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Learning a New Language
Learning a New Language

Learn English: ESL Lesson about learning new languages

Date: Feb 18 2020

Themes: School, Travel

Grammar: Simple Past Tense

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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As a kid, learning a new language is pretty easy. In fact, the younger you are, the easier it will be. Once you become a teenager, it’s harder to learn a second language. And adults can definitely build conversational skills, but it’s even harder as you get older.

The best way to gain fluency in any second language is to listen to it 24/7. You can have an aptitude for language and the ability to memorize new words, but you will pick up any language faster when you hear and speak it every day. Not only that, but your accent will be far better than if you learn it from a book. Just one more reason why traveling is so cool!

Listen to Gary and Julie talk about their experiences with learning new languages in today’s English lesson.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Julie

Julie

Gary

Gary

Julie:  So, Gary…

Gary:  Yeah.

Julie:  Do you speak any languages other than English?

Gary:  I can speak very little Spanish and Japanese.

Julie:  Did you learn them when you were in school, or did you live somewhere outside of the US?

Gary:  Good question! I learned Japanese while I was living in Japan, so Japanese was around me 24/7. So it was pretty easy. Do you have an aptitude to learn new languages?

Julie:  I think I do. I do. I studied French when I was a teenager, and I studied Spanish in college. And because those languages are so similar, I think that helped me to build fluency in both of them. Well, I shouldn’t say… I’m not fluent. I would say I have conversational skills.

Gary:  But it was much easier for you to be able to memorize different words because in Spanish and French they were very similar.

Julie:  Sometimes the verbs are almost identical. It was easier for me to pick up Spanish because I could think about the word in French. Would you say that being in Japan also helped with your accent? Do you know what I mean?

Gary:  Yeah. I think I heard certain words that were spoken in a specific way. And in fact, I learned a Tokyo-based accent, versus an Osaka-type accent.

Julie:  That’s interesting.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Gary and Julie have both studied different languages. Gary speaks some Spanish and a lot of Japanese. He lived in Japan, so he heard the language 24/7, which made it easier for him to learn.

Julie learned Spanish and French in school. Because the languages are very similar, she was able to develop conversational skills in both. One day Julie may even have fluency in these languages. It takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it!

Do you speak more than one language? Is it difficult to learn a new language?

 

Comments

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ScienceBoy

ScienceBoy

Turkey

Dear Shoba, 


Interesting teaching technique :) But it might not be so useful for generous students. But it’s definitely tye best way to teach tot stingy ones :)


04:49 PM Feb 16 2015 |

ScienceBoy

ScienceBoy

Turkey

Learrning a new language..what a wondeful topic to discuss. Learrning a new language is one of my biggest passions. I am passionate about science and languages. It’s so fun.


I’m currently learning English. I am not a beginner but I have a long way to go. I want to be fluent in English. After thant I want to learn some other languages too. Like Spanish and French. And Arabic of course.


Books teach us how to read and write, not how to speak. Speaking is the most difficult part. They say the best way of learning a language is to live among native speakers. In an American TV Show (LOST), I remember someone said “The best way of learning a language is to have a bf/gf who speaks this language” Teaching your bf/gf a new language would be the best gift ever, I guess :)


The most important thing is to “live the language”. We may not be able to live among native speake but we still can live the language we want to pick up. We can make this language part of our daily life. 


04:43 PM Feb 16 2015 |

Shoba

Shoba

Sri Lanka



Dear Julito,


Thank you for your nice words. Next time I feel like giving up I’ll try to remember them.


Your story about your British teacher reminds me of something.


When we were in 6th-9th grade we had an English teacher who used a very interesting method to make us talk in English.


He kept a piggy bank in the classroom and we had to put a one rupee coin for each and every word we uttered in our mother tongue.


Soon the piggy bank was getting full and our pockets were getting empty.


At one point, we had no choice but to open our mouths and talk in English even if we sounded terrible.



04:27 PM Feb 16 2015 |

Seiyf_khawas

Turkey

to learn a new language is always wonderful and excited ,but hard too :) 


certainly, to learn it in the early teenager period is easier but its also an obligatory for fresh brains..there is no other choice for them …when people became adults ,to learn it is harder..maybe its true..but we are getting adults,mature for this,for making hardthings easier..and ı believe ,there is no age for learning anything,


only there is a problem , many people learn a new language for better job,good salary,ı mean they have an aim for this…less people learn it for hobby and communicatıon..and learning it byself is very hard ..coz you need to use it everyday for remembering words,patterns…


03:01 PM Feb 16 2015 |

imtiaz433

imtiaz433

Pakistan

Totally agree with the conccept of Lesson. I also tried to learn Turkish once online through books. but i wasn’t effective at early stages. and then a friend suggested me to listen to songs in Turkish and it was really helping.. :)...

