Language Acquisition Techniques

In the first part of the book Beth Lee analyzes conceptual approaches to language and communication. Further on she introduces how this applies to second language acquisition. She talks about practical techniques that can be used every day.

Practical versus routine
Once you have clearly and strategically established your objectives, the next part is to put a technical plan into place. There are two types of language learning techniques. Immediate and longterm. Perhaps it is easier to explain this through a parallel model. When learning a musical instrument there are two objectives in practicing. Learning the music and learning how to execute the music easily. Anyone can learn how to play a simple Mozart composition on the piano. This is the objective. To play music. The other element to be developed is learning to be able to perfection more Mozart compositions faster. That’s where scales come in. Scales give you patterns and routine. Similar in language learning scales can be compared to structures in languages.

Implementation
Whether your objectives are reading writing, speaking, or understanding, the technique applies to all. The preferred approach is a routine where you are able to practice fundamentals regularly including vocabulary, grammar, listening, and reading, and then work on the composition like a presentation or an email that you have to do that day. It does not have to take an exorbitant amount of time just consistency, strategy, and regularity. So here is the routine. If your objective is to do a job interview in English next month the routine is as follows. Read one article a day in English in your sector. It does not have to be long. Start a vocabulary and expression list which you can review each week. Perhaps more important is to simulate the scenario you will be encountering, and to extract the sentences you will use. This is the ace in the hole. Practice these sentences too.

Mistakes
Let’s tie all of these things together. Communication and language acquisition requires a strategy that goes hand in hand. The next step is execution. Remember that this is the final objective. If you prepare all and do not consider the execution your result will be 70 percent of your capacity. Ask yourself this. How can I perform at 120 percent of capacity? Perhaps the crucial element is not to be afraid to make mistakes. For the best results reflect on this. How can I produce spectacular results with minimal preparation? Just asking the question will put your mind into the proper framework.

To find out more about language learning techniques read Beth Lee’s book, Convincing Communication.