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20 10, 2017

Maximise your learning outside the classroom

Maximise your learning outside the classroom Remember, anything you enjoy doing in your native tongue can also be enjoyed in the language you're learning. Whether it be reading a book or a blog, watching movies, playing computes games, meeting friends, or listening to music, the possibilities are endless. This approach will also get you to discover more about the culture of the people who speak the language you're learning, which is always very interesting and rewarding. Use at least an hour a day of your time studying your new language. You can spend time reading online newspapers, magazines or books. You can watch movies or your favourite series in your target language. This is a fun way to practice your new language and at the same time you are learning new words, phrases and pronunciation. Write sentences, paragraphs or texts depending on your level and give it to your teacher who will help you improve your writing. Listen to your favourite song in your target language and have fun practicing the pronunciation vocabulary and grammar in the song. Make notes, have a note book: There is a lot of vocab, grammar, expressions, etc, that you can better learn if you write everything down. This helps you to review what you did, and it also help you cement you learning in your mind.         Learn vocabulary in context: Memorising lists of vocabulary can be challenging and is not an effective way to get the words to stay in your mind long term. Association is key to retain new words. A great way to build vocabulary is to make sure the words you're learning come form situations. Make different sentences with the new vocabulary [...]

16 08, 2017

6 Tips to learn languages

6 Tips to get the most from your immersion class: Make mistakes Learning a new language means learning by doing. Make mistakes, learn from them, and you will go far! Your teacher appreciates the effort you are making and is willing to help you out. You are not aiming for perfection here, you are aiming for progress. Making mistakes (and learning from them) will help you to progress. Start talking no matter what your current level is and you will reach a conversational level and make progress quickly. Maybe you will feel a little shy talking in another language but this is normal. Making mistakes is the best road to progress. Make guesses Your teacher will help you to understand what she/he is saying in many ways, So pay attention in your class and don't give up quickly. Acting is a powerful tool when you are learning a new language. Avoid translations even in your mind. If you are learning a new word, for example "dog", your teacher may show you a picture of a dog. Make the leap of faith that the word they are teaching is indeed "dog" -sometimes you may guess wrong, but you are teaching yourself the skill of guessing from the context -a skill you will need in real life whenever a native speaker uses a word or expression you don't know. Take your time Don't rush, take your time to build sentences and express your thoughts. Don't worry, your teacher is very patient. Go at a pace you are comfortable with. Talk and participate actively in class, even if you need to take some time to think about what you want to say. Leave English outside the classroom Asking [...]

23 06, 2017

THE BEST WAY TO LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE

What is the best way to learn another language... So you have decided to learn another language this year? Great! This is the best decision you have made- Congratulations! Learning a new language opens your mind, helps you to understand other cultures, to improve your attention and memory, to empathise with others and to impress your workmates, boss, friends and your girlfriend or boyfriend. Learning a language requires dedication and lots of practice to get to the point that everything is automatic and natural- just like in your own language. It is not just learning 20 words a day until you’re done, or listening to a pod cast for the whole day and voila! Now you are fluent. This is not an effective way to learn any language. So, what is the best way to learn another language? The best way to learn a language is to IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE LANGUAGE you want to learn. What is Immersion learning? Not everyone who makes the commitment to learning a foreign language has heard of language immersion learning, so we would like to shed some light on the concept. Language immersion is a teaching method in which the target language is the only language used in the classroom. Just like your mum and dad were teaching you their native language when you were born – and you were watching, listening and imitating it – your teacher is communicating with you in that foreign language non-stop. If a baby can do it, you can do it! To help with this communication your teacher will use various tools like pictures, actual objects and demonstrations as well as facial expressions, gestures and mime and pointing. The key point, as [...]

