recognition. You will see what I mean when you give it a try.
  • At some point you should start speaking with real people in the foreign language. One way of doing this is by attending so-called Meetups, which you can find in various languages in many cities worldwide. You can talk to others in a relaxed atmosphere there and most of these meetings are free. This allows you to improve your existing skills, even if you decide not to do any language course. Alternatively you may also use Babbel’s forum to get in touch with people that speak the language of your choice and help each other to make progress.

And here is my most important tip:
Find out whatever works best for you and have fun with it!

Learn languages easily and efficiently with Babbel

Did you know that foreign language skills can even help to make you a better writer in your own language?

I will tell you more about this and other benefits for authors in my next article.

 

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