I once heard someone say that you can tell the difference between a native speaker and a very advanced language learner by their prepositions, and I think it’s true. I think it’s one of those things that comes last in a language because they’re so often attached to phrasal verbs. For example, in French, we… Read More Prepositions: Teaching in a foreign language
I feel really strongly about errors as a language teacher. It’s so interesting, because I think in this profession, we want to be accurate, effective and correct in our communication. And of course, we want that for our students. The instinct sometimes can be to correct everything that’s wrong. We think if we correct an… Read More A Fun Way to Correct Errors for EFL, ELT, Spanish, French, German & Italian Classes
Language Instruction: Checklist for a Proficiency-oriented Classroom Did you know that less than 1 percent of Americans are proficient in a language that they studied at school, according The Atlantic? In 2016, there were 110 million users on Duolingo, a top online language platform. People want to learn new languages. There are now more… Read More Language Instruction: Checklist for a Proficiency-oriented Classroom
Learn Japanese through survival language Learn Japanese through Survival Language Survival language is one of the fastest ways to learn Japanese. Are you familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Basically, we need to get our survival needs met first before we get into anything else. Where you are traveling to Japan any time soon, or… Read More Learn Japanese through Survival
Japanese expression for “my name is..” My name is…….. Original 私 の 名前 は、・・・ ・・・ です。 Romaji Watashi No Namae Wa、・・・ ・・・ Desu。 Want to learn more Japanese than “my name is…”? Check out these words and phrases for meeting and greeting here: Hello Original こんにちは Romaji Konnichiwa Good morning. Original おはよう Romaji Ohayou Good afternoon.… Read More Japanese expression for “my name is”
Travel is one of the ways to learn Japanese (or any language). Here are some unexpected benefits of learning Japanese through travel: You get communicating right away. You do this by learning language in chunks–meaningful pieces that get a person communicating right away. You learn grammar and vocabulary completely in context. This makes it much… Read More Learn Japanese through Travel
Japanese: Learn through Culture Learn Japanese through culture with these experiences unique to Japan. Stay in a ryokan 旅館 Japanese-style inn. They often have tatami mats and futon for sleeping, and offer guests yukata. Many have an onsen (hot spring bath) as well. Stay in a capsule hotel カプセルホテル Hotel room, just big enough for sleeping.… Read More Japanese: Learn about Culture
Fluency in Spanish (or ANY Language) through Games and Movement Spanish fluency (or fluency in any language) is not as difficult to achieve as some might believe. I have achieved fluency in Spanish and French. I am a B-1 level speaker of Italian. I still speak some Japanese and Korean after leaving Asia in 2006.… Read More Fluency in Spanish (or ANY Language) through Games and Movement
Learn Japanese through Food Learning about foods is one of the most effective ways to learn about language and culture. Here are some common foods found in Japan. You will see the word written first in Romaji, and then in Japanese. Survival and everyday language are great ways to learn a new language. Start to… Read More Learn Japanese through Food