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How to Learn Language More Efficiently

How to Learn Language More Efficiently . Advice From Your American Older Brother: a Multilingual World Traveler, Veteran Court Interpreter, and Professional Language Teacher . Daniel Steve Villarreal Ph.D., 11A5SLA. Your American Older Brother. Daniel Steve Villarreal, Ph.D.

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How to Learn Language More Efficiently

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  1. How to Learn Language More Efficiently Advice From Your American Older Brother: a Multilingual World Traveler, Veteran Court Interpreter, and Professional Language Teacher

  2. Daniel Steve VillarrealPh.D., 11A5SLA Your American Older Brother

  3. Daniel Steve Villarreal, Ph.D. • Ph.D., Foreign Language Education, University of Texas at Austin • Licensed Court Interpreter # 315 (Spanish/English), Texas • US Army veteran, 11A5SLA • Instructor, El Salvador Project, Ranger Department, Fort Benning, GA • Liaison officer with Honduran military in La Ceiba • BA in Modern Languages, The Citadel • Part-time Mandarin student, Mandarin Training Center and International Chinese Language Program, Taipei, Taiwan

  4. Tricks of the trade for learning language Based on my personal experience and professional training; use what works best for you and “store” the rest for later!

  5. Actionable steps! • I’ll present about 5 of them at a time • Discuss with a friend: which have you already tried &/or what do you plan to try? • Which will you take action on and how will you do it? • Then the next 5 • OK, so here they are!

  6. Have moral courage • Mifanbaobao? (I made this word up when trying to order my first Asian riceburger!) • Don’t be afraid to speak or to try • Errors are part of learning! • BE A RISK-TAKER!

  7. Hit the hua4 often! • Get out there and use the language • Native speakers are realia • Find an activity (church, hobby, etc.) that’s done in the other language

  8. Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time! • Which is the section you need to eat first? • For me, it’s Mandarin vocabulary • For you: grammar, vocabulary, verb conjugations?

  9. Prioritize--Eat One Section of the Elephant at a Time • Use The Swiss Cheese Method • “Eat” your most important piece of cheese: grammar, vocabulary, etc. • When one hole gets big enough, start on another hole • Eventually, there will be no more cheese!

  10. "Sir, use ALL your resources!" • A quotation from a great US Army Sergeant! • I made great use of Pimsleur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimsleur_language_learning_system • Pimsleur for Mandarin-speakers who want to learn English: http://www.pimsleur-language.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

  11. A huge list of possible resources! • http://effortlessenglishclub.com/ • http://www.icrt.com.tw/en/ivy_newTOEIC.php • http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/06/sat_prep_course.html • http://www.princetonreview.com.tw/ • http://www.princetonreview.com/default.aspx?uidbadge=%07 • www.ets.org/ • http://translate.miis.edu/prospective/top_10.html advice to interpreting students from the Monterey Institute of International Studies • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Educational_psychology How learning takes place; • http://www.manythings.org/wbg/ Games for ESL students; • http://www.southampton.liunet.edu/academic/pau/course/webword.htm High-frequency TOEFL words • http://www.english-test.net/toefl/ • http://www.englishdaily626.com/tfvocab.php • http://www.grammar-monster.com/index.html

  12. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  13. Study how language learning and language teaching work. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Educational_psychology • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_acquisition • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_language_learning • http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html

  14. Imitate successful people: don’t reinvent the wheel • Can your fluent friend recommend a book, teacher, school?

  15. Make your learning active, rather than passive • Mister Lazy: just sits there in class and wants the instructor to pour the language into his cranium • Mister Diligent: takes notes, asks questions, tries things • Nothing stops Mister Diligent! • Which are you?

  16. 2,500 repetitions = automaticity! • A response for those who want a Magic Pill • More is better • Use the language as often as possible: read, speak, listen, etc.

