Learning Techniques Archives - Page 8 of 9

31Dec

The Perfect Time To Learn Languages Is Now

Learning Languages, Learning Techniques, Online Learning

There has never been a greater time to learn a new language. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what you do for a living, or if you are a man or a woman. If you are not already trying to learn a new language – let 2015 be the year when you do. Learning […]

27May

When to Start Speaking a New Language?

Learning Languages, Learning Techniques

One of the liveliest discussions within the language learning community is on the subject of when to start speaking. I am a proponent of letting the learner choose when to start, and my personal preference is to delay speaking. I prefer to invest a fair amount of time in listening and reading, in order to […]

29Apr

Interleaved learning, or learning without pressure

Learning Languages, Learning Techniques, Online Learning, Recommended

Interleaved learning is an approach to learning that departs from the traditional block or focused approach to learning. Interleaved learning and the research behind it, is based on the idea that if we should not focus on learning or mastering one skill or set of information, such as a limited group of words in a […]

14Sep

Are we learning languages the wrong way?

Learning Techniques

We are learning languages the wrong way says an article from the New Statesman. I don’t agree with everything in the article, but there are some important points. I have always felt that the emphasis on teaching a few basic survival sentences, or correct usage, is largely a waste of time. I believe we need to emphasize […]

05Sep

All learning is self-learning

Learning Techniques

We are conditioned by schools to think that our learning has to be directed by a teacher in the classroom. However, learning is inevitably a process of self improvement and personal growth. What matters most is what we as learners do, whether in the classroom, or outside the classroom. A teacher cannot force learning on […]

26Aug

Developing Listening Skills

Learning Techniques

My grandchildren in Vancouver attend French immersion school. This means that their classes, most of them, are in French. French immersion is very popular amongst English-speaking parents, because it enables their children to go to a school where there are fewer special needs learners. On the positive side, students in French immersion develop good French […]

01Aug

Reading a grammar book is like reading a manual

Learning Techniques

Reading a grammar book is like reading a manual. Grammar explanations are very hard to understand and absorb until we have enough experience with the language. As a person commented on a video I did a few years ago called “Krashen and Grammar“: “This is consistent with James Paul Gee’s statement that textbooks are “manuals”, […]

18Jul

The power of listening

Learning Techniques

Two evenings ago I had dinner with a Brazilian couple and we spoke Portuguese. Last night I had dinner with a Chinese person and we spoke Mandarin. I just finished a Skype conversation in Czech with a person in Prague, who is a member of a political party there. In all cases I was able […]

22May

Tired of Learning German in Germany

Learning Techniques

German can be difficult according to Kristi Fuoco, in this article in our local Vancouver Sun newspaper. Kristi is living in Germany, studying German and is baffled by German grammar, especially the cases, and thwarted in her attempts to speak German since most Germans are so good in English. At the same time she is […]

14May

Traditional Language Instruction: Why it Doesn’t Work

Learning Languages, Learning Techniques

Do grammar instruction, corrections and role playing help us learn languages? I guess it does but only to a very limited degree. Here is an interesting excerpt from a discussion on a recent Internet forum. “To me, the research appears to indicate that explicit form focused instruction (EFFI) and corrective feedback (CF) as they are […]

I speak 20 languages

Learning Languages