Putting your language into practice

You have been learning a new language for a few weeks or months and are now going to the country. How to make the most of your language acquisition?

1.  If you have the space, take your study book with you. I did this in Greece and it helped me revise every night and prepare sentences I wanted to say that day - but was stuck - for the next opportunity; for example, if you know you will be buying stamps, revise questions and look up the ‘stamp’ word. If you know you’ll be taking a ferry, revise ‘where is the boat for...?’ ‘Is it on time?’ ‘I’m lost’ etc. Think broad in what you could need. 

2.   Don’t be scared

3.   Breath

4.   Be positive, tell yourself ‘I can do this’ instead of ‘I can’t do this’. If you always think positively, you will have positive results.

5.     Smile: people will be more inclined to listen and help you if you smile. It’s obvious, but when we are stressed and nervous, we can forget.

6.   Be like an actor, if you’re in France, be the ‘French Emma’, if in Spain, be the ‘Spanish Emma’. Speaking another language is the opportunity to be a different you. Try it!

7.   Set yourself realistic goals.

8.   Start small, like saying ‘bonjour’, ‘merci’, ‘s’il vous plaît’, ‘je voudrais un croissant’, ‘au revoir’, you have more days to build up.

9.    Do not be put off by someone not understanding you. It doesn’t mean you were wrong; some people are not very good at understanding people with an accent. I had problems being understood in Glasgow half of the time (I have a strong French accent).

10.   Do not give up, ever! If people keep replying to you in your native language, it’s often to gain time, don’t be put off by this, it’s not personal. A lot of people love the opportunity to speak your language. Just carry on with the language you want to practise.

11.   Last but not least: have your ‘essential sentences’ paper in your pocket at all times.

12.   When you’re back: if you were never understood saying a specific word or sentence, ask a native speaker or your teacher to check your pronunciation.

13.   If you didn’t get to speak the language or understand as much as you were hoping, don’t get discouraged, it happens to most of us. It has to be an incentive to carry on studying – by maybe practising more speaking and listening - not to give up. Courage!

What is your experience? Do you have a story to tell? Is there a word you love or some that you never remember? Please comment below. 

What to do if your child hates his Language teacher at school?

Most of us have learnt a language at school. Some of us had to study several over the years. I'm often complimented on how many languages I speak, although I understand them a lot more than I can speak.

This week, I've been spending some time with Germans, so I ended up practising the language, and I was amazed at how much came back to me, although my story with German didn't have a good start. I hated my first 3 years of German studies as the 2 teachers I had were, in one case, a pipe smoker who would turn up to the class completely unprepared, smoking his pipe in the teaching room between lessons (I know...old days, so last century!), giving the latter a horrible taste. He hated me and me him from the start. He could see I was no fool about his lack of professionalism, and hated me so much he stopped me and my friend from going to the Germany trip despite my mum's intervention.

The second teacher (in Year 11 - en seconde) was a case for psychiatry. Not good either. But at least I managed to hide in our big class of 40 pupils, and he never heard the sound of my voice nor knew my name. But during the whole year, I was terrified he would address me. He never did. I'm very little, it has its advantages.

The next two teachers I had in my last 2 years leading up to my German exam - le BAC - were a lot better: 2 nice ladies with a passion for their job and German, but I had lost the will to learn the language as I hated it so much after these three years. I must have learnt a bit though, as I got a 10/20 (a pass!) at the exam.

As we saw above, this is all about emotions and how we feel in the presence of our teacher. I would always go to my English lessons with great enthusiasm. The night before, the thought of having English the next day would feel me with joy. I loved my English teacher, Mr Leclerc. But regarding German, I dreaded the 3 hours/week the first three years.

When a child say they hate their teacher or that their teacher is 'rubbish', it can mean a lot of things: a feeling of terror for some (some teachers are bullies, or were certainly in my time in France), frustration that s/he doesn't explain things properly and doesn't seem open to questions/doesn't care about the pupils who are clearly lost, or just a lack of connection in the best scenario.

What to do?

1. Find out what your child hates so much. If the child is shy and the teacher doesn't seem to care when the pupils are lost, a frank talk with the teacher can help. It is also worth telling your child that if she thinks she's the only one not to understand something, she's unlikely to be the only one. And once she asks a questions, others are likely to rally with her about the same issue. If this is not the case, there is nothing wrong to be the only one not to understand something.

