Here are some more practical suggestions pertaining to each learning style:
Visual Learners:
use visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps, graphs, etc.
have a clear view of your teachers when they are speaking so you can see their body language and facial expression
use colour to highlight important points in text
take notes or ask your teacher to provide handouts
illustrate your ideas as a picture or brainstorming bubble before writing them down
write a story and illustrate it
use multi-media (e.g. computers, videos, and filmstrips)
study in a quiet place away from verbal disturbances
read illustrated books
visualize information as a picture to aid memorization
Auditory Learners:
participate in class discussions/debates
make speeches and presentations
use a tape recorder during lectures instead of taking notes
read text out aloud
create musical jingles to aid memorization
create mnemonics to aid memorization
discuss your ideas verbally
dictate to someone while they write down your thoughts
use verbal analogies, and story telling to demonstrate your point
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners
take frequent study breaks
move around to learn new things (e.g. read while on an exercise bike, mold a piece of clay to learn a new concept)
work at a standing position
chew gum while studying
use bright colors to highlight reading material
dress up your work space with posters
if you wish, listen to music while you study
skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Using Tutors
Taken from the article, “Your First Language Learning Tutoring Session” by Reid Wilson
1) Don't worry about speaking much for the first month.
Waiting will lower your anxiety level, which will help the words you're learning "stick"; it will free up time for major vocabulary absorption; it will give your ears a great opportunity to process the language and get an idea of the sound of it, which will aid future pronunciation; it will allow you to concentrate on processing language as a means of the communication of meaning; and it will keep in focus the focus of the first month: massive vocabulary acquisition.
2) When your tutor says a new word, don’t repeat it.
If you do, your tutor is likely to correct your pronunciation, and then you'll say it again, and back and forth and next thing you know your anxiety level is building and you're off track on your main goal for the time being. Similarly, if you tutor encourages you to speak, remind him that for now you're only interested in listening and comprehending.
3) Make working with a tutor “comprehension-led learner-directed language acquisition."
Concerning the learner-directed part, that means your tutor is really a "language resource person" and not a language teacher. You are in charge. You plan and direct the sessions. Of course, if you like suggestions your tutor makes, use them. But if you don't, politely suggest that maybe you can do that some other time...
4) For your first session, use two basic activities.
One is called Total Physical Response (TPR) and one is called Total Physical Response with Objects. (If the picture book was ready that would be a third activity. I've also got a book called "Lexicarry" that you can use starting in a couple of weeks.)
5) With Total Physical Response, your tutor gives you basic commands such as "stand up" and "sit down", which you then respond to.
(He will demonstrate each command when he first says it.) To some extent it is inevitable, but don't worry about English translations for what he is telling you. If he says something and then he stands up, stand up when he says that word--the fact that you are thinking "stand up" in English isn't necessary or perhaps all that helpful. The trick is to learn to process and respond to the language in and of itself without having to translate everything back to English.
Once you get the hang of things, coming up with new words isn't difficult. The time to not do it is in the middle of a tutoring session. You and your tutor can decide who will make the list of new words, but it might be easier for you to. I can help too. Here's a sample list of words you can use the first day. Of course you can modify this: stand up, sit down, walk, stop, turn right, turn left, turn around, raise your hand, raise your leg, lower your hand, lower your leg, come here, go there, walk backwards, clap your hands, stomp your foot, touch your head, touch your eye, touch your nose, touch your mouth, cough, smile, laugh, and cry.
If you ever give a word in English that you tutor doesn't know, just demonstrate it for him!
6) For your first day of Total Physical Response with Objects.
Bring out a pen, a book, a piece of paper, a book bag, a cassette tape, an empty cassette tape case, a magazine and a newspaper, and then sit on chairs at a table. That gives you ten objects to learn. With these nouns you can easily learn these ten actions: point to, touch, pick up, put down, give me, take, put, throw/toss, catch, and turn over (flip). Learn to respond to the question "Where is the _____?". Finally, learning to respond to the phrase "Put the pen _____ the book.", you can learn spatial relationships like in, on, under, to the right of, to the left of, beside, between, in front of, behind, close to (near), and far from.
