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Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an ELT Teacher Trainer, English language learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. He has published more than 350 articles and academic papers and presented at numerous EFL teacher training and TEFL conferences throughout North America, South America and Europe. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
January 4, 2008
This article will show you how to learn to speak Spanish online as Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages used today, heir of a big ephemeral colonial empire, spoken in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
Learning to speak Spanish online can be to your advantage if you are planning a trip to Mexico, Spain or another Spanish-speaking country. Taking the time to learn to Spanish online before the trip will allow you to better enjoy the culture and the people. It is also an advantage, as you can communicate better.
When learning how to speak Spanish online try to follow the points below.
1) Stay motivated
2) Don?t be afraid and learn from your mistakes
3) Master the basics before trying to get to advanced
One Program that has helped me invaluably is the FSI Spanish Program. It is extremely thorough and Pays special attention to precise pronunciation. It is Available in CD, tape and download formats. It is the same Spanish course that the U.S. Government’s Department of State developed and used for decades to teach diplomats and other key government personnel that have to quickly learn how to speak Spanish fluently.
You will get instant access to Over 17 Hours of Recorded Spanish and Begin Learning to Speak Spanish Within Minutes. It saved me time and money and recommend it 100%.
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Learn to Speak Spanish online by Signing up for a free lesson
Learn To Speak Spanish Online
Click Here For A Free Lesson
October 5, 2007
You spent a fortune buying the most expensive Spanish language course that money can buy. You can?t wait to get started. All your high hopes are there, just waiting for the miracle to take place: you will finally be able to master this elusive language that for years has been haunting your mind. You will have all the time in the world to sit in front of those premium quality videos and superb exercises developed by the most authoritative experts in the field. You will be able to study at your own pace as often as you want, at any time of the day or night, comes hell or high water. Besides, those convincing testimonials you read about people who were once in your shoes and now are experts in the language cannot be wrong. You can?t help but admire all those regular Joes who became proficient in 30 days or less. You are now one step from becoming one of them. Nothing will stop you now. You are bound to succeed. The sky is the limit.
Have you ever felt like this? If so, you are not alone. Day after day thousands of Spanish learners spend fortunes in language courses that offer what we mentioned above and even more. Failure is not even a possibility. However, after trying these miraculous courses for a couple of days, weeks and some even months, you begin to wonder why it is that you are not seeing the promised results. You are doing each single exercise, sometimes even several times a day. You are repeating every single phrase and word you come across in your course, you are even making imaginary dialogues in your mind all day long. Nevertheless, you cannot communicate.
How come? All those people could not be wrong. There must be something wrong with you then. After all, if everyone but you succeeded, it may mean you are not cut out to learn a second language. After several unsuccessful attempts, you may start to believe the course was not that good after all. You feel down in the dumps. You have come to realize that after 30 days you do not speak the language proficiently. You have learned a few phrases though, but in spite of that, even if you had to use them you would not know when or how. Or what is someone said something a bit different from what you repeated hundreds of time. Would you be able to recognize it? What if they pronounced a bit faster or with a different intonation than those of the language course? That was good Spanish! So clear and slow that you could understand every single word the speaker said! So perfect that?.no one in real life uses it?. Have you ever felt like this? If so, here you are not alone either.
What is sad is to see that in spite of this, many learners overcome their initial frustration by? buying the next Spanish course they come across. Time and again they engage in a vicious circle which yields nothing but frustration. If this describes you, I would encourage you to have a look at these suggested readings which will be the focus of our next newsletter (At the bottom of this article). These readings will provide you with some background knowledge that I feel every second language learner needs in order to make informed decisions of what can help him or her in their learning, rather than jumping blindfoldedly to buy whatever is offered to them.
In our next issue we will discuss:
1) Why most language courses fail time and again.
2) Are audio and video courses per se enough to make you a proficient speaker of a second language? What does research on first language acquisition say about this issue?
