Methodology for Language Learning: Learn about language learning methods: How to work with a new language? What is best in general? What is best for you?
Last time I started looking at the skills you want to assess under the listening comprehension . Now on to speaking skills: Range: What kinds of topics can the learner speak about? What domains of life are out of his/her range? How deeply can he/she talk about a given topic? Test this by asking questions…
While there are numerous language-learning software programs available on the market, perhaps the most well-known is Rosetta Stone. Its innovative approach and high-quality, well-developed product have made it very popular. So how effective is it? First, let’s start with the positives. 1. Rosetta Stone’s focus on comprehensible input is laudable. For those of you not…
It’s now been over a year since I started learning Tunisian Arabic. A year with many interruptions and various difficulties, but a good year, all in all! A breakthrough has not happened yet: everything is slow. That being said, I can’t work more than 10 hours a week on language learning because I just don’t…
In the previous post, I talked about the good and bad reasons for doing an assessment of your language abilities, making the case that a multi-faceted, forward-reaching, practical assessment could be an important part of maintaining motivation and continuing to progress in a language. But if this assessment is to be “multi-faceted,” what kinds of…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Let’s start with this: do an assessment in order to get a clear, multi-faceted, and detailed picture of your current skill set. (see part 1 here) Optimally, your assessment will allow you to have a more objective, accurate idea of your current proficiencies. This description should be clear in that it uses language you understand…
In language learning, we have a concept called “false friends”: Words that both languages have that sound or look alike, or sound a bit similar but with completely different meanings. These words are found particularly in languages of neighboring countries, for example: Dutch and German, or Spanish and Portuguese. And they are very annoying! You…
When many language learners hear the word “assessment” or “evaluation,” they immediately tense up. Language learning is a humbling process, as you become a child again in a new environment and relearn how to interact in the world. So it makes sense that critiquing your ability in a foreign language would be a stressful, undesirable…
„Before I came to France I attended an intensive course in „Elementary French“. Now, I am in France and I am astonished: Nobody seems to speak elementary French“. Sylvia Simmons Everybody knows: There are differences between school and life. This seems to be the problem of Ms. Simmons. But, it may be an even bigger…
Language learners often complain about learning “useless” words: Why should I learn how to say “scarecrow”? I’ll never use that word! Why not learn more important words like “watermelon,” “study” and “bathroom”? People often think that some of the basic, tangible words that a 4-year old knows aren’t very important to learn. I’m going to…
Most of us have attempted to learn a language while not living in a community where that language is spoken. We may have studied a language in school, or on our own. Yet for most of us, it was probably a relatively unsuccessful endeavor. Why is that? If language acquisition is a process of growing…