7) Encourage your tutor to give you enough repetition and review.
Ideally he would give you two words and keep repeating them until you've got them down, and then add a third, and then repeat the three until you have them down, and so forth. It may be that by the time you are on the 15th and 16th words the tutor hasn't gone back and reviewed the previous ones enough. Remember, you are "in charge" and can teach him how to best teach you. Numerous small minor corrections along the way, politely delivered and reinforced, will best produce the results you desire. Likewise, if you feel the two of you are going too slow, you can ask that things be sped up a bit.
8) Record the sessions.
That way you can go back and listen to the recording after the session is over. You can act out the commands physically or in your mind's eye. In addition to recording, feel free to take the very last part of the session to have your tutor write down the words that you learned that day.
9) Keep track of how much time you spend talking with your tutor in English.
Of course any friendship you develop will be based on English for now, but I'm guessing you don't want to spend a good part of your lesson time speaking English! Some days you will be tempted to speak English for all of your time--only you can be the judge of how you should spend your time and money, but pressing on even on the hard, tiring days will one day be rewarded with true language ability.
10) Always remember that your tutor is much more than a source of linguistic information.
He's a person, both an individual and part of the language community you would like to participate in. In his mind are more language and cultural knowledge than you will ever have about the community you are now living in. See your tutor as a gatekeeper. Allow him to let you in to his point of view, allow him to show you how his people do things and how they think about things, give him some grace when he does things that seem weird to you as an American, be a friend, and, above all, always be a learner. If you do these things, you will find yourself becoming more a part of his community and of his culture, and through that your language learning will increase at a rate that many others only dream about. And you'll make a great friend, too
1) Don't worry about speaking much for the first month.
Waiting will lower your anxiety level, which will help the words you're learning "stick"; it will free up time for major vocabulary absorption; it will give your ears a great opportunity to process the language and get an idea of the sound of it, which will aid future pronunciation; it will allow you to concentrate on processing language as a means of the communication of meaning; and it will keep in focus the focus of the first month: massive vocabulary acquisition.
2) When your tutor says a new word, don’t repeat it.
If you do, your tutor is likely to correct your pronunciation, and then you'll say it again, and back and forth and next thing you know your anxiety level is building and you're off track on your main goal for the time being. Similarly, if you tutor encourages you to speak, remind him that for now you're only interested in listening and comprehending.
3) Make working with a tutor “comprehension-led learner-directed language acquisition."
Concerning the learner-directed part, that means your tutor is really a "language resource person" and not a language teacher. You are in charge. You plan and direct the sessions. Of course, if you like suggestions your tutor makes, use them. But if you don't, politely suggest that maybe you can do that some other time...
4) For your first session, use two basic activities.
One is called Total Physical Response (TPR) and one is called Total Physical Response with Objects. (If the picture book was ready that would be a third activity. I've also got a book called "Lexicarry" that you can use starting in a couple of weeks.)
5) With Total Physical Response, your tutor gives you basic commands such as "stand up" and "sit down", which you then respond to.
(He will demonstrate each command when he first says it.) To some extent it is inevitable, but don't worry about English translations for what he is telling you. If he says something and then he stands up, stand up when he says that word--the fact that you are thinking "stand up" in English isn't necessary or perhaps all that helpful. The trick is to learn to process and respond to the language in and of itself without having to translate everything back to English.
Once you get the hang of things, coming up with new words isn't difficult. The time to not do it is in the middle of a tutoring session. You and your tutor can decide who will make the list of new words, but it might be easier for you to. I can help too. Here's a sample list of words you can use the first day. Of course you can modify this: stand up, sit down, walk, stop, turn right, turn left, turn around, raise your hand, raise your leg, lower your hand, lower your leg, come here, go there, walk backwards, clap your hands, stomp your foot, touch your head, touch your eye, touch your nose, touch your mouth, cough, smile, laugh, and cry.
If you ever give a word in English that you tutor doesn't know, just demonstrate it for him!
6) For your first day of Total Physical Response with Objects.
