How to learn foreign language

How to learn foreign languageBaghdad university College of engineeringelectronic & communications department Product by :-

- Tariq emad ali- Zina osama

Why we study a foreign languageStudying a foreign language completes and improves a students education while providing the foundation for further personal enrichment, scholastic achievement, and economic opportunities. The need for California students to learn and understand a foreign language is more evident today than in times past. In recent years California has been transforming its education system so that children, the states future leaders, are able to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. This framework seeks to improve foreign language education by relying on the guidelines of the Language Learning Continuum It describes what students should know and be able to do as a result of learning a second language. The continuum sets clearly defined goals while allowing for flexibility in the local curricula. The need for foreign language instruction for all students is clearly evident in the context of academic achievement, educational reform, and leadership in the global economy.

10 good reasons why you should be learning a foreign language1. To increase global understanding .2. To improve employment potential .3. To increase native language ability .4-To sharpen cognitive and life skills .5. To improve chances of entry into college or graduate school .6. To appreciate international literature, music, and film .7. To make travel more feasible and enjoyable .8. To expand study abroad options .9. To increase understanding of oneself and one's own culture .10. To make lifelong friends .

Challenges Influence of native languageIt is a fact that the farther we move away from childhood and adolescence, the more firmly our brains become set around our native language. It becomes hard to hear certain sounds in another language. The muscles in our mouths suffer from a form of "lock-jaw," and it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to pronounce some sounds just like a native speaker does. Moreover, we can become confused if the language we're learning follows a different structure from our own. English speakers who begin studying German, for example, say that by the time German gets to the verb, which comes at the very end of the sentence, they've forgotten what the subject of the sentence is. The habits we acquire from our own language are deeply ingrained and can hinder our acquisition of a different language. Constraint and self-consciousness

There are so many things that are different about a foreign language that it is easy for an adult to feel thrown off balance and ill at ease when studying one. We have to become willing to "stick our necks out," make mistakes, and move ahead.

Need for hard work and practice

To become proficient at pronouncing new sounds and using new structures, we must be ready to practice and to work hard. Learning a foreign language will not be the relatively painless procedure we undergo as children. But it is an extremely rewarding experience--and well worth the time and effort it will take. Plan to study a new languagesA- At the beginning of the semester There are many things you can do before the semester is under way to maximize your learning experience. Exploring the textbook.As soon as you purchase your textbook, look through it carefully. Read the Introduction. Scan the Table of Contents. Find the Index. Find the Appendices of special explanations and of charts. Find the two vocabulary lists at the back of the book--one listing English words alphabetically with the meanings given in the target language, the other listing words alphabetically in the target language, with the meanings given in English. Some textbooks have answer pages. Find them, and study how they are organized; do the same for any accompanying texts. Determine which particular study aids are used in the book, such as highlighting or special use of color. Organizing your materials.A three-ring loose-leaf notebook and dividers is probably the most efficient aid.Your notebook should have a place for handouts you receive on the first day, such as the syllabus) and for any other materials that the teacher passes out to you throughout the course. Another section should have completed homework assignments in it. Keep your returned tests and quizzes in another part. Finally, you'll want a section that has clear paper ready to use for notes or practice. B- Day-to-day participation in classAttendance and preparation Learning and achievement are directly related to regular attendance and active participation, so you will want to attend, and prepare for, every class.Be on time, or even better, come early, to class. Give yourself the opportunity to get ready both physically and mentally. Arriving late diminishes your learning experience; it also creates an interruption that is inconsiderate both to other students and to your instructor.At end of class, remain at your seat until dismissed by the instructor.Being an active learner in classAsk questions when you don't understand. Don't by shy--you are probably not the only person with that question, probably just the only one brave enough to ask!Participate fully in group activities. If you finish early, use the time for studying something else in the lesson. Don't waste time by chatting in English. About homework

Doing it on a daily basisYou can't let it accumulate. You can't put it off until the weekend. Even though steady, day by day work is best for learning any subject, it is true that in many courses you can get yourself out of a jam with some high pressure, last minute cramming. You can't learn a foreign language in this way. For every hour in class, you can expect to work two-three hours outside of class. You are developing new habits, and habits are learned through steady practice. Each concept must be understood and each skill mastered before you can learn the next one, and there will be new vocabulary, new grammatical concepts, and new skills at each class meeting. It may happen on one or two occasions that you don't have time to prepare an assignment. If so, don't stay away from class; making up the work will be twice as hard. Come to class, tell the instructor that you are unprepared, and learn as much as you can from the classroom work. Writing homework assignments

Write your homework preferably in pencil, on loose leaf sheets, and keep it organized.Avoid writing a one-word answer. The more of the exercise you write, the more you learn.

Reviewing earlier assignments

Review previous homework assignments periodically. Look for relationships between the different sections.

Getting helpGet help as soon as you have a problem or question.1. The instructorThe first person you will think of turning to for help is your instructor. Of course, you will want to ask any questions you have in class. But you can also see your teacher outside of class. Faculty members who have offices will tell you on the syllabus handed out the first day of class where their office is and when their office hours are scheduled. If you are not free during their scheduled office hours, make an appointment for a time that you both agree upon. That is what "by appointment" means. Adjunct (or part-time) faculty members do not have separate offices, but they will happy to meet with you outside of class at a time that is convenient for you both.

