Most language students spend year after year plugging away trying to learn a new language. No matter what the language, it’s expected to take some time to pick it up… and I know this from first-hand experience learning a language “the slow way.”
I sat in language classes and studied grammar books but still arrived in [...]
Posts under ‘Languages’
How to learn a language… fast
Tourism becomes impossible
I saw on digg there was an article where a city board decided it was ok that a shop had a sign stating:
“This is America: WHEN ORDERING ‘PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH’”
Now without going into how stupid this is or reopening the whole debate on making English the national language of the US, I want to leave [...]
English Classes Suck
I came across an article today called “why we don’t like English classes.” Apart from initially amusing me, I found I agreed with a lot of the points in the article. I like to think I’m one of the teachers that are ‘different’, so I thought I’d share a little of my philosophy.
Ok, so as [...]
¡El Internet no es justo!
70% de todas las paginas de web son en inglés. Pero solo 44% de usuarios son inglés nativos. ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo son las personas que no hablan esta lengua especial suponer usarlo?
If you don’t speak Spanish, or speak Spanish and still can’t understand my writing, that’s how the Internet feels for non-English speakers. The language [...]
All that hard work for nothing?
A new study is researching how elderly people appear to lose their ability to speak in their second language. It seems that those that have been living in a society using a second language start to insert words from their native language without even realising it. The study is investigating why this occurs and what [...]
UK children to start languages earlier
Well, it’s just a report at the moment, but the recommendation is to make languages a part of the curriculum from ages 7 to 14 in the UK. The report comes after the recent decision to stop languages being compulsory at high school level. It is hoped that if they can instigate these changes in the [...]
Foreign language films, to remake or subtitle?
A short article here comments on film directors needing to change more than just the language to successfully remake a foreign language film. While I agree with this philosophy on some level, I have to ask is it really necessary to remake them at all?
There has been success where the movies have received a lot [...]
How young is too young?
More and more parents are enrolling their children, their very young children, into language classes. Parents are starting their children off from the age of 1 in some cases and sometimes with multiple foreign languages as well. In Chicago, there is a school called Language Stars that believes this is the best time for anyone [...]
What learning style do you prefer?
Following a discussion of learning styles with some colleagues I thought it might be interesting to briefly look at the different styles with regard to learning languages. Most researchers agree on the four basic learning styles being: Visual (seeing), Auditory (hearing), Kinaesthetic (moving), and Tactile (touching). You can find more information here and throughout the [...]
Can we learn to mimic like children?
This article points out that a child’s brain is wired to mimic what they hear, hence their ability to pick up a second languages pronunciation very easily. At the age of ten, our brain rewires itself to focus more on learning other skills that become more important in life.
So, is there a way to unlock [...]