Language Learning Methods

Language Learning Tips”Any man who does not make himself proficient in at least two languages other than his own is a fool. Such men have the quaint habit of discovering things fifty years after all the world knows about them - because they read only their own language.”

- Martin H. Fischer

Sorting through all the available language learning methods can be a daunting proposition. But if you’re going to learn a new language you’re going to need a good method. So, how do you start? How do you go about choosing between all those language learning methods? There are endless books, tapes, software packages, schools and tutors, but which method is the best?Will they work for you?
First, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

How much time do you have? How much money can you spend? What are your study habits like?

Time. This is self-explanatory. If you can set aside at least a half-hour of uninterrupted quiet time to study every day then you are in good shape. But what if you can’t? Your dream of speaking another language is not necessarily crushed. There are several high-quality audio-only language learning methods that you can listen to and use while doing laundry or housecleaning, or taking your morning walk with a walkman. And what about all that time you spend driving to work? What difference does it make how much time I spend in the car? - you may ask. It may make plenty. If you use a method with an audio component, tapes or cd’s that is, you can use that time to your advantage. Rather than waste that time staring at traffic and listening to the same songs on the radio, you can do something constructive, like learn a new language! The bottom line is, the more time you can spend learning, the better. But don’t overlook those lost minutes in a day.
Money. This is also self-explanatory. Is a $500 dollar language method really that much better than a $10 one? Probably. The old saying ‘You get what you pay for’ is basically true here too. But that is definitely not the only factor. Motivation and a passion for learning will get you pretty far too, even with an inexpensive, but good, method. Especially if you supplement it with a few other well-chosen resources. Keep that in mind as you narrow down your choices. As a rule of thumb I ignore the highest end and lowest end products. Anything under $10 that claims to teach you a language is probably going to come up very short of the mark. It may be ok as a supplement, but I wouldn’t rely on it as my primary language learning method. Even some software language learning methods are little more than cutesy games that teach you some vocabulary and little else. Anything over $1000 probably works great but is out of the realistic price range for most people.

Study habits. Almost everyone has good language learning skills, even if you don’t realize it. After all, if you’re reading this then you learned English pretty well didn’t you? Imagine learning your new language nearly as well. You have the innate ability to do it. Having good study habits will help as well. Can you study at a regular time, everyday, without being distracted or without letting your mind wander. Were you a good student in school? If you do have such ‘bookish’ skills, use them. Make sure you choose a method with a good book or text component. If you’re using computers all the time, consider a software method. If you are a talkative person, go with a method heavy on audio, with drills or conversational practice. Use your own abilities to your own advantage. Don’t expect the method to do all the work for you. Maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

What other factors make a language learning method good?

Audio. An audio component is absolutely essential to learning a new language. Language is primarily a spoken form of communication. We learn our native language as children by hearing the spoken language and then imitating it. This is something often overlooked. Isn’t it common sense that learning a new language with it’s different sounds, vowels, consonants, and rhythms must include an audio component? In fact, I believe that the most successful language learning methods are more audio-based than otherwise. We can’t ignore the importance of reading, but clearly the most fundamental aspect of communicating in a language is speaking and listening. One thing we must also keep in mind is that we as adults can actually learn much faster than we did as children. A good method has all this factored in already.

The ‘Method’. Is it a ‘method’ or is it a glorified phrasebook? The word ‘method’ is thrown around a little too often. Companies know how to package a product to make it sound great, even if it isn’t. Unfortunately, many so-called methods really don’t teach very much. Others, like the Living Language series (my favorite inexpensive ‘method’), don’t waste time making false claims, but rather intelligently package a very solid instructional program for the cost. Pimsleur and RosettaStone (my favorite expensive ‘methods’) claim a lot and deliver on it, but you must pay for that quality - these methods are noticeably more expensive. Pimsleur’s language learning method is downright brilliant.

Convenience. Can you take it with you? Some method components, like books or tapes, can travel with you, so you can use them when you get a chance. This will help you maximize your time. Others, like a software package, don’t travel as easily - you need a computer or laptop with you. Consider this factor as well.
Choosing the right language learning method is essential to success in learning a new language. The decision to learn a new language is very exciting, but all too often we lose our focus or get discouraged while looking around for the right method, or even worse, waste time or money working with the wrong method. Understanding how we learn and how a program will be teaching can make a big difference in how much success we have in this new endeavor.