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Julio Foppoli is a teacher of English as a Second Language and a teacher of Spanish as a Second Language. He is the founder and chairman of ESAUDIO.net, an educational website especializing in developing and providing effective language programs for Adult learners, delivered via audio-conference. To read the rest of this article with suggested links, please visit http://www.esaudio.net/mini-articles
One of the most baffling things about learning Spanish is that, somewhere along the line, students realize that the Spanish they hear spoken by native speakers may or may not be the same Spanish that they had been taught at their university or high school.
Say, for example, it?s your first time traveling in Latin America and you go into a green grocer?s in Buenos Aires to ask the price of a box of strawberries that you saw in the display stand.
??Cu?nto cuestan las fresas?? you ask, proud of your linguistic skills ? the complete sentence, the verb that is properly conjugated, the Spanish 101 vocabulary that you remembered at just the right moment.
But instead of smiling and answering your question, the green grocer stares at you blankly, as if you have two horns growing out of the top of your head: ??Eh?? It?s the reaction that every foreigner learns to know and to dread.
Your problem isn?t that you have a faulty memory ? in Spain they would have understood you perfectly ? it?s just that you?ve stumbled across one of the many linguistic variations in Spanish. Whereas in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world ?fresas? is indeed the correct word for strawberries, in Argentina they are more commonly known as ?frutillas.?
Frustrating? Yes. But should it be entirely unexpected? Just think about English and how many different ways the same thing can be expressed: a truck in the US is known as a lorry in Britain, and the Americans? bathroom is known by the Brits as a loo; an American eraser is known as a rubber in England, whereas a rubber in the US is . . . Needless to say, the potential for confusion, and even embarrassment, is hardly lacking, especially if you?re a foreign speaker who is new to the language.
It?s no different in Spanish. Languages are big, complex phenomena and the ways we express things are constantly changing. Naturally, after several hundred years of minor mutations, the Spanish spoken in Mexico is somewhat different from the Spanish spoken in Argentina, which in turn is different from the Spanish spoken in Spain.
But that?s not to say that the native speakers from these different countries can?t understand one another ? because they can. The differences between their ways of speaking the language are most likely to be a source of amusement and interest than anything else, something along the lines of: ?You mean you guys say ?frutilla?? Really? Because here we say ?fresa?.?
That?s one of the great things about studying abroad: that you can become aware of the things which make language a living creature ? unpredictable and surprising ? rather than an artifact from a textbook.
Neutral Spanish isn?t spoken in any Spanish speaking country or city. Becoming aware of regional differences between the varieties of the language, as well as the things which the language has in common and which tie its 400 million speakers together, is part of the fun ? and the challenge ? of learning the language.
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Scott Ferree is a translator and English instructor, as well as the study abroad coordinator for the Interhispanica Language School in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
http://www.interhispanica.com.ar
In our previous article we described a typical scenario that most adult second language learners face today. They want to master a language and they want to do it fast. After some brief research on the Internet, they decide to invest a huge amount of money on the latest ?failure-proof? Spanish course supposedly created by experts that made so many people speak overnight! (One wonders where these speakers are!) After working hard watching videos and doing grammar and vocabulary exercises time and again, they come to the conclusion that, although they may have learned lots of vocabulary and phrases, if they had to engage in a real conversation with a real native speaker of the language, they would be in deep trouble.
I am sure that many of you will feel identified with this situation and unfortunately, this is a common scenario nowadays. Adult learners are usually lured by the mere thought of learning Spanish (or any other language!) without any kind of physical boundaries or time constraints. The idea of learning a language at any time and in the comfort of their living rooms, bedrooms or even their bathrooms sounds appealing to them. Time or place are not that important, they say. Why working with a teacher if you have everything you need inside one little CD or DVD? There so many videos there, native speaker voices, vocabulary drills, audio exercises, pronunciation practice and so on and so forth that the idea of having an instructor to actually ?teach? you anything seems to be a thing of the past.
