The study of foreign languages

• liberalizes one's experiences, expands one's view of the world

• encourages critical reflection on the relation of language and culture, language and thought

• fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature

• develops the intellect, including learning how to learn

• teaches and encourages respect for other peoples

• contributes to cultural awareness and literacy, such as knowledge of original texts

• improves the knowledge of one's own language through comparison and contrast with the foreign language

• exposes the learner to modes of thought outside the native language

• expands opportunities for meaningful leisure activity (travel, reading, viewing foreign language films)

• contributes to the creation of one's personality

• preserves a country's image as a cultured nation

• makes you more marketable

Task 5. Read the article and answer the questions below.

• What role does technology and the net play in Colin's life?

• What is the best way to learn a language?

• Can learning by yourself be as effective as that?

• What approach to language learning is best? Do you agree?

• What combination of learning resources does Colin consider the best one? What is your ideal combination?

• Why are these 5 components so important?

• What other resources optional but useful arc you recommended to use? Are they optional for students of foreign languages departments?

• What role does self-study play in language learning? Which tips do you find helpful? Which of them will you never use? Why?

• Do you share Colin's opinion that getting help is necessary? Why/ why not? What do you think of his idea of help?

How to learn a language

Colin Jacobs

I've been a linguophile for a long time, and I'm always studying a little bit of some language or another. However, it's only recently that I've finally figured out the way that works best for me, with the help of modern technology. Perhaps this might help those of you who have been planning on learning a language some day.

A note on technology and the net

I generally lake the internet for granted as an important tool in my daily life, but I still have those occasional "wow!" moments. When I'm corresponding, talking or video-chatting with a person on the other side of the world, learning about their culture and what they eat for breakfast or what it's like living in a dictatorship, the power of technology is really driven home to me. This experience goes completely hand-in-hand with learning a language using the net; it's what the net is all about. First, though, I compile a list of your favourite newsgroups, online dictionaries, support sites and other web resources to help with your learning. There is so much good information out there.

What you’ll need

The best way to learn a language is to live in a country where they speak it for 6 months or a year. Unfortunately, that's not always practical. The good news is that learning by yourself you can actually make considerable progress in a language.

As others recommend, a multi-track approach is the best. The various methods you employ reinforce one another and more importantly, keep you from getting bored.

I find the best combination is: an audio course; a textbook; some software; flashcards; and a reader.

An audio course

It's pretty crucial that when you're learning a language, you are able to hear what a native speaker of that language sounds like. No matter what they write in the books about pronunciation, you'll come away with

some pretty serious misconceptions. When you read in a book that a consonant is "halfway between a j and an r", you'll know what I mean.

A Textbook

This should be the easiest thing to acquire. A good introductory book about the language and its grammar is a key ingredient in your study of a language. Don't equate the studying of a language with the study of the grammar. They're not the same, though grammar had to be a component of any language study.

Software

Getting sonic good software is another helpful tactic you can try. Firstly, software is very interactive and so it's an engaging way to learn. It's a refreshing change from reading a book or even listening to an audio course, and can use teaching methods that aren't available in these other formats. With software, it's usually easy to set your own pace.

Flashcards

The merits of using flashcards to build up a vocabulary are well known. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and carry them with you wherever you go to use in any idle time you find yourself with during the day. There's no question this is useful, and because you can use them in short bursts, it's not too much of a chore; it can be fun. I don't recommend drilling for hours at a time with flash cards.

If you want to use flashcard software, things get even better. There are many packages out there for maintaining and drilling flash cards.

A Reader

I recommend a reader in the language of choice. By this I mean a book written in the language at a very basic level - simple enough for beginners to understand - but preferably getting more difficult as the chapters progress. It is really satisfying to read something completely in your target language and understand it, no matter how simple it seems. It really keeps your enthusiasm up which is why I recommend this part of the program so highly.

Optional but Useful

At some point, you'll probably want a good dictionary. Because I don't advocate the "start on the first day reading a newspaper" approach, I don't think you'll need one from day one. However, after a while you will want to move onto reading more interesting sources in the language, and the usefulness of a dictionary in this case doesn't need to be elaborated on.

You may also find a phrasebook handy. I don't tend to rely on these, but especially if you're heading out on a trip soon, incorporating some of the phrases in such a book into your repertoire would be a good idea.

Self Study

Now that you have some or most of the components I mentioned, it should be pretty obvious how to use them. Below I'll outline the regimen that works for me, but here are a few things to bear in mind.

• A little a day is better than a lot occasionally. Everyone says this, but it's true because that's how our brains work. Even on a day when you're too tired, busy, or stressed, try and find five minutes to review some notes or read a paragraph or two.

• Keep fit. They say that when you're fit and exercising regularly, your brain works better and you learn more efficiently. I don't know if this is really true, but it does feel true. Thanks to the magic of portable audio devices, I found a way to combine the two and they reinforced one another; I wanted to exercise to have a fit brain to learn, and I learned while exercising.

• Keep it fun. If one particular part of the regimen annoys or bores you, de-emphasize it unless you really need to achieve maximum fluency for a journey or business meeting. If you're learning as a hobby or in your spare time, motivation will be the most important factor in making progress.

• Find help.

Here's the basic routine 1 have settled on when learning a language. The trick is to get into the habit, which isn't easy to pull off in the long run. That's why variety helps.

• Do some audio course every day. If you have a good course, this by itself will keep thing - fresh in your mind and keep you progressing. That's why I make this part the foundation of my initial study of a language.

• Do a grammar lesson every few days. Initially, it's best to do a few quickly because the early lessons will teach you some really important fundamentals. After that, it's good to just keep plugging away at it slowly, fake notes for review.

• After a week or two start on the reader. One you have these three going in parallel, they will reinforce one another.

• Enter new words you learn from any source into a master vocabulary list, and maintain this list in your flashcard software.

• Use the other software, such as Transparent Language or Rosetta Stone, whenever you feel like it or when you want to practice but are bored with the other materials. As it is the most interactive method, this is the best one to get you engaged again.

• Whenever you have a question or don't understand something, write it down. Either ask a friend or go to the web for help. Chat rooms and Usenet are full of friendly people, and of course the web knows all.

Getting Help

Now, here's the best part of all. In today's wired society, you have absolutely no excuse for not making friends with a speaker of the language you're learning. None. There are many sites out there where you can meet pen pals in other countries; look around.

Once you find someone, try and exchange correspondence with them regularly. Composing your own sentences is very good practice, and it will help you learn the words you will need to talk about yourself anyway. Once again, though, technological advances can do even better than that.

This technology even works over a dial-up connection. But the world is becoming surprisingly wired these days.

Conclusion

Learning languages is one of the chief pleasures of my life. It provides both intellectual stimulus and social adventure. If you've never studied a foreign language before, or only studied one in high school (which is worse), you might be surprised at the fun and satisfaction you can achieve with a little study. When you roll out one of your phrases and make someone's face light up, you'll know what I mean.

Good luck!

Task 6.

What do you think a good language school should offer its students? Read the following essay and do the exercise which follows it.