Let’s take a good look at some language learning methods and determine the strong points and weak points of each. Compare this with what you know about yourself, your time, money, study habits etc. to come up with the best kind of method for you. Everyone is different. Everyone has different resources, strengths and needs. Balance what you have with a kind of method that will get you better results. Then you can go to the language learning page of your target language where you will find a few top recommendations and also suggestions for each type of method in several price ranges.

Methods:

Audio

When we think of education and learning, we tend to think of books. We all get our education in life from books and teachers in school, and sometimes it seems the teachers job is merely to guide us through the books. So, let’s say we’ve decided to learn Spanish. We tend to think “gee, now I have to go and get some books on learning Spanish”. Although there are lots of other language learning methods that include an audio component, some people still prefer to learn exclusively by books.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of learning a language from a book?

Advantages

It’s convenient. You can take language books with you anywhere. You can use them whenever you want, if you have even a few minutes of free time, you only need some light to read by and maybe a pen and paper for the exercises if there are any.

It’s easy to follow. The course is laid out for you, in strict order starting from the most basic concepts working up gradually to the more complex. It’s comforting to know some wise and experienced team of teachers and writers has put together a tried and true curriculum for us to follow. There are different approaches, however. There is the older grammar-based method (the old Teach Yourself language books are excellent at this), and there are immersion-based language methods (like the new Teach Yourself language books), although these tend to also include audio - it’s almost necessary for the immersion approach.

You can use it at your own pace. If you’ve mastered one chapter move on to the next, if you are unsure of something continue to work on it or move on and refer back to it in a little while and try again. You can move as slowly or quickly as you are comfortable. It’s easy to refer back to something for review. If, after some time you wish to review a concept you feel you need to refresh, it’s just at your fingertips.

Lots of material. Books tend to have a lot of vocabulary and a lot of subject matter. The exercises will often prompt you to re-use the same sentences with different vocabulary words or verb conjugations. This may be boring but it’s excellent work. It’s very often possible to work through even a small book and not remember everything. Review may be necessary, but that’s not a bad thing. You’ll get great value out of a book crammed with information. I find the Living Language books to be very useful upon repeat readings.

Disadvantages

Pronunciation guides. All textbooks, coursebooks and even phrasebooks and dictionaries will include some kind of pronunciation guide. These are helpful when there is no other way to learn, but this is nothing compared to actually hearing it. This brings us back to the problem of audio - it’s so important for learning to actually speak a language.
Hearing the language. This is the flip-side of speaking a language. While a pronunciation guide might give you some idea of how to pronounce words in the language, hearing the rhythm of the language is a whole other problem. Every language has a certain cadence to it - some words are spoken faster in one sentence or slower in another, or pronunciation may change according to emotion or even emphasis on another word. This can be so complex and subtle, books rarely get into the topic at all, usually just to warn you of this and encourage you to go out and hear the language spoken by natives and to actually speak it yourself.
The conclusion to all this is - if you can supplement your book with some audio tapes, internet radio or resources, music or television, you will have a much better chance of understanding the books’ pronunciation guide and using it to get a good grasp of the spoken language. Check the Learning Tips page for more ideas to supplement your language book.

The audio component has become recognized as so necessary and valuable and the cost of adding it to the book has become so inexpensive that it is almost mandatory for any language course or method to include it. Fewer and fewer language courses without audio components are available. The only products available in book form only are specifically academic tools like a grammar, dictionary or perhaps a phrasebook. Having said all this, books are still a valuable resource. They are convenient, easy to carry or take with you, and easily accessed. You can take your time with a book, use it at your own pace.

Obviously, a book and audio combination or software language course, which includes the benefits of a books’ written qualities and the benefits of an audio component, is the best possible choice. However, these need not be purchased together in one package. It is probably best of course, but if money is an issue or you have access to all these tools already, a decent lesson plan can be put together as long as all the tools add up to a good synergistic approach.
Check back next week for the advantages and disadvantages of other learning methods.