4 WAYS YOU CAN USE TECHNOLOGY TO LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE

Modern technology can be polarizing. If you’re still unfamiliar with its grim and dark side, try watching an episode or two of Black Mirror. It’s a British science fiction television series that examines the ill and unforeseen effects of technology on our society. However, if you’d rather stick to today’s news, it’s also not surprising to hear reports that excessive use of social media affects mental health.

But with the bad definitely comes the good. A great way to benefit from advances in technology is to use it as a tool for language learning. Decades ago, wanting to speak Mandarin Chinese, Spanish or Portuguese usually entailed reading tons of books and traveling to different continents to be able to fully practice what you’ve learned.

Now, with gadgets and apps made available to us, it’s easier, faster and more fun to communicate and learn new things, such as a foreign a language. And because we live in a global economy, there is a huge need for cross-cultural communication. However, supply is unable to meet the staggering demand. For the 2017-18 school year, the US Department of Education has stated that schools across the United States have reported shortages in teachers, with 41 states grappling with a shortfall in foreign language instructors.

But instead of just waiting for this national problem to be addressed, we can take advantage of everyday technologies, whether or not they are intended to teach us a new language.

1. TURN CAR RIDES INTO LANGUAGE SESSIONS.

Research shows that you can learn more effectively if you are doing so while accomplishing a task. What better way to start than to listen to directions and navigation vocabulary in a new language! But before you adjust your language settings, make sure you’ve learned and reviewed common phrases for directions, time and distance. If you’re a beginner, you should try second-language navigation on routes that you’re already familiar with. That way, you won’t get too stressed with being lost, and you can just focus on absorbing the phrases and translating them as you drive yourself to your destination.

This technique works for two reasons. First, while you may already be familiar with the route, you are still pressured to follow instructions, or risk the chance of completely losing your way. Second, because you also have a chance to look at the map, you have some background information and context that can help you understand what the GPS is telling you.

2. CHANGE YOUR MOBILE APP SETTINGS.

Nowadays, we are attached to our phones and can’t go anywhere without it. It’s how we send messages to friends, read emails and browse social media. We check our phones first thing in the morning and do the same before we go to bed at night. Studies have shown that Americans use their mobile apps 5 hours a day and millennials, in particular check, their phones 150 times a day! So with the amount of time we clock in using apps like Facebook or Instagram for instance, it’s smart to maximize our hours by learning a few words and phrases in a new language. Just like with adjusted GPS settings, you’ll already have some context of the foreign words or phrases you see while you navigate apps or check emails. For example, you can change your Facebook settings to show the language you want to learn. With 100 languages to choose from, it’s highly likely that Facebook supports your chosen foreign language. And because you are so used to seeing certain buttons in the app’s user interface, you’ll have a fairly easy time figuring out how to translate the foreign language version in your native language.

3. SUBSCRIBE TO YOUTUBE CHANNELS.

YouTube is not just a source of random videos or movie clips, it’s a place that’s rich in opportunities for language learning. There are hundreds of channels with an endless selection of videos that teach the language you want to learn. Popular YouTube polyglots use different styles and methods to inspire subscribers and viewers to learn a new language. On channels like Create Your World Books, Susanna Zaraysky teaches musical hacks and techniques as a way to activate more parts of the brain for language learning.

4. TAKE ONLINE LANGUAGE CLASSES.

Today, an online classroom includes videos, interactive grammar correction tools, chatboards and webcams. Learning a new language has become accessible and customizable, with options to learn autonomously, while still giving you an opportunity to have an interactive dialogue with your teacher.

During my first few years in China, I struggled to find classes that catered to my level and fit my own needs. I tried it all. I used Rosetta Stone to no avail. Berlitz, once the gold standard in language training was about as good as you’d expect something built in 1878 to be. I tried local Chinese schools and failed there too. I began to think I wasn’t a language person. I thought, like many Americans, that ...unless you were born with natural abilities it was hopeless.

That turns out not to be true. When I founded BRIC language systems, I wanted to make sure that our language learning programs did not use a “one size fits all” approach like some of the aforementioned programs. We connect the best teachers worldwide with students right here in the US using interactive onscreen content. Through BRIC, it became my personal mission to create a program where students will not have the same experience I had when I was a young expat in China.

With these methods, you don’t need to be stuck in a classroom or spend thousands in travel expenses before becoming fluent in your dream language. In fact, with a smartphone, good Wi-Fi connection and the motivation to learn, you’ll reach your goal in no time!

GAMES TO LEARN ENGLISH

https://www.englishactivities.net/es/

WHAT IS NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING?

Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, provides practical ways in which you can change the way that you think, view past events, and approach your life.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming shows you how to take control of your mind, and therefore your life. Unlike psychoanalysis, which focuses on the ‘why’, NLP is very practical and focuses on the ‘how’.
How NLP Began
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NLP was co-created by Richard Bandler, who noticed that conventional psychotherapy techniques didn’t always work and was interested in trying different ways. He worked closely with a very successful therapist called Virginia Satir, and NLP was born from the techniques that really worked with patients and others.
Richard Bandler has written many books about NLP. One of the most helpful as a basic introduction is probably: How to Take Charge of Your Life: The User’s Guide to NLP, by Richard Bandler, Alessio Roberti and Owen Fitzpatrick.
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Taking Control of Your Mind: The Principle Behind NLP
NLP works from the starting point that you may not control much in your life, but that you can always take control of what goes on in your head.
Your thoughts, feelings and emotions are not things that are, or that you have, but things that you do. Their causes can often be very complicated, involving, for instance, comments or beliefs from your parents or teachers, or events that you have experienced.
NLP shows you how you can take control of these beliefs and influences. Using mind techniques such as visualisation, you can change the way that you think and feel about past events, fears and even phobias.
You can’t always control what happens, but you can always control how you deal with it
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Richard Bandler, Alessio Roberti and Owen Fitzpatrick, How to Take Charge of Your Life: The User’s Guide to NLP
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The Power of Belief
What you believe can be extremely powerful.
If you believe you’re ill and that you’re going to die, you probably will: witch doctors have been using this technique for centuries.
Likewise, if you believe that you have been given something that will make you better, you often do get better. This ‘placebo effect’ is well-documented in clinical trials.
What this boils down to is that if you believe you can do something, you probably can. But you can also challenge limiting beliefs, and change whether you believe you can do something by asking yourself questions like:
• How do I know I can’t do that?
• Who said that to me? Might they have been wrong?
Goal Setting
We’re all familiar with the principles of goal-setting, but NLP suggests some interesting new insights, focusing on satisfaction, not dissatisfaction.
For example, it’s helpful to make your goals positive; focus on what you want to have, not what you’d like to lose or not have. You should also think about what it is that you really want. For example, you don’t actually want to buy your dream house, you want to live in it. It’s much easier to get motivated about a goal that really satisfies you.
The Power of Questions
Bandler suggests that our minds actively look for answers to questions.
So if you ask yourself ‘Why do I feel so bad?’, your mind will find lots of answers and you will feel worse. With NLP the key is to ask the right questions, for example:
• Why do I want to change?
• What will life be like when I have changed?
• What do I need to do more/less of in order to change?
Questions like these naturally lead to a more positive outlook.
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Some Tools and Techniques from NLP
There are many tools and techniques used in NLP and this section gives a brief introduction to a few.
To find out more, you could go on a reputable NLP course, or read one of Richard Bandler’s books.
Moving images
• Imagine an image of someone who annoys you. Concentrate on how the picture appears in your mind.
• Make the image smaller, put it in black and white, and imagine it moving away from you. Notice how this makes you feel.
• Imagine a picture of something that makes you feel good. Make it bigger and brighter, and move it closer to you. Notice how this makes you feel.


The idea behind this thought process is that it helps you see how people or events affect you and understand the way you feel about them.
By manipulating images in this way, you are teaching your brain to magnify good feelings and make bad feelings weaker.
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Undermining the Critical Voice
Many of us will admit to having a critical voice in our heads that pops up at inopportune moments and says things like ‘You couldn’t possibly do that’, or ‘That sounds way too difficult for someone like you’.
Next time you hear the critical voice, imagine it sounding silly, maybe like Donald Duck or Tweetie Pie.
Notice how this changes the way that you regard the voice’s ‘wisdom’.


If the voice no longer sounds like someone real, it’s much easier to silence it________________________________________
Running the Movie Backwards
If you’ve had a bad experience that you’re struggling to get over, it can help to imagine it backwards.
• Start from a point in time where you realised the experience was over. Then imagine the whole incident happening backwards, until you’ve gone back to a time before it happened.
• Do this a few times until you’re familiar with the way that the ‘film’ plays backwards.
• Now make it really small in your mind – say little enough to view on a mobile phone screen - and play it again backwards.
• Finally, think of a different end to the experience, one that makes you smile. Notice how the way that you feel about it has changed.