2. Obviously, if the teacher is a bully/ a scary individual, talk to the form teacher, Deputy-Head/Headteacher. Whether they will do something about it is another issue, hopefully they will.

3. Find out whether it's a simple thing such as:
I don't like him because he gives too much homework/too many detentions/too many tests, she's Italian so she can't teach French properly (not necessarily true) or if it is something more serious. In any case,  all is not lost about your child's learning. If a child really wants to learn the language, he can still have good results, doing it on his own in the worst scenario where nothing is learnt at school.

How?

- Find the curriculum for that year (and the next, as it will give you a broad view of what is coming), it is where all the topics and grammar that you need to learn are listed.

- Study the textbook. Most students have one (and maybe an exercise book) for their language class. Learn the vocabulary and verb tables from the book. If there are dialogues, learn them by heart as if you were an actor preparing for a play (this prepares you really well for speaking the language in real life). Make a vocabulary book.

- Highlight all your favourite words in one colour

- Highlight words that can be useful for many topics in another colour. And copy these words and sentences in a special notebook and on a document on your computer. You never know, you might need it when you're older for a trip or your future jobs. In any case, copying/typing helps your memory. Writing will help you to remember.

- Highlight words you never seem to remember in another colour.

- Learn at least 5 words by heart every week. This is a realistic goal. Let's say there are 9 months from September to the exams, This makes almost 200 words. Increase to 10 words a week for better results. Revise over and over main verbs, adverbs and top 10 expressions. There's no secret, repetition is the key.

-Watch and read a lot of articles, books, comics, films & videos online such as How to introduce yourself in French in the language you are learning. You will learn so much more than in school lessons, and you will be doing so much listening practice, which is a big weakness in school lessons, where it is not done enough.

- Find new friends online or in real life in the language. I used to have dozens of 'slow mail' penpals. You're lucky, you're studying in the 21st century, you can use Skype, Snapchat and other ways to make your learning fun and making the language real.

- Download apps on your phone, such as Duo Lingo, French radio, French test etc. (see the article written on 12 August 2016 below for the links to the apps).

- Do all the reading and exercises you can on the GCSE or A level exam revision books (by Letts for example), practice on this great website made for students learning French:

TV5 Monde

- Find past papers online and do them all. Once you have done the ones from your exam board, also find the other boards', as it's good practice too.

- With friends or family, test each other, that's fun!

-Work on the language you are learning at least 1 hour twice a week, and 3 or 4 times for better results. Don't leave it too long between sessions. It's better to do many short ones (30 minutes) than one 2 hour session in 10 days.

- Practise with the language assistant in your school. They are usually very friendly and a lot less busy than teachers.

- For more help and motivation, get a private tutor, it's useful if you can afford it and think it would help, but a lot of people do without. If you are lucky enough to have one, be aware the tutor is not there to write your essays for you but to help you understand how things work and put together in the language, as well as testing you to know your weaknesses and strengths in order to prepare adequately for the following sessions. Last but not least, we are here to help you gain confidence, give you advice and tips that we have gained over the years through on our experience, successes and mistakes.

- Do not let anyone tell you that you will fail if your teacher isn't good. It's not about your teacher anymore, it's about you taking action for your learning and you will succeed as you now know how to do it.

Conclusion: after many years hating German, I finally reconciled with the language about 6/7 years ago, when I happened to be teaching a few German professionals in the City, some became very good friends and suddenly, I was associating German with the friendship emotions. The language suddenly sounded really nice. As I grew closer to my students, I realised I loved the sound of German and could even understand words when they would pick up their phone in German. Nowadays, I enjoy every opportunity I have to speak a few words. I don't go very far, but I go a lot further than I thought I would, become so many words are similar, and after all, I have a German A level and good guessing powers.

What to do if your child hates his Language teacher at school?

Most of us have learnt a language at school. Some of us had to study several over the years. I'm often complimented on how many languages I speak, although I understand them a lot more than I can speak.

This week, I've been spending some time with Germans, so I ended up practising the language, and I was amazed at how much came back to me, although my story with German didn't have a good start. I hated my first 3 years of German studies as the 2 teachers I had were, in one case, a pipe smoker who would turn up to the class completely unprepared, smoking his pipe in the teaching room between lessons (I know...old days, so last century!), giving the latter a horrible taste. He hated me and me him from the start. He could see I was no fool about his lack of professionalism, and hated me so much he stopped me and my friend from going to the Germany trip despite my mum's intervention.

