April 30, 2009
Listening skills are one of the hardest things for language students to develop. This is because good listening ability is something that is usually acquired over long periods of practice and use of the vernacular.
Compared to other areas of language learning, listening skills are complicated by the lack of a structured approach to integrating them into your skillset. Vocabulary, for instance, can be memorized using a variety of mediums, from flash cards to language software. Grammar, on the other hand, is defined by sets of rules that you can follow. For developing speaking and writing skills, there are tons of tried-and-tested exercises that can be employed.
When trying to improve your listening skills, the best thing you can do is to keep getting experience. Watch shows in the language you are studying and try to understand their context. Listen to songs and try to flesh out their meaning. Read articles in the vernacular and figure out what they’re trying to impart. As for guidelines, the best advice I’ve ever gotten is to get out of my own way.
A lot of the time, it’s our own mind that creates problems for our ability to progress in our comprehension abilities. Do you do any of these things that hinder the development of better listening skills?
1. Tuning out. When some students can’t understand what they’re listening to the first time, they just tend to tune out, their minds either flying out into some other place or their internal dialogues taking over. If you find this behavior becoming a habit, better work to eradicate it. It wastes a lot of your learning time.
2. Letting frustration get the better of you. Many students end up letting frustration at their lack of results get the better of them, often getting angry or just giving up. When you’re learning a language, it’s important to understand that not understanding everything is fine – you will, eventually.
3. Expecting too much. Just like any skill, the development of listening skills often occurs at a gradual pace. Don’t expect miracles. Instead, look towards small improvements that can add up over time.
April 29, 2009
When trying to develop writing proficiency in a new language, grammar worksheets can be both an invaluable tool and a useful support to a language learning software. Anyone who has used them for improving their writing back in grammar school will be hard pressed not to recognize their benefits. As such, it isn’t too much of a wonder to think that it can also help you now.
Grammar worksheets, usually laid out as quick lookup tables, can make writing correctly easy. With the rules and regulations of the language spelled out in a formatted manner, it’s easy to review a sentence you have written to verify its accuracy. You can also use it to regularly refresh on proper grammar structure, although hands-on practice, instead of memorizing rules, usually work best on a more consistent basis.
Practicing With A Grammar Worksheet
There are many ways you can practice writing in a new language with a grammar worksheet. Here are some ideas:
1. Translate a sentence from a newspaper article into the new language. After translating, check its correctness against your grammar worksheet. Once you get the hang of translating sentences, start moving towards larger pieces, such as full paragraphs and entire articles. Just don’t try to translate an entire newspaper – that’s tiring.
2. Take amateur written pieces composed in the language you are studying and try to gauge their correctness using the grammar worksheet. If you find mistakes, try to rewrite them so that they follow the proper rules of the language. If you’re wondering where to find poorly written sentences and paragraphs, try blogs and forums – they never run out of those.
April 28, 2009
If you’re not learning language as fast as you think you should, it’s usually a signal that you’re doing something incorrectly. Unfortunately, most of us tend to blame the wrong factors when trying to figure why our actual results fail to reach our expectations.
When tasked to list down the possible reasons for your inadequate results, do you attribute it to any of these?
- natural language skills
- inadequate learning materials
- difficulty of the language
- bad instructors
While I won’t trivialize issues that you notice in any of those areas, most of those reasons play second fiddle to the real cause of most language learning problems: the lack of practice. Truth is, if you put in a lot of time to learn a language, you’ll be good at it, regardless of how difficult it is or how bad your materials are.
If you read the book Outliers, the author claims that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach professional level at any endeavor. Have you put in your 10,000 hours? If you haven’t, then you really can’t complain about not reaching expert status yet.
Mastery of any language, for the most part, just requires plenty of time spent with it, whether actively studying its rules or just immersing yourself in its use. Listen to Japanese radio for over 10,000 hours and let’s see if your vocabulary doesn’t measure up to those of local speakers. Work with a language learning software for the same amount of time and prove me wrong.
The moral? Don’t be frustrated with your language learning. A strong grasp of any skill takes time so be prepared to invest it.