3 05, 2017

Find your ONE thing to be successful in learning a language

The ONE thing book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is all about laser-sharp focus & productivity. It gives us simple yet powerful tools and strategies which we believe when applied to your language learning goals produce extraordinary results. First, find your ONE thing to be successful in learning a language: “What’s the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it everything will be easier of unnecessary?” – Gary Keller To find the answer to this question, you need to know what your goals are. Take out a pen and a piece of paper and just spend a few minutes thinking about the following: For example, your “Daily” goal might be time-blocking 15 minutes after dinner to understand how the language works, practice speaking skills with a friend 10 minutes before a class, spending as little as 5 minutes to revise new vocabulary before going to bed, waking early to prepare for an exam to get your level certified, making a few sentences before breakfast with the knowledge of whatever you’ve learnt so far, or reading a paragraph in the evenings from a book suited to your level. Based on the daily goals above, here’s the ONE thing you could do right now, pick a spot where you won’t be disturbed, silence your mobile, practice verb drills. Call a friend and ask if he/she is willing to arrive few minutes early before class to practice with you. Find a system which will encourage you to practice 5 minutes before bedtime – Choose an app or go old school and learn off your own language journal, so on and so forth. If you have the luxury of time, it is worth investing 4 hours [...]

17 02, 2017

Language Acquisition = Falling in L.O.V.E

What happens when you learn a new language? Your brain is analyzing, processing all the new information coming in - new vocabulary & sounds, picture-word associations, sentence structures and so on right? But remembering this new and complex information becomes the next most challenging and vital part in language learning. “I learnt it but I’ve forgotten” “I don’t remember” “Wait, wait, hang on, I know this word, hmmm…gosh, I can’t remember” “It’s too hard to remember, maybe language learning isn’t for me” “I don’t have a good memory” If you feel this way, feel frustrated or disappointed. Please don’t! “Forgetting new words” is a completely natural process. Your brain not only analyzes and processes what you learn but “selectively” stores and discards data. Even this selection will fade over time with more information constantly coming in. That’s why some of us would wake up one day and say “I don’t remember a word of what I learnt - Zilch , Nada.” How can we change this and be more efficient in language learning? Simple. First tell the brain who is the boss and help it to remember the information that we “select” as “the most important”. It doesn’t stop at that. Next is “Constant Repetition” – the golden key to developing any skill. Just as how you would workout every day to tone up your muscles, spending time repeatedly reviewing even 5-10 minutes every day will tone your memory significantly improving your capacity to remember the language you are learning. For the constant repetition, for your learning process to evade monotony, you must be in love with the language, be passionate. Language is all about forming links. You form this amazing link with another person [...]

22 11, 2016

Travelling to Germany

So you've booked your ticket to Germany? You've come to the right place!  We’ve endeavoured to pack all you need to know about this destination in our Travel Tips section. Fast facts: Language: German Capital: Berlin Government: Federal Republic Currency: Euro € Population: approx. 82 Mio Area: 357,168 km² Country code: +49 Measurement system: Metric Electric current: 230V/50Hz (round two pin plug system)   Fun facts Per capital, the Germans drink around 105 litres of beer each year. Germany produces around 600 different types of bread; more than any other country. Probably there are even more varieties of sausages. The Oktoberfest actually starts in the month of September. Oktoberfest vocabulary German is the (co-)official language of 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. It is also spoken in Northern Italy, Belgium and the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. In restaurants give a 5-10% tip but round up the bill to include it instead of leaving money on the table.   Basic German Ja (yes)     Nein (no)     Danke/Dankeschön (Thanks)     Bitte/Bitteschön (Please/you’re welcome)     Guten Tag (Hello) Auf Wiedersehen/Tschüs (Goodbye)     Entschuldigung (Excuse me) Ich brauche Hilfe (I need help)     Ich spreche kein Deutsch (I don’t speak German) Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Do you speak English?)     Mir geht es nicht gut (I don’t feel well) Wie viel kostet das? (How much is that?)     [...]

23 09, 2015

Spring Quiz: Arabic

This is the final part of our spring quiz series and the concluding language on our agenda is Arabic. Julie discovered a great song for our purpose and has come up with a challenging task. Master it in order to win a little chocolate treat which must be claimed by Friday, 2nd October 2015, by coming to class and presenting the requested task to your teacher. Julie has chosen an Arabic children's song called ربيع الأردن. The challenge is 1) to translate the first verse into English and 2) to write down how to say "I love you" in the Jordanese dialect (the words are written in the video).

