Learning Languages
31Dec
The Perfect Time To Learn Languages Is Now
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 […]
Read more The Perfect Time To Learn Languages Is Now27May
When to Start Speaking a New Language?
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 […]
Read more When to Start Speaking a New Language?29Apr
Interleaved learning, or learning without pressure
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 […]
Read more Interleaved learning, or learning without pressure14Sep
Are we learning languages the wrong way?
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 […]
Read more Are we learning languages the wrong way?05Sep
All learning is self-learning
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 […]
Read more All learning is self-learning26Aug
Developing Listening Skills
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 […]
Read more Developing Listening Skills01Aug
Reading a grammar book is like reading a manual
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”, […]
Read more Reading a grammar book is like reading a manual18Jul
The power of listening
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 […]
Read more The power of listening22May
Tired of Learning German in Germany
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 […]
Read more Tired of Learning German in Germany14May
Traditional Language Instruction: Why it Doesn’t Work
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 […]
Read more Traditional Language Instruction: Why it Doesn’t Work