However, no matter how much time, money, and effort you could put into making this program work for them, soon enough you will be confronted with the harsh fact:
Fact #1
You cannot learn a language without interaction.
Empirical research in First Language Acquisition and Second Language Acquisition clearly shows that without interaction, language acquisition cannot take place. Clear and simple, right? Leading linguists and neurolinguists specializing in language acquisition agree on this: interaction with another human being is essential to acquire a language. If you did your homework and read the articles I suggested last week, you may have a clearer picture in this respect now. The following passage is a quotation from an article published by TIME magazine on January 8th, 2006 entitled ?Want a Brainer Baby?,? based on studies carried out by Patricia Kuhl, PhD. Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl is a Co-Director of the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences. Her research focuses on language acquisition and language processing by the brain.
? CDs and DVDs designed to teach a baby Spanish or Chinese are also problematic. Patricia Kuhl, who studies acquisition at the University of Washington, conducted an experiment comparing the effects of Chinese audio recordings for children and a Chinese-speaking human. She had a native Mandarin speaker play with a group of babies while speaking Chinese for 12 sessions of 25 minutes each over a four-week period. Later she tested the babies and was able to demonstrate that they recognized Mandarin sounds. But when she repeated the experiment with three control groups ? one set of babies that saw the Chinese speaker play with babies on video, another that listened to an audio recording of the Chinese woman playing and a third that had no exposure to the Chinese speaker ? none seem to perceive Mandarin sounds. Apparently, the presence of a living, breathing human was essential. There?s a lesson there for any parent who wants to encourage early learning. Most experts agree that what matters most is not what toy the baby plays with, but the ways in which you interact with your child.(?) But the good news is none of this costs any money. Babies prefer humans over anything inanimate.
One Key difference between human interaction and even the most sophisticated educational tool is that interpersonal exchanges engage all the senses ? sight, sound, smell, taste and, very important, touch.?
What are the implications of Dr Kuhl?s research for you, a student interested in acquiring a second language? Even though her research is based on first language acquisition AND in babies, and although there are some differences between first and second language acquisition as well as child and adult language acquisition, a fact remains the same:
In order to acquire a language you need someone to interact with!
This raises too many questions about the effectiveness of those so called ?failiure-proof? language programs on DVD or CD roms, aimed at replacing the teacher or even any contact with the real Spanish world. Why? Because even if they were the best materials that money can buy, there is something they cannot provide you with:
INTERACTION
Many say they are interactive, just because you have to do something yourself for the computer to continue or assess you. But is that really interaction? Not in the least. No program at present has the capability of following even a basic conversation with anyone, either native or non-native speaker. They can just process simple responses and offer no real sample or feedback on how the language is used in the real world. Those materials could be considered, in the best of cases, good supplements to a language course given by a real human being. However, stating that they are the ?ultimate solution? or ?the only tool you will even need? or even stating that they ?Immere you completely in your new language so you?ll learn quickly and retain what you learn? is downright false.
Dr Kuhl?s findings go in line with those of Stephen Krashen?s, probably the most authoritative word in the field of Second Language Acquisition. Stephen Krashen (University of Southern California) is an expert in the field of linguistics, specializing in theories of language acquisition and development. Much of his recent research has involved the study of non-English and bilingual language acquisition.
After extensive research on second language acquisition, he came to the following conclusions:
‘Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill.’
What do most language courses offer almost exclusively? Grammatical rules, and LOTS of drilling (and when I say LOTS I mean it!)
‘Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.’
What do ALL courses on DVD and CD rom offer? A total focus on the form of the utterances. How you say something is more important for them than the context in which it is said.
What don?t those courses offer? Meaningful communication. You cannot communicate with anyone simply because there is no one there for you! You are just talking to some language software. Is that real immersion in the language? Would you consider the main focus is to get students conveying meaning and understanding?
‘The best methods are therefore those that supply ‘comprehensible input’ in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are ‘ready’, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production.’