Bring out a pen, a book, a piece of paper, a book bag, a cassette tape, an empty cassette tape case, a magazine and a newspaper, and then sit on chairs at a table. That gives you ten objects to learn. With these nouns you can easily learn these ten actions: point to, touch, pick up, put down, give me, take, put, throw/toss, catch, and turn over (flip). Learn to respond to the question "Where is the _____?". Finally, learning to respond to the phrase "Put the pen _____ the book.", you can learn spatial relationships like in, on, under, to the right of, to the left of, beside, between, in front of, behind, close to (near), and far from.
7) Encourage your tutor to give you enough repetition and review.
Ideally he would give you two words and keep repeating them until you've got them down, and then add a third, and then repeat the three until you have them down, and so forth. It may be that by the time you are on the 15th and 16th words the tutor hasn't gone back and reviewed the previous ones enough. Remember, you are "in charge" and can teach him how to best teach you. Numerous small minor corrections along the way, politely delivered and reinforced, will best produce the results you desire. Likewise, if you feel the two of you are going too slow, you can ask that things be sped up a bit.
8) Record the sessions.
That way you can go back and listen to the recording after the session is over. You can act out the commands physically or in your mind's eye. In addition to recording, feel free to take the very last part of the session to have your tutor write down the words that you learned that day.
9) Keep track of how much time you spend talking with your tutor in English.
Of course any friendship you develop will be based on English for now, but I'm guessing you don't want to spend a good part of your lesson time speaking English! Some days you will be tempted to speak English for all of your time--only you can be the judge of how you should spend your time and money, but pressing on even on the hard, tiring days will one day be rewarded with true language ability.
10) Always remember that your tutor is much more than a source of linguistic information.
He's a person, both an individual and part of the language community you would like to participate in. In his mind are more language and cultural knowledge than you will ever have about the community you are now living in. See your tutor as a gatekeeper. Allow him to let you in to his point of view, allow him to show you how his people do things and how they think about things, give him some grace when he does things that seem weird to you as an American, be a friend, and, above all, always be a learner. If you do these things, you will find yourself becoming more a part of his community and of his culture, and through that your language learning will increase at a rate that many others only dream about. And you'll make a great friend, too
Language Strategies That Can Help You Master A New Language
Listening
Strategies to increase exposure to the language:
Attend out of class events where the new language is spoken
Listen to talk shows on the radio, watch TV shows, or see movies in the language.
Listen to the language in a restaurant or store where the staff speak the language.
Listen in on people who are having conversations in the language to try to catch the gist of what they are saying.
Strategies to become more familiar with the sounds in the target language:
Practice sounds that are very different from sounds in my own language to become comfortable with them.
Look for associations between the sound of a word or phrase in the language with the sound of a familiar word.
Imitate the way native speakers talk.
Ask a native speaker about unfamiliar sounds that I hear.
Strategies to prepare to listen to conversation in the target language:
Pay special attention to specific aspects of the language (the way the speaker pronounces certain sounds).
Try to predict what the other person is going to say based on what has been said so far.
Prepare for talks and performances I will hear in the target language by reading some background materials beforehand.
Strategies to listen to conversation in the target language:
Listen for key words that seem to carry the bulk of the meaning.
Listen for word and sentence stress to see what native speakers emphasize when they speak.
Pay attention to when and how long people tend to pause.
Pay attention to the rise and fall of speech by native speakers—the “music” of it.
Practice “skim listening” by paying attention to some parts and ignoring others.
Try to understand what I hear without translating it word for word.
Focus on the context of what people are saying.
Listen for specific details to see whether I can understand them.
Strategies for when I do not understand some or most of what someone says in the target language:
Ask speakers to repeat what they said if it wasn’t clear to me.
Ask speakers to slow down if they are speaking too fast.
Ask for clarification if I don’t understand it for the first time around.
Use the speakers’ tone of voice as a clue to the meaning of what they are saying.
Make educated guesses about the topic based on what has already been said.
Draw on my general background knowledge to get the main idea.
Watch speakers’ gestures and general body language to help me figure ou the meaning of what they are saying.