2. Center for Learning The Center for Learning is located in building LB, room 45. You can sign up there for free tutoring for one hour a week. For Spanish students, there will be also two to three native speakers with whom you can make an appointment to practice conversation or to review your written work. 3. Fellow studentsA fellow student is one of the best sources for help when you have a question or problem with the language. Exchange telephone numbers with several students early in the semester so that you can call each other with your questions or to find out about assignments or announcements if you have to miss class.

An excellent study aid is forming a study group. Plan to meet with fellow students on a regular basis to study and help each other. If you get your questions answered, the advantage is obvious. But you also strengthen your own understanding of a concept when you explain it to someone else. Taking tests

1. Studying for a testSeveral days before a test, start looking back over your notes, the textbook explanations, and your homework. Combine your study of the current vocabulary with a review of words introduced earlier. If your textbook has the feature of "Self-tests," write them out and then check your answers at the back of the book. 2. Test day: before taking the test a. Arrive early. Give yourself time to get ready. If your instructor gives computerized exams, log into the necessary page. (Remember, you will need your user name and Palette account number). b. Write your name on the exam if your instructor uses paper copies .c. Quickly scan the entire test to be sure you know what is expected of you.d. If you wish, jot down on the margins or back of a page of the test information that you have carried into the test in your head. Many students like the extra security of seeing something such as a list of appropriate verb endings written down in front of them. If you are taking computerized exams, your instructor can supply you with a sheet of paper to use for this purpose.

3. Test day: during the test

Be sure to time yourself. If you feel you are spending too much time on one section, move on to the next and return later to the one that is giving you trouble.

4. After the testa- If you have taken a computerized exam, you can see your results immediately. Go back and review your answers and write down your score on a piece of paper that your instructor will provide. If your instructor uses paper copies and you still do not understand your errors after the test is handed back to you, consult with another student or with your instructor. Learn how to do whatever you have missed. Don't put it off.

b- Save all tests and quizzes if your instructor uses paper copies. They provide an excellent means for review. You will also want to be able to show them to your instructor in case s/he makes a mistake when recording your grade.C -The components of language : vocabulary and grammarA language consists basically of two things. One is vocabulary, or words--the flesh and clothing of the language. The other is grammar--the bones of the language, which hold it all together.

D - Learning vocabulary

Memorizing new words

When to startStart as soon as a new lesson begins.

Flash cards a- Making them

On one side of an index card write the word to be learned in the foreign language; flip the card over while turning it upside down and write the English meaning.

b- Using them

Target language side firstFirst go through the cards looking at the foreign language side; read the word or expression aloud in the foreign language. Test yourself. Can you give the English meaning for each word or expression? Remembering through associationDevise an association to help you remember difficult words. Sometimes, when the words are similar in both the foreign language and in English, the meaning will be obvious. At other times, you will have to devise a way to remember the translation. Any association you can make is fair game. For example, the Russian word "frost" or "freezing temperatures" is "moroz." If you associate "moroz" with "morose" and picture a morose-looking person shivering in the cold, it may help you to remember what the word means. Another example is the Spanish word for thief, that is, ladrn. Associating ladrn with the English word ladder and picturing a thief climbing up a ladder propped up on the side of a house may help you to remember the Spanish word.

Separating out the problem wordsPut the words that are giving you trouble in a separate pile so that you can concentrate on them. Noting unusual forms

As you encounter any unusual or irregular forms a word may have, it is also helpful to write them down, on the target language side of the card.

Reversing the procedure.

After you can correctly identify the English translation or meaning of the foreign language items on your cards, turn the cards over and check yourself on your ability to provide the relevant word(s) in the foreign language. This is a much harder procedure. Be sure that you can say and write the word correctly. Separate out the cards with the items that are giving you trouble and go over them as many times as it takes for you to learn the vocabulary in the target language.

Ease of studying with flash cards

You can always grab a little stack of cards (with a rubber band around them or put onto a key ring) and take them with you somewhere when you anticipate having some time on your hands--the doctor's office, for example, or on the bus.2. Your goal

You want to be able to say the words out loud with ease and to write them correctly.Go for speed. You are learning to build automatic language reflexes through repetition.When you communicate with someone in a foreign language, you must know the words in the target language. Your knowledge of what a word means in English may be essential to you but is of no interest to your conversant. You will find, accordingly, that on quizzes and tests you will rarely (if ever) be asked to provide English meanings. When you take a quiz or test, know all vocabulary items in the lesson in the target language; be able to say the words and write them automatically, without hesitation.

3. Importance of reviewing vocabulary

Maintain an ongoing review of vocabulary from earlier lessons.