Traditional courses on DVD and CD Rom FORCE students to produce from the very first contact they have with the new language. There is only ONE and NOT two or three answers. Communication is not the focus. It is form. Does this seem to go in line with these empirical findings on how languages are acquired? Definitely not!
‘In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very helpful.’
Can you actually have a conversation with a CD Rom or a DVD? You can repeat and hopefully learn a few phrases at best, so does a parrot. Does that mean that a parrot can communicate? Does that mean that YOU will learn to speak from those sources alone?
In conclusion, as we have seen, any successful language program has to incorporate real chances for students to interact, to engage in meaningful communication.
Think and reflect upon the two questions we asked in our previous article:
1) Why do most language courses fail time and again?
2) Are audio and video courses per se enough to make you a proficient speaker of a second language? What does research on first language acquisition say about this issue?
If you have any comments about this article, do not hesitate to contact me.
Your feedback and suggestions are more than welcome. I will be looking forward to hearing from you.
I hope you have enjoyed this first issue as much as I did while creating it.
?Que tengan una semana fant?stica!
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Julio Foppoli is the founder and Chairman of ESAUDIO.net. an educational website specializing in teaching Spanish as a Second Language via audio-conferencing.He is a teacher of English as a Second Language and a Teacher of Spanish as a Second Language (UTN - Universidad Tecnologica Nacional, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
To subscribe his weekly Spanish newsletter or to find out more about his articles, please visit http://www.esaudio.net/mini-articles
September 22, 2007
There are certain things that every single civilization needs to survive and thrive. Without these things are civilization would crumble under its own weight. Recently I have heard people talk about the language barrier between Hispanics moving into the country from Mexico and the English language, which we already speak.
Currently, there is a shortage of Spanish-speaking nurses in our hospitals in America and it causes quite a bit of controversy. People who need medical attention and do not speak English make it really tough on doctors who are trying to provide care for them.
The language issues are intense indeed, but we deal with that and we have International Airports. English is used often around the world. Lang waged and communication is one of the most important flows of our civilization. Here is a list of what I consider to be the top priorities for a stable and strong civilization;
- Water
- Power
- Waste
- Common Currency
- Communication
- Transportation
- Distribution
- Protection
- Education
You must always consider these, each one affects every one of the others to some degree and the observer is also involved in the whole thing too. The butterfly affect of studying the weather is the same. Everything affects everything else. Yes line which is a very important part of our civilization, as the communication helps the efficiencies of the way we do things. We need to concentrate on this aspect and consider these truths. Please think on this in 2006.
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‘Lance Winslow’ - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
September 20, 2007
Many of you already know how Peri and I like the Turkish cartoon-humor of ‘Maganda’ (The Lout), the cartoon-strip that we first found in G?zc? Gazetesi (The Watchman Newspaper) 6 or 7 years ago. We’ve appreciated the cartoon-series on multiple levels…because of its value in helping us explain the meaning of Turkish idioms and cultural ‘idiosyncrasies’ — and because of its pure cartoonist humor, usually somewhat politically-incorrect, that makes us laugh.
In the typical cartoon example seen here, when The Lout is caught in flagrante dilecto by his wife in their marital bed with a pretty young stranger, the wife shouts, ‘Whaaat?! You’re in my bed…with another woman, huh?’ The Lout, in his usual dim-witted and weaselly way, tries to excuse his behaviour saying, ‘Don’t be angry, my dear wife…I can explain. You see, while you were away, this young lady dropped by to collect donations for charity. After I gave her some of your old dresses and shoes, she asked, ‘Is there anything else that your wife doesn’t use?’ — So that’s how we landed in bed.’