The second teacher (in Year 11 - en seconde) was a case for psychiatry. Not good either. But at least I managed to hide in our big class of 40 pupils, and he never heard the sound of my voice nor knew my name. But during the whole year, I was terrified he would address me. He never did. I'm very little, it has its advantages.

The next two teachers I had in my last 2 years leading up to my German exam - le BAC - were a lot better: 2 nice ladies with a passion for their job and German, but I had lost the will to learn the language as I hated it so much after these three years. I must have learnt a bit though, as I got a 10/20 (a pass!) at the exam.

As we saw above, this is all about emotions and how we feel in the presence of our teacher. I would always go to my English lessons with great enthusiasm. The night before, the thought of having English the next day would feel me with joy. I loved my English teacher, Mr Leclerc. But regarding German, I dreaded the 3 hours/week the first three years.

When a child say they hate their teacher or that their teacher is 'rubbish', it can mean a lot of things: a feeling of terror for some (some teachers are bullies, or were certainly in my time in France), frustration that s/he doesn't explain things properly and doesn't seem open to questions/doesn't care about the pupils who are clearly lost, or just a lack of connection in the best scenario.

What to do?

1. Find out what your child hates so much. If the child is shy and the teacher doesn't seem to care when the pupils are lost, a frank talk with the teacher can help. It is also worth telling your child that if she thinks she's the only one not to understand something, she's unlikely to be the only one. And once she asks a questions, others are likely to rally with her about the same issue. If this is not the case, there is nothing wrong to be the only one not to understand something.

2. Obviously, if the teacher is a bully/ a scary individual, talk to the form teacher, Deputy-Head/Headteacher. Whether they will do something about it is another issue, hopefully they will.

3. Find out whether it's a simple thing such as:
I don't like him because he gives too much homework/too many detentions/too many tests, she's Italian so she can't teach French properly (not necessarily true) or if it is something more serious. In any case,  all is not lost about your child's learning. If a child really wants to learn the language, he can still have good results, doing it on his own in the worst scenario where nothing is learnt at school.

How?

- Find the curriculum for that year (and the next, as it will give you a broad view of what is coming), it is where all the topics and grammar that you need to learn are listed.

- Study the textbook. Most students have one (and maybe an exercise book) for their language class. Learn the vocabulary and verb tables from the book. If there are dialogues, learn them by heart as if you were an actor preparing for a play (this prepares you really well for speaking the language in real life). Make a vocabulary book.

- Highlight all your favourite words in one colour

- Highlight words that can be useful for many topics in another colour. And copy these words and sentences in a special notebook and on a document on your computer. You never know, you might need it when you're older for a trip or your future jobs. In any case, copying/typing helps your memory. Writing will help you to remember.

- Highlight words you never seem to remember in another colour.

- Learn at least 5 words by heart every week. This is a realistic goal. Let's say there are 9 months from September to the exams, This makes almost 200 words. Increase to 10 words a week for better results. Revise over and over main verbs, adverbs and top 10 expressions. There's no secret, repetition is the key.

-Watch and read a lot of articles, books, comics, films & videos online such as How to introduce yourself in French in the language you are learning. You will learn so much more than in school lessons, and you will be doing so much listening practice, which is a big weakness in school lessons, where it is not done enough.

- Find new friends online or in real life in the language. I used to have dozens of 'slow mail' penpals. You're lucky, you're studying in the 21st century, you can use Skype, Snapchat and other ways to make your learning fun and making the language real.

- Download apps on your phone, such as Duo Lingo, French radio, French test etc. (see the article written on 12 August 2016 below for the links to the apps).

- Do all the reading and exercises you can on the GCSE or A level exam revision books (by Letts for example), practice on this great website made for students learning French:

TV5 Monde

- Find past papers online and do them all. Once you have done the ones from your exam board, also find the other boards', as it's good practice too.

- With friends or family, test each other, that's fun!

-Work on the language you are learning at least 1 hour twice a week, and 3 or 4 times for better results. Don't leave it too long between sessions. It's better to do many short ones (30 minutes) than one 2 hour session in 10 days.

- Practise with the language assistant in your school. They are usually very friendly and a lot less busy than teachers.

