First, Immersion is necessary.
It's difficult to pick up any spoken language or at any rate to acquire it quickly, unless you set about thinking with that language. The solution is to steep yourself within it.
Second, think as though you were a child!
How children acquire language? By imitation, repetition of speech sounds, and most importantly, by not being timid. Just begin speaking, even if it sounds as though you're blathering. Keep an eye on the expressions of native-born speakers when they enunciate their words; examine how they move their lips. Imitate these aspects and speech sounds precisely as if you were a child. Whether you interpret what they imply precisely or not, sooner or later you'll start using these speech sounds in suitable situations. They'll come along, magically. This is the method for how to learn a language fluently.
Third, employ the following question "How do you say it?"
In addition to general greetings, the single question you want to learn and always have ready is "How do you say that?" Native speakers are your foremost instructors: lay out a regular goal for yourself of having so many discussions, daily discussing with people concerning affairs you're curious about, but may not recognize the words for. Even when you can't complete a discussion, you are on the path to learn a language fluently.
Fourth, write it out
After having discussions, write the things you recall hearing but couldn't originally interpret. Then go back and employ a dictionary. Search their words; assemble the discussion back together in your mind. And then, the next time you have a similar conversation, apply what you acquired.
Fifth, Utilize television, films, music
Watch films, pay heed to music, and browse newspapers and magazines. It's entertaining and improves your enunciation and understanding.
Sixth, gestural clues
Beyond words, keep an eye on native speakers while they speak. Intermixing body language with this new spoken language assists you with more adept communicating. This has particular significance within cultures where language is intimately associated with gestures.
Seventh, be emotive!
Emotional experiences frequently etch effects onto our memory. Utilize awkward / laughable / irritating experiences by associating them with your new language.
Eighth, set out with other people and then go it alone.
If you follow these instructions you should soon find yourself able to learn a language fluently.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Foreign Accent:: It Is a Part Of Your Identity
If you have a foreign accent, you probably have a love/hate relationship with it. On one hand, you know that your accent is a part of who you are and points back to your country of origin, a place you likely have fond memories of. On the other hand, your accent can cause you to stand out, and some people have a difficult time understanding you when you speak if your accent is quite heavy.
As you learn English, you are learning not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the sounds of the language. This is why you spend so much time imitating sounds and speaking the language out loud. A lot of practice makes your pronunciation much more clear, but you can struggle with some sounds. This is because your native tongue does not have some of the sounds the English language has. This is no different than the struggles a native English speaker would have when trying to learn Spanish. As an adult, your mouth has been trained to form certain sounds and not others, and the sounds of your native tongue carry over into your English speech. This is why it is so difficult to completely remove an accent, because it is literally a part of the person that you are.
Your accent is part of who you are. Many people across the world find foreign accents quite beautiful. Some actors and actresses are chosen for major film roles just for their accent or ability to portray an accent. Accents sound romantic and exotic to the listener in many situations. If your accent is thick, it may be difficult for other people to understand you when you speak English. This can lead to other problems.
Your accent makes you unique, but if it is causing trouble for you, you may want to do something about it. The good news is that you do not have to get rid of your accent altogether if you wish to improve your speaking ability.
What you can do to improve your ability to communicate is work on the strength of your accent. You can actually practice aloud that will help you form the sounds that you are struggling with when speaking English.
As you learn English, you are learning not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the sounds of the language. This is why you spend so much time imitating sounds and speaking the language out loud. A lot of practice makes your pronunciation much more clear, but you can struggle with some sounds. This is because your native tongue does not have some of the sounds the English language has. This is no different than the struggles a native English speaker would have when trying to learn Spanish. As an adult, your mouth has been trained to form certain sounds and not others, and the sounds of your native tongue carry over into your English speech. This is why it is so difficult to completely remove an accent, because it is literally a part of the person that you are.
Your accent is part of who you are. Many people across the world find foreign accents quite beautiful. Some actors and actresses are chosen for major film roles just for their accent or ability to portray an accent. Accents sound romantic and exotic to the listener in many situations. If your accent is thick, it may be difficult for other people to understand you when you speak English. This can lead to other problems.
Your accent makes you unique, but if it is causing trouble for you, you may want to do something about it. The good news is that you do not have to get rid of your accent altogether if you wish to improve your speaking ability.
What you can do to improve your ability to communicate is work on the strength of your accent. You can actually practice aloud that will help you form the sounds that you are struggling with when speaking English.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
The main differences between EFL and ESL are the students and the location where English is being taught to speakers of other languages.
Starting with the basics, EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and ESL stands for English as a Second Language. More inclusive ESL acronyms are ESOL and TESOL. ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESL stands for Teaching English as a Second Language. An English teacher who teaches English to speakers of other languages in a non-English speaking country is teaching EFL. For example, an American living and teaching English in France is a TEFL teacher. His or her students are mostly likely French and their first language (L1) is French. The students are studying EFL.
