Attention All Beginning Foreign Language Students
If you have never studied a foreign language or have ever had difficulty in a language course, this information is especially for you!
Your beginning level foreign language class is very different from your other classes; therefore, for optimum results, the approach you use in class and your study techniques that you use outside of class should not be the same as your approach to your other classes. The following study suggestions have proven very useful to students in the past; study and adhere to them carefully and you'll be pleased with your progress. Review these study hints from time to time and analyze your study habits.
How should you approach the study of a foreign language?
In Class
- Relax! You are not expected to understand or be able to mentally translate into English every single word that is said in class. Your classes will be designed so that you should get enough of a general idea of what is going on to be always learning something new while reinforcing what you already know through practice in class. To get the essential introduction of vocabulary and the grammar explanations that will prepare you for class, it IS NECESSARY for you to keep up with the reading and study assignments on your syllabus.
- Make full use of class hours. You should pack 50 minutes of practice into each class session. When someone else is speaking, in your mind, you should speak right along with him/her. If you just sit back and daydream, then you are wasting class time as well as piling up extra hours of study and review on the very materials that were covered in class.
- Come to class prepared to enjoy yourself. Learning a new language is hard work but it's also great fun. If you're naturally shy, try to force yourself to be a bit more gregarious. You'll be doing a lot of work in pairs with your classmates, so in addition to learning new things you'll also meet new people.
Outside of Class
- You've got to memorize. The way to begin to acquire basic language skills is, not by analysis and thinking, but by practice, practice, practice! In all your other courses you are asked to organize, analyze and interpret factual data. In your foreign language course you will have to practice the material you've heard in class over and over until it becomes second nature. This practice should go on both during your sessions in the listening lab and at any other times you can find outside of class. It's as simple -- and as hard--as that!
- Study out loud. One way to memorize the material would be to read it silently, again and again. That would be ridiculous, since you would then be learning not the language itself, but only the way it is symbolized on paper. If you study out loud, you double your efficiency by adding auditory memory to visual memory. So do ALL your studying out loud.
- Divide the material into small units. Don't try to memorize a large body of material at once. Break it up into small units, memorize each of these units separately, then string them all together.
- Divide your study time into small units. If you spend two uninterrupted hours trying to memorize the material of a new lesson, you will do a poor job of memorizing and will probably go stark raving mad in the process. Use a saner study technique! Start with 20 minutes to half an hour at the most; then turn to some other work; then come back for another 20 minutes; and so on. Two hours divided into small bits like this will produce far better results than 120 minutes of straight, agonizing study.
- Go from the easy to the hard. Start by reading the Spanish aloud right out of the book; generally you will have a little trouble remembering how the new words sounded or what they meant. As soon as you have read a sentence in this way, look away from the book and say it again. After you have practiced a section of material like this several times, go onto the hard part: looking at the English and then trying to say the word without peeking. If you have trouble saying a whole sentence in this way, break it into smaller pieces, say each of them individually, then string them back together.
- Be organized and don't fall behind! Keep very careful track of the assignments on your syllabus; if you don't understand an assignment ask your instructor. Don't be afraid to ask your instructor for help , but don't wait until the last minute. Cramming for a foreign language exam makes about as much sense as cramming for a swimming test. Learning a language is like building a tower out of blocks. You keep building on top of what you did before. If you don't keep at the job steadily or postpone getting help, pretty soon you're trying to put new blocks on top of empty space. So don't fall behind, keep up with your laboratory manual and workbook assignments, and don't hesitate to ask for help as soon as it is needed. In addition, DON'T EVER MISS CLASS without a VERY good reason!
If you need help in a foreign language course, contact the LC, drop by during the Spanish tutoring hours, or sign up for a student tutor. |
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