02:29 PM Feb 16 2015 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Criz.  you are reading my mind.  I just wanted to say that  native people like when  they hear that they are being  spoken with an accent.  I do not if french people hold the same attitude .If anybody knows better i would like to know.

02:28 PM Feb 16 2015 |

1 person likes this

Crizsearch

Crizsearch

Indonesia

julito  ..... You are right my dear friend. I remember when foreigner come to my country and they speak Indonesian. We are happy to hear it. We smile and really do appreciate it. I guess if we do the same, they will feel the same. Don’t you think?


02:22 PM Feb 16 2015 |

ayhaan

ayhaan

Turkey

It was usefull Lesson ;) thank you

02:03 PM Feb 16 2015 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Dear Criz.   


A knowledgeable american english tutor  says that  unless we have  learned a foreign language in our childhood  we will speak with an accent .  Native people will know immediately  that we are foreigners . The important thing is to be able to communicate :)))

01:55 PM Feb 16 2015 |

Crizsearch

Crizsearch

Indonesia

In  my school, we learn English as foreign language and I knew that very little of my friends who like it, well I’m talking about school day of course, every time we try to find excuses so that we can skip the class. I admit I was one of them because at first I really didn’t like English till I went to Singapore for awhile and lives there then I knew that I really love it and wanna learn more about it. No,the condition force me to learn hehe. You know that it is not that easy especially when we stick to our mother tongue language but by keep practicing, listening to songs, speak to native, it will help though our accent is still the same. At least people will understand  what we are talking about. Oh I speak a little mandarin but too bad that I cannot write the characters. The accent of English and mandarin I found out that so much different. I do love both anyway. I tried to learn Indian language but I think that’s not easy as well so I stop. I’m happy to know a few other languages though. It helps me communicate with others. Not bad.

01:28 PM Feb 16 2015 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

I still remember my first english teacher , i was very young  back then when after office hours i took up classes with Mrs. Hutchinson ,a gracious British lady . On and off, i have been studying english many times , i can read well  ,and depending on the speaker i manage to  understand most of the dialogue. The problem with me is oral communication, it is hard to me to let  the spoken english flow  .The problem is that we are afraid to make mistakes and being embarrassed in public. This fear holds many students back . Childrens learn quickly  because they are not afraid at all.  


Dear Shoba


you are not an old dog  that can`t learn new tricks , you are young and smart , ultimately  you will succeed .  

11:14 AM Feb 16 2015 |

hattomi

hattomi

Yemen

I learned English wihen I was a teenager, I was obsessed about it I learned 24/7, even when I was thinking I used English, but when I started to study Japanese and french I had some difficulties, I think it’s because I’m not practicing them in my daily life.

09:59 AM Feb 16 2015 |

Shoba

Shoba

Sri Lanka



Apart from English, currently I’m learning Sinhala language which is the native language of Sri Lankans.


Like the lesson points out, I find learning a new language from scratch very challenging. I have to put a lot of time and effort into it, and my progress is very very slow. 


Contrarily, learning English does not require that much time and effort because I have been learning it from an early age and it is around me most of the time due to the internet. 


In my view, yes, learning a new language is difficult for me, maybe I don’t have an aptitude to it. And it’s even more difficult when I try to pick up a completely new language in my late twenties. 


That’s why they probably say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!”




08:04 AM Feb 16 2015 |

Javi_920

Javi_920

Argentina

I think after watching soo many episodes from shows, such as Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Friends, etc, etc, etc, I’ve learnt a lot of what they say (vocabulary, accent, etc). I watch that shows with spanish subtitles but I do like to hear the characters when they’re speaking in english.


Maybe one of the hardest thing for me is “the listening part”. If I watch a movie or show with english subtitles, I get most of it. But if I’m just with my ears it’s another story.

04:29 AM Feb 16 2015 |

S&W

S&W

China

Besides english ,I also learned japanese.I know clearly what Gary mentioned Tokyo-based accent and Osaca-based accent.I agree with you on that point Gary,Tokyo is better.Living a foreign country is the best way to learn a foreign language.Not everyone has the chance to living or traveling another country.Thanks to EB provide a great place for us to learn english.Like Julie3,i often watch movies,listen to music and contact with friends by skype and email.I have to say ,learning foreign brings more fun to my life and also open a new world for me


01:48 AM Feb 16 2015 |

Julie3

Julie3

Russian Federation

we are here to learn English which is new and foreign for us. as a teacher I absolutely know that just reading and writing are not enough. Listening and speaking are very essential. When I don’t travel I watch movies, listen to  the courses, podcasts in English.  Try to talk over the phone or Skype with my friends. All 4 modules make the whole picture. But traveling is the best of all, of course.


my dream is to learn Spanish and Arabic. But I have to work hard to be more or less fluent.


10:00 AM Feb 13 2015 |

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