Success with a foreign language

Before you begin to study a foreign language, develop a successful attitude. Many modern language classes are small and interactive, allowing little room for inhibitions. Whether you're in a classroom or teaching yourself, self-confidence is a key. And remember: foreign language learning, especially your first one, is work. Success at it requires practice and patience, in addition to the constant reminders that you CAN do it.

Before tackling a foreign language, also ask yourself the following four questions:

1. How will this help me in my career?

2. How will this help me in my personal development?

3. How much of this language do I really need to know?

4. How much of this language do I already know?

Your answers to the first two questions should be your goals and your incentives. Don't forget them. The third question is crucial to setting a realistic language goal. If you need to learn Russian or Spanish only for business meetings, focus your attention on the spoken language and steer clear of unnecessary areas, such as historical verb tenses found only in literature. You won't need to know them, and consequently, you won't enjoy learning them.

The last question, that is "How much of this language do I already know?", will help you realize that you probably already have some of the language under your belt, even if it's just a little bit. Knowing "uno, due, tres" and the names of your favorite Mexican foods is a warm-up for Spanish. Next recall how Spanish speakers pronounce these common words. For languages such as Japanese, the search for words might be a little more difficult. Instead, start with names, such as "Kawasaki" or "Mitsubishi". Do you hear a pattern? Yes, they are all four-syllable names.

There are some tips for learning process.

• Avoid crash courses. Crash courses often teach too much, too quickly not allowing the brain to absorb the beginning lessons before the later ones are taught. Language learning is incremental. You have to understand the beginning before going on to the middle.

• Listen to audio cassettes for pronunciation and cadence, but be warned, some audio cassettes merely have you repeat phrases. This method does not help you retain what you've learned. Look for interactive audio programs that encourage you to answer questions and think in the language.

• Listen to foreign radio. In most areas there are radio programs and sometimes entire stations in a foreign language. If you have difficulty finding one of these, inquire at your local public radio station.

• Watch videos in a foreign language. Whether they are for learning or for pleasure, videos provide a great way to hear the language in the context of natural conversation. Full-length films are loaded with idioms, hand gestures and other cultural and language specific characteristics.

• When you read in a language, don't try to understand everything. You ought to avoid dictionary dependence. Certainly, you didn't use a dictionary to learn your native language. Instead, skim and read what you can. By going for the gist of the piece you'll enjoy reading more and progress faster. Newspapers and magazines are fantastic vocabulary builders, because you will find plenty of contextual clues in the pictures and the topics will probably be ones you've already read about in English.

• Seek out native speakers. If you are unable to visit the country where the language is spoken, find native speakers in your area with whom you can converse. You can get in touch with them through colleges, consulates and cultural centres. Mimic foreigners speaking English as well as their native language. Some teachers start their beginner foreign language classes by having the students imitate foreigners speaking English. It helps the students in their pronunciation of the foreign language.

• Don't get bored down analyzing the language. Practice is the key to learning a foreign language rather than spending weeks memorizing every form of every verb tense. Practise with the vocabulary you have. The more you converse, the quicker the missing pieces of your vocabulary will fall into place.

• And, finally, write new vocabulary words and phrases on index cards with the English translation on the back. Index cards easily fit it the coat pockets and handbags and can be pulled out and studied just about anywhere.

ENGLISH WITH LAUGHTER

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26