TOEFLtv: How to Learn a Language (in 2 Minutes)




Learn a language in two minutes? You can't! What do you think this is? The Matrix??? I can't just upload it into your brain!

But in the next two minutes, I can upload into your brain the four applications you'll need to upload the rest when you are practicing.



Hi this is Joel from elllo.org and I'm going to talk to you about complete language training. When I talk about lesson plans there are four aspects I keep in mind. The first is input, the second is output, third is language focus, and the fourth is fluency.

INPUT
A couple of them are pretty obvious. Input is just reading and listening. You need to get tons of reading practice, tons of listening practice and you need to understand everything that you are reading and listening so you need to use a dictionary or be working online so you can look things up.

OUTPUT
The second one is output. So as much as you listen and read you need to be talking with people. You also need to be writing, giving presentations--so, output.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
The third one is language focus. So this is basically your grammar skills; so you are studying specific grammar points. Also, pronunciation points. And even, social aspects: how to get into a conversation, how to get out of a conversation...

FLUENCY
The fourth one --that a lot of people miss-- is fluency. This is basically taking what you already know, so you are not doing anything new, and just making it faster. This might be in some sort of a presentation situation. The first time you do it, it takes you 5 minutes. Then you speed it up a little bit to where you can get it down to 4 minutes...maybe down to 3 minutes. So the things you already know and just making them faster.

I should also mention that this model comes from Paul Nation. I think that he's at the University of Wellington in New Zealand. This is a model that he came up with based on all the latest research.

So input, output, language focus, and fluency. If you do about 25% of each of them, you'll have a very balanced training, and you'll be able to do everything you need to do in English.



5 comments:

Mr. said...

Hi Joel, nice to meet you "personallity" in this video.
Thanks a lot for all your efforts.

Luiz Mendes (From Facebook)

Cris said...

Hey Joel!

Nice to see you! :-)
And I do agree with everything you said...
For me, the output is the most difficult area, since it's not easy to find someone to speak in English down here...

Thanks for everything!
Later
Cris

joel@elllo.org said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
joel@elllo.org said...

Output is also a problem because people often feel very shy when speaking a second language. It's human nature. The only way to get past it, is to not care what people might think. Just say to yourself, "who cares if I make mistakes? Communication is what is important." The more you try, the easier it gets.

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