For most of the years after we discovered the cartoon series, the cartoonist was Volkan Atalay — up through the end of 2005, in fact. But in 2006, the cartoon-strip got a name change and a new cartooning artist. It’s still as appealing as ever, but it’s now called ‘Kaygisiz’ — which literally means ‘carefree, untroubled’. Figuratively speaking, ‘Kaygisiz’ also carries a sort of a MAD Magazine, Alfred E. Newman, ‘What Me Worry’ connotation. And though the cartooning is now done by Ergin Asyali, the main loutish character is unmistakably the same that Volkan Bey first introduced.
Now, the question is… what happened to Volkan Bey? We’ve wanted to contact him to thank him for the many years he entertained us — and helped us explain Turkish language points on our website. But we haven’t had any luck. If one of our readers knows how we might reach him, please drop us a line… Else, point him to this article so that he may know of our appreciative admiration for his superlative cartooning artistry.
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Jim and (co-author) Perihan Masters are a husband and wife team,
living on the Aegean Coast of Turkey just 50 miles south of Izmir. Jim
was born in Shanghai, China — of American military parentage. Peri
was born on the Black Sea coast of Turkey near Trabzon, of Turkish
military parentage…Enticed by a Financial Times advertisement, Jim
joined a NATO sponsored enterprise in Ankara in 1974 where he met the
beautiful and brainy Perihan, a rising young Turkish banking
executive. Settled now in the heart of what was once the ancient
Ionian Empire — the couple live an idyllic life by the sea.. writing,
drawing and painting, teaching English, and providing computing
service support to local businesses. They also sponsor the MSNBC
award-winning Learning Practical
Turkish Website which has built an enthusiastic international
following of devoted Turkophiles and inquisitive language students of
all ages.
September 10, 2007
First, I?d like to clear up a common misconception: ?Castellano? and ?espa?ol? are two words for the same thing ? and both words mean Spanish. If someone asks you, ??Habl?s castellano?? they want to know if you speak Spanish, not if you speak ?Argentine.? I only point this out because many students, when they first come to Argentina, will think that castellano is a word which refers to the Argentine variety of Spanish, but in fact it simply means Spanish.
So why are there two words for Spanish: ?espa?ol? and ?castellano? and why do you more commonly hear the latter when people are speaking in Spanish?
It has to do with the modern-day politics of Spain, and in particular, the relationship of Spain?s minority cultures and languages to the dominant (Castilian) language and culture. It?s more politically correct to say ?castellano? rather than ?espa?ol? ? because by saying the latter you are, in effect, belittling the other regional languages of Spain (such as Basque and Catalan) which are in fact also Spanish languages in the sense of being languages that are spoken in Spain. Castellano was, itself, once only a regional language of Spain, and even though it?s now the dominant language, calling it ?castellano? instead of ?espa?ol? is ? it is thought ? more respectful to the minority cultures, since it puts all of the languages of the Iberian Peninsula on a, more or less, even linguistic footing. (In spite of this, Spanish, on the other hand, continues to be the preferred word in foreign circles when the language is referred to as a second language, hence giving rise to the confusion.)
However, that?s neither here nor there, because the Spanish which is spoken in Latin America is all castellano, or Castilian Spanish.
The variety of Castilian Spanish which is spoken in Argentina?s capital city, meanwhile, is known as the castellano del R?o de la Plata, so named for the river which bisects the region and separates Argentina from Uruguay to the north.
Argentines will be the first to admit ? proudly, because they are a very proud people ? that their way of speaking Spanish is one-of-a-kind. The Spanish which is spoken in Buenos Aires is marked by strong immigrant influences ? notably that of the Italians. In addition, this Spanish has conserved certain traits of bygone eras, most notably the use of the ?vos? pronoun (which, with its 17th century echoes, sometimes strikes other Spanish speakers as amusing, somewhat akin to what it would sound like to hear modern day English spoken with a Shakespearian ?thee?). Finally, the Spanish of the R?o de la Plata is highly inventive and is noted for its use of local slang, known as ?lunfardo.?