- For more help and motivation, get a private tutor, it's useful if you can afford it and think it would help, but a lot of people do without. If you are lucky enough to have one, be aware the tutor is not there to write your essays for you but to help you understand how things work and put together in the language, as well as testing you to know your weaknesses and strengths in order to prepare adequately for the following sessions. Last but not least, we are here to help you gain confidence, give you advice and tips that we have gained over the years through on our experience, successes and mistakes.

- Do not let anyone tell you that you will fail if your teacher isn't good. It's not about your teacher anymore, it's about you taking action for your learning and you will succeed as you now know how to do it.

Conclusion: after many years hating German, I finally reconciled with the language about 6/7 years ago, when I happened to be teaching a few German professionals in the City, some became very good friends and suddenly, I was associating German with the friendship emotions. The language suddenly sounded really nice. As I grew closer to my students, I realised I loved the sound of German and could even understand words when they would pick up their phone in German. Nowadays, I enjoy every opportunity I have to speak a few words. I don't go very far, but I go a lot further than I thought I would, become so many words are similar, and after all, I have a German A level and good guessing powers.

They learnt a foreign language successfully: what do they have in common? Tips on what to do and how to think to learn a language.

I started teaching English as a teenager to earn some pocket money; a few years later, I started teaching French to londoners, and these are observations made over the last 25 years. I have taught and met a lot of language learners over the years, and when I meet someone who is fluent in a language or see my students becoming fluent, I always see patterns, things that are recurrent.

So, what do they do? Is there some magical trick? Are you just born into one category? Or is it up to you? Keep reading.

What is the approach that makes you someone who becomes fluent in another language?

The approach they have:

1. They are not looking for a 6 weeks/months solution. They know and accept it takes years (or a life time) to learn another language properly.

2. They accept it because they enjoy learning the language and it is a new hobby, not a new obligation. See the difference: are you going to enjoy something you resent or are reluctant to do before even getting started?

3. They are excited about this new hobby in their life.

The things they do:

4. They plan activities in their life related to their learning, such as joining meetup groups, watching French films, organize a visit at the French Institute's library/cinema, go to Hyper Japan to be immersed in Japanese culture and meet Japanese people, maybe meet new friends.

5. They read magazines and papers in the target language.

6. They read about topics they are interested in in the language they are learning. It can be reading about sailing, travelling, gardening, cooking. Maybe they'll take cooking lessons in French or sing Italian songs obsessively.

7. They listen to the radio and watch TV/Youtube in the language.

8. They become obsessed with apps such as 'Duo Lingo' (https://www.duolingo.com/), 'French radio', 'French test' etc.

9. They organise trips to places where the language is spoken. One doesn't have to go to France to practise French, nor do I have to go to Japan to practise Japanese. We can all do it from where we live by finding people/groups/Skype/concerts to hear, speak and discover the culture and practise the language.

10. They have no ego issues, meaning they are ok making mistakes and being corrected. They understand that making mistakes is the way to progress, not something to be ashamed about. 

11. They repeat after they have been corrected, to practise and get their mouth used to saying the right word/sentence. For the best results, repeat at least 2/3 times.

12. They spend a lot of time making flashcards, writing their notes neatly again, study their vocabulary, researching grammar points when they don't understand something. They understand one hour a week with their private teacher is not enough, and that they have the learning in their hands, not the teacher's.

13. They take responsability for their learning.

14. They are curious about the language and culture, and will find events, book readings, exhibitions, anything that will put them into contact with the language they are learning. My friends all know I don't need an excuse to go to the Japan Centre, Hyper Japan or conferences about Japan. I'm obsessed! It's good to be obsessed when you're learning a language or a culture. Be proud of your obsession.

15. Before they travel to the country, they get prepared. I advise my students to prepare a list of the most useful words and expressions they will/might need during their trip and write them on a piece of paper which will fit in their pocket. They will be carrying this at all times. It's all very well travelling with books and dictionaries, but we all know that we need these sentences immediately when we are lost or in a shop asking for something. That bit of paper is a great quick tool, I've experienced it myself in Japan and Greece recently, and would add some phrases during the trip.

