LANGUAGE TEACHING & LEARNING: NOTES FROM A CLASS AND SPEECH
NOTES FROM A CLASS AND SPEECH–more tips from a language learner with an attitude
by Kevin Stoda, in Taiwan
“Learners of English should listen to each sentence in conversations in audio several times and see their transcripts at the same time. Then they can understand everything in those sentences clearly.”—Michael, a language learner and teacher
I saw the quote above on a BBC Blog for language learners.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
I then created this activity for a the listening link from that weblink.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
The audio link allows one to play as often as needed the 3 or so minute long speech of one foreign language learner from Europe. At the bottom of the link is a space for comments by listeners of the BBC language learning site. (You and your learners of English are encouraged to sign up for this free BBC service at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ ).
I assigned the following assignment to my 9th grade English language learners here in Taiwan. Here it is.
9th Grade
“Learners of English should listen to each sentence in conversations in audio several times and see their transcripts at the same time. Then they can understand everything in those sentences clearly.”—Michael, a language learner and teacher
As you read and listen to the 3 minute talk on learning many languages, try and answer these questions.
PRE-LISTENING
(1) What countries and places has the speaker been to?
(2) How many languages has he learned?
(3) What are some of the languages he has learned?
(4) How does he prefer to learn languages?
(5) What other ways does he suggest for learning languages?
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
I wanna talk about learning languages. I’ve lived in many different countries, both in Western Europe, Middle East, and now here in Hong Kong. And during all of that time, I’ve learned five or six different languages, to one degree or another. I love learning languages, not only are they important when you move to a country, I just find them fascinating.
Before I came to Hong Kong, I lived in Barcelona Spain for ten years. And when I first arrived, the most important thing was being able to communicate with people locally. I don’t attend classes. I don’t think I’m particularly good in classes. I prefer to learn by just talking to people, finding out what I need to say by looking at dictionaries and listening carefully.
Other things that helped me when I first moved to Spain, were watching the typical kinds of programs we see everyday on channels around the world. For example the weather. This is great, because they always say the same things. So you can really quickly hear the same words repeated again and again. And the pictures helped of course.
Other types of program that helped me learned Spanish quickly were things like game shows, where the same thing happens. They have a catchphrase or a slogan that they repeat endlessly when contestants win or when they are called to compete.
As well as that, I used to pick up the Spanish newspapers. First of all, I just accepted that there was no way I was going to understand anything but one or two words. But gradually, I found that I learned lots of new things about this. I was interested because I wanted to know what was happening in the country I lived in. But, I also knew that I could learn a lot of language this way. So I’d take a dictionary with me sometimes, or I’d notice a word and I’d ask other people what …it meant.
Anyway, by far the best practice I ever had was just talking to people in the street, or in shops where I’d rehearse in my head what I wanted to say beforehand, before I went in. Usually, I’d make a right mess of it first of all, but, after you get over the embarrassment, it’s quite funny really. And people are very sympathetic and supporting in most cases.
It took me a long time to develop a good level of Spanish. I lived there for ten years, and I think I’m very fluent now. But I think for the first two years I was there, it was quite a struggle to hold a decent conversation. There were always lots of words or expressions that I didn’t pick up on. In particular with the colloquial expressions, idioms, that kind of thing, that people use in everyday talk, but you don’t necessarily see written down. I didn’t find those very easy to learn at all. But it was a lot of fun. And people as I said are really supporting when they know that you are genuinely interested in learning their language.
Discussion
(1) Do you find it easier to learn English in a classroom setting or by forcing yourself to read English newspapers, books, textbooks, and / or watching English TV?
(2) What is the most effective language learning method for you?
Log in and send us your own texts or your opinions and comments below.
LATER–FOR 8TH AND 9TH GRADERS
Next, I created a similar exercise and speech format, which I have used in my 7th and 8th grade classes here in Taiwan.
Here it is:
7th Grade Listening Review Name_______________
As you read and listen to the 3 minute talk on learning languages, try and answer these questions.
PRE-LISTENING Questions
(1) What countries and places has the speaker been to?
(2) How many languages has he learned?
(3) What are some of the languages he has learned?
(4) How does he prefer to learn languages?
(5) What other ways does he suggest for learning languages?