14 08, 2015

Warm up with Italian

August in New Zealand. A polar blast turned the country white on the weekend. Hail has pelted Aucklanders while snow has paved the Desert Road and blanketed Dunedin. Flu rates have reached epidemic levels. August in Italy. With persistent high temperatures (expected to reach 41C this week in some parts) it is the month when Italians take their holiday and head either to the seaside or to the cool of mountain towns. And it is the month when they celebrate an important holiday, Ferragosto. Well, it’s your choice: you can fight the chill with a hot cuppa and a wooly jumper. Or you can read on and warm up with the world’s most musical language, Italian, and indulge in their culture and history. Let’s start with some essential Italian phrases: Andiamo in spiaggia! (Let’s go to the beach!) Incontriamoci in gelateria! (Let’s meet at the ice-cream shop!) Non dimenticare il costume da bagno, l’asciugamano, e la crema solare! (Don’t forget your togs, towel and sunscreen!) Ferragosto – buone vacanze! August 15 is probably the most important holiday in Italy other than Christmas day as it marks both, the federal holiday Ferragosto and the religious holiday of the Assumption of Mary. The term Ferragosto derives from the Latin Feriae Augusti (Augustus’ rest) and was introduced by the Roman emperor Augustus in 18 BC. The emperor felt it was necessary to create a time of relaxation after weeks of strenuous work bringing in the harvest - and the busy schedule of festivals that followed. August is the traditional holiday month in Italy and the majority will religiously plan their holiday around Ferragosto, leaving factories, offices as well as many restaurants and shops closed for vacation, chiuso per [...]

4 08, 2015

If a baby can do it, you can do it!

Congratulations! You’ve made up your mind that you want to learn a language and enrol in a class. You are highly motivated and look forward to the new challenge. Then suddenly - usually after the first two or three classes - you may find yourself overwhelmed and frustrated, because that sentence you were supposed to listen to carefully (and ideally guess the meaning of) turned out to be a colossal jumble of syllables. Which will inevitably lead to the question: Will I ever be able to have a decent conversation? The answer is simple: If a baby can do it, you can do it! So how do they do it and what can we learn from the little buggers? Well, in their first few months they are just as frustrated as you and they communicate that well by crying, yelling and shouting for food, comfort or sleep time. But after weeks and months of listening to and learning from everyone around them, they begin to recognise their names, identify important words and follow simple instructions such as ‘come here’ or ‘have a drink’. This success can be attributed to parents, siblings and everyone around them talking to them on a constant basis. They would use short sentences and emphasise key words which helps the toddler to focus on the important information. During their everyday activities the toddlers make connections between actions and objects and the words that represent them. Left alone they start babbling and making sounds such as ‘baba’ or ‘mama’ which are easy to pronounce and they repeat them over and over because they like the way they sound. By 18 months they will use between six and 20 words and by the [...]

21 07, 2015

3 Ways To Learn A New Language Fast

Have you even felt too old to learn a new language or gave it up because you thought you are not the gifted one for foreign languages no matter how hard you have tried? But, the truth is you might just use the wrong way to learn. Inspired by Julie Cleaver’s “10 ways to learn a new language”, we would like to share some of our ideas with you. In her article, she mentioned 10 efficient points in terms of learning a new language, and here we would like to highlight some very important ones. “Learn the important words first” “Do I need to have 3000 vocabulary words to start practicing conversation?” The answer is NO. You don’t need to know all these terminologies to have a daily chat. In most cases, people keep repeating certain words, phrases and sentences again and again. Think about it that in English 300 words make up 65 percent of all written material! Therefore, once you master these words with a little courage, you are off to go. “Learn like words” Due to the fact that English belongs to Indo-European language family, a family of hundred related 445 languages and dialects, including German, Italian, Celtic, etc, same or similar spelling can be found in different language with the same meanings. For example Mutter in German and mother in English. At the same time, as the result of sharing the root with Latin word family similar words can be spotted in these languages, such as absolute (absolute) and abstracto (abstract) in Spanish. Within its powerful influence on Asian countries, historically, economically and culturally, Japanese, Korean and Chinese system also borrow a lot from English such as Japanese nekku (neck) and [...]