A language time capsule is an idea which I have recently come up with. I want to record myself speaking my target languages. I want to know what I sounded like at the beginning of my language study. And then how did I sound a year later? I want to hear how much I have improved and how much better I can speak. Do I speak more easily? Am I still making the same grammar mistakes or did I take care of those? Has my pronunciation gotten better? Do I sound more natural?
With a language time capsule, I'll be able to go back in time and listen to myself. This will allow me to judge my progress. I will also be able to compare my rate of progression between two different languages, such as Chinese and French. Chinese is supposed to be harder for us English speakers than a European language. So will I be able to learn French much quicker than Chinese? With time capsules, I would be able to actually compare how I sound in two different languages after having studied each one for the same amount of time, even though I may be presently at different levels in each one.
What do you think about my Time Capsule idea? Have you recorded yourself?
Vox09.mp3
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Avoiding fatigue
I've noticed that when I put in a lot of effort and study hard, and keep at it day after day, that I usually end up stopping for a long period of time. I mean, I will keep up my routine for a week or two, and then I won't do any studying for 3 or 4 months. I forced myself to work hard and then suddenly when I can't study one day or two days, I can't get myself back into my routine. The body and the mind just want to keep resting. The work I was doing built up a kind of reluctance to study. It was good while I did it, but my desire and motivation went out the window.
Because of those experiences, I realize that it is best not to make language learning a chore. You are more likely to stick to it as long as it retains its excitement. Therefor, you should definitely have language learning activities that are easy. The more the better, but I have only found listening to fit the requirement of being easy. If you feel like listening to a structured lesson, then by all means do so. Otherwise you can just listen to news, conversations, or monologues. Even if you are too tired from your day of work and don't feel like concentrating, just listen to an internet radio program (not music). Once in a while you will catch some words that you have studied, but the whole time the language will be entering your system through your ears.
I recommend you have some activities like this for those times when you don't feel like doing anything. You know you'll feel guilty if you do nothing for awhile. But if you at least spend some time listening, you can keep your mind fresh with the sounds of the language.
Vox08.mp3
Because of those experiences, I realize that it is best not to make language learning a chore. You are more likely to stick to it as long as it retains its excitement. Therefor, you should definitely have language learning activities that are easy. The more the better, but I have only found listening to fit the requirement of being easy. If you feel like listening to a structured lesson, then by all means do so. Otherwise you can just listen to news, conversations, or monologues. Even if you are too tired from your day of work and don't feel like concentrating, just listen to an internet radio program (not music). Once in a while you will catch some words that you have studied, but the whole time the language will be entering your system through your ears.
I recommend you have some activities like this for those times when you don't feel like doing anything. You know you'll feel guilty if you do nothing for awhile. But if you at least spend some time listening, you can keep your mind fresh with the sounds of the language.
Vox08.mp3
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Choosing a learning path
When you embark on a language learning journey, you are taking on a long and enduring effort. So therefor, it is best to choose your learning materials wisely. I would like to give you some insight on what to consider when you plan your route.
First and foremost, for the beginner there are a myriad of language courses you can buy. Beware of the claims made by these courses. They do not take you to a fluent level in the language. They do not even take you to an intermediate level. When you choose one though, you should try to find a comprehensive course that covers all of the grammar constructs in the language. Verb conjugations, lots of vocabulary, and phrases should all be covered. Some people make the mistake of thinking that because they know all the grammar rules that they are at an advanced level. The grammar rules, however, are just part of the basic level. There is a lot of grammar to learn which does not involve any rules and you have to learn these things one by one as you come across them. That is the intermediate level.
It is important to go through all of the language learning material in one series. If the series you are thinking about using does not go as far as another series, you should use the other series. The danger of having to switch series lies in the fact that the new series you start using may have covered some things in the earlier volumes that you never had in your other materials, and so you will miss that entirely. If you have to restart with a different series, you will be bored studying material that you already know, not to mention wasting time. That is why you want to do all of your book-learning from start to finish and not having missed anything or needing to find something that picks up where the other left off.
After you have learned everything you possibly can from textbooks or language courses, you will be at about the intermediate stage. From here, you can begin using materials written for native speakers, such as novels, newspapers, and other published materials. You will need lots of input from these sources to get up to the advanced level in the language.
