April 6, 2010
In language learning, getting started is always the hardest part of the process. Knowing little to none about the language, with barely any confidence, you jump blindly into the pool, hoping to make your efforts pay off down the line. We’ve all been there and it’s a very uncomfortable place.
For your first foray into acquiring a language, we recommend going into either one of two materials as your primary learning sources:
1. a beginner’s class
2. a foreign language training software
We find these two most helpful because you’re going to start from a place where you hardly understand anything. As such, you will need a resource that’s willing to work with you from the ground up. Using starter vocabulary building and basic comprehension activities, they can slowly get you up to speed on everything you need to have a working ability in the new vernacular.
Some people feel bashful about starting out a new language. It’s a strange, conflicted feeling that you shouldn’t allow to get the better of you. Even if you feel you aren’t developing as fast as you should, keep at it and don’t give up. More importantly, don’t be afraid to use the little that you do learn on a day to day basis. The more you are able to apply the bits of lessons you pick up, the quicker you will be able to internalize them. You know where that leads, right? A faster entry into the second stage of language learning, where you know enough to hold your own in basic conversation.
April 3, 2010
Not everyone can be a good writer. However, anyone can write decent enough so as not to be terrible, even for an unaccomplished second-language English writer. So what things should you avoid to make your writing, at the least, tolerably readable?
1. Type carefully. Many second language writers worry about their language so much that their writing ends up filled with too many typing errors.
2. All English sentences have a subject and a verb. Keep that in mind and make sure every sentence you create has them.
3. Vary sentence lengths. Most second-language writers tend to fall back on simple sentences too much. There’s nothing wrong with it. If you fall into the same trap, just combine two or more sentences every few lines and you should be fine.
4. Use active verbs. This is simpler than it sounds. Instead of using verb forms of “to be,” such as “is,” “are,” “have” and other similar words, use actual action words for the verbs in your sentences. The maturity they lend your writing is worth every extra minute you take to rewrite erstwhile passive sentences.
5. Use a spellchecker and a grammar software at bare minimum. There’s nothing uglier than material rendered unreadable by bad grammar and misspellings. These automated English language tools can fix those problems on the fly, so that you need not add to your worries.
April 2, 2010
One of the reasons why I favor software-based language instruction compared to taking a class is the variety of lecture styles that you can end up encountering. We each have our preferred learning styles and it can be disheartening to end up in a class where the instructor doesn’t exactly cater to your particular strengths.
When you hear someone lecture, they usually do it in their preferred style of thinking about a subject. As such, the instruction is as much about them as it is about you. If you can’t keep up with their particular method, you’ll likely spend a lot of time staring blankly and hoping that what they’re discussing is on the course notes.
Most of the time, lecturers will adopt either one of three styles:
- Subject-focused. In this style, the lecturer will spend a lot of time defining and explaining things, often pausing for time to let you take notes. Highly traditional, it focuses on the mastery of the subject matter, often at the expense of practical applications.
- Example-focused. In this style, the lecturer focuses on linking the lessons to everyday examples. The idea is your understanding of the subject matter can be much more robust if you manage to link it to things the happen around you regularly.
- Interaction-focused. In this style, the focus is on the students, with the lecturer allotting plenty of time to asking questions and taking different views into consideration.
From what I’ve seen of most of the good language software titles on the market, they manage to combine all those different styles into a single resource. Add to it the fact that you can approach everything at your own pace and it makes for a tool that can cater to your personal needs much more than a scheduled class can ever hope to do.
March 31, 2010
You’re already taking second language lessons, so might as well do what you can to maximize the benefits you get out of it. These study tips should help make your learning more effective.
1. Do some pre-reading.
If you’re attending a class, always do some early reading on the to subjects scheduled to be tackled. It always pays to have had previous time to think about topics before class – it helps you understand the lesson better, as well as think more critically. Additionally, reading notes from previous days is great to help you establish context and continuity, regardless if you’re attending a lecture or sitting down with a language learning software.
2. Prepare questions and responses.
Again, this advice is geared more towards those who are taking a class or getting private tutoring. After doing some early reading, prepare questions for areas that are currently unclear, as well as parts of the lessons you may have strong feelings about. You can refer to these later during the actual lessons.
3. Take notes.
Always take notes of your lessons. It’s highly doubtful you’ll remember everything you hear (or read, for that matter), so having ideas on a separate notebook in a form that makes sense to you will help a lot for later reviewing.
March 25, 2010
Unfortunately for many intellectuals, languages are not like academic subjects. That’s why learning them usually doesn’t follow the same “sit down and listen” approach so prevalent in much of traditional schooling.
A language isn’t something that a person does, the way you would do science or math. Instead, it’s something that “happens” – an experience – between people. When individuals experience the world by themselves, it’s called perception; when they experience the world together, it’s called language.
To learn a language, you’ll have to join with people and experience it. Sure, you can sit in your room with your language tutorial software and stock up on elements of the language in your arsenal, but at some point, you will have to go out into the world to use it to truly integrate them into your set of skills. Don’t let that scare you, though. Communing with people doesn’t have to mean jumping in to foreign streets and trying to strike up a conversation with everyone that passes by.
When you sit with a speaker of the language in a room and you attempt to make out what they’re saying, you’re experiencing the language together. When your tutor points at items in a room and you tell them what that thing is in the target language, that already falls in line with that. There is a ton of value to be gained from preset lessons (such as those in a classroom or a language software). However, there are elements of language learning it just doesn’t satisfy that only communing with other people can.
March 24, 2010
Many formal language learning methods can be both emotionally and intellectually demanding.
The former is par for the course. It’s tough to stretch your comfort zones, interact in a new language and risk rejection without getting emotionally worked up. Being emotionally invested in language learning is, as far as current learning methods go, unavoidable. There are things you can to lessen the anxiety and negative feelings, though, from meditation to deep breathing to other types of mental health practices.
The latter, on the other hand, is only a prerequisites for some learning approaches. If you sign up for a course where grammar lessons and vocabulary exercises are the norm, then it becomes an intellectually challenge too. However, if you eschew those kinds of materials and go for less-structured methods (such as language tutoring software based on simulated immersion), you can easily remove the intellectual demands.
Some people prefer to be challenged intellectually. Others don’t. Depending on how you want to learn language, you should definitely make a choice whether you prefer one or the other. Both sides of that comparison can work, by the way, provided they are a good fit for what you’re willing to give.
Do you find grammar books especially daunting? Do you hate having to take notes, study textbooks and follow detailed instruction? Then look towards language programs that minimize intellectual demands. If, on the other hand, the intellectual aspects of learning make the emotional demands easier to meet for you, then you’re likely to benefit most from an approach based upon traditional instruction.
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