Learning Creatively

As a language teacher, many students of mine have asked me over and over again, "Miss, how can I be able to speak English fluently? What's the secret of being able to learn a foreign language quickly?" Well, like Mr. Ping (Pho's Father) of Kung Fu Panda said, "the secret ingredient is nothing, to make something special you just have to believe it's special." Meaning, that the secret lies in you. It's in your hands. It's up to you to conquer the language or not. This is because, honestly there is no fast track in learning a language. The fastest track is to actually go to the origin of the language itself. Want to learn English the fast way? Well, go to England and stay there for at least 3 months. Interact with native speakers only and I can guarantee you, you will speak English fluently afterwards. Either than this method, you have to self motivate and work hard. Yes, you got to hit the books, dictionaries, thesaurus, idioms, you name it, basically anything that you can get your hands on in terms of language. Why? Because currently there's still no technology of uploading and downloading what you know and how you know to other people's brains ;D. Moreover, you're not living in the actual or native language's environment. You want to learn English but wherever you are you see and hear Indonesian for example? I'll say it again, there's no fast track. It's basically up to YOU ;)

So having this in mind, here I would like to share some tips and tricks when it comes to learning languages. I like to make learning fun and enjoyable. The better you feel about learning, the faster you understand. Therefore, please people, don't make it a burden. It does things to you, trust me.

First thing first, we should be aware of our senses. What I mean by this is our basic human senses; sight, sound, and touch. Let's optimise these senses as much as possible. Here, I usually categorise into 3 learning methods which are the audio, visual, and audio visual.

The Audio

If you remember what people say more compared to any other action then you are an audio learner. Actually, most Indonesians fall into this category believe it or not. I guess listening is still one of the fastest ways to learn. How? Just simply record all of your material on to a cassette tape or mp4 player. You can even make it into a song if you're that creative ;). Seriously, it might take a bit of work at the beginning but in the end, all you have to do is listen. I did this for my GCSE French exams. Did wonders, got that A ;D *no showing off intended at all, just sharing hehe.

The Visual

This method is for those who are picture and symbol obsessed ;D *I mean it as a compliment ;). If you can't remember the material as chunks of paragraphs, then why not  break them up into simple diagrams. All you have to do is learn and understand the basic concepts and afterwards you only need to elaborate.

In terms of learning languages especially when building your vocabulary, you can make illustrations of the words you are learning. Once you're done, pin your illustrations to your wall or wherever it is easily visible to you. When you're bored, at least you have something useful to look at. I know this is very geeky but it's good for you in the long run, trust me ;). 

Here's an example of what I did to my wall. Helped me a lot for my French exam. ^^

I read this just because it's there hehe.

The Audio Visual

Lastly, there is the audio visual learner. Learners who use both the sound and the images. In languages, this is actually a very crucial method. Not only do we have to be able to read and understand correctly, we also have to pronounce correctly too, especially with languages where the pronunciation and spelling don't actually correspond. So if you have lots of audio material, don't forget to match it with the text and context. Do this at the same time and you're definitely on the fast track in terms of learning languages.

  

To sum it all up, when learning languages (or any subject) try to learn as creatively as you can. Record, listen, make a song, draw, or even watch movies or videos. Reading is not the only method of learning, in fact it is actually the least effective method. Check out the cone of learning on the side. You'll get what I mean. ;)

So don't forget to have fun when learning ladies and gentlemen ;)

Hope you enjoyed this post :)

- T1 -

*Image source: Google and my personal collection.