KEVIN’S FIRST DAY OF CLASS AT CHUNG SHAN JUNIOR HIGH*
“It’s really nice to meet you today. I am a 48 year-old English, German and Spanish teacher. Over the years, I have traveled to many countries. I have also tried to learn many languages. When I was young, I traveled to Mexico for the first time. Later, in college I studied Spanish. Before I finished college, I took one year to work in Europe. I lived in France and later in Germany. In Europe I learned German. In both countries I did not study languages but worked on farms and lived with French and German farm families.”
“My last year at college, I took time to study German for two semesters. Two years later, I traveled to Germany to study at university in northern Germany. I lived in Germany for three years and began to teach English there, too. During my time at the German university, I also studied Spanish and a little French.”
“How did I learn foreign languages? Well, I do enjoy learning languages most by talking and listening to the language.”
“Mostly, I learnt German by speaking and practicing the language with real speakers of German. I also bought a German-learning textbook and reread it many times while I was in Europe that first year. At German university, I also visited a lot of German language classes while I lived in Germany. More importantly, I began to read German short-stories. Next, I read several books, and I took German literature and history classes, too.”
“But, I learnt Spanish originally by taking university classes in Spanish—first in America and then in Spain, Mexico, and even Germany.”
“Between 1992 and 1994, I lived in Japan. I taught English in three Japanese high schools—like I teach in three schools here on Beigan Island now. I did not study Japanese before going to Japan, but I tried to learn some Japanese words before I arrived in Japan. I found it difficult to learn Japanese, but I had more help learning Japanese than I did in some other countries I have worked in. One cram-school teacher tutored me in Japanese for almost two whole years. Other teachers at my three schools taught me important Japanese words and phrases for conversation.”
“Finally, when I returned to the USA in 1994-1995, I again took two semesters of Japanese at the University of Kansas. So, now I can speak intermediate Japanese but do not read and write at that level.”
“A lot of you may think it is easier to go to other countries to learn a foreign language, but I think that studying is still important. Now, in Taiwan, I hope you and your friends can help me learn Chinese. Thank you. ”
Discussion
(1) Do you find it easier to learn English in a classroom setting or by forcing yourself to read English newspapers, books, textbooks, –or by watching English TV?
(2) What is the most effective language learning method for you?
*NOTE: I tried to use a spoken English for writing the speech. In this way, the language used above by me in my activities for the 7th and 8th grades is more authentic than grammatically and lyrically correct.
by Kevin Stoda, in Taiwan
“Learners of English should listen to each sentence in conversations in audio several times and see their transcripts at the same time. Then they can understand everything in those sentences clearly.”—Michael, a language learner and teacher
I saw the quote above on a BBC Blog for language learners.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
I then created this activity for a the listening link from that weblink.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
The audio link allows one to play as often as needed the 3 or so minute long speech of one foreign language learner from Europe. At the bottom of the link is a space for comments by listeners of the BBC language learning site. (You and your learners of English are encouraged to sign up for this free BBC service at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ ).
I assigned the following assignment to my 9th grade English language learners here in Taiwan. Here it is.
9th Grade
“Learners of English should listen to each sentence in conversations in audio several times and see their transcripts at the same time. Then they can understand everything in those sentences clearly.”—Michael, a language learner and teacher
As you read and listen to the 3 minute talk on learning many languages, try and answer these questions.
PRE-LISTENING
(1) What countries and places has the speaker been to?
(2) How many languages has he learned?
(3) What are some of the languages he has learned?
(4) How does he prefer to learn languages?
(5) What other ways does he suggest for learning languages?
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/i-wanna-talk-about/learning-languages
I wanna talk about learning languages. I’ve lived in many different countries, both in Western Europe, Middle East, and now here in Hong Kong. And during all of that time, I’ve learned five or six different languages, to one degree or another. I love learning languages, not only are they important when you move to a country, I just find them fascinating.
Before I came to Hong Kong, I lived in Barcelona Spain for ten years. And when I first arrived, the most important thing was being able to communicate with people locally. I don’t attend classes. I don’t think I’m particularly good in classes. I prefer to learn by just talking to people, finding out what I need to say by looking at dictionaries and listening carefully.
Other things that helped me when I first moved to Spain, were watching the typical kinds of programs we see everyday on channels around the world. For example the weather. This is great, because they always say the same things. So you can really quickly hear the same words repeated again and again. And the pictures helped of course.
Other types of program that helped me learned Spanish quickly were things like game shows, where the same thing happens. They have a catchphrase or a slogan that they repeat endlessly when contestants win or when they are called to compete.
