When learning a foreign language you need to learn the language like you learned your native language. If you look at other cultures and languages you recognize that everyone that is born into them has been able to learn their language. So why can’t you? You can, languages are only foreign because we do not use them. So in order to learn a new language we need to clean or minds of all the things we think we know and open them up to a way of learning that we have forgotten.
As adults learning things academically and systematically are so emphasized that we have lost touch with the part of our brain that learns intuitively and through observation. Leonardo Da Vinci believed that experience is the best test of all truth and said “But to me all knowledge is vain and fraught with errors unless it is born of experience, the mother of all certainty”. Children, unlike adults, learn solely from experience, intuition, and observation and that is why they learn so quickly. So when learning plan activities that will help you learn naturally. Your experience will be more effective and more FUN!
Here is one activity that you can do to begin learning naturally. Over the next couple of weeks we will add more activities and the theory behind the practice.
Here are some activities that you can do to help you learn like a Kid. You should try and learn some relevant vocabulary, culture, or background before your activity.
Play A Game – Kids always play games and will allow you to learn real life speaking skills in a relaxed and comfortable situation. Also, games do not demand a large vocabulary.
Benefits: Learn and Practice new vocab, Build Confidence, Strengthen Speaking and Listening skills, Learn new vocabulary.
First of all there are many different dimensions to language learning and depending on your goals for learning a foreign language you will want to look for different qualities in your teacher. I will first cover the general characteristics that all language teachers should exude and I will follow that explanation with a more goal specific list of qualities your language teacher should have in Part 2.
There are 5 qualities that all language teachers should have. Depending on your goals and needs some may be more or less important but generally these are the 5 principal attributes you should look for in a teacher of any kind.
1. Knowledge The teacher does not have to be an expert in the language but does need to have a significant understanding of the core concepts and ideas needed to help you progress and learn the language yourself. In order for someone to elevate you to a higher place they themselves must be in a higher place.
2. Experience Knowledge is essential however if the teacher has no practical experience that knowledge is useless. It’s like a basketball coach who has read all the books but has never played the game. The coach will never be able to make a successful basketball team. The same is for languages. If your teacher cannot say that they have spent a significant amount of time living, speaking, or working with the people that speak the language there is no way they will have the cultural insight to teach you any real life language skills. However if your pursuit is solely academic this may not be a large issue and I will discuss why later.
3. Communication - You need to be able to relate and feel comfortable with your teacher socially. Languages are a social experience and if your teacher is shy, distant, or not invested then it will make your lessons very tedious and ineffective. You teacher needs to be constantly asking you questions, encouraging, and conversational.
4. Enthusiasm Who wants a boring teacher? Nobody wants to learn a foreign language to be boring. If you teacher is not positive, friendly, and interested in the language and you as a student then they will most likely not give you 100% and will not require 100% from you.
5. Vision The most important thing is that the teacher understands your goals and needs. In order for any teacher to build lessons that will achieve your goals they must understand your reasons for learning the language. If a teacher tells you that you have to learn a certain way because that’s the way it is and is not interested in focusing on your interests then you should consider whether or not you are receiving effective language lessons. However sometimes teachers will need to tell you that it is not time to learn a certain subject or to tell you that a question will be answered at a later time because it is not time.
Saying that we will come back to a subject at a later time is different than completely ignoring your goals. You should feel comfortable asking your teacher what their plan of action is and how they plan to help you achieve your goals in the language.
* Part 2 will focus on goal specific skills and qualities that you should consider when choosing a foreign language tutor.
Businesses have many dimensions and work in all kinds of industries yet they all share one common characteristics. No matter what your business does it involves people, directly or indirectly. However we are not all able to communicate with the same people based on what languages we speak. In your business’ daily operations I’m sure that you come across communication barriers whether locally or abroad. The world is only becoming smaller and whether the world is brought to our doorstep or we seek it out we cannot ignore the value of doing business with customers from other cultures.?
Here in the United States the most obvious market that cannot be ignored is the Latino or Spanish speaking demographic. For example that Hispanic community in Phoenix, AZ makes up 34% of the population and spend more than $5 billion annually. This is an example of the diversity or our local population that is underserved. If you are able to reach them and gain their trust as a community the you can share in the $5 billion that they spend annually.
One of the biggest pitfalls of communicating with an audience that does not speak your language is not working with a professional. One of the main reasons you want to work with someone who is an experienced language specialist is because of the diversity within the community of people that speak a particular foreign language. Just like Americans speak distinctly different English than the English or Australians.
Another example that hits close to home is the Latinos. A Latino or Spanish speaker can come from any of the Spanish speaking countries south of the U.S. So if you choose an employee from Chile or from a specific region in Mexico it is certain that without training their vocabulary and understanding will be different than that of your target audience. That is why it is important to use a language specialist who can either single out a specific dialect that represents your target audience or that can employ a standard and non regional form of Spanish. This is also true for all languages including English. You wouldn’t allow someone with no writing experience from the accounting department in Alabama write your marketing materials, so you shouldn’t do it in a foreign language just because one your employees in your company happens to speak the language of your target audience. So to summarize you want to make sure that the person not only speaks the language but that they have the skills necessary to adapt and understand your audience. Just like you don’t hire a lawyer to do your accounting you don’t want someone other than a language specialist preparing your foreign language documents.*
*A short side note is that if your documents or marketing materials are technical in any way there are language professionals who specialize in those fields. They often have worked in the field for many years and have a deep understanding of the subject of your materials. You want to make sure that the agency or language professional is working with or has experience in the field in order to achieve the best results.
Hello everyone! Coming very soon we will begin adding content that will address everything about Foreign Languages. There will be help for students of foreign langauges like: learning tips, self learning guides, excercises, a comprehensive resource guides, language materials reviews and language news. There will also be help and guides for teachers of foreign languages.
If there is anything that you would like to know more about, questions answered or suggestions for subjects just let us know.
We look forward to getting know everyone and providing a great resource for foreign language learners everywhere.
After a long delay due to a web designer abandoning our site our blog is back. I’ve itching to start blogging again about learning foreign languages, the progress of our school and generally participating in the language community. The old blog posts will be migrated back on to this blog in the near future but for now we’ll be starting from scratch.
Aaron
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