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1. Editor's Note
The goal of this issue is to discuss various strategies useful
for learning foreign languages.
2. Quote of the Week
There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Article
How to... Learn a Foreign Language
Foreign languages are the ideal subject area for the use of
memory techniques. Learning vocabulary is often a matter of
associating a meaningless collection of syllables with a word in
your own language.
Traditionally people have associated these words by repetition -
by saying the word in their own language and the foreign
language time and time and time and time again. You can improve
on this tedious way of learning by using three good techniques:
1. Using Mnemonics to link words
Here you are using images to link a word in your own language
with a word in a foreign language. For example, in learning
English/French vocabulary:
English: rug/carpet - French: tapis - imagine an ornate oriental
carpet with a tap as the central design woven in chrome thread
English: grumpy - French: grognon - a grumpy man groaning with
irritation
English: to tease - French: taquiner - a woman teasing her
husband as she takes in the washing.
This technique was formalized by Dr. Michael Gruneberg as the
'LinkWord' technique. He has produced language books (an example
is German by Association) in many language pairs to help
students acquire the basic vocabulary needed to get by in the
language (usually about 1000 words). It is claimed that using
this technique this basic vocabulary can be learned in just 10
hours.
2. The Town Language Mnemonic
This is a very elegant, effective mnemonic that fuses a
sophisticated variant of the Roman Room system.
This depends on the fact that the basic vocabulary of a language
relates to everyday things: things that you can usually find in
a city, town or village. To use the technique, choose a town
that you are very familiar with. Use objects within that place
as the cues to recall the images that link to foreign words.
Nouns in the town:
Nouns should be associated to the most relevant locations: for
example, the image coding the foreign word for book could be
associated with a book on a shelf in the library. You could
associate the word for bread with an image of a loaf in a
baker's shop. Words for vegetables could be associated with
parts of a display outside a greengrocer's. Perhaps there is a
farm just outside the town that allows all the animal name
associations to be made.
Adjectives in the park:
Adjectives can be associated with a garden or park within the
town: words such as green, smelly, bright, small, cold, etc. can
be easily related to objects in a park. Perhaps there is a pond
there, or a small wood, or perhaps people with different
characteristics are walking around.
Verbs in the sports center:
Verbs can most easily be associated with a sports center or
playing field. This allows us all the associations of lifting,
running, walking, hitting, eating, swimming, driving, etc.
Remembering Genders
In a language where gender is important, a very good method of
remembering this is to divide your town into two main zones. In
one zone you code information on masculine gender nouns, while
in the other zone you code information on feminine nouns. Where
the language has a neutral gender, then use three zones. You can
separate these areas with busy roads, rivers, etc. To fix the
gender of a noun, simply associate its image with a place in the
correct part of town. This makes remembering genders easy!
Many Languages, many towns
Another elegant spin-off of the technique comes when learning
several languages: normally this can cause confusion. With the
town mnemonic, all you need do is choose a different city, town
or village for each language to be learned. Ideally this might
be in the relevant country. Practically, however, you might just
decide to use a local town with the appropriate foreign flavor.
3. The hundred most common words
Tony Buzan, in his book 'Using your Memory', points out that
just 100 words comprise 50% of all words used in conversation in
a language. Learning this core 100 words gets you a long way
towards being able to speak in that language, albeit at a basic
level. The 100 basic words used in conversation are shown below:
| 1. A,an |
2. After |
3. Again |
4. All |
5. Almost |
| 6. Also |
7. Always |
8. And |
9. Because |
10. Before |
| 11. Big |
12. But |
13. (I) can |
14. (I) come |
15. Either/or |
| 16. (I) find |
17. First |
18. For |
19. Friend |
20. From |
| 21. (I) go |
22. Good |
23. Good-bye |
24. Happy |
25. (I) have |
| 26. He |
27. Hello |
28. Here |
29. How |
30. I |
| 31. (I) am |
32. If |
33. In |
34. (I) know |
35. Last |
| 36. (I) like |
37. Little |
38. (I) love |
39. (I) make |
40. Many |
| 41. One |
42. More |
43. Most |
44. Much |
45. My |
| 46. New |
47. No |
48. Not |
49. Now |
50. Of |
| 51. Often |
52. On |
53. One |
54. Only |
55. Or |
| 56. Other |
57. Our |
58. Out |
59. Over |
60. People |
| 61. Place |
62. Please |
63. Same |
64. (I) see |
65. She |
| 66. So |
67. Some |
68. Sometimes |
69. Still |
70. Such |
| 71. (I) tell |
72. Thank you |
73. That |
74. The |
75. Their |
| 76. Them |
77. Then |
78. There is |
79. They |
80. Thing |
| 81. (I) think |
82. This |
83. Time |
84. To |
85. Under |
| 86. Up |
87. Us |
88. (I) use |
89. Very |
90. We |
| 91. What |
92. When |
93. Where |
94. Which |
95. Who |
| 96. Why |
97. With |
98. Yes |
99. You |
100. Your |
Extract reproduced from Use Your Memory by Tony Buzan with the
permission of BBC Worldwide Limited, © Tony Buzan
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