In learning a foreign
language, there are certain challenges like learning its grammatical structure,
adopting a correct pronunciation pattern and most importantly acquiring as many
useful words to be able to communicate with as possible. Just as the
construction workers lay the foundation of a building as the initial step,
someone hoping to learn a language needs to obtain the fundamentals
of that language first – its grammar. However, learning process of grammar does
not last very long, taking up just a few months at the longest. What’s more,
grammar should never remain on the surface of the learning medium, pushing the
language learner to become grammar- oriented and grammar-conscious at the very
beginning of the language learning process. Instead, grammar should be embedded
in the learning material, concealed somewhere in the background, and must be
acquired subconsciously. Namely, grammar of the language is not something a
language learner should worry about that much. The main problem will continue
to persist even after spending several years in the target language:
vocabulary! Enrichment of vocabulary is the problem of almost all foreign
language learners. Even if you have studied a single word for tens of times,
the next morning when you see that word again, you may not be able to remember
what it means and you get mad at yourself. However, that is quite a natural
experience for every language learner and you are not the first person to
experience this and won’t be the last either. Enriching vocabulary in the
target language requires a set of systematic study techniques. In the very
first place, memorization, the most commonly referred technique by most
language learners, is in fact the most obsolete and unfruitful method, as any
memorized word is just like a word written on the sand by the ocean. Only a few
seconds will be enough to wipe memorized words out of your mind. Yet most
language learners, unknowingly or helplessly, or just because think it is the
best way to acquire even more words, resort to this technique. Even after
several months, they end up with a small set of words left in their minds from
a few thousand targeted words. This being the case, what should a language
learner do to overcome this problem? The answer is so simple: Get involved in
the language you want to learn, love it, be a part of it and always do live
together with it! To do this, you have to live in the language, not go around
it. You should do a lot of reading every day, without coming up with daily
excuses. What’s more, you should read texts not in your academic field only or
those that appeal to you, but also texts that you don’t have any taste in. You
have to see any unknown word over and over in several texts and contexts.
Remember, contextual learning is the best and most meaningful learning ever.
Retention of words in the mind is only possible through living the language
rather than just wanting it.
ISBN : 9786057868510