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July 30, 2011
Even if you rely on a language learning software as your primary resource, you probably rely occasionally on printed materials for supplementary lessons, too. If you want more of your readings to stick to memory, here are some tips you should follow:
- If you’re reading a book, make sure to read the preface. The preface is often used to explain the author’s perspective. That way, you get some context to better understand the ideas expressed, such as the author’s background, the book’s organizational structure and similar relevant details.
- Do more than one pass. First pass, you want to do a quick skim, previewing the material to get a general idea of what’s included. Second, you can read in detail. Do more passes if the complexity of the ideas require it.
- Minimize highlighting. Using a marker to highlight important passages is fine. Use it sparingly, though. The point of reading is to understand what’s being said, not to find things to mark off with a highlighter pen.
- Take notes. Some people have eidetic memory. Unless you’re one of them, taking notes is your best chance of being able to easily review your readings. Be diligent about doing it — it’s less work, compared to having to read the book again.
July 27, 2011
Got a new language learning software? If you haven’t touched it yet, here are some things you should expect, so you don’t end up bumbling blindly through your lessons.
Plenty of interactive instruction. One of the strengths of many modern language software is their interactive nature — something you just can’t get from books and audio instruction. Of course, interactive also means you can’t just sleep through a lesson. But that’s a good thing.
Some lessons just won’t stick. Even if you paid attention, some of the lessons will probably be difficult for you to understand. Don’t get frustrated. The good thing about software-based learning is that you can always re-do lessons until it sticks.
There’ll be plenty of exercises and practice instructions. Don’t ignore them. Language mastery, for the most part, requires plenty of practice. Skipping them to get to the next lesson isn’t going to do you any good.
Always check the extra features. Many language software title come with value-added features on top of the lessons and exercises. Make sure you explore them — you might end up finding some of them valuable. Some useful extras I’ve seen include memberships to exclusive online language communities, journaling tools and flashcard creators.
July 26, 2011
Most people learn foreign languages because they have to. When someone is living an entire year in Japan, for instance, they’d be compelled to invest appropriate time to study, lest suffer through a difficult 12 months trying to communicate using hand gestures and mumbles.
Barring that, few people can find the motivation to learn a language. Sure, you’ve probably had friends who learned French or some other language because they were interested in it. Few of them will really pursue it to fluency, though. In fact, it’s more likely that they’ll quit within a month or so, just because the activity is so low in their priorities.
If you’re one of those people who are trying to learn a second language without an overwhelming need to do so, you’ll need to find extra motivation. Here are some areas to look:
- You’re mastering a new skill. If you’re the type of individual who values learning, then you can definitely see the upside to studying a new language. It’s a challenging endeavor, too, so you’re not likely to breeze through it.
- Fluency in multiple languages looks impressive on your resume. It doesn’t matter what job you’re applying to, speaking a foreign language opens new doors that just isn’t available to everyone.
- It keeps the mind sharp. Many adults settle into their jobs and forget about learning new things. Studying a new language can activate your dormant learning faculties, keeping your brain sharp in the process.
July 23, 2011
Keeping an organized study area may not be the most important thing in the world. We’re pretty sure messy people can learn language just as well as organized ones can. We’re also willing to bet that things go a lot smoother for the latter than the former, though.
What does your study area look like? Do you have notes, books and papers piled on the desk? The messier your study area, the less conducive it will be to study. Why?
- The more mess, the more distractions. If you’re finding yourself constantly disrupted by thoughts during your language lessons, consider that the problem might be your study area. If the bills are piled there, you’re bound to notice and begin thinking of them; so goes for the reports from the office, the book you borrowed from a friend and so on.
- The more mess is around you, the more cluttered you think. It’s tough to think clearly when your environment is filled with clutter. For a more pronounced visual, imagine getting work done in a battlefield after an encounter, as opposed to inside a weather-controlled room with a desk and comfy chair. If you have a messy study area, think of it like a smaller, more contained version of that battlefield.
- The more mess you have, the harder it is to find what you need. If your table’s messy, you can end up wasting time looking for your notebook or a Post-It where you wrote down the exercises you were planning to do for this session. The more organized your study area is, the less likely that will be.
July 22, 2011
As a rule, we advise people to go with building up their vocabularies as the first step to language learning. While it works for most people, it won’t for others — especially for those who are bad at memorizing.
If you’ve tried going the vocabulary route only to struggle, then it may be prudent to use a different strategy. One way to do this is by studying grammar — the rules of the language — and picking up the vocabulary along the way.
The idea is to put your focus on structure rather than memorized words and phrases. You learn the different figures of speech in the language, how one relates to the other, how each is used and so on. Doing so lays down the context for usage. Just pick up a dictionary and find the right words to fill in the blanks.
The one downside to a grammar-first approach is it takes a while to be able to use the language. While I can learn five phrases now and use them in the streets tomorrow, the structure-based approach requires gaining comfort with the different figures of speech before being able to actively engage the skill.
Language learning software comes in many flavors. Some of them, including a few popular titles, take on a grammar-based approach to language learning. We suggest using one of those as your primary learning material, as they will be more suited to your strengths (learning concepts, rather than memorizing items).
July 20, 2011
Need to use your language learning time more wisely? Here’s a suggestion: block your time. That means, dividing your day into sequential chunks that span short time frames, then using those chunks in your planning and logging activities.
Say, you have 3 hours a day to spare for language learning. If you’re winging what to do during those three hours, you’ll likely find yourself alternating between different activities: a language software lesson here, interrupted by practicing a monologue you downloaded from YouTube, which is then interrupted by an exercise you remember you were planning on doing.
Obviously, that way of working isn’t likely to net you the best results. In fact, all that shuffling will probably have you losing precious minutes that you could have used productively.
A better approach will be to divide those 3 hours into chunks. Personally, I like 30 minute chunks, but you can go lower if you’re more comfortable with it. Then, I schedule my language activities within those 30-minute bubbles.
Doing this allows you to focus on just a single activity at any one time. If you suddenly remember the YouTube monologue during the middle of your language software lesson, you can hold off on shifting your attention to it, since you have it penciled in during the next 30-minute block. It’s a more efficient way of managing your time — one that could generate significant results in your language learning efforts.
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