Kristine K. Kershul is an American author, publisher, linguist and teacher. Kershul founded Bilingual Books, Inc. in 1981 with the publication of her first book, German in 10 Minutes a Day and the development of the 10 Minutes a Day Series.[1][3] She has authored books, audio, phrase guides and interactive computer software for 20 languages.
Kristine Kershul | |
|---|---|
 Kristine Kershul, Rwanda | |
| Born | Kristine K. Kershul Oregon, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation | Author, Publisher Linguist, Teacher Creator of the 10 Minutes a Day Series and the Language Map Series Founder and President of Bilingual Books, Inc. |
| Education | Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees in German Languages and Literature[2] |
| Genre | Foreign Language Learning |
| Notable works | 10 Minutes a Day Book Series 10 Minutes a Day Audio Series Language Map Series |
| Website | |
| www | |
Background
editKershul attributes her lifelong passion for languages to her family.[2][4] She grew up in a trilingual home[3][5] where in addition to English, her father spoke Croatian and her mother spoke Danish.[1][2]
Kershul studied in the U.S.,[5] then took her academic endeavors to Heidelberg, Germany where she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She received a second graduate degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and then went on to do her doctoral studies in German Languages and Literature.[2]
Early Career, 1971 - 1981
editKershul worked her way through school as a bilingual tour guide, traveling all over Europe and parts of Asia and Africa.[3][4][5]
She also served as a translator for the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, West Germany and for Berlitz in Europe and the U.S.[6] She spent ten years teaching at universities in Germany and the U.S. where she noticed students experiencing the same problems. They were self-conscious speaking and Kershul wanted to help them progress to the level where they were laughing and using the language comfortably.[2]
The idea for her first book grew out of what she observed as a teacher and a traveler.[3][4][5]
Bilingual Books, 1981 - 1988 and 1995 - Present
editKershul saw the need for a language instruction method that would not intimidate or frustrate beginning students.[6] She wanted to fill the gap between text books and traditional phrase books. She developed a fresh approach to learning a foreign language, which remained academically solid while geared to the traveler.[1][2][4][7] In 1981 she designed and wrote her first book, German in 10 Minutes a Day, which was the beginning of a series of language-learning books that launched Bilingual Books, Inc.[6] By the end of the first ten months, Kershul had authored a total of five books, adding French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese to create the 10 Minutes a Day Series.[3] In the next three years, she would add Inglés, Norwegian, Japanese, Russian and Hebrew languages to the Series.[6]
In 1988 Kershul sold her company to Sunset Books and Magazine. She moved to Cape Town, South Africa and spent the next six years traveling around the world.[1]
In 1995, Kershul reacquired Bilingual Books and moved back to the Pacific Northwest to base the company out of Seattle, Washington.[1] In the following years, she expanded the breadth of languages to 20 and added new product lines with the creation of the Language Map Series, the 10 Minutes a Day Audio Series, and the 10 Minutes a Day software.[8]
Publications
edit10 Minutes a Day Book Series
edit- ARABIC in 10 minutes a day
- CHINESE in 10 minutes a day
- FRENCH in 10 minutes a day
- GERMAN in 10 minutes a day
- HEBREW in 10 minutes a day
- INGLÉS en 10 minutos al día
- ITALIAN in 10 minutes a day
- JAPANESE in 10 minutes a day
- NORWEGIAN in 10 minutes a day
- PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day
- RUSSIAN in 10 minutes a day
- SPANISH in 10 minutes a day
10 Minutes a Day Audio Series
edit- FRENCH in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
- GERMAN in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
- ITALIAN in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
- SPANISH in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
Language Map Series
edit- ARABIC a language map
- CHINESE a language map
- DARI a language map
- FARSI a language map
- FRENCH a language map
- GERMAN a language map
- GREEK a language map
- HAWAIIAN a language map
- HEBREW a language map
- INGLÉS un mapa del lenguaje
- ITALIAN a language map
- JAPANESE a language map
- NORWEGIAN a language map
- PASHTO a language map
- POLISH a language map
- PORTUGUESE a language map
- RUSSIAN a language map
- SPANISH a language map
- SWAHILI a language map
- VIETNAMESE a language map
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Wilhelm, Steve (29 August 2003). "Kristine Kershul uses her background as a linguist to develop Bilingual Books' language training for travelers". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Butterworth, Beverly H. "Fast Accent", The Oregonian, 10 May 1989.
- ^ a b c d e Luce, Beth. "Do you speak...? Language books translate in to success", Costco Connection, June 2004.
- ^ a b c d Rumley, Larry. "Linguists have quick method to improve Americans' image", Seattle Times, January 1982.
- ^ a b c d Dhyan, Lee. "Language for Travelers Earns Praise and Profits for Ex-Teacher Kris Kershul", Northwest Women in Business, Nov/Dec 1987.
- ^ a b c d "Seaside Native Starts Book Company", Seaside Signal, 14 January 1988.
- ^ Stainsby, Mia. "The Quick Way to Survive in a Foreign Language", Vancouver Sun, 2 April 1988.
- ^ "Catalog". Bilingual Books. Retrieved 14 October 2013.