Effective Independent Lifelong Learning
Independent learning is the most important issue in education today, and in many ways the most elusive or difficult issue to deal with. More than class size, teacher accreditation, or the latest…
Learn Arabic by Focussing on Simple Tasks
I love learning languages. When I start a new language I am motivated by the sense of anticipation that after a period of sustained effort, I will be able to connect with…
How to Improve Your Listening Skills
Listening comprehension is the base skill, in my view. We have to understand in order to be able to have conversations with people. If we have good listening skills, speaking skills are…
Effective Language Learning: Listening and Reading
I want to cover the issue of input-based learning that I have spoken about in two past YouTube videos in Chinese and Japanese. It goes by different names but basically amounts to spending most of your time on listening, reading, working on your vocabulary and becoming familiar with the language rather than on output-activities or grammar-focused activities.
Self-Empowerment Through Learning: Take Charge with These 4 Steps
Human beings are learning machines. We spend our lives learning. We can’t help but learn. The only question is what we will learn and how it will affect our lives.
Use TPRS to Accelerate Your Language Learning
Storytelling is a powerful engine of language acquisition. Apparently Blaine Ray, the originator of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), was also the first person to create these circling stories that…
Learning New Languages Through Mini-Stories
Learning new languages is easier when we have meaningful content. Content we can listen to and read that is interesting and yet somewhat comprehensible, in other words not too difficult. The three part mini-story…
Who Should Correct Our Language Errors?
When we speak in a foreign language, there is a very high probability that we will make mistakes. We make more mistakes when we first start using the language, and gradually the…
Learning a Language Means Acquiring Words
People often say to me, “Steve, you’ve obviously got a talent for languages, that’s why you’ve learned so many. Good for you, but I could never do it.”
To which I say, to myself at least, why don’t you try doing it the way I do it? Maybe, rather than a question of talent, it’s a matter of the method that I use. What is my method? It’s really quite simple. It’s the relentless pursuit of words – words that I glean through content that is of interest to me. That’s basically what it boils down to.
Input, Output, and Language Hacking Techniques
In my view, there are three divergent approaches, in terms of their emphasis or principal focus, to language learning. This is true whether we learn in the classroom, online or on the street. One approach focuses on input, another on output, and a third on what I would call shortcuts and some people call language hacking techniques. These language hacking techniques include grammar study, studying vocabulary lists and phrase books, heavy use of Flash Cards, ”deconstructing the language”, memory techniques and so forth.
