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All Blog Posts Tagged 'language' (57)

Supporter Language and Memory - an experiment.

I've always been fascinated by the role memory plays in language acquisition. It isn't a straight forward relationship (better memory = better fluency) however, looking at student "2nd language memory" does allow us teachers in a very crude way, to gather knowledge about student fluency.

There is a lot of research on the subject, no better place to start than… Continue

Added by ddeubel on June 9, 2011 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Supporter EnglishCentral has a blog (and Korean language support)

I've been a cheerleader of EnglishCentral's amazing technology for language learning and teaching since the start. Great authentic videos and students can speak, get feedback, do quizzes, be challenges to earn points and so much more...

Now they have launched a blog that I've been a part…

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Added by ddeubel on April 1, 2011 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Supporter Risk Taking and learning a language

Sue Lyons shared this wonderful video on her blog and it really hit me as a great symbol of a language learner who "takes a chance" and just lets the language come out and go through him or her.

Risk taking is one of the most important features of a good language learner. They accept what they don't know (the ambiguity of language/communication) and they focus on what they do know. They… Continue

Added by ddeubel on March 31, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

Supporter Lessons for teachers from "The King's Speech"

One of the nice things about the small city I moved to recently, is that it has a wonderful theater downtown, minutes from my house. Every Sunday, they have a $5 showing and tonight they showed "The King's Speech". Great movie, highly recommend it despite my aversion to "period pieces", especially British ones! Go see it and if you are in the mood, think about the lessons that it might have for us teachers.…

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Added by ddeubel on March 14, 2011 at 12:30pm — 3 Comments

Supporter Stickiness - How to make what you do, "Stick".

I'm putting together an online presentation for some Brazilian teachers and I'll be talking about "Stickiness". I thought it would be worthwhile to air my own thoughts specifically about what makes our teaching "stick". In other words, how to make what we do transfer into the heads and the production/fluency of the learner (now or over time).

I think at bottom, this metaphor is… Continue

Added by ddeubel on March 9, 2011 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Supporter Groping for Trout

tuna "You can tune a piano

but you can't tune a fish"

Words, words, words. Sometimes I feel like becoming a monk solely for the reason to be beyond words, of no need of words, away from words and their slinking skullduggery. They are cruel and they often don't mean what they mean.

I know I'm groping for trout. I'll get to that point in a moment. First, let me tell you what…

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Added by ddeubel on March 9, 2011 at 3:00am — 3 Comments

Supporter Learning Korean Online

As a native speaking English teacher I still have a hard time putting myself in the students' shoes. The best way to put myself in their shoes is to study a second language. I don't have time except my office hours to study. Fortunately there is a good site to learn Korean online. I'm studying for Seogang University online and it's free. In some ways studying online is better than the class. I can study on my own pace, have 100% interaction and meet at my own time. Here is the like to the…

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Added by csagel on February 15, 2011 at 3:15am — 5 Comments

Huffduffer - Audio podcast library

Huffduffer is a site where you can simply collect and tag audio podcasts. It really is attractive and well laid out. Visit our EFL Classroom 2.0 collection and click on the tags on the right to get… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on January 16, 2011 at 4:09pm — No Comments

Supporter Barriers to Language Learning and Acquisition

brick_wall11254935255 Learning a second language isn't easy. There is a lot that can get in the way. It isn't as automatic or sure as we'd suppose. Depending on the person, there can be some high barriers to learning another language.

I'm teaching a unit on this in a certificate course and thought I'd make my own list. (yes, could have flipped open my Gass and Selinker but then I wouldn't be learning anything, would I!?) I'd love it if you could read and add something I missed or tell us…

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Added by ddeubel on December 16, 2010 at 9:22pm — No Comments

Supporter Top "Language" related blog posts of 2010

(from my public blog)

Last week I posted up my “Top Teacher Training related posts of 2010″ – titled, “On the shoulders of Regular Joe Teachers” and my “Top Education related posts of 2010″.

