What Are Your Language-Learning Goals?

(Image from Wikimedia Commons; link here.)

This post isn't directly connected to language learning, but it is related to motivation, which is a very important characteristic that most successful language learners have.

A supervisor recently sent us a quote by Bruce Lee, which I thought was interesting, since Bruce Lee was an actor and a martial arts legend. Apparently, he was also a bit of a philosopher! Our supervisor also recommended that I search for other quotes by Bruce Lee. There are many sites on the internet with famous quotations, but on this site I found a few that I especially liked. They are:

A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.

Some thoughts for people learning new languages:

-What are your goals for learning a new language? (If you've not set goals, it may sound like a strange or new idea, but you should try it!) 

-What motivates you to learn a new language, and what things slow you down? 

-How can you overcome the obstacles that slow you down?

Feel free to share in the comments section. Until next time, have a good day!

Linguistic Curiosity

When I was at the NCTE recently, one presenter talked about recent technological resources available to teachers and students. One site she mentioned was "Wordle." Here's an example of a wordle based on Sitzman ABC:

As you can see, it takes the most-frequently used words in a site, article, or any other printed selection, and then arranges the words in an interesting graphic. 

The presenter did point out that the big comment about Wordle is, "Oh, that's nice. But how can we use it in a class?" That's a good point. At the very least, it's aesthetically pleasing, but can you think of any way you could use a wordle, either as a student or a teacher? Tell us in the comments section, or make your own here.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Why YOU Should Start Your Own Learning Blog!

It seems like everyone and their dog has a blog these days, so is it really necessary for YOU to start one, too? 

Absolutely! Along with other modern, internet-based resources, a blog can be a powerful tool, whether you're a student or a teacher. Plus, it's free!

Why YOU should start a blog...

..if you're a language student:

- A blog can be a convenient and interesting (and possibly even fun) way to stay in contact with your classmates, teacher, and even out-of-class friends.

- Sure, you can use your blog to share your writing, but did you know that you can also use it to share videos, pictures, and even terrible poetry?

- If you're trying to improve your writing skills, the best way to become a better writer is to practice. A blog can give you a place to practice your writing, and you can even keep it a secret; no one has to see what you write, if you don't want them to! Plus, no one has made their writing skills worse by writing on a blog, so what do you have to lose?

- You can join blogging groups or follow other blogs to find out about new language-learning resources.

...if you're a language teacher:

- With a blog, you can provide your students with a centralized place for information; you can post ongoing class assignments, links to other internet resources, course notes, homework assignments, comments, and any other information you want to share with your students.

- Depending on the size and level of your class, you can have your students start their own blogs, and then link the whole class together through your blog. That way, the students have a public forum in which they can write comments, post homework, and communicate with classmates. Plus, it can provide accountability, since the students can see what other classmates are doing.

- We know that there are already a LOT of blogs in the world, but in this case, there's no such thing as "competition," really. If you notice that someone somewhere else has a blog or website that makes yours look like it was designed and written by monkeys, then don't get discouraged! Just put a link to that amazing site on your blog, and try to make yours even better!

 

...if you're not a student or a teacher:

- Even if you're not a student or a teacher at the moment, you can still use a blog as a journal, a vocabulary log, a place to share vacation pictures, or a way to share your thoughts on anything.

- Plus, everyone else is doing it, so you might as well do it, too!

Now that you're hopefully motivated to start a blog, I'll put up another post later today with directions about how to start a blog, if you don't already know. (I'll give you a hint: it's really easy!)

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!