We just posted a new article on LEARNING VOCABULARY. Here are some ideas from that article that we would like to underline: "A little while ago I wrote a post, “How to Learn Vocabulary” and that the best way to acquire vocabulary is through lots of exposure and meeting vocabulary items in different contexts. But I frequently am asked, “How to memorize vocabulary?” or if it’s even necessary. In my opinion, the best way how to memorize vocabulary is NOT to memorize vocabulary. I have always found that trying to memorize vocabulary is an extremely low-efficiency activity. No matter how hard you try, some words are going to stick and some words will not stick until much, much later. The more content you consume through listening and reading, the more likely you are to encounter vocabulary items again, and every time you encounter them, you encounter them in different contexts. This makes the whole scope of the words’ meanings clearer each time. You get a better sense of which words they are used with. You really start to experience these words in live settings, and in settings that are high resonance. I always get the feeling when I’m devoting time to studying a list of vocabulary that I’m stealing time away from meaningful interaction with the language." Please, keep in mind that there is not only one way to learn, but many. Some activities seem to be much more nutritious, nevertheless.

GRAMMAR OR NOT?

EVER SINCE THE 16TH CENTURY AT LEAST THERE HAS BEEN A CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHETHER GRAMMAR SHOULD BE TAUGHT. WE POSTED A VERY ILLUMINATING ARTICLE BY CORTÉS MORENO IN WHICH HE SAYS THAT THERE IS NOT A DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION BUT THERE ARE SOME PRINCIPLES TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. PLEASE, HAVE A LOOK AT IT AND LET'S SEE WHAT YOUR OPINION IS. Do you think you learn better if you know how you learn?

Do you learn a language by learning its grammar or do you learn a grammar by learning its language? Keeping in mind that there are many kinds of learners, let us take a look at what an expert says about it. Thanks for learning how to learn.

Are you afraid of making mistakes? Please, think twice. The fear of making mistakes is probably one of the biggest obstacles when learning anything. You can read about it in our new entry "ERROR CORRECTION" at the learn2learn section.

When does a language learner reach perfection? Is it mandatory to be perfect for a beginner? Do you reach perfection by using English and making natural mistakes or by learning things by heart? Let us think about it.

WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

Dear Students and Parents, We just started school after the Christmas break and we like to keep an eye on what others are doing. Many people learn English throughout the world, so I think it is a very good idea to look at what English learners are doing in other countries. We posted this article STUDENT-CENTERED WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS, in our LEARN-TO-LEARN section, to give you an idea that English learning goes beyond grammar. And, remember, the more you fish the better fisherman you will be. The more you know how to fish the more you will fish. Enjoy.