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Who am I?
Hello! My name is Jonathan Abery and I am a language learner, just like you. Because I have the experience of learning another language I really appreciate the frustration you can get from speaking a language you love, yet being unable to express what is really inside your head and your heart. My second language is French, and I didn’t always love it…My journey with French is an interesting one. I took basic studies at school for 5 years. I got an average grade for it, but my teacher was keen for me to take the advanced course at college… I didn’t. I hated French. I couldn’t learn it and couldn’t get my brain to understand it. Following textbooks and constantly memorising vocabulary lists and grammar principles didn’t work for me; it wasn’t my style of learning. At 6th form college (ages 16-18 in England) I stayed away from French and did Computing, Maths and Physics instead.
Learning a second language takes a lot of effort, but if you have the right motivation it can be very enjoyable rather than a heavy task. Learning can seem impossible without the right motivation, so it is very important that your goals are clear before you begin. I have heard wonderful stories by others, but I have also come to know it for myself. I thought I would never touch French again, but unexpectedly I ended up living there for a while…
Why I learnt a second language...
For you to understand the next part of my story I need to explain that I am a member of a Christian faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). At ages 19-26 some of the young people of the church can serve a mission if they would like (so long as they don‘t have marriage and family commitments). It is unpaid and voluntary, but it is an opportunity to serve others and to share a message of peace, good-will and family strength and unity. I wanted to go, so I filled out the papers and got ready. We do not personally decide where or how to serve - only to serve. The prophet prays about it and tells us the decision. Guess what? I was sent to France and Belgium!! I laughed out loud. During the few months up to my going I tried hard to study from books again. I listened to tapes and repeated what they said. I didn’t feel very prepared at all.
When I got out there I was really excited and enthusiastic - I was full of good feelings inside. After the first 2-3 days however, I realised that the knowledge of French I had was not good enough to talk to people. During the first six months I got more and more frustrated - I could not talk to the people how I wanted to. I had my personal feelings to share and I couldn’t. My colleagues had to translate for me and I relied on them a lot, in fact I wouldn‘t have been able to cope without them. I even remember one evening that I broke down and cried (which is unusual for me). Confidence had a lot to do with it. I really did not want to make a fool of myself because they were important things I was saying and a very important person I was representing. But I carried on and I remember the day that I was able to teach all by myself. What a relief! I was so happy!
How I learnt a second language (methods must also be motivating)...
Textbooks and tapes had not brought me to that point on their own, in fact I didn’t sit down with a French textbook very often at all, I simply read what I was supposed to teach and checked everything I didn’t know in the dictionary. It all pieced together in my head like a puzzle, but it had to be that way to learn properly. I learnt by interacting with people and putting into practice what I had discovered in the dictionary by listening to words that I did not recognise; I also asked my colleagues how to say certain things, and I asked the people of the country too. I did not sit down memorising grammar principles, in fact I hardly ever looked at grammar books either - but the dictionary was my very best and constant friend!
So my French must be perfect, right? Well, my languages skills were very, very basic at the beginning and became fairly advanced by the end. I could speak to anyone and understand what people were saying in general terms. The problem was that nearly all my colleagues were native English speakers themselves so their French wasn’t perfect either, I was only ever going to be as good as they were by learning from them. Also, I didn’t like to impose upon the good people of France and Belgium by asking them endless questions. If only there had been a native with me all the time as my teacher to show me the many different ways of expressing myself. I had constant questions: “How do you say this?”, “how else can you express that?” and “what does this mean?”. You could always tell I was a foreigner - my conversations were very limited in their expression and manner. I always got the information I wanted, but it never flowed like my native English does: I was not restricted in what I could say, but I was restricted in the way I could express it.
Don't sit and memorise everything. Just use it!
I was a missionary for 2 years. That is the same amount of time I would have spent in college from 16 years of age. When I got back I applied for university and took a BA(Hons) degree in French and International Business. I had some of the best vocabulary and conversation skills in the year. I could not explain grammar principles like a textbook, but I used them without knowing it. I ‘knew’ they were right instinctively, without learning the actual principle. All of that sounds impressive, but it is more impressive when you consider that you need good French grades in college to get on a French university course and I didn‘t take French in college, plus my French grades in school were average. At university I did courses on translation and even went back to France for 8 months to do a French-English translation work placement at the Annecy animated film festival (2002). I found translation to be a very good way of learning a language as finding the right expression and keeping the same feel of the text in the target language is absolutely important. The best translators have advanced language skills and are truly bilingual. It was clear that I was very fluent (I didn‘t need to think before I spoke French, it was ‘second nature‘), but I was not bilingual. I became fascinated with how I could become bilingual in the most efficient, productive and natural way. I watched the news and DVDs in French and read magazines, but I knew I needed more than that.