Here are a few of the principal traits of Argentine Spanish, with examples (you can skip this part if you don?t already speak some Spanish):
1) The pronoun ?vos.? The pronoun ?vos,? even though ubiquitous and a little jarring at first, is actually remarkably easy to use and to get used to. The ?vos? simply replaces the informal you (t?) pronoun. Verbs are conjugated by dropping the last letter ?r? of the infinitive, replacing it with an ?s,? and adding an accent to the final syllable of the verb. The conjugation is thus significantly more regular than it is with the ?t?? pronoun, which is wrought with irregular forms. Examples of the use of ?vos? include: ?Vos viv?s en Argentina? (You live in Argentina.) ?Vos habl?s castellano.? (You speak Spanish.) The only irregular verb used with ?vos? is the verb ?ser?. This is conjugated with ?sos? (in place of ?eres? from the t? form). Example: ?Vos sos de Argentina.? (You are from Argentina). In the other tenses (past, future, conditional, and subjunctive, ?vos? is conjugated in exactly the same way as ?t?.?)
2) The letters ll and y in Argentine Spanish are pronounced with a soft sh sound. Example: ?Yo me llamo? sounds like ?sho me shamo?; or ?calle? is pronounced like ?cashe.?
3) Lunfardo. These can include sometimes untranslatable words such as ?vivo? ? a word that is used to denote a person who can get away with things; a hustler. A related term is ?avivarse?: to get wise to things; gain experience; learn not to get taken advantage of. Another popular expression, with origins in lunfardo, is ?che? which is roughly equivalent to the English ?hey.? Certain Argentines use the word ?che? all the time, especially when they?re angry. As in ?Che, what are you doing? Che, where are you going? Che, get back here!? This way of speaking was how Ernesto ?Che? Gueverra, apparently an easily frustrated person, was given his nickname.
4) Other words. Mainly related to food. Examples: Peach: known in many Spanish-speaking countries as melocot?n; in Argentina (and Mexico), durazno. Strawberry: known in other Spanish-speaking countries as fresa; in Argentina, frutilla.
The point, if you?re attempting to learn the language, is not to get overwhelmed. The similarities between Argentine Spanish and other varieties to which you might have had more prior exposure are really much greater than the differences, which are mostly fairly minor. Give yourself a few days at the beginning of your stay to get used to the new accent and to hearing the word ?vos? thrown around, and within no time you?ll be having a great time expanding your knowledge of ?lunfardo? and benefitting from those things ? language related or not ? which make a stay in Argentina truly unique.
A final note: it?s not necessary to learn how to speak Spanish exactly like an Argentine does. If you?ve already learned to speak Spanish using the ?t?? form, don?t worry, Argentines will be able to understand you (though they?ll most likely respond to you with ?vos.?) Many of the students at our language school choose to focus on learning the ?t?? form of most verbs, since in future travels, or upon returning to their home countries, they will need to be familiar with this form of Spanish usage. The important thing is that you are exposed to how the language is used, both in Argentina and in other countries, so that you are able to react and respond to the language, however and wherever it?s spoken.
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Scott Ferree is a translator and English instructor, as well as the study abroad coordinator for the Interhispanica Language School in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
www.interhispanica.com.ar
August 27, 2007
It really seems so easy. Just put on the CD or tapes, relax in bed and learn English (or another foreign language) while you sleep. Have you ever seen those ads that say, ?Learn English While Sleeping? or that promise ?effortless? language learning by listening to a tape or CD while you relax or take a nap? With the continual rise in the study of English as a foreign or second language, (EFL, ESL) progressive TEFL English and foreign language teachers, foreign language learners, and educational administrators need to be aware of the implications posed by claims of ?learning English (or another foreign language) while you sleep. To better understand the processes involved let?s first look at each of them individually in turn. In this first part of the series, we?ll examine the elements of sleep.
What is Sleep?
The state of sleep is generally defined as ?the resting state in which the body is not active and the mind is unconscious.? A more extensive definition is offered by Webster?s New World Dictionary (third ed., 1989); ?sleep: a natural, regularly occurring condition of rest for the body and mind, during which the eyes are usually closed and there is little or no conscious thought or voluntary movement, but there is intermittent dreaming?.