A teacher living and teaching English in an English speaking country, such as the U.S. or Canada, is teaching ESL. The teacher’s (or tutor's) students are mostly likely students who are from non-English speaking countries, but are now living and studying English in an English-speaking country. The English language learner (ELL) may be living permanently in the country or may just be visiting the country.
Thus, bilingualism is a feature not just of individuals, but also of societies.
Societies in which two languages are used regularly, or in which more than one language has official status or a recurrent function, can be called bilingual. For example, Canada is a bilingual country because French and English are both official languages, even though many citizens of Canada are monolingual English speakers. Saudi Arabia is also a bilingual society, as most Saudis speak both Arabic and English, though English has no official status. The nature of individual bilingualism is quite different in different communities. For example, there are those where bilingualism is the norm for all educated citizens as it is, in relatively small language communities like Scandinavia and The Netherlands. In other countries where bilingualism is the norm for the minority language speakers but not those with the greatest political or economic power in the society (e.g., for Quechua speakers in Peru, for Turkish speakers in the Netherlands, for Spanish speakers in the United States); and those where bilingualism is the norm for the upper classes and better educated but not the relatively powerless (e.g., Colombia). It must be noted that the United States and other traditionally English-speaking countries observe a norm of monolingualism (low expectations for second/foreign language proficiency, low value placed on immigrant languages, universal emphasis on the need to speak English) that is possible only for speakers of a 'language of wider communication' living in an economy that is globally highly influential. In Chile, English is spoken as a foreign language and as Spanish-speaking country is observed a norm of monolingualism with a high expectation for a foreign language proficiency on the need to communicate in English .
Starting with the basics, EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and ESL stands for English as a Second Language. More inclusive ESL acronyms are ESOL and TESOL. ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESL stands for Teaching English as a Second Language. An English teacher who teaches English to speakers of other languages in a non-English speaking country is teaching EFL. For example, an American living and teaching English in France is a TEFL teacher. His or her students are mostly likely French and their first language (L1) is French. The students are studying EFL.
A teacher living and teaching English in an English speaking country, such as the U.S. or Canada, is teaching ESL. The teacher’s (or tutor's) students are mostly likely students who are from non-English speaking countries, but are now living and studying English in an English-speaking country. The English language learner (ELL) may be living permanently in the country or may just be visiting the country.
Thus, bilingualism is a feature not just of individuals, but also of societies.
Societies in which two languages are used regularly, or in which more than one language has official status or a recurrent function, can be called bilingual. For example, Canada is a bilingual country because French and English are both official languages, even though many citizens of Canada are monolingual English speakers. Saudi Arabia is also a bilingual society, as most Saudis speak both Arabic and English, though English has no official status. The nature of individual bilingualism is quite different in different communities. For example, there are those where bilingualism is the norm for all educated citizens as it is, in relatively small language communities like Scandinavia and The Netherlands. In other countries where bilingualism is the norm for the minority language speakers but not those with the greatest political or economic power in the society (e.g., for Quechua speakers in Peru, for Turkish speakers in the Netherlands, for Spanish speakers in the United States); and those where bilingualism is the norm for the upper classes and better educated but not the relatively powerless (e.g., Colombia). It must be noted that the United States and other traditionally English-speaking countries observe a norm of monolingualism (low expectations for second/foreign language proficiency, low value placed on immigrant languages, universal emphasis on the need to speak English) that is possible only for speakers of a 'language of wider communication' living in an economy that is globally highly influential. In Chile, English is spoken as a foreign language and as Spanish-speaking country is observed a norm of monolingualism with a high expectation for a foreign language proficiency on the need to communicate in English .
Monday, May 30, 2011
Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner?
This is a question and the answer is clear and simple: “indeed.” Grammar is the backbone of a language and without it any single thing you know may be flux, in a sort of jelly without much consistency. Grammar provides you with the structure you need in order to organize and put your messages and ideas across. Without it, you won’t be able to convey your ideas to their full extension without a good command of the underlying grammar patterns and structures of the language.
Now a days there are two scenarios. In one extreme we have those language courses that teach grammar almost exclusively, as if preparing the students to be grammarians of the second language rather than users. In the other extreme we have those “communicative” courses in which the only thing that is done is to talk about something or to read an article and comment on it. In many cases, what is seen in one class has no resemblance to what is done in the next.
In my experience, both scenarios may seem good for very specific purposes but I personally feel both are inappropriate for most language learners. For starters, by itself, a good command of the grammar of a language does not imply that the person is able to communicate effectively, as we usually see with students who have only been exposed to an all-grammar-oriented approach sometimes for many years. Many could recite the grammar by heart but if asked to express basic information, they would hesitate too much and browse through all the grammar rules in their heads before making an utterance, or simply dry up.
On the other hand, just talking in class without anything else done in order to learn from the actual conversation is not good enough either. This approach may be more useful for advanced students who just need to brush up their second language, but for those in need of building up the foundations of a new language, it is certainly too vague and without any consistency.
