Tip 6 (you made it!) for language learners, but the BUT remains (text)
Tip 6 (you made it!) for language learners, but the BUT remains …
We have covered so much in this series of language tips:
Tip 1: Daily practice in context
Tip 2: Connections to other languages
Tip 3: Focusing on specific aspects of language (sound, in my case), and
Tips 4 and 5: Finding useful vocab building techniques
This last tip comes down to finding out about yourself. What is it you want to know about the language? What doubts do you really want to resolve? Read on to find out what you can do about this…
Once I got into university in Brazil, I was thrown into another universe of language: writing. I hadn’t really thought about the writing aspect of a new language before this as I would write, at most, a short e-mail or a post-it note. However, at college, I was expected to write essays and papers. On my first essay, I got a 10/10 for content and a 3/10 for language. I was so ashamed that I hired a private tutor and started having writing classes.
The methodology the tutor used was brutal. It is known as ‘parroting’ in the methodological nomenclature. Literally, you copy the original so as to regurgitate it in a form that is as close as possible to how it was originally presented. This meant copying newspaper articles, word for word, three times before writing a fourth copy from memory. As I seethed in fury (the classes were expensive), I had to pay close attention to syntactical/grammar aspects to memorise them so my fourth copy (from memory) was as close as possible to the original. I then took the fatal step of asking my tutor ‘Why does the verb change like that in this sentence?’. She beamed as she lugged a massive grammar book onto the table and said: ‘You tell me. If you really want to know, I suggest you take a look at chapter 4, page 98”.
And so began my journey to the depths of the grammar world. Had she begun to rattle off grammar rules, I would have switched off. I am not great at following rules. Who is? But investigating them because I wanted to answer my own doubts really helped me understand how language learning, especially something as boring as grammar, is possible. It all comes down to your own interest. If someone forces you to learn something, chances are you won’t. But should you investigate of your own accord, or in your own interest, chances are the learning will stick.
Tip number 6: This tip is just as much for language teachers as it is for language learners. Investigate what interests you. Nagging doubts can be cleared by searching for the answer, whether in books, on the Internet or even just by asking someone. BUT, you will most likely need some help as to where to start. And, quite often, as learners, we don’t want to listen.
That’s fine, but we need to recognise that professionals – real professionals – usually know where to start. We should trust them to put us on the right path; however, dear teachers, just rattling off rules without some real guidance on where and how to investigate further is just a waste of hot air because, in the end, no one is really listening. Most of us only really listen when it comes from our inner heart, soul and mind. Learning, therefore, is more meaningful when it is hands on!
So here we are, at the end. I hope these tips helped you. Feel free to share any other personal learning tips you feel may be useful. We are all ears here at Literally...