Vocabulary
Strategies to learn new words:
Pay attention to the structure of the new word.
Break the word into parts that I can identify.
Group words according to part of speech (nouns, verbs, etc)
Associate the sound of the new word with the sound of a word that is familiar to me.
Use rhyming to remember new words.
Make a mental image of new words.
List new words with other words that are related to it.
Write out new words in meaningful sentences.
Practice new action verbs by acting them out.
Use flash cards in a systematic way to learn new words.
Strategies to review vocabulary:
Go over new words often when I first learn them to help me remember them.
Review words periodically so I don’t forget them.
Strategies to recall vocabulary:
Look at meaningful parts of the word (prefix or suffix) to remind me of the meaning of the word.
Make an effort to remember the situation where I first heard or saw the word or remember the page or sign where I saw it written.
Visualize the spelling of new words in my mind.
Strategies to make use of new vocabulary:
Try using new words in a variety of ways.
Practice using familiar words in different ways.
Make an effort to use idiomatic expressions in the new language.
Speaking
Strategies to practice speaking:
Practice saying new expressions to myself.
Practice new grammatical structure in different situations to build my confidence level in using them.
Think about how a native speaker might say something and practice saying it that way.
Strategies to engage in conversations:
Regularly seek out opportunities to talk with native speakers.
Imitate conversations in the target language as often as possible.
Direct the conversation to familiar topics.
Plan out in advance what I want to say.
Ask questions as a way to be involved in the conversation.
Anticipate what will be said based on what has been said so far.
Try topics even when they aren’t familiar to me.
Encourage others to correct errors in my speaking.
Try to figure out and model native speakers’ language patterns when requesting, apologizing, or complaining.
Strategies for when I can’t think of a word or expression:
Ask for help from my conversational partner.
Look for a different way to express the idea, like using a synonym.
Use word from my own language, but say it in a way that sounds like words in the target language.
Make up new words or guess if I don’t know the right ones to use.
Use gestures as a way to try and get my meaning across.
Switch back to my own language momentarily if I know that the person I’m talking to can understand what is being said.
Reading
Strategies to improve my reading ability:
Read in the language as much as possible.
Try to find things to read for pleasure in the language.
Find reading material that is at or near my level.
Plan out in advance how I’m going to read the text, monitor to see how I’m doing, and then check to see how much I understand.
Skim an academic text first to get the main idea and then go back and read it more carefully.
Read a story or dialogue several times until I understand it.
Pay attention to the organization of the text, especially heading and subheadings.
Make ongoing summaries of the reading either in my mind or in the margins of the text.
Make predictions as to what will happen next.
Strategies for when words and grammatical structures are not understood:
Guess the approximate meaning by using clues from the context of the reading material.
Use a dictionary to get a detailed sense of what individual words mean.
Writing
Strategies for basic writing:
Practice writing the alphabet and or new words in the target language.
Plan out in advance hot to write academic papers, monitor how my writing is going, and check to see how well my writing reflect what I want to say.
Try writing different kinds of texts in the target language (such as personal notes, messages, letters, and course papers).
Take class notes in the target language as much as I’m able.
Strategies for writing an essay or academic paper:
Find a different way to express the idea when I don’t know the correct expression (such as use a synonym or describe the idea)
Review what I have already written before continuing to write more.
Use reference materials such as a glossary, a dictionary, or a thesaurus to help find or verify words in the target language.
Wait to edit my writing until all my ideas are down on paper.
Strategies to use after writing a draft of an essay or paper:
Revise my writing once or twice to improve the language and content.
Try to get feedback from others, especially native speakers of the language.
Translation
Strategies for translation:
Plan out what to say or write in my own language and then translate it into the target language.
Translate in my head while I am reading to help me understand the text.
Translate parts of a conversation into my own language to help me remember the conversation.
Strategies for working directly in the target language as much as possible:
Put my own language out of my mind and think only in the target language as much as possible.
Try to understand what has been heard or read without translating it word for word into my own language.
Use caution when directly transferring words and ideas from my own language into the target language.
Strategies to increase exposure to the language:
Attend out of class events where the new language is spoken
Listen to talk shows on the radio, watch TV shows, or see movies in the language.