How do I know the importance of completing an entire course in the language you are trying to learn? Because I wasn't able to. I took Japanese classes for 2 years and used a very good textbook. There were at least 3 volumes to this textbook and we were able to get about half-way through the second volume. So I did not learn all of the grammar that could have been taught while I was taking those courses. But obviously, I did not need to start from the beginning. Yet I couldn't demonstrate how much I knew. So when I came to Japan and went to a Japanese classroom taught once a week by volunteers, they didn't know what to teach me. I was taught like a very beginner about things I already knew. But I couldn't join a higher group because I wasn't that far along. So obviously it just became a waste of time. You can learn more on your own just by finding and tackling the areas you need to work on. Finding them is not easy, though. That's why it's important to work through a language course from the beginning until as far as possible. Then you won't be left with any gaps.
Don't be afraid to use more than one series. If you have the time, learning the same thing again is not all bad. If it does not bore you, you can strengthen what you already know and learn other things better. It might be best to use this approach from the very beginning while the subjects are still rather new to you.
I've just briefly introduced my ideas here, so if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.
Vox07.mp3
First and foremost, for the beginner there are a myriad of language courses you can buy. Beware of the claims made by these courses. They do not take you to a fluent level in the language. They do not even take you to an intermediate level. When you choose one though, you should try to find a comprehensive course that covers all of the grammar constructs in the language. Verb conjugations, lots of vocabulary, and phrases should all be covered. Some people make the mistake of thinking that because they know all the grammar rules that they are at an advanced level. The grammar rules, however, are just part of the basic level. There is a lot of grammar to learn which does not involve any rules and you have to learn these things one by one as you come across them. That is the intermediate level.
It is important to go through all of the language learning material in one series. If the series you are thinking about using does not go as far as another series, you should use the other series. The danger of having to switch series lies in the fact that the new series you start using may have covered some things in the earlier volumes that you never had in your other materials, and so you will miss that entirely. If you have to restart with a different series, you will be bored studying material that you already know, not to mention wasting time. That is why you want to do all of your book-learning from start to finish and not having missed anything or needing to find something that picks up where the other left off.
After you have learned everything you possibly can from textbooks or language courses, you will be at about the intermediate stage. From here, you can begin using materials written for native speakers, such as novels, newspapers, and other published materials. You will need lots of input from these sources to get up to the advanced level in the language.
How do I know the importance of completing an entire course in the language you are trying to learn? Because I wasn't able to. I took Japanese classes for 2 years and used a very good textbook. There were at least 3 volumes to this textbook and we were able to get about half-way through the second volume. So I did not learn all of the grammar that could have been taught while I was taking those courses. But obviously, I did not need to start from the beginning. Yet I couldn't demonstrate how much I knew. So when I came to Japan and went to a Japanese classroom taught once a week by volunteers, they didn't know what to teach me. I was taught like a very beginner about things I already knew. But I couldn't join a higher group because I wasn't that far along. So obviously it just became a waste of time. You can learn more on your own just by finding and tackling the areas you need to work on. Finding them is not easy, though. That's why it's important to work through a language course from the beginning until as far as possible. Then you won't be left with any gaps.
Don't be afraid to use more than one series. If you have the time, learning the same thing again is not all bad. If it does not bore you, you can strengthen what you already know and learn other things better. It might be best to use this approach from the very beginning while the subjects are still rather new to you.
I've just briefly introduced my ideas here, so if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.
Vox07.mp3
Friday, September 01, 2006
A keen sense of awareness
I think I have a keen sense of awareness when I am speaking. I listen to how words come out of my mouth. Even if you do not feel you can hear your own accent when speaking, you should be able to hear it if you record yourself and play it back. Listen to a recording of a native speaker of your target language. Listen to just one sentence. Concentrate on it. Get an audio editor like Audacity and save just that one sentence to a file. Convert it to an MP3 and then import it into iTunes. Then play that file in a loop. Listen to it 25 times at least. Then begin practicing the sentence. Say the sentence at the same time as the recording. Match your speed, intonation and rhythm with the recording. When you think you've got it, note how many times it took for you to get it. Was it another 25 times? If so, continue repeating 25 more times along with the recording. However many times it took for you to "get it" is the number of times you should continue. Then you will have doubled the number of times you have said this sentence. Think you're perfect now? Then record yourself and listen to your recording. Now what do you think? Do you sound like the native speaker you were listening to? If not, how do you differ? Where do you need to concentrate more on? If you follow this kind of training for a while, I believe you will develop a keen sense of awareness. You will be able to hear the way you speak even while you are speaking. From this point, you'll be able to continually improve your accent in the language. It won't take long before people mistake you for a native speaker!
Vox06.mp3
EDIT: I forgot to mention, after you try out this suggestion, come back here and give me a report. I would love to hear how it went for you.
Vox06.mp3
EDIT: I forgot to mention, after you try out this suggestion, come back here and give me a report. I would love to hear how it went for you.
Labels:
accent,
pronunciation,
recorded posts,
strategy,
suggestion
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