4th Post: Methods experienced as a language learner

Hello again! Today's post is about teaching methods experienced as a language learner. I will make a general overview of all methods existing and how those were related to my language courses. I have not experienced just one of them or very specific tasks on one method; rather a fusion of methods within methods, which I think is very good (if you know how to combine them...). Again, as I said in one of my first posts for psychological theories, methods are not diametrical. 

A corrected translation I did back in "batxillerat"

Grammar-translation was not bad for learning Latin, but far too traditional seen under a general language teaching scope. In high-school I had a good teacher, but he stood quite a lot on translating and memorizing concepts. The one who knew the most was (is) the best. Finito. This latin teacher (known as latin lover) in Súnion, who taught us memorization techniques and played games with us in class, to make the “memorization” process much easier and delightful. If not, I would have hated Latin. Translating Latin texts is fine according to this method; honestly it is hard for me to think of other ways it could be taught. However, if you chose the right tasks to introduce the texts (literature and cultural aspects of ancient Rome), it is better for students. He didn’t only evaluate our translation-grammar skills, but our interest in Latin culture (watching series such as I, Claudius) and designed a roman “identity” card for which we had extra points if we brought to class, and showed that we became proper roman citizens all along the course. In the end Latin is already a dead language, and I honestly can’t figure out of a better method. Nevertheless, if role plays are introduced (let’s pretend we are romans) changes the environment. Although we cannot hear the language or talk fluently Latin with each other, we get to practise some phrases and structures, which remain in my memory without spending four hours in the library learning Latinisms by heart. Sadly, this is hardly avoidable, and happens unfortunately with many language learning stages, especially in high-school (ESO) and “batxillerat”. In this way, living or dead languages do not differ: we still spend much time memorizing concepts, instead of integrating them by means of examples and practice, not just by a dictionary definition.

Link to my Latin teacher’s blog: http://rboixader.blogspot.com.es/

Link to my Latin blog: http://lottafabreguesliteraturallatina.blogspot.com.es/

I encourage you to watch if not all, an extract of the wonderful and magisterial British series, I, Claudius... 

Another way to learn harsh climate vocabulary...

Not being “an easy approach to use in school” (Crystal, 2010) I learned languages according to the direct method basically out of my compulsory school time. The main languages I have learned through this method are, firstly English, and then French. When I say learned, I mean that the method helped me integrating the language successfully. To me it is one of the most interesting and complete methods -as well as the one in which other methods can be combined more easily. It is a shame that it is less used in schools (classrooms) for it is difficult to put in practice with groups composed by more than 8-10 people (which can also be too much).

Although I had an excellent English teacher in primary school, I used to reinforce it with a native American teacher who came home and talked to me and my friend, in order to practise oral fluency in English. She basically used this method as if we were in a natural conversation (we never spoke Catalan or Spanish). However, the real approach I put in practise when I "lived" in Paris (two consecutive summers), and in the "Bretagne". This method has much to do with language acquisition, and as my colleague Corin suggests, methodologies do not guarantee successful language learning. I do believe, as well as many classmates do in their blogs, that methods per se are not the key to proficiency levels in any language. We need to make balanced choices on each method to design integrated ways of learning: all depends on the purpose we want to achieve. 

As there is no magic method for losing weight or quitting smoking, there is not one method for language learning. Teachers must guide students to find their own "method" (PLE), whether in class or out of class.