6 Ways You Can Develop New English Language Skills or Learn New Information

A New Approach Every Decade

It seems with every decade a new approach or theory of English or other foreign language learning comes into vogue. Keeping up can be daunting, even exasperating for TEFL English teachers worldwide. Each of us has our own environment and particular situation in regards to materials, facilities, time constraints, knowledge, training, skills and abilities among other venues. Let's not even talk about administrative demands. Despite these, there are some commonalities. Our EFL / ESL learners all want the same thing in varying degrees - to develop English language skills.

So first, let's consider some ways people can learn new information or develop new skills and abilities. Regardless of currently accepted approaches or theory some aspects are staple and constant. There are, essentially, nine ways students learn new information or develop new skills. These key methods are:

o Observing someone else, then copying their actions

We all know this one. It made millions for Arthur Murray and numerous other dance instructors. We watch, and then we try until the movements are fluid and natural looking. It takes two to Tango in more ways than one. Ever watch an infant? As you coo and talk to him / her, they watch your mouth intently. Later, they'll try to mimic you and other speakers. It works, of course. After all, YOU can talk quite well now, can't you?

o Practicing doing something on our own

Actually, I learned to play rudimentary chess this way, practicing by "playing" against myself for hours on end. Many fishermen learn and develop their skills using this method as well. For language learning, students could try using CDs, tapes, videos or mimicking speakers live, on TV or radio.

o Having a personal instructor or trainer

From learning to skate to getting a Black Belt, this is a preferred method for many physical skills. When learners attend a formal class this method is being incorporated too.

o Taking a course from a knowledgeable person or source

For study and learning of abstract knowledge like the arts, language or music, most people would tend to use this method. At some point or another most learners do attend a class in the target language, especially in the USA, England, Canada or Australia where English is the first language of the people.

o Keep trying and failing until the action, sequence or information is "acquired"

Whether growing a new business or learning to ice skate, this is one way, albeit a painful one at times, to learn a new skill. In acquiring speaking and listening comprehension skills, learners need to continually try and "fail" in the production and comprehension efforts.

o Following guidelines or instructions on how to do something

Want to build your own computer? Assemble a model plane, car or boat? Hit a straight drive or bowl a 300? Most likely you've used this method with electronics or in assembling a toy, a framework, and a piece of furniture or something like a tent. In a language pronunciation segment, learners follow speech reproduction guidelines to improve their sound production accuracy.

Think about each of these methods or approaches and I'm sure you'll come up with some skill, ability or knowledge you obtained using several of them. You'll likely also note that different types and kinds of skills required different approaches on your part. You likely tried to learn something in one way, failed, and then tried another approach or two successfully. So keep learning. Keep growing and Good Luck.

German Language for Beginners: The 4 Language Skills and How to Master Them Easily

There are four language skills that you need to work on whenever you learn a foreign language. These are reading, writing, listening and speaking. Two of these (reading and listening) are known as 'receptive' skills, as they require the receiving and interpreting information. The other two skills (writing and speaking) are known as 'productive' skills, since they require you to produce the language yourself.

As an example, imagine you are using a textbook and there is a short passage you need to read and translate to English. This is a test of your reading skills. Now imagine that the book gives you a short passage in English, and asks you to translate in to German. This is a test of your writing skills, which requires you to think of the correct words and grammar to produce it in a written form. Naturally, the receptive skills of reading and listening are easier, since you are given the words and only need to translate them. Often you can correctly guess the meaning even if you only understand a few of the words. In contrast, the productive skills of speaking and writing are more difficult since you need to correctly remember all the words and grammar forms so that the listener or reader will be able to understand you.

It is very important when learning a language to make sure that you give equal attention to each of the four skills. Many students make the mistake of focussing only on the skills of the type of study materials they first purchase. If this is a textbook, then they will be working only on reading and writing. If it is an audio course, then speaking and listening are obviously the focus. You need to cover all four skills. Here are some ways you can do that and become highly skilled in all areas of the German language...

Reading and Writing

    Purchase a good German textbook with exercises as a great starting point for learning to read and write.
    Practise reading with German websites such as news or sports.
    Sign up for a daily German email, such as a horoscope, for a nice short reading practice that you can easily fit into your daily routine.
    Practise reading with German cartoons and books. (Start with children's books and work up to easy novels.)
    Practise writing by creating your own exercises... Think of words and phrases you spoke about today (or topics that you would like to talk about), then translate these to German. This is a great way to tailor your study to your particular areas of interest.
    Practise reading and writing at an online language community, which is a great place to find German penpals.

Listening and Speaking

    Purchase a good German audio course for listening and speaking practice.
    Practise listening to native speakers by watching German movies, cartoons and television shows.
    Set up a language swap with a German speaker (either in person or using an online language community).
    Get yourself a private tutor for intense practise listening and speaking with a native German.

These are just a few of the better ways that you can use your study time to cover all four of the language skills. Get creative and look for other fun ways to practise these skills and you'll soon find yourself becoming very proficient in the German language. Good luck, and have fun learning German!