"Is grammar really important for a second language learner?" "yes", but, the real question, or issue here is not whether grammar is important or not but rather how we should present grammar to our students. You may be surprised to hear that most of students, even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. "How is that possible?". First and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do know that what I want is to "create" users of a new language.
I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and patterns. I am definitely not interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the grammar uses that a certain pattern has.
Before we start to use the material we have selected, it would be good to introduce the students to the topic you are going to work on. You can have them guess or infer what the material will say about it, they can make predictions and when they fail to use appropriate language, you may provide it. This is good to elicit vocabulary that may be necessary for them to know in order to understand the topic. After you have created curiosity in the topic and provided students with key terms on the topic, make sure you follow a progression such as the one that follows:
1) Provide them with exposure to real language and real situations IN CONTEXT.
2) Initial focus on the essential , not form.
3) Focus on more specific meaning.
4) We can then focus on very specific meaning.
5) Analysis and systematization: after we make sure the students have a good understanding of the whole material, you can have them focus on particular items or patterns that may be important for them to learn at their stage (i.e. grammar) You can systematize it more formally and teach them how it works. After all, they have already seen it in practice and they have also worked around meaning, now it is time for them to learn how to use it.
6) Give them exercises for them to practice the new structure. Do not be afraid of using grammar drills and patterns. They could be useful for them to fix the new structures in their brains.
7) Give them homework to force them to revise this at a later time. The homework does not necessarily need to be communicative in nature. Profit from the time in class to communicate and interact.
8) Provide them with several opportunities to practice what they have learned in real communicative situations. Create situations so that they can make lots of mistakes and encourage them to improve on them by reminding them of what they have studied.
9) Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary, time and again.
This is essential for them to finally acquire the new structures in a natural way.
I am not condemning grammar at all. I complain about teachers working almost exclusively with a grammar-oriented approach. On the contrary, I feel it is essential in order to master a language. However, how grammar is presented to the students is what really matters. I disagree with those teachers who come to class and tell the class: “Open your books. Today we will learn the “Present Perfect Tense ”
Now a days there are two scenarios. In one extreme we have those language courses that teach grammar almost exclusively, as if preparing the students to be grammarians of the second language rather than users. In the other extreme we have those “communicative” courses in which the only thing that is done is to talk about something or to read an article and comment on it. In many cases, what is seen in one class has no resemblance to what is done in the next.
In my experience, both scenarios may seem good for very specific purposes but I personally feel both are inappropriate for most language learners. For starters, by itself, a good command of the grammar of a language does not imply that the person is able to communicate effectively, as we usually see with students who have only been exposed to an all-grammar-oriented approach sometimes for many years. Many could recite the grammar by heart but if asked to express basic information, they would hesitate too much and browse through all the grammar rules in their heads before making an utterance, or simply dry up.
On the other hand, just talking in class without anything else done in order to learn from the actual conversation is not good enough either. This approach may be more useful for advanced students who just need to brush up their second language, but for those in need of building up the foundations of a new language, it is certainly too vague and without any consistency.
"Is grammar really important for a second language learner?" "yes", but, the real question, or issue here is not whether grammar is important or not but rather how we should present grammar to our students. You may be surprised to hear that most of students, even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. "How is that possible?". First and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do know that what I want is to "create" users of a new language.
I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and patterns. I am definitely not interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the grammar uses that a certain pattern has.
Before we start to use the material we have selected, it would be good to introduce the students to the topic you are going to work on. You can have them guess or infer what the material will say about it, they can make predictions and when they fail to use appropriate language, you may provide it. This is good to elicit vocabulary that may be necessary for them to know in order to understand the topic. After you have created curiosity in the topic and provided students with key terms on the topic, make sure you follow a progression such as the one that follows:
1) Provide them with exposure to real language and real situations IN CONTEXT.
2) Initial focus on the essential , not form.
3) Focus on more specific meaning.
4) We can then focus on very specific meaning.
5) Analysis and systematization: after we make sure the students have a good understanding of the whole material, you can have them focus on particular items or patterns that may be important for them to learn at their stage (i.e. grammar) You can systematize it more formally and teach them how it works. After all, they have already seen it in practice and they have also worked around meaning, now it is time for them to learn how to use it.
6) Give them exercises for them to practice the new structure. Do not be afraid of using grammar drills and patterns. They could be useful for them to fix the new structures in their brains.
7) Give them homework to force them to revise this at a later time. The homework does not necessarily need to be communicative in nature. Profit from the time in class to communicate and interact.
8) Provide them with several opportunities to practice what they have learned in real communicative situations. Create situations so that they can make lots of mistakes and encourage them to improve on them by reminding them of what they have studied.
9) Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary, time and again.
This is essential for them to finally acquire the new structures in a natural way.
I am not condemning grammar at all. I complain about teachers working almost exclusively with a grammar-oriented approach. On the contrary, I feel it is essential in order to master a language. However, how grammar is presented to the students is what really matters. I disagree with those teachers who come to class and tell the class: “Open your books. Today we will learn the “Present Perfect Tense ”
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