In English, I have achieved a certain level of fluency that is sufficient for functioning efficiently in society, but still does not represent my personality adequately. Hence, I constantly work on expanding my vocabulary. A couple of weeks ago, my English-speaking friend mentioned the word “laborious.” I figured out that it derived from the word […]
SLA
Private Tutors vs. Language Partners
We live in a wonderful, exciting time. With so many language exchange platforms available today, everybody with a smartphone may learn any language at no cost. Yet, along with LE applications and websites, language learning marketplaces for private tutors and students are booming. Who wants to pay for a tutor, when everybody can practice any […]
Rules? What Rules?
A few days ago, I watched a video of an English lesson for foreign students. Observing other teachers working with real students is a part of the Teaching English as Second Language certification, so I watched a young lady explaining to her students how to add the ending -(e)s to English verbs in the Present […]
What Language Learning Is Like
Since languages are often a part of a school curriculum, many people believe that learning a new language is like learning algebra or physics. It is not. Algebra and physics take understanding. Learning a new language takes development of new skills, and it has more similarities with playing music, dancing, driving a car, and other […]
Language Learning And Real World
Once a student of mine explained to me in good Russian that he was bad at learning languages. He explained to me exactly why he was incapable of speaking Russian for thirty minutes. When I pointed out that he had been speaking Russian for thirty minutes in a row, he was shocked. Another student told […]
Learning vs. Acquisition
During my scholarly life, I have learned many languages – English, German, French, Bulgarian, even Latin and Old Slavonic. The only language that I practiced outside the classroom was English. No wonder the only second language I can actually speak is English. How is it that despite learning German, French, and Latin for three years […]
Anxiety
Quite a lot of my students have told me that they feel anxious when speaking Russian. They are good at many other language activities like listening comprehension, reading and even writing. However, the mere idea that they have to say something in Russian makes them panic. “It’s like my mind goes all blank when I […]
Your Mother-Tongue Is Not Always The Language Your Mother Speaks
During three years of living in an English speaking country, I have learned a lot about language learning. Under the pressure of reality and facts, I had to revise many ideas regarding second language acquisition I learned back at the university. The theory of first exposure to one’s the mother-tongue is one of them. According […]
Nobody Speaks That Language Here
Isn’t it hilarious that in 2015, when the world is globalized and connected, many people still believe they should have native speakers around to practice their target language? “Nobody speaks that language where I live, so I can’t practice it”, they say. The most amusing part of it is that those people are usually confident […]
More Than One Right Choice
Language learners are usually afraid of making mistakes. When you learn a new language and try to put your ideas into words, you always hesitate. You naturally ask: what is the right way to say this? There’s nothing wrong with this question, but there is a trap one should be aware of: there is always […]