Sleep is also likened to death. In the Holy Bible (NWT, 1981) at John 11: 11 Jesus says, ?Lazarus or friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.? Then in verse 14 Jesus clarifies his meaning of ?sleep?, ?At that time, therefore, Jesus said to them outspokenly: Lazarus has died.? In describing death the bible continues at Ecclesiastes 9: 5 stating, ?The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.? Sleep then, is characterized as a condition typically devoid of conscious thought. Have you ever slept through a severe thunder storm, a series of car alarms going off, an explosion, an earth tremor (minor earthquake) or dogs barking loudly at night? Completely unconscious, right? For even further clarification, here are some characteristics of human sleep.
Characteristics of Sleep
Characteristics of sleep in humans are:
? lying down, if possible although sleep is possible in almost any position according to studies done on astronauts and in sleep study centers
? Eyes are closed, but sleep can occur with opened eyes in an environment devoid of light and / or distraction
? You don?t hear anything or do not consciously respond to external sounds depending on the level, depth or stage of sleep
? Slow, rhythmic breathing pattern (which might be altered during dream stage)
? Muscles are completely relaxed with the exception of altered states of sleep or reaction to dreams or abnormal physical conditions
? Person may occasionally roll over changing positions
Stages of Sleep
On the average, a person goes through five stages, or levels of sleep. The stages each have distinctive characteristics and determine what the brain and body are capable of.
? Stage One ? 4-5% Light sleep. Muscle activity slows down
? Stage Two ? 45-55% Breathing and heart rate slows. Body temperature decreases
? Stage Three ? 4-6% Deep sleep. Slow Delta waves begin
? Stage Four ? 12-15% Very deep sleep; brain produces Delta waves
? Stage Five ? 20-25% Rapid eye movement (REM); dreaming occurs
Why Do We Sleep?
For the most part, sleep allows several vital functions to take place. It is an essential physical and mental state with which we cannot do without. Our sleep allows us:
? To repair muscles and other tissues
? To replace aging or dead cells
? An opportunity for the brain to organize and archive memories, that is in part, to transfer data and memories from short to long-term memory
? Lowers energy consumption (balance of enzyme production achieved, i.e. blood glucose levels, electrolyte levels, etc.)
? To recharge the brain (diminished supplies of fluids and enzymes in organs and lymphatic system can be replenished during sleep)
How Much Sleep?
Most young adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, but the quantity of sleep required can vary depending on age, daily activity, diet, nutrition and other physical and / or psychological factors. Sleep deprivation can directly affect:
? Short term memory
? Performance
? Efficiency
? Physical health
? Emotional health
With 30 to 40 million Americans suffering from serious sleep-related disorders, the effect of sleep on learning and cognitive competencies is of serious concern.
In the next segment of this series, ?Learn A Foreign Language While You Sleep: Theoretical Approaches?, we?ll look at both recent and current language-learning theories and approaches and how some might seemingly provide some support for these claims.
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Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an ELT Teacher Trainer, English language learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. He has published more than 350 articles and academic papers and presented at numerous EFL teacher training and TEFL conferences throughout North America, South America and Europe. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
While the lure of ?learning English or another foreign language while you sleep? may be highly provocative and tempting for all of us in this not-enough-time-to-do-everything world, there?s still no ?easy out?. Learning a foreign language can be a life-long pursuit or a summer project. In this second installment of our quest, we?ll briefly examine some theoretical approaches to English language or foreign language learning.
Theoretical Approaches
English Language Teaching and Learning theories support a number of useful, valid approaches for foreign language or second language acquisition. Considering the major language learning theories previously or currently prevalent, let?s briefly examine any basis for ?sleep learning?. The following language learning theories have all been popular or prevalent during our current or recent decades:
? Grammar / Translation method (F. Boas and O. Jespersen)
? Direct Methods
? Audio-Lingual (Darian, 1972 et al.)