Listen to the language in a restaurant or store where the staff speak the language.
Listen in on people who are having conversations in the language to try to catch the gist of what they are saying.
Strategies to become more familiar with the sounds in the target language:
Practice sounds that are very different from sounds in my own language to become comfortable with them.
Look for associations between the sound of a word or phrase in the language with the sound of a familiar word.
Imitate the way native speakers talk.
Ask a native speaker about unfamiliar sounds that I hear.
Strategies to prepare to listen to conversation in the target language:
Pay special attention to specific aspects of the language (the way the speaker pronounces certain sounds).
Try to predict what the other person is going to say based on what has been said so far.
Prepare for talks and performances I will hear in the target language by reading some background materials beforehand.
Strategies to listen to conversation in the target language:
Listen for key words that seem to carry the bulk of the meaning.
Listen for word and sentence stress to see what native speakers emphasize when they speak.
Pay attention to when and how long people tend to pause.
Pay attention to the rise and fall of speech by native speakers—the “music” of it.
Practice “skim listening” by paying attention to some parts and ignoring others.
Try to understand what I hear without translating it word for word.
Focus on the context of what people are saying.
Listen for specific details to see whether I can understand them.
Strategies for when I do not understand some or most of what someone says in the target language:
Ask speakers to repeat what they said if it wasn’t clear to me.
Ask speakers to slow down if they are speaking too fast.
Ask for clarification if I don’t understand it for the first time around.
Use the speakers’ tone of voice as a clue to the meaning of what they are saying.
Make educated guesses about the topic based on what has already been said.
Draw on my general background knowledge to get the main idea.
Watch speakers’ gestures and general body language to help me figure ou the meaning of what they are saying.
Vocabulary
Strategies to learn new words:
Pay attention to the structure of the new word.
Break the word into parts that I can identify.
Group words according to part of speech (nouns, verbs, etc)
Associate the sound of the new word with the sound of a word that is familiar to me.
Use rhyming to remember new words.
Make a mental image of new words.
List new words with other words that are related to it.
Write out new words in meaningful sentences.
Practice new action verbs by acting them out.
Use flash cards in a systematic way to learn new words.
Strategies to review vocabulary:
Go over new words often when I first learn them to help me remember them.
Review words periodically so I don’t forget them.
Strategies to recall vocabulary:
Look at meaningful parts of the word (prefix or suffix) to remind me of the meaning of the word.
Make an effort to remember the situation where I first heard or saw the word or remember the page or sign where I saw it written.
Visualize the spelling of new words in my mind.
Strategies to make use of new vocabulary:
Try using new words in a variety of ways.
Practice using familiar words in different ways.
Make an effort to use idiomatic expressions in the new language.
Speaking
Strategies to practice speaking:
Practice saying new expressions to myself.
Practice new grammatical structure in different situations to build my confidence level in using them.
Think about how a native speaker might say something and practice saying it that way.
Strategies to engage in conversations:
Regularly seek out opportunities to talk with native speakers.
Imitate conversations in the target language as often as possible.
Direct the conversation to familiar topics.
Plan out in advance what I want to say.
Ask questions as a way to be involved in the conversation.
Anticipate what will be said based on what has been said so far.
Try topics even when they aren’t familiar to me.
Encourage others to correct errors in my speaking.
Try to figure out and model native speakers’ language patterns when requesting, apologizing, or complaining.
Strategies for when I can’t think of a word or expression:
Ask for help from my conversational partner.
Look for a different way to express the idea, like using a synonym.
Use word from my own language, but say it in a way that sounds like words in the target language.
Make up new words or guess if I don’t know the right ones to use.
Use gestures as a way to try and get my meaning across.
Switch back to my own language momentarily if I know that the person I’m talking to can understand what is being said.
Reading
Strategies to improve my reading ability:
Read in the language as much as possible.
Try to find things to read for pleasure in the language.
Find reading material that is at or near my level.
Plan out in advance how I’m going to read the text, monitor to see how I’m doing, and then check to see how much I understand.
