Today we played the "Ich mag Leute..." game and again they LOVED it. It's always a little loud, but also a lot of fun. And best of all? The kids are speaking, listening and responding to the language!
Today I also started the routine of "Foto Freitag"... where I will bring in Fotos... and it could go anywhere from there. Today I described what the fotos were... then the kids had to guess, and then it came up on PowerPoint once they guessed it! So they were listening to the German, getting meaning, and remembering vocabulary. I think I will also bring in fotos for them to use to tell a story or to tell what is happening (I got an idea from Kate that I could bring in Fotos from my youth and then they could tell the story of what was happening... I love it!)
What's important here is that there is just more language happening. I need this. I love this. And I especially love how easy and fun it can be. It does NOT have to be hard. It should be fun. (Unsere geheimnisse Sprache...) now I just need to be sure that we reinforce that usage!
It is the baby steps of a big and exciting change. Baby steps that I need... not because I can't handle the big steps, but because I can get overwhelmed and depressed about the big steps... and really, the kids need the scaffolding just as much as I do.
So here's to baby steps. PROST!
Showing posts with label Second Language Acquisition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Second Language Acquisition. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Dropping Concurrent Language Translation
From the apple website, there is a vodcast of the benefits of iPods and podcasting in the foreign language! Here are some things I want to ruminate...
1: Drop concurrent language translation!
It is the slowest and most inefficient way of learning anything... and especially language.
Instead you should use Preview/Review on either end of the actual language usage... and then s-l-o-w down and also perhaps use TPR, etc. Podcasting works as well... because it helps the access for acquisition.
2: Podcasting hints:
In podcasting: do 1:1 voiceover... keep it personal. Make the "next door effect". Stay away from the jockey voices and the teacher voice. Talk TO them as if you were with them... because you will be there with just them. Podcasting also is awesome when used with storytelling!]
Find community materials that are already out there... and then produce your own! Students should do it too.
3: Audio Only Podcasting:
The audio only podcasting is only beneficial (and pedagogically sound) for upper level beginners to advanced learners. TRUE beginners need more than just audio... otherwise you spend too much time doing concurrent translation (using preview/review helps this). Native speakers and native resources can be used here as well. (Although it says that almost all of the podcasts out there for beginning language learning are audio only and use a lot of concurrent language translation...)
Whew. This is feeling a bit overwhelming. But it should give me purpose and definitely things about which to ruminate. Perhaps this gives me an opportunity for a "next step". Definitely BEGIN... and then step up.
1: Drop concurrent language translation!
It is the slowest and most inefficient way of learning anything... and especially language.
Instead you should use Preview/Review on either end of the actual language usage... and then s-l-o-w down and also perhaps use TPR, etc. Podcasting works as well... because it helps the access for acquisition.
2: Podcasting hints:
In podcasting: do 1:1 voiceover... keep it personal. Make the "next door effect". Stay away from the jockey voices and the teacher voice. Talk TO them as if you were with them... because you will be there with just them. Podcasting also is awesome when used with storytelling!]
Find community materials that are already out there... and then produce your own! Students should do it too.
3: Audio Only Podcasting:
The audio only podcasting is only beneficial (and pedagogically sound) for upper level beginners to advanced learners. TRUE beginners need more than just audio... otherwise you spend too much time doing concurrent translation (using preview/review helps this). Native speakers and native resources can be used here as well. (Although it says that almost all of the podcasts out there for beginning language learning are audio only and use a lot of concurrent language translation...)
Whew. This is feeling a bit overwhelming. But it should give me purpose and definitely things about which to ruminate. Perhaps this gives me an opportunity for a "next step". Definitely BEGIN... and then step up.
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