Learning English
Before the lesson:
Read the tips on how to improve your English. Prepare to summarize the major points in class.
Tips on how to improve your English:
- Start a blog in English
- Start a diary in English
- Read a book you have already read in your native language
- Watch a film in English that you have already watched dubbed or subtitled
- Watch films with English subtitles
- Read multilanguage websites
- Find a non-native speaker to practice (they should ideally be at your level)
- Try to teach someone what you already know
- Listen to podcasts/YouTube in English while you are doing chores
- Do crosswords in English
- Say (in English) what you are doing as you go about your day
- Read graded readers (choose the easiest possible level)
- Record yourself
- Use an English-English dictionary
Questions for class discussion:
- When and where did you begin learning English? Why did you begin?
- What has been the most interesting thing you have experienced in an English class?
- What has been the most boring? How would you change that if you could? Do you think those changes would be effective and achieve results?
- What is the least effective way of learning English? What is the most effective way of learning English?
- What is the slowest way of learning English? What is the quickest? Why?
- Are the quickest and the most effective way of learning one and the same? If not, why so?
- What difficulties have you had when learning English? Were they similar to difficulties you have had with other languages?
- What level do you hope to achieve? How long would it take you to achieve it?
- What are the advantages of learning English?
- Do you think English is the most important language in the world? Why?
- What other languages are taught in Bulgaria? Have you studied any of them? What level did you achieve?
- Do you think age is the most important factor in learning English? Why?
- What difficulties would a foreigner have when studying your native language?
- What problems do Bulgarians have when communicating with foreigners?
- What do you know about machine translation? Will it substitute language learning?
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy mentioned above.
Homework assignment:
- Read the excerpt from a book on foreign language teaching (Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, 1991). Do you agree with the views of the author? Why/why not?
People involved in language teaching often say that students who really want to learn will succeed whatever the circumstances in which they study. All teachers can think of situations in which certain “motivated” students do significantly better than their peers; students frequently succeed in what appear to be unfavourable conditions; they succeed despite using methods which experts consider unsatisfactory. In the face of such phenomena, it seems reasonable to suggest that the motivation that students bring to class is the biggest single factor affecting their success.
Another factor affecting the attitude of students is their previous experience as language learners. If they were successful then they may be pre-disposed to success now. Failure then may mean that they expect failure now. - Read the excerpt from the same book discussing the differences of motivation between beginners, intermediate and advanced students? Do you agree with the author’s opinion? Why/why not? Do you find it difficult to see that you are making any progress at this stage of learning English?
Adult beginners: Adult beginners are in some ways the easiest people to teach! Firstly they may well come to the classroom with a high degree of motivation. Secondly they will often succeed very quickly. Goals within the class (learning a certain piece of language or finishing a unit) are easy to perceive and relatively easy to achieve.
Adult intermediate students: Adult intermediate students may well be motivated. Success may be motivating; their perception of having “more advanced English” may be a primary goal. It is for the latter reason that problems often arise. Beginners, as we have said, easily perceive success. But intermediate students already know a lot and may not perceive any progress. Alternatively they may be overwhelmed by the new complexity of the language.
Adult advanced students: These students are often highly motivated. If they were not they would not see the need to continue with language study when they have already achieved so much. Like some intermediate students (but even more so) they will find progress more difficult to perceive. Much of the time they may not be learning anything “new” but learning better how to use what they already know. - Write a text (about 300 words) on one of the following topics:
– The importance of learning a foreign language
– “Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” (Flora Lewis)
– “Give your mind a chance to travel through foreign languages.” (Neil Simon)
– “A man who does not know a foreign language is ignorant of his own.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)