FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY ACTIVITIES

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY ACTIVITIES
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 LISTENING COMPREHENSION
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 ? Read aloud, listen to yourself, then copy
it and listen a lot more.
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? Team up with someone (classmate, tutor) to
rehearse listening and speaking exercises.
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? Listen to songs and try to write the words
(or download lyrics from Internet). Sing!
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Spend time on local TV's foreign language channel
or go to the Multi-media Lab.
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? Go to subtitled movies in your foreign
language and try to listen for comprehension
first, reading afterwards.
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Spanish Motorcycle DiariesThe Sea InsidePans
LabyrinthFrench Intimate StrangersJoyeux
NoelCacheGerman Lives of OthersMostly
MarthaThe Counterfeiters
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Rent English DVDs and put on the foreign
language subtitles underneath the English
dialogueorrent foreign language DVDs and watch
a second time with the foreign subtitles on to
see how it was translated
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? Get copies of lab CDs

• Listen and read simultaneously
• Listen and write what is said (like dictation)
• Copy the questions, answers, dictations, etc. for
  further listening
• Listen, stop the CD, and repeat
• Carry CDs with you for down-time listening
  (waiting, walking, etc)

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  LEARNING WORDS ?Vocabulary ? Verbs ?
Grammar
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 ? Flashcards- 3x5 for individual words -
4x6 for families of words and verb conjugations
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Include sample sentence to put word in context
and to use more of the language
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Use color to differentiate parts of speech
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Verbs
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Use color on verb cards to highlight the pattern
of changes
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andare (future, to go) andrò andremo andrai
andrete andrà andranno
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Put synonyms and antonyms on the back to expand
association
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Test yourself in both directions the back's
answer and the front's prompt
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Keep various sets rubberbanded together
because - they're related materials -a language
builds unit by unit -you want to use association.
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Have a partner or tutor drill you on your cards
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Shuffle the cards occasionally so you don't get
dependent on a sequence.
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Separate into "I know" and "Don't know" piles
each time you test yourself.
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Retire words you've mastered into a file box to
make room for new ones
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Use language lab tapes to focus on - specific
grammar points, - verb forms
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Take dictation from the CDs, check that youre
right and then practice it aloud to yourself.
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? Use computer programs in language lab.
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? Consult current newspapers and magazines in
your foreign language.
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? Start a journal in your foreign language.
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? Label everyday objects in your room with
foreign language names on post-it's.
La puerta
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? Bring the language into everyday conversation
with foreign songsforeign nicknames for your
friendsforeign catch phrases Qué está
sucediendo, Dude?
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Language learning is MEMORY-intensive

• Vocabulary
• Verb tenses
• Idioms
• Diacritical marks ä á â ã å ç c
• Punctuation
• Pronunciation, accent, inflection

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MNEMONICS(GREEK FOR MEMORY TRICKS)

• ASSOCIATE MAKE CONNECTIONS
• GROUP AND CHUNK
• USE SOUND

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Some Limitations of Mnemonic Devices

• They dont always help you understand material
• They can be complicated to learn or develop
• They can be forgotten, too

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ASSOCIATE MAKE CONNECTIONS
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LITERAL ASSOCIATION

• redondo
• Jaune, rot oreja
• GROS le roi
• vs. Petite
• letiole Largent

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Jai la grippe
Visual reminder
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OPPOSITES

• Hier aujourdhui
• Premier denier
• Seul ensemble
• Jamais toujours
• Arriver partir
• En avance en retard

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malade bien
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CHUNK into logical groups
comer
SPANISH VERBS
vivir
hablar
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CATEGORIZEby function le ditala manoil
braccioil ginocchiola gambail piede
Words that belong with body parts
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Spanish furniture

• silla el sentarse abajo
• cama el dormir
• escritorio el estudiar
• estante el almacenar

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SETS OF WORDS

• Los deportivos
• Los días de la semana
• La ropa
• Los juegos
• Los países
• Los muebles

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La medicina

• Un dentista
• Un doctor
• Un enfermero
• Un veterinario

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RELATEDWORDS

• schnell schneller
• seul seulement
• molto moltissimo
• poco pochissimo
• Fa (caldo, freddo, fresco)
• comer la comida

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• MALADE
• FATIQUÉ
• CHAUD
• SANTÉ

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ORGANIZE

• Alain
• Christophe
• David
• Eric
• Hélèn
• Jeanne
• Pierre

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taille

• miniscule
• petit
• grand
• enorme
• colossal

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PARTS OF SPEECH

• Los verbos
• Los nombres
• Los pronombres
• Los adjetivos
• Los adverbios
• Los idiomas

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• NOUN
• VERB
• FEMININE
• IDIOMS

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• SOUND is the SHAPE of WORDS

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ALLITERATION

• Who? Qui
• What? Que
• What? Quoi
• When? Quand
• Which? Quelle
• What is? Quest-ce que

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Italian questions

• Che cosa?
• Perché
• Chi?
• Quando?
• Dove?
• Come?

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FOREIGN LANGUAGETIME MANAGEMENT
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A foreign language is different from most
courses you need to study every day not just
MWF.
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DOS
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DO keep up with classwork! Its harder to catch
up than to keep up.
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Language is cumulative with the current lesson
built on the previous one. Neglect and falling
behind will snowball.
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DO schedule your time to allow daily study
time.The rule is at least two study hours for
every hour in class
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but language study should bespr e a d
o u t through the week.
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DO try to divide your study time so that as much
as 80 of it is spent in recitation and
practice.
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DO try to schedule some of your study hours
BEFOREyou go into class.
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As a participation-type class, you need the
material fresh in your mind to be used or
performed in class.
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DO schedule language study hours ASAP if they
have to be after class in order to minimize
forgetting.
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Immediate reinforcement helps solidify new
material longer and more accurately.
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DO study when youre most alert, when you feel
you can absorb and retain the most material for
such a memorization-heavy subject.
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Prime time will vary, obviously, from person
to person...
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DONTS
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DONT try to cover the whole assignment in one
sitting break it up into smaller chunks of
time.
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Break it up into digestible portions of
material, probably following the sectioning
already done by the textbook publisher.
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DONT cut class you will get behind, (possibly
irretrievably).