Skim an academic text first to get the main idea and then go back and read it more carefully.
Read a story or dialogue several times until I understand it.
Pay attention to the organization of the text, especially heading and subheadings.
Make ongoing summaries of the reading either in my mind or in the margins of the text.
Make predictions as to what will happen next.
Strategies for when words and grammatical structures are not understood:
Guess the approximate meaning by using clues from the context of the reading material.
Use a dictionary to get a detailed sense of what individual words mean.
Writing
Strategies for basic writing:
Practice writing the alphabet and or new words in the target language.
Plan out in advance hot to write academic papers, monitor how my writing is going, and check to see how well my writing reflect what I want to say.
Try writing different kinds of texts in the target language (such as personal notes, messages, letters, and course papers).
Take class notes in the target language as much as I’m able.
Strategies for writing an essay or academic paper:
Find a different way to express the idea when I don’t know the correct expression (such as use a synonym or describe the idea)
Review what I have already written before continuing to write more.
Use reference materials such as a glossary, a dictionary, or a thesaurus to help find or verify words in the target language.
Wait to edit my writing until all my ideas are down on paper.
Strategies to use after writing a draft of an essay or paper:
Revise my writing once or twice to improve the language and content.
Try to get feedback from others, especially native speakers of the language.
Translation
Strategies for translation:
Plan out what to say or write in my own language and then translate it into the target language.
Translate in my head while I am reading to help me understand the text.
Translate parts of a conversation into my own language to help me remember the conversation.
Strategies for working directly in the target language as much as possible:
Put my own language out of my mind and think only in the target language as much as possible.
Try to understand what has been heard or read without translating it word for word into my own language.
Use caution when directly transferring words and ideas from my own language into the target language.
General Language Learning Tips
Set realistic and attainable goals
If you know in advance what you would like to be able to do in the language you are studying, you can select courses or adapt your approach accordingly. If you are mainly interested in reading, for example, you will want to spend less time perfecting your pronunciation. If you are interested in everyday communication, you will be able to translate classroom activities into steps toward that goal : instead of seeing a dialogue about dining out as a mere dialogue, you will see it as a chance to develop your functional ability to order food in a restaurant. Remember to keep your goals realistic: Language learning is a complex and long-term investment, and you can expect to go through stages in your ability to use the language that change as you progress.
Take an active approach to learning
Don't expect to learn language "by osmosis." Only you can truly take charge of your learning. You are the most important participant in language learning and you have to approach the task actively. This does not necessarily mean that you have to be talking all the time-- listening or reading for meaning and trying to identify new features of the language are also important. It may help you to:- set a schedule for regular study. Language learning happens bit by bit, so the best strategy is to plan some time for study every day. (Waiting until the last moment before a test, then cramming, of course, tends not to work very well in the long run.)- take note of what works for you. If you find that a particular kind of activity seems to help you, for example if you remember vocabulary better when you try to use it in a sentence, try to continue using that strategy whenever you can.- take note of what works for others. Talk to classmates or other fellow learners and your teacher about how they learn, and what suggestions they may have for you.- keep track of your learning, perhaps by writing a diary or keeping notes on your successes and failures- in class, pay attention to interactions between the other people present. Try not to tune out what is going on when you are not talking.- in class, use the opportunities you have to practice the language in meaningful ways. Take an active role in classroom discussions, whether they occur in small groups or with the class as a whole.
Use what you already know
You should not be reluctant to use all the knowledge you already possess when learning a language. Among the things you know are:1) how grammar works. You may not be able to talk about all the rules of grammar, but as a speaker of English you can tell what functions words have in sentences. Lewis Carroll took advantage of this knowledge when he wrote The Jabberwocky: "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe...You can tell, for example, that "slithy"describes the "toves," whatever they are, and that "gyre" and "gimble" are words referring to actions, and that these actions could be described in different ways: "They gyred." "They gimbled." "They used to gyre, but now they are gimbling." and so forth.2) a lot of words. Your knowledge of vocabulary can help you to figure out the meanings of many foreign language words. (Add a list of cognates from French, Spanish and German + and exercise to identify their meanings.)3) facts about the world. You know, for example, that dinosaurs are extinct, so that a text about living dinosaurs would either be referring to the past or to a fictitious situation.4) how certain predictable situations normally occur. When you go to a restaurant, you expect that certain events will take place and others will not. You will receive food and pay for it, but no one will wash your hair or manucure your fingernails. You can use this knowledge of universal "scripts" for predictable events in order to fill in your understanding of the language.