April 27, 2009
A powerful vocabulary usually takes time and experience to build. While that holds true for most folks, it doesn’t mean you can’t help accelerate the process a bit along the way. These practical tips should help you develop a robust vocabulary store faster than your average English learner.
1. Derive relationships
Words based on a common theme or concept are easier to memorize than those with no concept to tie them together. Most vocabulary lessons found on language learning software are structured this way for a reason – they work exceptionally well.
2. Write it down
Writing, for some reason, has a way of imprinting words into your consciousness. Instead of just reading words off a page, try putting them to paper yourself – the effect can be downright amazing.
3. Use your creativity
Employ your creative side and relate words to drawings, photographs, dance moves or whatever art form feels most natural to you. This can create a relationship that will help you pull out the right words at just the right time – most of the time, anyway.
4. Find relevance
Study words that carry a certain relevance to certain areas of your life. If you’re into basketball, for instance, words that relate to the game will usually prove easier to memorize than words often used in engineering pursuits. Whatever hobby, life event or situation carries meaning for you, use them to your advantage in vocabulary-building.
5. Be reasonable
Your vocabulary is not going to go from zero to hero in one day. As such, set reasonable goals that you can succeed in to build your confidence. That will prove 10 times better than failing over and over while trying to pursue unrealistic ideals.
April 26, 2009
One of the dangers of practicing a new language like English is the unfamiliarity with the nuances that can make you come across rude or impolite, even without meaning to. These tips should help you communicate more politely, without stifling your ability to express your ideas.
If you’re using a good English language learning software, you might have previously trained in this manner of communication. Consider it a refresher – it’s one of the most important English tricks you can learn.
1. Preface demands with “Please..” and end with a “Thank you.”
Making demands, especially when you’re tone and phrasing isn’t the best, can sound rude. If you can’t avoid it, preface it with “Please,” as in “Please submit the paper tomorrow. Thank you.”
2. Rephrase demands as questions.
Instead of saying, “Send me the fax immediately,” you can say “Can you send me the fax immediately?” It comes across softer and less harsh, while requiring them to implicitly agree.
3. Use modal verbs.
Modal forms of verbs are those that incorporate words like would, could and might. Used in sentences, they immediately turn commands into diplomatic please. Instead of saying “Be here at 9AM so that we can start early,” you can use modal verbs as in, “Perhaps, you could come at 9AM so we can start early.” Modal verbs are a very simple tweak to your English speaking that can work wonders.
4. Use qualifiers.
Adding qualifiers (such as “slight,” “somewhat,” “a bit,” etc.) can make problems and issues sound less serious, without trivializing them. As such, they’re a great way of presenting rejection and similar bad news. Instead of saying “Your report is incomplete,” you can carefully mention that “Your report is slightly incomplete.” One simple word does make a difference.
April 25, 2009
To this day, the use of technology in language learning is still a controversial subject. Despite proof to the contrary, many still contend that language learning software cannot facilitate the necessary instruction for someone to become truly proficient in picking up a new language. In fact, as I write this, it’s highly that an argument is going down at some forum or some blog about the use of technology in teaching grammar, mastering vocabulary and developing language skills.
Grammar
For analytical learners, even early versions of language learning software is like a gift sent down from heaven when it comes to language study, because the medium suits their preferred modes of picking up information so well. While modern language software still offers the same structured type of instruction, they now include the option of studying in other forms, making them suitable even for those who aren’t suited to stimulus-response types of instruction.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one area where electronic technologies can truly take the game to another level. With a language software available, you can easily find the equivalent of an English word in any language that you want, complete instructions on the proper context in which to employ them.
Language Skills
In the areas of reading and listening comprehension, technology can perform like no other. The availability of materials of all forms – from articles to movies to songs – allow people to train their capacity to understand in another language much easier. For developing writing and speaking skills, though, I’m inclined to agree with detractors – you need real-world experience for that. Language software can provide basic practice, but you’ll need to apply the language out in the world to really gain heightened proficiency with its use.
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