E -Learning grammar Remember that grammar is the skeletal structure that links words together and gives them meaning.As a child and as an adultA child hears the language spoken around him all day long, and he ultimately figures out the grammar. "I singed a song," a child may say, because he has realized that adding -ed to a verb results in the past tense (or usually does, at any rate!).As adults, we don't have time for this type of total immersion learning. Here is where the advantage of our power of logic comes in and helps us learn the grammar more efficiently than a child does

The purpose of grammarRemember every language uses grammar not to make people sound elegant but to help people get their meaning across accurately and clearly. "I want fish" and "I wanted fish" mean two different things.Knowing a long list of words is not much help if you don't know how to put the words together. Perhaps in some instances you could get your basic needs across by blurting out enough words in some crude way ("Me hungry, want food!"). But it is your goal to sound like a reasonably educated person, not like a cave man!

Accepting different patternsEach speaker of a language thinks the way that other people speak their language is illogical, complicated or unnecessary.English speakers, when using a regular verb in the present tense, add an "s" to the verb only when the subject is "he, she, or it." "I see, you see, we see, they see," but "he sees." The fact that other languages use a different ending every time the subject changes can seem unnecessarily complicated to an English speaker. But for speakers of other languages, English can be just as illogical. Chinese speakers, for example, say "one book, two book, many book." "Why bother putting an 's' on the end of the word," they ask, "when the words 'two' and 'many' clearly indicate that there is more than one book? When you study a foreign language, you need to be ready first (1) to learn new distinctions that we don't make in English, and second (2) to ignore distinctions we make in English that are not there in the target language.F- Oral workThomson Live Now! (iLrn)In your study of Spanish at GCC, workbook and lab exercises are offered through iLrn, and you can do these computerized exercises at your convenience. You will want to have the exercises for a given chapter completed prior to taking the exam on that chapter.

Other forms of oral reinforcement (films, radio, TV, computer programs)Seek out the opportunity to watch films and listen to media programs in the target language. Fortunately for students of Spanish, films and radio and television programs are readily available in the Phoenix area. But films in other languages are also often shown on television and in certain movie theaters. Introductory courses in foreign languages can be seen on television. Take advantage of all these resources. PronunciationYou may never pass for a native speaker of the language you are studying. That's not the point. You want people to understand you. And they will understand if you make a consistent effort to replace your English sounds with the sounds of their language.Be prepared for new sounds. Take them as a challenge. Don't hang back and do the minimum with your mouth. Do the maximum. That will contribute to your having a more authentic accent. It will be natural for you to feel self-conscious about making strange sounds. Set aside your sense of reserve. Learn how to imitate--how to use your mouth, your throat, your entire speech mechanism in a new way.At first you may feel embarrassed or self-conscious about making certain sounds in the target language. But gradually they will grow more familiar to you over time. Bit by bit you'll start sounding more authentic, but you do have to keep working at it.

G- Some additional tipsA - Translating from English to the target language: concepts vs. words Learn to translate concepts rather than words. Let's take the English sentence "He went to the library before going home." In Spanish, the expression before going requires three words; in Russian, it requires four words. Remember that in any foreign language, we're translating not words, but concepts. Learn to start thinking in terms of bundles of concepts or ideas that will be converted to the new language and not single words. In fact, translating word for word most often results in a sentence that is incomprehensible in the target language. B - Memorizing "canned sentences" and short dialogues Memorize a short sentence. You can easily substitute some of the other new vocabulary to make new sentences. "Where is the station (airport, hotel, taxi stand)?" You want to be able to repeat these patterns of conversation without even having to think. Memorizing whole sentences helps teach you the patterns of language and imprints them on your mind. C.Studying in small unitsDivide the material and your study time into small units. Don't try to memorize a large body of material at once. Break it up into small units, memorize each of these units separately, and then string them all together. Work for 20-30 minutes; then turn to some other work; then come back for another 20-30 minutes. And so on.

The Foreign language adventure Approaching it with enthusiasm As Graham Fuller, author of HOW TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, observes: If you are a beginning language student, you are heading into a brand new kind of learning adventure unlike anything you've studied before. Be open to it. Enjoy it. And have fun.

Insights to be gainedYou can count on gaining a linguistic insight that will enrich your educational and life experience. When you study a foreign language, you are in a way getting into the mind of native speakers of that language. You are starting to share with them the way they "dress" their own thoughts and expressions--in linguistic clothes very different from your own. You start to learn that there is no "normal" or "right" way to say things, and that our way is no more "natural" than any other. You will find yourself much more appreciative of and sensitive to the problems that foreigners have in speaking English to you. Lastly, you are going to learn and understand more about your own language than you ever knew beforeACTFL Performance Guidelines for K12 Learners. 1998. Yonkers, N.Y.: American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages.Altman, Charles. 1988. The Video Connection: Integrating Video into Language Teaching. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Classroom Writing Competency Assessment. 1996. Stanford, Calif.: Leland Stanford Junior University Board of Trustees. Curtain, Helena, and Carol Ann Pesola. 1994. Languages and Children. Making the Match. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman. Rosenbusch, M. H. 1991. Elementary School Foreign Language: The Establishment and Maintenance of Strong Programs, Foreign Language Annals, Vol. 24, No. 4, 297314. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (