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Conversation group advice? | ||
Tags: Study Group | Conversation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5997 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 25 of 33 22 August 2011 at 7:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
20 questions style? When I was studying Gaelic on Skye, they tended to do that when the conversation groups were mixed -- it means advanced students can ask questions using advanced grammar, and beginners can use basic grammar. It works quite well if you don't do it too often. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4895 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 26 of 33 22 August 2011 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's another good idea. Activities like this could be a helpful component of a language group. I suppose it would work best as a 15 minute activity within the context of more free activities. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5416 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 27 of 33 24 August 2011 at 3:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I participate in two language meetup groups here in Montreal: a Spanish exchange group and a French-English exchange group (the room is divided into a French-speaking side and a English-speaking side). Basically, people chat about anything with their immediate neighbors. One thing that I have noticed is that in both groups a fair number of native speakers do show up. That is quite useful.
In my opinion, this sort of format is most effective for relatively advanced learners of the language. Here is an opportunity to actually use the language in an interactive manner. I usually come to the meeting with a small list of expressions or things that I specifically want to practice. And I always have a notebook with me. Many people just come to chat willy-nilly and socialize. That's fun too but not always very enlightening. I have to say that the presence of beginners can be a real drag because they tend to bring the conversation to a halt as they search for words or just get things all wrong. I really think beginners should limit their participation until they are fully comfortable in speaking. In one of our groups we have a teacher who sometimes gives a short talk on points of grammar or vocabulary. He's really very good, and it's an opportunity to try something new and be explicitly corrected. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4895 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 28 of 33 24 August 2011 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
It doesn't have to be that way. As a teacher I can say with confidence, the best way to really learn something well is to teach it to others. You could have short sessions for beginners, where they are given specific help by intermediate & advanced speakers. Not that long ago, schools didn't have separate classes for students of different ages. My mom went to a one-room school, and the older students were used to teach the younger students. Apparently, it works quite well, and people who homeschool still do the same thing. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5416 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 29 of 33 25 August 2011 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I fully understand the point of more advanced learners helping beginners, and I certainly don't object to beginners being present (and remaining relatively quiet). The problem is that for us more advanced learners who are there to practice at their level the discussion is often brought down to the level of the lowest common denominator. Of course we are all sympathetic --after all we were beginners at some point--and try to be helpful, but we didn't come to the meetup to tutor beginners. I recall a particular instance where nearly half the time was spent listening to someone who barely spoke Spanish mangle the language while we all tried to help. Frankly, I didn't need this kind of low-level practice. Many of the advanced speakers end up feeling somewhat resentful and frustrated. In our groups there have even been complaints about this very issue. The issue isn't whether beginners are welcome or not. It's more a question of what kind of environment is appropriate for them. Perhaps some sort of structured learning format is best until they come up to speed. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5367 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 30 of 33 25 August 2011 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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If you have enough participants that the group can meet on 2 separate occasions, once for beginners and intermediate, and once for intermediate and advanced, then that's great, but since smaller groups often struggle to maintain a healthy base of participants, making sure everyone is welcome regardless of their level is often a necessity.
But I entirely get your point. You definitely don't want to lose the advanced crowd either. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4895 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 31 of 33 25 August 2011 at 6:34pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I agree completely. I would think maybe there could be specific times for working with beginners, and the rest of the time the beginners are meant to be quiet and listen. As a beginner in French, I would love the opportunity to simply listen in at a French conversation group. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4895 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 32 of 33 25 August 2011 at 6:37pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Speaking of which, anyone know of a French conversation group in Northamptonshire or Leicestershire?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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