As well as that, I used to pick up the Spanish newspapers. First of all, I just accepted that there was no way I was going to understand anything but one or two words. But gradually, I found that I learned lots of new things about this. I was interested because I wanted to know what was happening in the country I lived in. But, I also knew that I could learn a lot of language this way. So I’d take a dictionary with me sometimes, or I’d notice a word and I’d ask other people what …it meant.
Anyway, by far the best practice I ever had was just talking to people in the street, or in shops where I’d rehearse in my head what I wanted to say beforehand, before I went in. Usually, I’d make a right mess of it first of all, but, after you get over the embarrassment, it’s quite funny really. And people are very sympathetic and supporting in most cases.
It took me a long time to develop a good level of Spanish. I lived there for ten years, and I think I’m very fluent now. But I think for the first two years I was there, it was quite a struggle to hold a decent conversation. There were always lots of words or expressions that I didn’t pick up on. In particular with the colloquial expressions, idioms, that kind of thing, that people use in everyday talk, but you don’t necessarily see written down. I didn’t find those very easy to learn at all. But it was a lot of fun. And people as I said are really supporting when they know that you are genuinely interested in learning their language.
Discussion
(1) Do you find it easier to learn English in a classroom setting or by forcing yourself to read English newspapers, books, textbooks, and / or watching English TV?
(2) What is the most effective language learning method for you?
Log in and send us your own texts or your opinions and comments below.
LATER–FOR 8TH AND 9TH GRADERS
Next, I created a similar exercise and speech format, which I have used in my 7th and 8th grade classes here in Taiwan.
Here it is:
7th Grade Listening Review Name_______________
As you read and listen to the 3 minute talk on learning languages, try and answer these questions.
PRE-LISTENING Questions
(1) What countries and places has the speaker been to?
(2) How many languages has he learned?
(3) What are some of the languages he has learned?
(4) How does he prefer to learn languages?
(5) What other ways does he suggest for learning languages?
KEVIN’S FIRST DAY OF CLASS AT CHUNG SHAN JUNIOR HIGH*
“It’s really nice to meet you today. I am a 48 year-old English, German and Spanish teacher. Over the years, I have traveled to many countries. I have also tried to learn many languages. When I was young, I traveled to Mexico for the first time. Later, in college I studied Spanish. Before I finished college, I took one year to work in Europe. I lived in France and later in Germany. In Europe I learned German. In both countries I did not study languages but worked on farms and lived with French and German farm families.”
“My last year at college, I took time to study German for two semesters. Two years later, I traveled to Germany to study at university in northern Germany. I lived in Germany for three years and began to teach English there, too. During my time at the German university, I also studied Spanish and a little French.”
“How did I learn foreign languages? Well, I do enjoy learning languages most by talking and listening to the language.”
“Mostly, I learnt German by speaking and practicing the language with real speakers of German. I also bought a German-learning textbook and reread it many times while I was in Europe that first year. At German university, I also visited a lot of German language classes while I lived in Germany. More importantly, I began to read German short-stories. Next, I read several books, and I took German literature and history classes, too.”
“But, I learnt Spanish originally by taking university classes in Spanish—first in America and then in Spain, Mexico, and even Germany.”
“Between 1992 and 1994, I lived in Japan. I taught English in three Japanese high schools—like I teach in three schools here on Beigan Island now. I did not study Japanese before going to Japan, but I tried to learn some Japanese words before I arrived in Japan. I found it difficult to learn Japanese, but I had more help learning Japanese than I did in some other countries I have worked in. One cram-school teacher tutored me in Japanese for almost two whole years. Other teachers at my three schools taught me important Japanese words and phrases for conversation.”
“Finally, when I returned to the USA in 1994-1995, I again took two semesters of Japanese at the University of Kansas. So, now I can speak intermediate Japanese but do not read and write at that level.”
“A lot of you may think it is easier to go to other countries to learn a foreign language, but I think that studying is still important. Now, in Taiwan, I hope you and your friends can help me learn Chinese. Thank you. ”
Discussion
(1) Do you find it easier to learn English in a classroom setting or by forcing yourself to read English newspapers, books, textbooks, –or by watching English TV?
(2) What is the most effective language learning method for you?
*NOTE: I tried to use a spoken English for writing the speech. In this way, the language used above by me in my activities for the 7th and 8th grades is more authentic than grammatically and lyrically correct.
posted by Kevin Anthony Stoda at 6:59 AM
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