All posts authored by Santino Zhakata
One of the biggest challenges for learners of a new language is figuring out where to start. This may vary whether one is learning through guidance from a teacher ,or whether it is through self teaching. My view of language learning is guided by the principle that we learn language in order to communicate with others who speak that language. In this post I will share tips that are good to know for those in the beginning phases of learning English. So join me as we go through them together. In my long experience of seaching through piles and scrolling through pages of learning material meant for beginners of English, I have observed that many so called self- help tips and resources for English beginners are written in English that is probably too difficult for the beginners to understand for themselves to begin with. So, before I go any further, it is good to point out that the basic learner who needs these tips might not be fluent enough to understand this post, so these tips would work better if there is someone helping the language learner to apply them. The ground principle is that we learn language in order to communicate with others who speak that language. By communicating I mean understanding the essence of what is being said and in turn formulating the message we want to put across and then putting it across and be understood by those who hear us.. Take note that I have not mentioned anything about using the right grammar or even pronunciation / accent. This is because most learners who get distracted by trying to speak or write flawlessly and in perfect grammar, usually get very frustrated and in some worse cases, delay using the language at all. Different learners grasp the language differently of course, depending on such things like age and exposure to the target language, among may other things. While avoiding re-inventing the wheel by re-explaining grammar rules and resources that exists out there, I will give give my thoughts on the resources and how well they have worked for me instead. Apart from that, this section will mostly comprise of links to available resources. "It is good to note that while it takes ages for a child to master the names of things, it takes many times shorter time for adults," Where to start
If one is teaching a child to speak English, what I would consider to be important is naming things (e.g "ball", "milk", "spoon" "cup") and telling the child what to do, (using imperatives:- for example "sit!", "come!", "go!" or "take". You may realise that these are basically words that can be used daily,. Use the language in the home and be prepared to repeat each word a dozen times a dozen times before expecting any imitation from the child. My experience of teaching adult beginners of English language has been quite broad, Just off the top of my head, I would recommend they begin with greetings, ( hi, hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening) once that is done, move on to " I am..." (this is easier than "my name is..." ), followed by "you are...( ? )" (this is easier than "what is your name") I am saying this because it removes the confusion of trying to understand possessives (my, your, etc) at this very early stage. By sticking to just these two pronoun phrases "I am...", "you are...(or you are ?)" , one is able to say whom they are as well as use adjectives to describe feelings and other things for example ( I am George, I am happy, I am confused, I am cold, I am single, I am married..etc). This means they can also say or ask the second person (by making the statement into a question, using the question mark, for example) "You are...? (asking a name), You are happy?, You are cold?...It is not unwise to even start teaching how to ask questions by putting the verb "are" at the beginning so it becomes instead "Are you happy ?, Are you cold?" Learning nouns, what things are called, can be done systematically, beginning with items that that the learner sees or encounters most often. It is good to note that while it takes ages for a child to master the names of things, it takes many times shorter time for adults, due to the development of their brains and the fact that they are already fluent in some language or another. This means picture dictionaries can go a lomng way in helping identify names of nouns like food, drinks, clothes, furniture and different equipment. In a letter post I will recommend some good picture disctionaries that I use and links to some where both image and audio can be used. To me, the essence of helping someone successfully master a new language is to keep it simple and not jump anything - follow a very clear thread so the learner does not get left behind or be stuck in a dark spot somewhere. As with children, be prepared to use loads of repetition. This is a glimpse of things one can think about when helping another person learn a new language., I have just put my one year old daughter to sleep for the afternoon, and experience has taught me that I can´t go into the depth I would like to on this topic before she wakes up. More detailed posts will follow in the near future. Feel free also to give suggestions and questions on some language teaching and learning issues you might like us to discuss. © Santino Zhakata 2011
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AUTHORI am Santino Zhakata, born in Zimbabwe, living in Sweden. I do a lot of writing, photography , blogging and website creation for fun and for profit. My fields of expertise include teaching and tutoring English via distance or face to face. I also specialise in communication for development. Welcome to my blog, feel free to share your thoughts.
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