16. They use their new vocabulary in their daily life talking to themselves or their family/partner.

17. Talking to oneself to the language you're learning is something I recommend (who cares if the others think you're crazy?). During the day, ask yourself: how would I say this? For example, it's 12.30 and you're hungry. How would you say this French? J'ai faim. You arrive at work and your client is late, he hasn't contacted you. you wonder if he is on his way. What would this be in French: Je viens d'arriver au travail. Mon client est en retard et il ne m'a pas prévenu(e). Est-ce qu'il va venir?

I have used examples with French, Italian, Japanese as these are the languages I teach or learn, but the tips are applicable to other languages.

What is your own experience? What has worked for you? What did I forget?

If you have enjoyed this article and think it could be useful to a friend of yours, please share, merci!

They learnt a foreign language successfully: what do they have in common? Tips on what to do and how to think to learn a language.

I started teaching English as a teenager to earn some pocket money; a few years later, I started teaching French to londoners, and these are observations made over the last 25 years. I have taught and met a lot of language learners over the years, and when I meet someone who is fluent in a language or see my students becoming fluent, I always see patterns, things that are recurrent.

So, what do they do? Is there some magical trick? Are you just born into one category? Or is it up to you? Keep reading.

What is the approach that makes you someone who becomes fluent in another language?

The approach they have:

1. They are not looking for a 6 weeks/months solution. They know and accept it takes years (or a life time) to learn another language properly.

2. They accept it because they enjoy learning the language and it is a new hobby, not a new obligation. See the difference: are you going to enjoy something you resent or are reluctant to do before even getting started?

3. They are excited about this new hobby in their life.

The things they do:

4. They plan activities in their life related to their learning, such as joining meetup groups, watching French films, organize a visit at the French Institute's library/cinema, go to Hyper Japan to be immersed in Japanese culture and meet Japanese people, maybe meet new friends.

5. They read magazines and papers in the target language.

6. They read about topics they are interested in in the language they are learning. It can be reading about sailing, travelling, gardening, cooking. Maybe they'll take cooking lessons in French or sing Italian songs obsessively.

7. They listen to the radio and watch TV/Youtube in the language.

8. They become obsessed with apps such as 'Duo Lingo' (https://www.duolingo.com/), 'French radio', 'French test' etc.

9. They organise trips to places where the language is spoken. One doesn't have to go to France to practise French, nor do I have to go to Japan to practise Japanese. We can all do it from where we live by finding people/groups/Skype/concerts to hear, speak and discover the culture and practise the language.

10. They have no ego issues, meaning they are ok making mistakes and being corrected. They understand that making mistakes is the way to progress, not something to be ashamed about. 

11. They repeat after they have been corrected, to practise and get their mouth used to saying the right word/sentence. For the best results, repeat at least 2/3 times.

12. They spend a lot of time making flashcards, writing their notes neatly again, study their vocabulary, researching grammar points when they don't understand something. They understand one hour a week with their private teacher is not enough, and that they have the learning in their hands, not the teacher's.

13. They take responsability for their learning.

14. They are curious about the language and culture, and will find events, book readings, exhibitions, anything that will put them into contact with the language they are learning. My friends all know I don't need an excuse to go to the Japan Centre, Hyper Japan or conferences about Japan. I'm obsessed! It's good to be obsessed when you're learning a language or a culture. Be proud of your obsession.

15. Before they travel to the country, they get prepared. I advise my students to prepare a list of the most useful words and expressions they will/might need during their trip and write them on a piece of paper which will fit in their pocket. They will be carrying this at all times. It's all very well travelling with books and dictionaries, but we all know that we need these sentences immediately when we are lost or in a shop asking for something. That bit of paper is a great quick tool, I've experienced it myself in Japan and Greece recently, and would add some phrases during the trip.

16. They use their new vocabulary in their daily life talking to themselves or their family/partner.

17. Talking to oneself to the language you're learning is something I recommend (who cares if the others think you're crazy?). During the day, ask yourself: how would I say this? For example, it's 12.30 and you're hungry. How would you say this French? J'ai faim. You arrive at work and your client is late, he hasn't contacted you. you wonder if he is on his way. What would this be in French: Je viens d'arriver au travail. Mon client est en retard et il ne m'a pas prévenu(e). Est-ce qu'il va venir?

I have used examples with French, Italian, Japanese as these are the languages I teach or learn, but the tips are applicable to other languages.

What is your own experience? What has worked for you? What did I forget?

If you have enjoyed this article and think it could be useful to a friend of yours, please share, merci!