|
 |
From mnemonics to actual usage of vocab | ||
Tags: Vocabulary learning | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4844 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 17 of 21 04 October 2011 at 4:17pm | IP Logged | ||
People say things like this about children an awful lot, but I remain somewhat skeptical. I think the evidence is clear that brains are more "plastic" when young, so that, for example, it is harder for an adult to learn a new accent than a child. But as a teacher (not of languages), I have seen good language programmes in primary schools, but I still see as many of the young children struggling with the subject as older students. I can accept that a younger brain has some advantages, but an older student who is motivated to learn, and who understands their own learning processes, will do equally well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jean-luc Senior Member France Joined 4895 days ago 100 posts - 150 votes Speaks: French* Studies: German | Message 18 of 21 04 October 2011 at 7:58pm | IP Logged | ||
I had a look on samples on the web, it looks like a bit a text version of Rosetta Stone. I'm not completely convinced it's really efficient for learning the language, but it could be good as an introductory text. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andrew Coach Diglot Newbie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4740 days ago 17 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English, Hungarian | Message 19 of 21 04 October 2011 at 11:42pm | IP Logged | ||
|
"I suppose that a few adults manage to retain at least a certain amount of this ability, but most of us are not so
good in that respect. " " I have seen good language programmes in primary schools, but I still see as many of the young children struggling with the subject as older students." The issue is that there has been very little energy expended to understanding the learning process in children ( especially with regards to languages) , or at least little of it has got to the schools or public. Once we better understand that, then understanding what goes wrong in school and later on in our life is much easier to deal with. Beliefs, emotional factors( eg fear, wanting to look good) and method factors (learning in in effective ways) explain in large part why most adults are so poor at learning languages. For children at school it is not that they much different really in that, mainly because of the way they are taught - grammar/translation/drilling by teachers who don't really understand the process themselves. They MAY be a polyglot but most of them achieved that by themselves, not through instruction and the ones that did are the exception. I can say they are the exception because as a language teacher I have see and trained hundreds of language teachers. Plasticity of the brain is certainly an issue, however not an important one for adults who are good language learners! So the question remains, how can we all become good language learners? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4763 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 20 of 21 05 October 2011 at 12:31am | IP Logged | ||
I think what I was really talking about was ages 0-5 or so, rather than primary school age (about 5-11 where I live). i.e. from not speaking to speaking quite well, and I was not just talking about learning languages. Babies and very young children are learning an awful lot from scratch in a relatively short time. But I've also seen examples of pre-school children acquiring at least some of the language of the country they are living in, as a 2nd language, spoken in the local accent, in quite a short time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6020 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 21 of 21 05 October 2011 at 11:39am | IP Logged | ||
|
There are so many threads on children and language acquisition at HTLAL.
If I may, I'd like to just quickly say one thing about mnemonics before it split off a bit: I think pictures or memory aids can be used as a tool, but I don't think they're very effective. If someone took my hand and put a cup in it and said the word "filiżanka". What if I think they said, "Here you go." ?? I might not make the right association, "filiżanki means cup" at all. Edit: that's the only way I can imagine what it would be like to study a language without translating it -- I think that's what I imagine people doing when they try to apply pictures or associate objects with unknown words. Edited by Sunja on 05 October 2011 at 11:47am 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
