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Learning Styles And Their Effect On Language Learning
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Author: Frank Gerace
Topic: Education
Viewed: 47 time(s)
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Note: This article makes special reference to the effect of
learning syles in the learning of Spanish but the principles are
valid for all language learning.
?LEER ES PODER! ?Learning Spanish!
How can you best learn Spanish? It depends on your particular
approach to learning. Take a look at the following approaches to
learning Spanish. But if you already know where you are, you can
skip the following reflections and go back to see what is
available for your level ( beginning, intermediate, or advanced
) in Spanish, to sort and search for your specific needs, as
well as to read reviews and summaries of the books that strike
your interest. DIFFERENT STYLES
Non-Virgins: Those who studied another language should use the
skills they acquired with that language. They know what a
conjugation is. They know that verbs are different from nouns.
Their previous study gives them some mental hooks to help with
their Spanish. They should not throw away their advantage by
working on Spanish in a completely conversational manner. They
should try to get an overview of some commonplaces in the
language. They should get an "old fashioned" grammar and lean
heavily on the tables to organize their thought. This type of
learner should "invent" Spanish on the basis of what they know
of the other language. They will remember a little of the
structure of the other language. For example, what is the
relation between adverbs and adjectives in Spanish? What is the
most common way to express what happened yesterday (past tense)?
If the other language is a Western language, they should observe
the possible similarities. If the other language is non-Western,
the very differences can be their starting point to learn the
counterparts in Spanish. In short, they should study "the wrong
way". This is not for everyone. The learner should know his or
herself.
Brains: These folks will operate much like the Non-Virgins. They
will progress better by concentrating on the little points that
intrigue them such as the difference in usage between the
prepositions "por" and "para" and the verbs "ser" and "estar".
To master one or two of these elements so characteristic of
Spanish will help the learn build on their conquests to go on to
master other things. This analytical approach will be of great
utility to the persons with the cerebral learning style.
Motor Mouths: The persons who are not afraid to try out their
Spanish will progress very rapidly. These folks probably have a
little genetic edge over the rest of us. However, we all should
try to put together the pieces as we learn them. If there is no
opportunity to talk with someone else, then we can tape our
attempts. There are two parts to this early talking practice:
confidence and pronunciation. The most important thing is to
gain confidence or to be thick-skinned enough to speak your
piece, knowing that the exercise will pay dividends. However, we
should not put off working on our pronunciation until it is too
late and we have given up on acquiring a valid accent. There are
too many people who after living years in a Spanish speaking
country are perfect in their grammar but who have a typical or
even stereotypical English accent. There is no need for that.
Spanish is perfectly regular in its phonetics. Motor mouths
should also work on their accent!
People People: Anyone who likes being with people and who has a
need to communicate will progress quickly in learning a
language. Many outgoing, friendly people learn language in the
"motor mouth" mode. However, other people without the gifts of
the motor mouths can gain valuable exposure to the language by
just following their social instincts. These folks, however,
should not overlook the need to speak correctly. Although they
are not interested in traditional grammar in the same way the
"brains" are, they must work at speaking correctly. We all know
people who learned English years ago, but still say things like,
"I am interested to go with you". You don't want to spend your
life in Spanish with a similar easily corrected error. Learn it
right as soon as you can. The people people have to stay curious
about the language.
Learn-while-doing People: I was told once that the only way to
learn French was to sleep with a French woman. The idea behind
this is that we learn the expressions and words for the
activities we are interested in. People who learn like this try
to get their Spanish-speaking friends to accompany them as they
cook or fix their car. They find that they learn better when
their whole body is involved in learning the new words and
phrases. For example, the person who learns the word "serrucho"
while sawing a board will remember it better than the person
(see the "word collector") who just learns the vocabulary from a
list.
Word Collectors: This person may be great at crossword puzzles
(Crucigramas) in Spanish but rarely gets to speak it. If you
find yourself learning words and not getting any further, break
out of it! We once had a houseguest, a young man from Spain who
came to learn English. There were times when our family would be
talking Spanish, and he would echo all the Spanish words with
their English equivalents. He had a great vocabulary but never
got around to talking English. This kind of learner should alway
make sure that they make up sentences to practice using the new
words they learn. They can combine their ability with vocabulary
with the "divide and conquer" tactic. They should not only
invent sentences to use the new words; they should run through
diferent grammatical constructions as the setting for their
vocabulary.
Divide and Conquer People: Every learner of a foreign language
has to learn to incorporate the learning style of dividing and
conquering into their own style. If they are "brains" they
should concentrate on one grammatical turn of phrase, such as
conditions contrary to fact, (If my grandfather hadn't died,
he'd be alive today!) until they can handle it. The people
people should repeat in the same conversation the new expression
that they just heard. The same goes for all the others. The only
way to learn a language is by following the "swiss cheese"
method, nibble away at the things you don't know, and master
them until they are all gone.
Lost Latinos: This person should try to remember the nursery
rhymes that they might have learned in Spanish. They should run
over the names of their cousins and uncles. All of this will
loosen up their rusty language skills. They should listen to how
others speak "spanglish" and try to figure out the proper way to
say things. They should make a game of trying to spot the
influence of English in the Spanish they hear at home or in the
barrio. This detective work will make them more aware of
correcting whatever bad habits they have picked up. However,
don't think that these persons have all the advantages. The
person learning from scratch will probably spell Spanish words
better than those who know a little Spanish. I'm not sure why.
What works for EVERYONE... There are two activities that will
help everyone, no matter what their learning style, move forward
rapidly: They are: 1. Passive Listening, and 2. Pattern Response
Drills.
1. Passive Listening. Everyone should keep the Spanish radio on
as much as possible. Keep the radio or TV on while you doing
other things. It has to be the sea of sound that you swim in
while you are beginning your study of Spanish. You don't have to
concentrate on it; you are not listening to try to understand.
After a while you won't hear it but it will be affecting you.
Little by little you will begin to anticipate the rhythm of the
language, even before you understand everything. You will also
begin to recognize certain words. You will begin to hear
"beyond" the differences in pronunciation of different people
and recognize the underlying word. Once you clearly hear a word
or phrase, you can look it up and progressively expand your
vocabulary.
2. Pattern Response Drills. You have to run through all the
permutations of the new expressions that you learn. For example,
suppose you just learned to say. "Pedro tiene cuatro a?os"
rather than translating from the English incorrectly, "Pedro es
cuatro". Now to make this new element of the language stick with
you, you should go on substituting different ages and the names
of different people. You have to be able to say comfortably,
"Mar?a tiene cuatro a?os." "Juan tiene ocho a?os." "Yo tengo
treinta a?os." "?Cu?ntos a?os tienes t??" "Nosotros tenemos
cuarenta a?os." This type of drill is necessary for all the
different learning styles.
Do you want to return to look at beginning ; intermediate , or
advanced books? Or you can check out other Books ON Spanish at:
http://www.books
libros.com/spanishbooks.php to help you out.
Or do you want to see our books IN Spanish? You will find books
on health, the family, self help, literature, etc. and the
possibility to search for any other topic. Check out http://www.bo
okslibros.com/LibrosEnEspanol.php
Kids Can Learn Spanish! Take a look at: http://www.bo
okslibros.com/SpanishForNinos.htm
About the author:
Frank Gerace Ph.D has lived and worked in Latin America on
Educational and Communication Projects. He currently teaches
English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He invites
learners of Spanish of all levels and styles to visit him at:
http://www.bookslibros.com/spanishbooks.php
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