Today, I'd like to share my top Language related… Continue

Added by ddeubel on December 9, 2010 at 9:53pm — No Comments

Supporter Language and Power - WTF?

Today, I watched a CNBC episode of their new series "What the Future" (WTF). I'll refrain from commenting on their narrative and how they provide pleasant propaganda to the masses about helping those less fortunate. I find their message of "choice not charity" rather simplistic and self serving to their business clientele.

No, what hit me while watching the episode (about micro… Continue

Added by ddeubel on November 21, 2010 at 6:03pm — 4 Comments

Supporter Dogme Light - A boring library conversation

Today, I get to have some fun!

Last week, Willy Cardoso wrote a fictional conversation that he might have had with Karenne Sylvestr about the use of materials in ELT. Karenne wrote previously about "materials light" or Dogme teaching.

When I read… Continue

Added by ddeubel on November 4, 2010 at 3:47pm — 2 Comments

Supporter Words, Words, Words...

A snowy morning on the lake here in Canada. A beautiful view.

However, as I look outside, I'm thinking about language and how it "takes us away" from meaning. This statement may seem totally illogical but if you think about it like I have this morning, you can't but come to that conclusion. The more words we add, the further we get away from the meaning, the essence of what we want to say.

Take for example my words above - "A snowy…

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Added by ddeubel on October 31, 2010 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

Supporter The #1 ... (translated and subtitled video series for teaching)

** Not your ordinary, endless list - just what's number 1. Get the full eBook!

6 Billion Others

6 Billion Others is a video series of interviews with real people.… Continue

Added by ddeubel on October 9, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments

Supporter The Sopranos and the indelible nature of language

Can you be my psychiatrist? May I admit something? I've always had a severe sensitivity to language - especially the proclivity to pun incessantly. I kid you not - full blown Foerster's Syndrome. It is under control but today I've had a hard day with the word, "indelible". It has been in every second sentence and almost every thought.

I looked it up:

Definition of… Continue

Added by ddeubel on September 23, 2010 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Supporter The #1 .... (language reference book)

** Not your ordinary, endless list - just what's number 1.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language - by David Crystal

I've long been a big fan of… Continue

Added by ddeubel on September 15, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments

Fraudster Number 1!

As

part of my attempt to keep this blog as interesting as possible, I have

decided to name and shame language schools who either take advantage

of, steal from or commit any other form of work related abuse towards

native teachers here in Poland.

First up:

Language Training Studio – Located in Wrocław, Kowary or possibly

Gdansk owned by Hanna Ciesielska and…

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Added by doyouspeakpolish.blogspot on July 17, 2010 at 9:51am — 4 Comments

Supporter Please Help Me Help a Deserving Deaf Student

This is Zachariah Ngechu on the right, with his friend Joseph who is also deaf.

Born in 1983, Zachariah lives in a small village called Karagita, Naivasha, north of Nairobi in Kenya. He has access to an internet connection, and wrote me a message on my previous blog where there is a discussion about the special problems which the Deaf encounter when learning English as a… Continue

Added by Mike Marzio on June 10, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Supporter What I'm Amazed by....

Today, kind of out of the blue, someone asked me what I was amazed by..... For whatever reason, I blurted out, "That we can communicate with each other - language".

And it is a miracle. Here we are, using something so well, everyday YET we know so little about it. That to me makes it amazing and even godly. We know next to nothing about language and I'll argue that to the end of my days with even the most decorated of linguist, lexicographer or language lush. We just don't know a damn… Continue

Added by ddeubel on March 22, 2010 at 5:00pm — 3 Comments

Supporter Translation - Man vs Machine

Interesting article about language and the difficulties of translation....

EVERYBODY has his own tale of terrible translation to tell — an incomprehensible restaurant menu in Croatia, a comically illiterate warning sign on a French beach. “Human-engineered” translation is just

as inadequate in more important domains. In our courts…

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Added by NEWS NOW on March 22, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments