Kristine K. Kershul is an American author, publisher,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and teacher. Kershul founded

Bilingual Books, Inc Bilingual Books, Inc. is a privately held publishing company that develops foreign language learning products. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company publishes interactive computer software, books, audio programs and phrase guides fo ...

. 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.Luce, Beth. "Do you speak...? Language books translate in to success", '' Costco Connection'', June 2004. She has authored books, audio, phrase guides and interactive computer software for 20 languages.

Background

Kershul attributes her lifelong passion for languages to her family.Rumley, Larry. "Linguists have quick method to improve Americans' image", ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'', January 1982. She grew up in a trilingual homeDhyan, Lee. "Language for Travelers Earns Praise and Profits for Ex-Teacher Kris Kershul", ''Northwest Women in Business'', Nov/Dec 1987. where in addition to English, her father spoke Croatian and her mother spoke

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

. Kershul studied in the U.S., then took her academic endeavors to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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.

Early Career, 1971 - 1981

Kershul worked her way through school as a bilingual tour guide, traveling all over Europe and parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. She also served as a translator for the U.S. Embassy in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, West Germany and for Berlitz in Europe and the U.S."Seaside Native Starts Book Company", ''

Seaside Signal The ''Seaside Signal'' is a weekly newspaper published for the community of Seaside, Oregon, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily ...

'', 14 January 1988. She spent ten years teaching at universities in

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. The idea for her first book grew out of what she observed as a teacher and a traveler.

Bilingual Books, 1981 - 1988 and 1995 - Present

Kershul saw the need for a language instruction method that would not intimidate or frustrate beginning students. 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.Stainsby, Mia. "The Quick Way to Survive in a Foreign Language", ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', 2 April 1988. 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. By the end of the first ten months, Kershul had authored a total of five books, adding

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Spanish, Italian and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

to create the ''10 Minutes a Day'' Series. In the next three years, she would add Inglés, Norwegian, Japanese, Russian and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

languages to the Series. In 1988 Kershul sold her company to Sunset Books and Magazine. She moved to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and spent the next six years traveling around the world. In 1995, Kershul reacquired

Bilingual Books Bilingual Books, Inc. is a privately held publishing company that develops foreign language learning products. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company publishes interactive computer software, books, audio programs and phrase guides fo ...

and moved back to the Pacific Northwest to base the company out of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. 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. Retrieved 14 October 2013.

Publications

10 Minutes a Day Book Series

# 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

# 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

# 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kershul, Kristine Living people Linguists from the United States Women linguists American publishers (people) American education writers Writers from Seattle Year of birth missing (living people)