Strive for meaning in language-related activities
To acquire language, you have to participate in meaningful interactions. When people use language, they convey information but they also provide social meaning about how they feel in a particular situation, or how they evaluate what they are saying (see the Sociolinguistics Test). As a language learner it is important to try to understand both kinds of meaning. It can help you learn to be appropriate in the language if you take note of how language varies depending on the situation, for example how people of different social status say the same thing. Paying attention to nonverbal communication, such as gestures, facial expressions, touching and physical distance, can also help you to understand both social and referential meaning.
Pay attention to the forms of the language
Studying grammar and vocabulary will help you, but probably only in an indirect way. This does not mean that you can afford to ignore the forms of the language, only that the best way to learn to use grammar and vocabulary is to experience them in meaningful contexts, while you are focusing primarily on what is being communicated. You will find that your ability to focus on form will increase along with your language ability. In the beginning, it will be relatively difficult to think about what forms of grammar are being used at the same time that you are trying to understand what is being communicated. Practicing grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation will be much easier to do as a separate activity from trying to use what your know in communicative activity. As your proficiency increases, however, it will be ever more appropriate for you to refine your ability by paying attention to the ways that more expert language users manipulate forms, and comparing these with your own use of similar forms.
10 Memory Tricks
10 Memory Tricks Adapted from an article by Sylvan Learning Center
Use memory techniques to remember lists and simple grammatical rules. Below are ten memory tips that will help you.
The alphabet system. Associate images which are represented by the letters of the alphabet. This is a great method for remembering long lists of items in a specific order. For example, "A is for apple, B is for boy."
The link/story method. Invent bizarre or funny stories to link items to remember. For instance, to learn primary colors, develop a story such as: "The yellow bird grabbed its red parachute and flew into the blue sky."
Acronyms. Make a word out of the first letters of the item to be recalled. For instance, the letters that spell HOMES represent each of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
The journey system. This system uses landmarks on a journey. To remember the first four presidents of the United States, take this journey: On our way to Washington, we saw our friend Adam, who wanted to go to Jeff's house to play a new video game called Mad (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison).
Movement learning. Songs that include movement help one remember the song's vocabulary. "Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes" is very effective.
Excitement and sound. When reading a book aloud, add inflection and excitement to the story; this will help you remember it. "Fee, fi, fo, fum," boomed the giant in "Jack and the Beanstalk." The emotion of the story through the words that you act will increase interest which will help one retain more of the information.
Rhyme and rhythm. This is an effective tool for remembering dates or simple grammatical rules. Example: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Or: "I before e, except after c."
The number/shape mnemonic. With this system, you build imaginary pictures and use numbers to represent the shape of the object. The number seven could be a boomerang, for instance.
Color code. The use of color is linked strongly to memory. If you need to remember the original 13 colonies, color-code a United States map. If you need to remember the masculine or feminine articles before a word, write masculine words in one color and feminine words in another color
Acrostics. In a poem that is an acrostic, the first or last letter of each line combine to spell out a word or phrase. Here's an example:
Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Earth needs us to do our best to keep things clean. Caring for the planet is everyone's job. You can do your part to save the environment. Collect metal, paper, and plastic for recycling. Litter free is how it has to be. Everybody should work together to keep the planet clean.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Pasa Palabras
Hello language learners ... I love this show on Telecinco every evening at 8:15 that is called "Pasapalabras". It is hard but very intertaining and I end up learning a word or 2 everytime I have an occasion to watch it. I would say it is intermediate-advanced levels but you may be surprised to find words you may know!
Just a word from a fan of this show.
Watch it and let us know your opinion!
Just a word from a fan of this show.
Watch it and let us know your opinion!
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