Whether it’s a well-deserved (and much-needed) vacation, a business trip, or simply paying a visit to a friend in another country, if the native language isn’t English and we’re unable to speak it, we’re quite likely to be concerned about whether we’ll be able to get around by speaking English alone.
Although 93% of children in member states of the European Union are taught English at some point during middle school, countries vary widely with regards to English speaking ability. Why is this and how does it relate to learning Greek?
Europe: the perfect case study
Obviously, English is an international language we can derive many conclusions from in how it’s taught and received as a second language, conclusions we can carry over to learning other languages, including Greek as a second language. If there’s one thing we’ve seen in Europe with regards to learning English, is having it taught in schools and growing up in a tourism-intense environment don’t necessarily result in higher national standards of English. So what accounts for better fluency? One of the biggest factors determining English fluency across countries in Europe is whether films and series’ are typically “subbed or dubbed”. Study after study point to the same conclusion: Countries in which subtitles are preferred over dubbing, enjoy greater levels of fluency in English.
Different types of learning
If you’re like most people, you might have a friend who was never particularly fond of studying very much, yet he or she could “pick up” a language relatively easier than most of their peers, be it Spanish, French, or Chinese. If you (or your children) have this ability, congratulations because you belong to a lucky minority as most people don’t learn best “by ear.” Only 30% of the general population is estimated to be “Auditory Learners” (those who learn best by listening) with another 65% being “Visual Learners” (those who learn best by seeing), and 5% being “Kinesthetic Learners” (those who learn best by moving and doing).”
The benefits of combining auditory and visual cues
The correlation between use of subtitles and English language learning fluency, in addition to the fact that the majority of people learn by seeing words rather than hearing them, makes a very strong case for the use of subtitles in learning a second language.
At Ellinopoula.com we’re applying the use and benefits of subtitles to our video series, but rather than subtitles in English, we’re subtitling in Greek. As illustrated above, we’re aiming to both support young learners whose natural tendency is to learn by seeing rather than listening, and add a visual component to those children who learn best through listening.
A side note for kinesthetic learners
Kinesthetic learners need not feel left out; in fact, the future of learning and education is increasingly catering to them as much as the other two types of learning through the rapid advances in virtual reality, 360 imaging, and interactive applications. See our “Maze Game” where children learn the basic shapes in Greek by leading a little penguin along the correct path home to meet its parents. Children hear the shape’s name in Greek, see it, and follow it across the grid to make a path for the little penguin.
Beyond learning type
Ultimately, education and learning are moving towards integrated methods of delivery including ways to cater to audio, visual, and kinesthetic learners equally, but also in order to improve those areas they’re not that strong in. To this extent, at Ellinopoula, we’re increasingly integrating subtitles into our platform. Beyond this, however, if there’s something else we should also be taking away from the findings coming out of European countries is that “entertaining content” (i.e. (subtitled) films and TV series) beat “not-so-entertaining content” (i.e. typical classroom class) in learning efficiency.
Visit Ellinopoula.com to see how we combine entertaining content in Greek with Greek subtitles.
