Language learner again..

-
I have lived in the UK for almost a year now and the constant processing that my brain had to do with the German language when I lived in Germany has stopped. Even though I still have German lessons, it's very different to actually living there and needing to use the language on a daily basis. It was therefore interesting to go to a country where I don't speak the language well. Spain. I last spoke any Spanish about 15 years ago when I went on a week long intensive course there. I have a GCSE (a qualification that people usually do when they are 16, I did mine in my 20s) in Spanish but I haven't use it since my course. I looked in my old Spanish books to prepare for the trip but I didn't feel that I had much Spanish is my 'working memory' that I can use instantly when I talk. Fast forward the trip. The first thing to note is that the language felt very 'familiar'.  I recognised lots of words but didn't know what they all meant. I also didn't seem to feel the reluctance to talk, that I remembered from my first time learning Spanish. If I needed something, then I tried to talk to someone about it. This was a big help as I was able to quickly find things out. For example, "where is the supermarket? " It wasn't obvious from the shop front and I would have missed it. People were also very patient and willing to help. Lots of Spanish words are similar to English ones, which helped especially when reading signs when driving. This led me to thinking about tips for English language learners.

- be prepared to speak and make mistakes. This comes with practice but it does happen. Don't give up!
- try and work out words which are similar in your language which can help you although beware of 'false friends'. "Handy" in German is a mobile phone, 'handy' in English means convenient to use
- if one person is not helpful, don't be put off and ask another.
- get some simple phrases that you can rely on in speaking situations such as "where is..?", "do you have..?", basics such as "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me". Basic nouns such as "toilets" and ones specific to your trip such as "surfing" are also helpful.

Have fun speaking English!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This phonetic Labyrinth

-
A student recently gave me a copy of this poem, written during the 1940s. It is a truly wonderful thing to see the foibles and curiosities of the English language laid out like this. Enjoy-but ignore the last line of the poem if you are an English learner! Thanks to RP. “This PHONETIC LABYRINTH” The following was written during World War II by a Dutchman whose knowledge of English was very extensive.  It was published in “Vry Nederland,” the temporary organ of the Free Netherlands community in exile. To that publication, which is now defunct, acknowledgement is made for reprinting the verses here. Dearest creature in creation, studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse, sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse, I will keep you, Susy, busy, make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear–so shall I!  Oh, hear my prayer! Pray console your loving poet, make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart
Read more

Spiky profiles

-
Language learners often have something known as 'spiky profiles', they are not equally good in the four sections of language learning (reading, writing, listening, speaking). For example, if you learned English by watching films in original English with the subtitles in your own language, then your listening skills are probably quite good. Although, that doesn't mean that you can write if you have never practiced that skill. The key to helping students is to identify these areas where they have weaknesses and focus activities on those areas, while building on their strengths. It's not only skills that the student has but also their mindset and motivations. If, for example, a student needs to pass a speaking test and is very shy, and unwilling to talk, then the teacher needs to build their confidence up so the student has a decent chance when they get into the room with the examiner. On the other hand, a very outgoing student who loves to talk but makes lots of errors of
Read more

welcome

-
I am an experienced TEFL teacher with a PGCE qualification. I offer IELTS exam training, English conversation, Business English and academic writing classes. I am usually available between 9am and 3pm GMT weekdays in person in Dundee, Scotland or on skype. Please email to discuss your exact tuition requirements.
Read more