  17. Multimodality: use all of your senses! • Writing Chinese characters: I see, write the strokes, repeat the word • Connect vision, speaking, feeling, listening • Connect different parts of the brain

  18. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  19. Don’t be scared of the big words! • A + B + C = D • Divide the parts of the word, then add them back up • Syllables • Prefixes • Suffixes • Multiple words in one word

  20. Etymology • What’s the history of the word? • Did you bolo on the rifle range (“bolo” = US Army slang = you failed; you are more dangerous to the enemy with a bolo machete than with the Army’s rifle!)? • http://www.etymonline.com/index.php • See the dictionary entry

  21. Vocabulary flash cards • Make them • Buy them • Online • iPod versions • You can study while you’re in line, on the bus, etc. • Build or select them according to METT-T

  22. METT-T? • “Mission—Enemy—Terrain, weather, Troops and Time available.” • Mission: what are you trying to do? What are your goals? • Enemy: time conflicts? • Time available?

  23. Monitor yourself and self-correct • Relax; have fun with this • Are you bringing patterns from your first language into your second language: “I have an appointment with my friend…”

  24. Think long term, not short term! • What are your long-term purposes? • Good enough to survive on a trip overseas = OK! • Scholarly work? • Business? • Again, consider METT-T

  25. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  26. Find a great study partner or study group! • Example--Language exchange ad: 7th floor of Mandarin Training Center, Taipei, Taiwan, building bulletin board • Great for test prep • 2 heads > 1 head

  27. Don't be a "this way" learner, be a "many ways" learner! • Pimsleur • Rosetta Stone • Flash cards • Reading • TV • Movies • Classes • Most important: get started now!

  28. Find an activity you like that's done in the other language. • Spanish-speaking churches gave me advanced language skills • Movies • Hobbies

  29. Do you have any English-speaking friends or colleagues? • They don’t necessarily have to be from English-speaking countries!

  30. Exercise your initiative to find ways to speak the language. • Create your own English-speaking foreign country wherever you live • I created a Spanish-speaking country in the US for about a year: UNAM Spanish classes, Hispanic church, Spanish movies, Spanish-speaking work

  31. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  32. You probably have LOTS of English, etc. in your head; • Now make it come out of your pen and mouth. • Force yourself to use what you learned in your studying. • Again: be a risk-taker!

  33. Don’t wait for the teacher to teach you. • No teacher, book, course, can achieve your goals • Exercise initiative • Preread the lessons • Use the stuff outside of class

  34. Translations of books in both languages • Vicarious learning: you can experience a LOT via reading! • Dynamic equivalence: “hello” = “you good” • Read! • Read! • Read! • Read!

  35. Create mini-lessons for yourself to use during spare time. • Use those 24 hours wisely! • Flash cards • Reading • DVD movies • Recordings • METT-T • Swiss Cheese Method

  36. Find or create foreign language-speaking environments. • US has Chinatown • Taipei has Tian Mu • Foreign-based clubs, churches, schools, activities

  37. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  38. How do I say this in the other language? • Do this continually • Learn tons of vocabulary • Learn native speech and writing

  39. Go take more language courses! • All are good • They all connect • Action beats inaction

  40. Connect your foreign language to your other subjects, academic courses, and to your work! • Encounter situations or vocabulary • Research it in the other context

  41. Consider studying Spanish to help your English and your career! • For you English-learning Mandarin-speakers • Spanish = Latin connections to English • English + Mandarin + Spanish = communicate with a LOT of people!

  42. Look for patterns across languages • Some languages share grammar (Chinese languages) • Some share vocabulary (European languages)

  43. Never give up! • A lesson from the United States Army Rangers and from the world of dance! • One step in front of the other, whether road-marching or learning to dance! • Keep showing up • Eventually, you’ll get there

  44. Your turn! Which step will you implement? How will you do it?

  45. That’s all, folks! • Thanks for reading this! • There is an inexpensive booklet version of this information; see the link on the website www.americanolderbrother.com • You just got this for free! 

  46. Please Like www.americanolderbrother.com on Facebook (and feel free to forward!) facebook.com/AmericanOlderBrother

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