Tag: goals

Language Learning Tip #19

Problem 

“I am trying to change some of my language learning habits, and  I have ideas, but somehow I don’t put them into action.”

There are two big problems about setting goals.

  1. Figuring out the practical steps that will bring you to the goals.
  2. Taking the practical steps.

 

If it were not for these two small complications, we would reach all reach all of our goals. There would be no more war, poverty, or pollution. We would all be happy, fit, and have PhD’s.

But let’s not try to solve all those problems right not. Let’s just think about how to reach an easy goal – learning Arabic.

I have put together a tool for GAP students who need some help taking practical steps toward their Arabic LL goals. It’s called Twenty Points a Day.

TPD is a way for you to keep track of activities you can do outside of class to get you involved in the lives of Arabic speakers and to practice Arabic outside of class. You simply have a list of suggested activities that you can do each day. Each activity you do earns you points toward your goal of learning Arabic and helps you form good LL habits.

If you are interested in seeing more details of TPD ask me when you see me at GAP. I will be happy to get you started with the program.

 

Language Learning Tip #16

Problem 

“I am trying to change some of my language learning habits, and  I have ideas, but somehow I don’t put them into action.”

 Idea 

Have a weekly planning time.  I recommend that you follow these 3 principles:

  • Keep it very simple.  Don’t try to do too much at first.
  • Keep it regular. It should be at the same time each week.
  • Keep it together.  Have a special notebook for this purpose.

Think of a day each week when you have 30 minutes that you can sit without distractions.  In fact, sometimes you may only need 20 minutes to do these 4 steps.

Step 1)  Write 1-3 goals for the week. There is nothing wrong with only writing one explicit goal.

Step 2)  Make a basic written schedule outlining when you will work on those goals.  Break down the task into manageable steps. Be as specific as you can. Here are some examples of goals for the purpose of activating words you’ve learned before.

  • Review chapters 7-9 and write down 10 words I want to put in my active vocabulary
  • Speak out loud by myself using each word in two sentences (20 sentences total).
  • Use at least five of these words this week in conversation with others.

Here are some other types of goals you can set.

  • I will talk to three people for 5 minutes about __my home town   .
  • I will write down a list of 10 words that are related to __my home town   .
  •  I will practice  speaking with a tape recorder on __my home town    for 15 minutes.
  • I will try to visit (name) on (day) for (20-30 minutes) and will talk about __my home town   .

Step 3)  Evaluate your past week. Did you meet your goals?  Were your goals too big or unrealistic?  If you did this again, what would you change?  Etc.

Step 4)  Write something in your language journal.

A language journal is an activity that can be unrelated to the goal-setting outlined above, or it can be part of the whole process.  That is, whether you set goals or not, a language learning journal can be very valuable.  In fact, I would guess that journaling would be the most important part of your weekly planning and reflection.  You may even want to write in your journal more often than once a week.

Your journal should include your personal feelings about your language learning.  Write about what you liked and disliked about your language adventures this week.  When did you feel frustrated?  Did you have any breakthroughs?  What are you learning about yourself?  Your learning preferences?  Your language learning strategies?  Is there anything new you might want to try some day?

For example, “I met only half of my goals. Maybe I need to spend less time on Youtube. Am I being lazy or do I just love Youtube too much? Maybe I can try to take my iPad on my next visit and show Ahmad my favorite Youtube videos. That puppy on the skateboard just cracks me up!”

 

 


 

 

 


How Much Can I Learn?

We are often asked by prospective students how much Arabic they can learn with us or how good their Arabic will be after two years.

Measuring ability in a language can be a bit subjective but the ILR and ACTFL scales are helpful and are shown below.

But before we go any further, a word of warning.  There are  Arabic language programs which claim that a student can be ‘fluent’ in Arabic after 3 months study and even quoting students who have done this.  The results of research from the U.S. Government’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) as shown in the chart below show clearly that this is not a realistic claim.

The data here are cited by Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro in “ETS Oral Proficiency Testing Manual,” Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1982.  The data were obtained from LinguaLinks Language Learning Bookshelf.

The FSI has classified languages according to the difficulty factors for native English speakers. Group 4, the most difficult are shown in the chart above.

If you compare the graph above with the table below you will see that the FSI considers it would take an average language learner between 100 and 150 weeks at 30 hours per week to attain superior status (3 to 3+) which is the lowest level most of us would call fluent.   This is a bit more than the 3 months quoted by some programs! However, if by “fluent” you mean level 1, it may be possible.  Beware of programs who play with words to get your money, the only way to get a good standard of Arabic is time and effort and a good program.

So where would you be on the scale below after studying with us?  Well, assuming you have average aptitude for learning language and you study for the full two-year course and, of course, you will fulfil the course requirements by completing all homework assignments and mixing with local people on a regular basis, then you will attain the same level that our two year students normally do.  That is, you would be about a 2 on the scale below – Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements.  Our full-time two year program is around 75 weeks in total, if you compare the length of our program with the graph above then you will see that even this is a bold claim but we see average students on our course attaining this regularly.

Those with a gifting for language may be able to reach about a 3 – Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations.

ILR Scale ACTFL Scale Definition
5 Native Able to speak like an educated native speaker
4+
4		 Distinguished Able to speak with a great deal of fluency, grammatical accuracy, precision of vocabulary and idiomaticity
3+
3		 Superior Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations
2+ Advanced Plus Able to satisfy most work requirements and show some ability to communicate on concrete topics
2 Advanced Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements
1+ Intermediate – High Able to satisfy most survival needs and limited social demands
1 Intermediate – Mid
Intermediate – Low		 Able to satisfy some survival needs and some limited social demands
Able to satisfy basic survival needs and minimum courtesy requirements
0+ Novice – High Able to satisfy immediate needs with learned utterances
0 Novice-Mid
Novice – Low
0		 Able to operate in only a very limited capacityUnable to function in the spoken language
No ability whatsoever in the language