Whilst working in Annecy I earned extra money as an English tutor. I used some of the best textbooks I could find and set my students exercises from them. They thought the books were very, very good, but they still needed me to give them extra examples and explain things to help them understand. I also had a more advanced student; I asked him to read a book in English and I suggested a Harry Potter book (just because it’s been very successful in England and I enjoyed reading them). Reading or watching movies in your foreign language and making a note of all the words you don’t understand is obviously very good practice as you are learning in a relaxed way (which is essential), but the learning isn’t finished when you have watched a movie or read a book.
You will ‘instinctively’ know things if you learn them correctly
Learning lists of words isn’t fun and is not easy if you do not do it in the right way. There are special techniques for memorising information, but the best way to learn a language is to use it in real situations - I am proof of that! I went to a country with a very poor basic knowledge of the language, I heard many words and I looked up many of those words in the dictionary but the ones I remember are the ones I used myself. Not only do I remember them, I don’t even have to think about it because they come to my mind as easily as English words do. I have read the entire French dictionary (the concise version of a few hundred pages - not the big one!) but the only words I remember are the ones I have used in actual, meaningful conversation. Language isn’t yours until YOU use it. That is the power of using words in the right context: as you use them you naturally memorise them without any effort. Better than that, you naturally understand grammar principles too. The rules become intuitive, or ‘second nature’ (something you understand and feel as strongly as your own language). This method is far more effective, useful, less stressful and frustrating than memorising a list. Once you have collected your words (from watching TV, DVDs, reading, etc.) the best thing to do is practice with a native so that they can help you find and use the right word for the right sentence.
What are the best learning methods? What does research show?
When I got home I kept thinking about how to improve language learning and how to become truly advanced. I also kept thinking about the time I spent tutoring English to the French people - I had really enjoyed it, but how could I make it better? During my third and final year I wrote my dissertation on the subject of “Teaching English to French People over the Internet”. A ’dissertation’ or ’thesis’ is generally a key part of qualifying for a university degree; it is extensive research into a specific topic so that a convincing argument/examination can then be presented in a report of considerable length - in my case the report was 10,000 words (not including background research proof and background information). My study had to be aimed at French people because that was the name of my course, but it works for anyone. My study looked at the opportunities for English learning on the Internet at the time (2003), about the market, language competency and teaching methods, etc.
Here are some of my findings:
"No curriculum should dictate how literacy is to be achieved. Focus should be on meaning and not form; maximum attention should be given to communication and not structure; the creative use of language is very important (not the memorisation and repetition of phrases from a book). These methods are how natives learn their own language intuitively"
(Based on research in “Readings on English as a Second Language for Teachers and Teacher Trainees” page xv - Kenneth Croft, Winthorp Publishers, 2nd ed. 1980)."To achieve literacy effectively collaboration is required (i.e. working with someone else). In the life of a native this would be a parent or guardian, and a child"
The process of achieving literacy involves:
A) Explaining events as they are happening (e.g. dressing a child - “Let‘s put your shoes on…“);
B) Comparing and analysing two criteria together (e.g. action, scene, character, object, occasion, or written text) and giving them stories, morals, and commentaries;
C) Explanation of cause and effect i.e. “What would happen if…?” or “How has the author of this book made you feel, and how?”. This is done in order to create reasoning, debate, discussion and persuasion skills;
D) Retellings, i.e. reading or listening to something and the participant retells all the events of the story in the same words or their own words.
E) Participation in storytelling - moving through a set of events towards a particular goal.
Surface learning Vs Deeper learning
The surface approach is the student that reduces the subject to unconnected facts to be memorised word by word. The deep approach is the student that looks for reasons behind statements, why things work, how they fit together, they think things through and ‘play’ with ideas. It is less likely that a student with surface learning would be able to understand concepts and write essays with logical arguments.
Inappropriate course design can lead to surface learning (heavy workload, high class contact hours, excessive amount of course material, lack of opportunity to pursue subjects in depth, lack of choice over subjects, an anxiety provoking assessment system). Strategies for fostering deep learning include independent learning, personal development, problem-based learning, reflection, independent group work, learning by doing, developing learning skills, project work and assessment.
(based on research by Graham Gibbs in “Improving the Quality of Student Learning”, Technical and Educational Services Ltd, 1992)
Basic principles of Learn Articulate English
After my experiences living in France and Belgium, studying at university and doing all that research, I got some very clear ideas about what would be needed to advance language learning. It isn’t anything new or amazing, you can see that from the age of the books I researched. It isn’t anything difficult either; it’s really, really simple - yet effective. It follows proven principles and, what’s more, you are living proof of them too because you have learnt your own native language in the same way: collaboration (parents, teachers, friends and associates), analysing, telling, re-telling and creativity.
At the beginning of 2009 I commissioned a web programmer to build my website and my vision and dream based on these principles became real. It is the total effort of my research and experience. I know it will help you in your quest to become advanced in English and speak as well as you do your own language.
Having read my story, you know that I am serious and you know why I set up Learn Articulate English. Now you probably want to know how it works, right? Click Here
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