Language Learning Methods

Anyone who has dared to search the internet for language learning methods knows that there is a mountain of results that come back. You will find some scholarly articles by academics and professional linguists that are deep and technical.

Then you will also find a huge amount of blog posts and articles written by companies and bloggers trying to sell you language learning systems, books, videos and subscriptions to their various programs and courses.

What is harder to find is unbiased reviews and recommendations for tools and methods from people who are not trying to sell you something. Did I mention I am not trying to sell you anything?

Everything here is for the Chinese language learning community - my way of paying forward what all the other great teachers and internet Lǎoshī have shared with me.

Keep in mind also that a lot of what you find posted on the internet as language learning methods are really just tips, tools or training courses. Many proprietry language learning courses like to promote the way they package up their lessons as a unique technology but in truth a lot are really just variations on well known methods. These tried and tested systems include flashcards, vocabulary lists, reading material and audio/video packages.

These are not teaching methods, they are inputs that have been packaged into different media formats. In reality there is no shortage of free material for you to find and use as sources of input. I have quite a few for you to explore right here in my inputs section.

I am not wanting to add to the mountains of confusing information already out there. Rather I want to reduce it down and make an easy to navigate place with just the good parts and without the sales spin. Information and material that I have found helpful to me for my language learning journey, I am sharing here for other learners.

So here is a short list of a few relevant language learning mehtods, with just the right amount of detail to give you a quick understanding of each one. You will find that I use combinations of these methods in My Approach.

1

  Vocabulary Based

This method focuses on learning a lot of words first - mostly using concious memorisation. It's the type of style you will commonly find in travel phrasebooks, often with various themes such as checking in at a hotel or ordering food in a restaurant. The tools we often use for this method include flashcards, word lists and frequency lists, phrases and sentences.

Pros

• There's no avoiding it, at some point you need to increase your vocabularly and this method exposes you to a lot of words straight up.
• When you get to the point of talking you should have a lot of words already at your disposal. Your conversations will be broader.
• You can learn whole sentences such as how to introduce yourself, say hello or ask where to find the bathroom.

Cons

• Memorising phrases does not equate to truly understanding what you are saying.
• Correct structure can suffer and you may not know how to string words together properly.
• Memorising large word lists can get boring and tedious - even with flashcards.
• Memorisation leads to translating in your head. Rather than just know a gǒu is a dog you will equate gǒu with the English word dog. This massively slows down how fast you can understand what you are listening to when every word has to be translated to it's English equivalent in your head in real time.

2

  Grammer Based

This is the more traditional style of language learning that you can find in older text books. Lessons normally introduce a few new words along with grammer rules you need to memorise. The lessons make you practice using the words in combinations of different sentence structures to teach you very precise and correct usage.

Pros

• You will learn the correct and precise usage of words and grammer straight off.
• Less chance to make embarrasing mistakes and language gaffs.
• Useful for more formal and technical language proficiency.

Cons

• Very hard for most people to master without considerable effort and rote memorisation.
• Even worse than translating words in your head is figuring out and applying correct gramatical rules in real time. This can slow down comprehension and hence the natural flow of a conversation.
• Memorising grammer is not fun (for most humans).

Watch Stephen Krashen and Jeff Brown talk about the problems with learning grammer.

3

  Immersion Method

You will hear about this method when people move to a foreign country and force themselves to learn the local language just by trying to get by doing everyday things. Now going to the store and shopping becomes a langugae lesson and little by little they build up their comprehension and speaking ability. This is really just a way to get tons of comprehensible input from everywhere around you (see below for CI).

Some people also try to use the immersion method in their home country by surrounding themselves with lots of input in the target language. You can do things like labeling your funiture at home with the Chinese names, watching Chinese films and TV and hanging out with friends who speak Mandarin. It's not quite the same as 'being there' and neither of these approaches is foolproof as you will see in the cons below.

Pros

• It forces your hand and makes learning a matter of survival. Solves the motivation issues.
• Making your language learning part of your life rather than a lesson for just an hour a day really speeds up learning.
• It is more fun and exciting than text book learning with practical applications straight away.

Cons

• Not everyone can travel and live in another country.
• Immersion is not foolproof. As an example look at some immigrants who live in a new country but still haven't adopted their new tongue.
• Immersion is a sink or swim technique that can be scary and daunting for some people.

4

  Conversational Method

The aim of this method is to get you conversational as fast as possible. Accuracy is less important than communication.

As you would guess the focus here is more on speaking and listening than studying word lists and grammer rules. The philosophy is that by talking with a safe and sympathetic native speaker will help you acquire language subconciously. Similar to how children might acquire language from a parent who is gentle and tailors their level of speech to the level the student can cope with.

Pros

• You start speaking very quickly and have practical application of your new language.
• Speaking with someone who you understand and understands you is fun and can really boost your motivation to continue.
• You can use your conversational skills for travel and friendship.

Cons

• Grammatical rules come later so initially your speaking may not be always correct.
• Reading takes a back seat to speaking - proponents argue that reading is much easier once you have a certain proficiency in speaking.
• Not really adequate for use in business or to get to fluency.

5

  Aquisition by Comprehensible Input

Comprehisble Input (CI) is a key component of Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition (SLA). I find this the most interesting and promising of the methods and use it heavily in My Approach.

CI is less a method and more of a tool for language acquisition that other methods can utilise (see TPRS below).

It is very similar to the way a parent may introduce language to a child in that you may have never heard the words before but you can still understand their meaning through expression, gestures, pictures and other non-verbal queues. This makes the input 'comprehensible' and helps your subconcious associate words with meanings rather than translating vocabulary from one language to another in your head.

In Stephen Krashen's words:

"The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready', recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production."

Pros

• An interesting and natural way to 'acquire' language which is designed to be similar to how you acquire your first native language.
• You can make quick, initial progress suprisingly easy without even realising it.
• Less pressure to perform or remember and more focus on comprehension over accuracy.

Cons

• Typically needs a teacher or material that is designed specifically for CI.
• Accuracy takes a back seat - the goal is communication not precision.

6

  TPRS

Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) is a teaching method that uses comprehensible input for second language acquisition. New words and structures are introduced with gestures, pictures and repetitive questioning techniques to transfer meaning. The new vocabulary is then used in story telling to further cement unerstanding with follow up questions about the story.

TPRS lessons should be mostly conducted in the target laguage with only minor exceptions or small structural explanations outside of it.

A technique called circling involves asking continuous personalised questions in various ways to reinforce understanding. This method may seem strange at first but there is a proven structure underlying these techniques that is similar to how we acquire our first native language.

Pros

• Understanding a story in your target language can bring a sense of achievement which is motivational to your continued learning.
• Stories can be entertaining and educational which keeps learning interesting and fun.
• Provides large amoutns of CI in a format that is engaging and reinforcing.
• Less pressure to perform or remember and more focus on comprehension over accuracy.

Cons

• Requires a teacher that has designed TPRS content specifically and presents it using TPRS techniques.
• Accuracy takes a back seat - the goal is communication, comprehension and not precision.

Wrap Up

This was a very brief introduction to several different methods for learning a second language. The aim here was to not to cover everything in detail but introduce core concepts and those methods that will be interesting to us as Chinese language learners.

You may be wondering which of these methods is the best and why I haven't ranked them or given you guidance on which to choose? Well it is because no single method on its own is an ultimate best fit for everyone.

While personally I place quite a heavy emphasis on TPRS and comprehensible input, you will see in My Approach that I have selected elements of all of these different methods to use in my Mandarin learning journey.

Of course we will all have different preferred styles and capabilities and you should tailor your personal approach with just the right mix of these methods that work well for you.