Posts from the 'Strategy Planning' Category

Amelia on July 11 2010 2

How to Revive “Forgotten” Language Knowledge

Annoying as it is, the old adage “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to foreign language learning. It’s not uncommon for a person to have studied a language for several years, then stop using it and after a while feel like it’s lost for good. Fortunately, it probably isn’t. The [...]

Amelia on June 25 2010 2

Five Myths about Immersion that Can Ruin Your Language Holiday

What learning environment could be better than immersion? You’re surrounded by native speakers and have virtually unlimited access to listening and reading material—how could you not learn? Right?
Yet we’ve all heard about or even met people who’ve lived in another country for years and still

Amelia on May 05 2010 0

Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language? Consider This When You Travel

Linguist and researcher Stephen Krashen has a theory that most language learners go through a “silent period” during which they either can’t or don’t want to talk. It could last a day or a month or more.

More importantly,

Amelia on April 04 2010 1

Learning a Foreign Language Online: Cheap and Convenient or a Waste of Time?

One the one hand, there are so many free and easily accessible language learning resources on the Internet, it seems like it wouldn’t be too hard for a motivated learner to get everything they need online. On the other hand, classroom-based schools and local tutors promote the importance of face-to-face contact. Some would have you [...]

Amelia on November 20 2009 0

The Communicative Approach is Bad?

I recently came across and interesting article at Antimoon’s learn English online site discussing problems with the Communicative Approach to language learning. This approach encourages you to communicate very early in your learning, often from the first lesson.
Now, I do understand what the author is saying—you should get input and lots of it [...]

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