? Computer-Aided Language Learning
? TPR - Total Physical Response (J. Asher, 1965)
? The Silent Way (Gattegno, 1972)
? The Communicative Approach
? Suggestopedia (Lozanov, 1978)
? The Natural Approach (Krashen-Terrell, 1983)
? Neuro-linguistic Programming (Bandler and Grindler, 1982)
? The Lexical Approach (Willis, 1990 et al.)
? Community Language Learning ( C. Curran et al., 1972)
Howard Gardner?s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, (H. Gardner, 1983) while not strictly a language-learning theory, nonetheless, has had considerable application to language learning and acquisition. Of these, the following have aspects which seemingly might promote or support the concept of ?sleep learning?. They are: The Silent Way (Gattegno, 1972), Suggestopedia (Lozanov, 1978), and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Bandler and Grindler, 1982). Let?s briefly examine each of these.
The Silent Way
The Silent Way (ref. Richards and Rodgers, 2004) was developed by Caleb Gattegno (Gattegno, 1972) and is a method based on the premise that the English, or foreign language teacher, should be ?silent? as much as possible and the language learner encouraged to produce as much language as possible. But while the method requires minimal external input on the part of the language teacher, it does provide for problem-solving, ?discovery learning? and creation of memorable images to facilitate learner recall. Problem-solving and discovery learning certainly can not occur during the noted stages of sleep. Creation of ?memorable imagery? is possible, especially during the dream state, but how many learners remember these images with any frequency?
Suggestopedia
Suggestopedia, also known as Desuggestopedia, developed by Georgi Lozanov (Lozanov, 1978) is based on a ?science concerned with the systematic study of non-rational or non-conscious influences?. Music and musical rhythm to place the learner in a relaxed state, called Psuedo-Passiveness, (also ref. Krashen-Terrell, 1983; the Affective Filter Hypothesis) and to pace or structure the linguistic material also figure heavily in this approach. But using this method, learners must still ?visualize? a context for the material to aid in its memorization. Materials are dramatized through varying tone and rhythm of audio readings the learner listens to. Cognitive skills such as context visualization and memorization are not actively applied to learning during stages of sleep.
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
Neuro-linguistic Programming or NLP is a collection of techniques, patterns and strategies for assisting effective communication, personal growth, change and learning based on a series of underlying assumptions about how the mind works and how people act and interact. (Revell and Norman, 1997) In the mid-1970s, John Grindler (Bandler and Grindler, 1982) and Richard Bandler (Bandler, 1985) developed NLP as an alternate form of psychological therapy. A series of step-by-step procedures that would enable people to improve their lives, therapist could use these techniques in building rapport with clients, gather information about their views and help them to achieve goals and bring about personal change. (ref. Richards and Rodgers, 2004)
A behaviorist approach though, requires conscious effort and application of cognitive, meta-cognitive, communicative and social strategies. (Rubin, 1987) As such, this does not take place in full during stages of sleep. Conscious, active effort and application are genuinely required over an extended period of time for full benefit. For an even more detailed look at implicit and explicit approaches to teaching and learning grammar, see the article: ?Grammar Teaching: Implicit or Explicit? available online at:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Grammar-Teaching:-Implicit-or-Explicit?&id=89342
Apart from theory, methodology and didactics, language is a communicative tool. It allows us, as humans, to share our knowledge, thoughts and ideas in a way and at a level that none of the other animal species ever can. But what actually constitutes good practice in English or foreign language learning? How can we identify or become a good language learner? In the third installment of the article series, ?Can you really learn English or another foreign language while you sleep??, we?ll examine some of the many aspects of good language learners.
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Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an ELT Teacher Trainer, English language learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. He has published more than 350 articles and academic papers and presented at numerous EFL teacher training and TEFL conferences throughout North America, South America and Europe. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
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