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
Kristine Kershul, Rwanda
BornKristine K. Kershul
Oregon, U.S.[1]
OccupationAuthor, Publisher
Linguist, Teacher
Creator of the 10 Minutes a Day Series and the Language Map Series
Founder and President of Bilingual Books, Inc.
EducationUndergraduate and Graduate Degrees in German Languages and Literature[2]
GenreForeign Language Learning
Notable works10 Minutes a Day Book Series
10 Minutes a Day Audio Series
Language Map Series
Website
www.kershul.com

Background

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Kershul 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

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Kershul 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

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Kershul 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

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10 Minutes a Day Book Series

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  1. ARABIC in 10 minutes a day
  2. CHINESE in 10 minutes a day
  3. FRENCH in 10 minutes a day
  4. GERMAN in 10 minutes a day
  5. HEBREW in 10 minutes a day
  6. INGLÉS en 10 minutos al día
  7. ITALIAN in 10 minutes a day
  8. JAPANESE in 10 minutes a day
  9. NORWEGIAN in 10 minutes a day
  10. PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day
  11. RUSSIAN in 10 minutes a day
  12. SPANISH in 10 minutes a day

10 Minutes a Day Audio Series

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  1. FRENCH in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
  2. GERMAN in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
  3. ITALIAN in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio
  4. SPANISH in 10 minutes a day Book + Audio

Language Map Series

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  1. ARABIC a language map
  2. CHINESE a language map
  3. DARI a language map
  4. FARSI a language map
  5. FRENCH a language map
  6. GERMAN a language map
  7. GREEK a language map
  8. HAWAIIAN a language map
  9. HEBREW a language map
  10. INGLÉS un mapa del lenguaje
  11. ITALIAN a language map
  12. JAPANESE a language map
  13. NORWEGIAN a language map
  14. PASHTO a language map
  15. POLISH a language map
  16. PORTUGUESE a language map
  17. RUSSIAN a language map
  18. SPANISH a language map
  19. SWAHILI a language map
  20. VIETNAMESE a language map

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Butterworth, Beverly H. "Fast Accent", The Oregonian, 10 May 1989.
  3. ^ a b c d e Luce, Beth. "Do you speak...? Language books translate in to success", Costco Connection, June 2004.
  4. ^ a b c d Rumley, Larry. "Linguists have quick method to improve Americans' image", Seattle Times, January 1982.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c d "Seaside Native Starts Book Company", Seaside Signal, 14 January 1988.
  7. ^ Stainsby, Mia. "The Quick Way to Survive in a Foreign Language", Vancouver Sun, 2 April 1988.
  8. ^ "Catalog". Bilingual Books. Retrieved 14 October 2013.