The key to this technique is that you are showing your brain a different way of looking at a memory, which will change the way that you feel about it too.
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‘Brilliance Squared’
• Take an emotion that you would like to feel, for example confidence. Imagine a coloured square in front of you filled with the colour that you associate with that emotion.
• Imagine yourself standing in the square, filled with that emotion. Notice how you would stand, the look on your face, everything about you.
• Step into the square, and take on the mantle of the imaginary ‘you’. Feel the feeling spreading through you. Repeat this a few times, until you can do it easily.
• Now, imagine the coloured square on its own in front of you and step in. See how it feels.


The ‘trick’ here is that you have trained your mind to associate an image with a feeling. By conjuring up the image, you can now conjure up the feeling too.
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Conclusion
NLP is a very powerful technique based on the power of your own mind. Some might call it ‘mind tricks’ but, by using these techniques and others developed by NLP practitioners, you can learn to take control of your mind and how you respond to the world.You may not be able to control the world, but you can control how you react to it.

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/nlp.html

THE 5 GOLDEN RULES OF ADULT LANGUAGE LEARNING

Ever heard that you should be language learning like a child ?

"Kids are like a language sponge" is a belief continued in the media. The mantra goes like this: Little kids are like a language sponge, they pick up any word and phrase you throw at them and will learn a language very easily.

And the myth goes on to claim that adults have missed the boat. They are starting way too late to ever reach any respectable level of expertise in a foreign language, and they'll definitely never sound like a native speaker.

Why? Because science.

This myth is about as widespread as it is infuriating. For examples, see the headlines on this article about babies and sound , or this inevitable product selling you on an invented cut-off age of seven years .

Adult Learners Can Learn A Foreign Language Quickly And Easily

In this article, I won't dwell on the volumes of research that have been done on human brains, language acquisition, speech therapy, ageing, and so forth.In a very tiny nutshell: Learning anything is harder when you're an adult, and the best evidence for any critical period is in the area of accent development (27 page ref to knock yourself out with at this URL ).

There's a great selection of research on the topic, and for a primer check out the sources listed in Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language . The book is an awesome collection of helpful information, and was a fabulous resource for me as I was writing this article.

For today, I'd ask you to forget about anything you've ever heard about the childlike brain. Open your mind, and let's explore some realistic ways of making language learning work for you - at any age.

1. Analyse and Repeat Patterns

Adults can learn languages in a deliberate way. The structure of practicing new sentences is one of these keys - analyse, understand, apply, repeat.

There is no need to cram your way through grammar books as you learn a new language. It's totally possible to speak when you haven't even touched on any grammar yet. I did it in Icelandic last week, and I have helped my own German students to do this from the start.

But the key to using grammar to your advantage is in using it to answer your questions. Next time you hear someone say a sentence in your target language, repeat it and try saying something different with the same structure. If you're talking to a native, get them to give you more examples with that structure. If you're learning by yourself, consult a grammar book or text book.

What you are doing now is learning a pattern or chunk of language (like a child), and at the same time satisfying your curiosity by discovering the rule behind it (like an adult).

2. Set Goals and Track Your Progress

Goals! Projects! Missions! Whatever you call them, they are the lifeblood of sticking with where you are at as a language learner. Since you are a busy person, being accountable for your own time is one of the best ways of feeling both accomplished and efficient.

Tracking your progress is not only a good way of structuring how you learn. It will also help you combat the dangers of motivation loss. The longer you stick with what you've already studied, the easier it will be to keep going. In other words: It's easier to break a 2-day streak than to break a 2-month streak.

Tracking can work in many different ways. It can be as simple as keeping up with habit streaks on apps ( Duolingo , Memrise , or just type "habit" into any App Store). Or it can be a flexible and thorough system like the Language Habit Toolkit. .

The Language Habit Toolkit is a set of resources designed to help adult learners set meaningful goals, get motivated and stay a lot more organized than most other learners will ever be. Learn more here.

3. Move On From Setbacks

I like to tell my learners that even the brightest student won't remember a new word immediately, and instead needs to encounter it up to 15 times before it truly sticks. Anyone who has experienced that cold sweaty feeling of forgetting words mid-conversation Knows what a language setback feels like.

But there is no reason to give up at that point. Remember progress tracking? The small wall you are hitting today is a result of the long way that you have come so far. You would never have dreamed of that wall back at the beginning.

Moving on from setbacks is largely a challenge to your mindset. Remember that language learning is not a straightforward line. In fact, it doesn't even have an end point. You just go along the path every single day and become a little better with each step.

For a bit of positive thinking "in a bottle", my pre-made set of affirmations will be a great resource to check out. Remember that growth mindset - at any age, you're just getting started.

4. Know And Respond To Your Learning Style

It's impossible to predict your success based on superficial facts: Your age or your native language are practically useless in helping you figure out how to learn German vocabulary faster. Neither will your star sign , for that matter.

