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Getting over a "brick wall"/"plateau"? | ||
Tags: Loss of confidence | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| agantik Triglot Senior Member France Joined 4640 days ago 217 posts - 335 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Italian Studies: German, Norwegian | Message 9 of 12 26 February 2013 at 9:29pm | IP Logged |
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Another forum (in French) about learning and teaching English, as well as CAPES and Agrégation :
http://community.agreg-ink.net/index.php?act=idx 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Melya68 Diglot Senior Member France Joined 4296 days ago 109 posts - 126 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 10 of 12 27 February 2013 at 10:43am | IP Logged |
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Thank you very much for suggesting books and giving me the link to the other forum!
I just registered and I hope my account will be activated soon. I won't be able to read some of the books since they're not available at the library, but I'll do my best to find other ones. I actually borrowed 9 books about translation but I'm disappointed by most of them, so I have a couple more questions if that's okay with you. :) 1. How should I work with the books? Most of the translations are too difficult for me so I go straight to the correction page, which might not be the best option. 2. How can I memorize the sentences/ vocabulary that I find useful? I've started making flash cards again, but I haven't gotten very far. Example (taken from a US sitcom). Context: someone has a "fluid" concept of time and is making the main character wait for a long time. "You probably have time to grab a (café crème) or grow a (séquoia)." BACK: a latte/ a redwood I planned on making more of these cards (it's the first time I make cards of this type). The thing is, it's hard for me to find sentences that "work" with this type of cloze deletion. 3. How should I work with the vocabulary books? I have over 6,000 vocabulary flash cards sitting in a box somewhere. I used to copy all the words onto flash cards before learning them and it worked quite well but then I forgot them quickly. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| agantik Triglot Senior Member France Joined 4640 days ago 217 posts - 335 votes Speaks: French*, English, Italian Studies: German, Norwegian | Message 11 of 12 28 February 2013 at 4:28pm | IP Logged |
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I'll try to answer your question, but don't forget I am talking about the method which worked for me but it is very personal, you have to coin your own method :)
1. How to work with the books As far as translation is concerned, first try to find a book which corresponds to your current level, or just above. Choose a text you feel like translating, and then try to translate it, allowing yourself as much time or as many dictionaries / thesaurus / vocabulary books as you need. Even if it's difficult at first, don't give up until you have actually translated the text (even if you know some passages of your translation are awkward). Then you can have a look at the correction, and work from the correction. Spotting your weaknesses is not enough. You have to make lists : a) of the English vocabulary you didn't know in that text and you had to look up in the dictionary b)of the English phrases or idiomatic phrases present in the text and of the way they are translated in the correction so that you'll know how to translate them in the future c) of some nice ways of translating very usual expressions you already know (e.g. : "it started raining" = "il se mit à pleuvoir", so "to start + V = se mettre à + V"- "He merely nodded "= "il se contenta d'hocher la tête", so merely + V = se contenter de, and so on... d) of similar vocabulary to that encountered in the text (e.g.: if verbs expressing sounds such as "rumble, rattle, squeak, ..." were present, try to make list of other verbs expressing sounds- or if the text dealt with some specific vocabulary about ships or cars try to enlarge your vocabulary in such topics) 2. Personally I didn't use flashcards much, I preferred bilingual lists either in a small notebook or just sheets from a notepad clearly divided in two columns with the English on the left and the French on the right (it is less paper consuming than flashcards and less time-consuming to make as well) Make a new list for each text you translate, each book you read, each sitcom episode you want to work on, it makes much smaller units to learn. Read a lot if you want to improve you translating skills, and when you read underline each new word / phrase with a yellow marker so that you don't stop while reading but you can make your vocabulary list later on when you make a break. You'll also need to underline words/ phrases you understand but which you wouldn't quite know how to translate. Also try to learn words grouped according to the topic they refer to, not just random words. Set yourself reasonable objectives : today I'm going to learn all the trees in English (believe me it's very useful to know trees/ flowers / animals when you attempt the Capes or agregation for the first time...) You don't have to read novels of high literary quality, I learnt a lot with Sophie Kinsella's books which are well-written, fun to read and with their share of colloquial English. So you can have fun and learn vocabulary at the same time (and it is easier to remember when you enjoy yourself) How to work with the vocabulary books 3. Use the screening and skimming techniques with the vocabulary books. First step : screen the words you don't know with a yellow marker. It is useless to make lists / flashcards of words you already know. Then write down all the words you underlined in a small notebook. Step 2 : skimming (this is my personal version of the spaced repetition technique, which I hadn't heard of before joining this forum, like Monsieur Jourdain I spoke in prose without knowing it!) : you repeat the words and write them down. At first you have to repeat and write all the words but after a few sessions you can cross out the ones you remember. Only a few are remaining and theses ones will be the hardest to remember. To take a concrete example, from a chapter about economic vocabulary of let's say 300 words, you make a list of unknown words (about half , so 150), and after a few skimming sessions only 25 are left. It is also necessary to dedicate a specific time in your day to vocabulary learning and reviewing the lists / flashcards you created. That's all for now ^_ ^ ! Sorry for the looooong post. If I think of something else, I'll let you know. Have fun with learning vocabulary! 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Melya68 Diglot Senior Member France Joined 4296 days ago 109 posts - 126 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 12 of 12 28 February 2013 at 11:14pm | IP Logged |
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Wow, thank you so much! :)
I'll be taking the bus to go to university in the near future so I plan on bringing vocabulary lists and flash cards with me. I actually think vocabulary lists are better for the bus because I wouldn't want to lose my flash cards while commuting! I do have a few more questions. I hope you don't mind--I want to do things right. 1. How many vocabulary words did you use to learn per day when you were studying for the agrégation? 2. I don't use highlighters. How could I keep track of the words I've learned (in my vocabulary book)? I guess just copying them down is good enough, but I'm not sure. 3. How many days should I wait between each list review? I'm asking because you said it's kind of an SRS system. 4. What are other themes that are good to learn besides trees, flowers and animals? I'll review these words of course, but I wouldn't want to merely gloss over other important vocabulary themes. :) Thank you again for your tips! I think using books to help me finish translations is a great idea. I'll do at least one translation tomorrow and I'll try to learn as much from it as possible. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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