However, the more you understand your own preferences and habits, the easier it becomes for you to learn a language successfully.

Being aware of your social learning style can go a long way to helping you create a language learning routine that you'll enjoy for a long time. For example, the difference between extroverts and introverts shows in how they practice, read and speak languages.

Knowing the time of day when you're at your best, or recognising signs that you are tired and need to rest, are other important factors.

And don't forget the ongoing debate about learning styles. Even if the classic "visual-auditory-kinetic" styles are no longer supported in research, it's worth finding out how you best process new information. As Edutopia puts it:

It is critical to not classify students as being specific types of learners nor as having an innate or fixed type of intelligence.

Find a style that you enjoy, that doesn't zap your energy, and that helps you set habits. And if that means speaking comes on day 100, so be it.

On that note..

5. Build Great Habits

If you want to get a better handle about how to build winning habits, start with how you make habits stick in other areas of your life. For example, some people stay fit by scheduling regular workout times, while others need accountability and love tracking their runs online. I recommend you start digging into this with help from Episode 32 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast , in which we discussed habits, styles and tendencies based on the work of writer Gretchen Rubin.

Conclusion

So this article actually started out over three years ago, when I was first blogging about the many myths in language learning. I've always been bothered by this kid-language-sponge idea because it does nothing to help adult learners progress.

If you have the opportunity to expose your kids to other languages, go for it. They will do awesome.

But more importantly, do not ever believe that you are over the hill .

Here's how I finished my article in 2013.

Start thinking about this one from the other point of view: If little kids can do it, then anyone can.

I still believe the exact same thing.

What are your biggest problems as an adult language learner?

Leave me a comment below or get in touch - I'd love to hear more about what you think of the research behind this and the study methods I listed.

If you're feeling all fired up to get started and make progress with a new language right now, download the FREE Guide to the Best Resources in Language Learning by registering below.

Tomado de: http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/adult-language-learner-rules

LOS 5 ERRORES MÁS COMUNES DE LOS HISPANOHABLANTES AL HABLAR EN INGLÉS

¿Cómo se debe pronunciar la palabra "sheep"? ¿Y cómo hay que diferenciarla de "ship"? ¿Qué tan diferente debe ser el sonido de la b y la v?

Cada año muchísimas personas de habla hispana se proponen el reto de aprender inglés… y también muchas de ellas caen en errores similares.

En este video, Mark Shea, profesor de inglés de la BBC, muestra algunos de los problemas con los que se encuentran más frecuentemente los hispanohablantes cuando tratan de aprender la lengua de Shakespeare.

Tomado de:  http://www.bbc.com/mundo/media-41327460

6 PARTS OF THE BRAIN DEDICATED TO MEMORY FUNCTION

The parts of the brain involved in memory are sections of a complex operation. Each part is responsible for different ideas, facts, or figures essential for memory function. 

Here are six parts of the brain that help you remember things immediately obtained or stored over a lifetime. 

Neurosurgeon: This Brain Formula Saves Your Memory 

1. The frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex plays a key role in mental functions, including decision-making, explains The Human Memory . It is also involved in processing short-term memory and longer term memory. Short-term memory helps in remembering tasks performed while longer term memory retains issues surrounding those tasks. 

2. Short-term memory develops in the prefrontal cortex , according to the Mayfield Clinic of Cincinnati, Ohio . The prefrontal cortex is part of the frontal lobe and coordinates immediate facts. It stores information for about a minute and can hold about seven items, such as a sentence just read or a phone number to remember. 

3. The temporal lobe , also part of the cerebral cortex, processes sights to help form long-term memory. It takes in visuals, such as scenes or faces of people, which are stored in the memory for future use. 

4. Within the temporal lobe is the medial temporal lobe , involved in declarative and episodic memory. Declarative memory stores and retrieves memories from events and facts. Episodic memory packages those events or facts into a series so people can remember points in time. 

5. The hippocampus is housed deep inside the medial temporal lobe. This part of the brain helps to transfer short-term memory into long-term memory. Long-term memory includes information on facts, figures, and information a person wants to memorize for a long time, the Mayfield Clinic notes. The hippocampus also grows neurons so the brain can retain these memories. 

6. The cerebral cortex also contains the basal ganglia system , which forms and later retrieves procedural memory involved in the learning process, such as how to ride a bike or play an instrument. 

After memories are formed, they are stored in the cerebral cortex and act independently so they can be recalled whenever information is needed.

Tomado de: https://translate.google.com.co/translate?hl=es&sl=en&tl=es&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsmax.com%2Ffastfeatures%2Fparts-of-the-brain%2F2016%2F05%2F23%2Fid%2F730269%2F&anno=2