The GO Method - the psychology and quality management of language learning: May 2019

I don’t need personal development

Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset defined a person with a mass mentality as someone who is entirely satisfied with how he or she is at present, as someone who does not feel it necessary to improve upon himself or herself. On the other end of the spectrum, someone with an “elite” mentality does always accept authorities above him or her, and he or she feels an urge to constantly improve upon himself or herself. Those mentalities do not coincide with social class, income or so-called aristocracy. A plumber who is always expanding his craft is part of the “elite”, whereas some arrogant oligarchy wasting away on his yacht is just one of the “mass”.

What does this have to do with language learning? Very much! As in any craft or human activity, high levels of success in acquiring foreign languages demand not only that you obtain some new knowledge, but also that you change as a person. If you ask successful people in sports, business, science or arts, virtually without any exception, all of them will answer that a key to their success was working on their mentality. Almost every professional sports team nowadays employs its own psychologist. Even amateur marathon runners do this, if they can afford one. Why? What does psychology have to do with football? Again, very much.

What are the typical problems among language learners?

· “lack of time”,

· difficulties to concentrate,

· inability to maintain learning routines,

· non-adaptive cognitive styles: unhealthy perfectionism, black and white thinking, catastrophizing, negativism,

· inability to properly plan, monitor and appraise one’s own activities,

· looking for feedback and properly reacting to it,

· how to document, analyze and uproot one’s own mistakes,

· remaining motivated.

However, most language students think, they only thing they need to speak fluently is to obtain some factual knowledge: what is the difference between past and present tense, between the dative and the accusative case (in languages with a case system)? Etc. Therefore, many students spend countless hour with language apps, or watching grammar explanations about one and the same topic again and again.

Recently, a group got angry with me. They said: We do not need your messages that are taken out of self-development books. We just need you to give us information on German: learning material, grammar tables, lists, etc. At the same time, almost all of the participants showed at least several, if not all of the problems listed above.

One student told me, the best thing to do as a student is to observe what the majority of other students do. This is very dangerous, because most other students do not address all the above problems. And, most language students fail. Only a tiny fraction of all students that have enrolled on a certain date in a language course will reach their goal of speaking almost like a native speaker.

If you want to be successful in sports, music, art or business, you typically look up to those that have exceptional performances. Why do it the other way round in language learning?

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for English, Russian and Romanian speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

The GO Method

The GO Method applies quality management and psychological science to the study of foreign languages. It helps students establish individual and clear goals, build learning routines, overcome psychological obstacles, monitor progress and systematize the learning process.

It is the perfect approach for high performer students that need to speak as closely as possible to a native speaker. From lesson one, it focuses on building your own sentences bottom-up, and not memorizing phrases like a parrot.

Gerhard J. Ohrband

Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Contact

Send us an e-mail: Gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com

Our homepage: http://thegomethod.mozello.com/

Our online courses: https://gerhards-school.thinkific.com/

Our podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-of-learning-foreign-languages/

Our blog: https://thegomethod.blogspot.com/

Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theGOMethod/

On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerhard-j%C3%B6rg-ohrband-22525147/

If you want to save time in learning a foreign language without a teacher, please check out my book “The GO Method” on Amazon.

No, your language teacher needs not to motivate you.

Many students (and parents of schoolchildren) would subscribe to the following statement: “If a student learns something or not, if she or he is motivated or not to learn, depends entirely on the teacher. A good teacher is so inspiring, makes the material so interesting, so that anybody will want to learn even inherently boring or difficult topics.”

What is wrong with this?

For most people, the word “motivate” really means “manipulate me, trick me into doing something I would have not done otherwise on my own initiative”. In language learning this means, we somehow ended up in a language class: because our parents sent us there, because we need it for our job, because somebody convinced us that this is necessary. Then we realize that learning a foreign language is not something that can be fixed within few weeks. And now we need somebody to persuade us into learning over a longer period.

Many teachers, too, subscribe to the “inspiring” teacher model. It makes them feel good about themselves. They read books on persuasion, practice all kinds of tricks like NLP to live up to this new standard.

Why should a good teacher manipulate you into spending long periods of time doing something you are not convinced you want to do?

In a way, this is a symptom of our society. So many people are doing things they do not really want: in the education system, or sitting in cubicles in some corporation. According to studies, around 90% of American employees report they are “disengaged” from their job. The solution: the company regularly brings in motivational speakers that get employees “excited”.

At the beginning of each of my courses, I give students a template of a goal sheet, where they specify why they want to learn German, and what their specific goals are. Although I give detailed instructions on how to complete it, the majority does not fill in their answers. Why? “We do not know what do write. You tell us!”

What should a responsible teacher do?

· To help students clarify what they really want and need: This does not necessarily mean to give up the language, but, focus their goals in slightly different areas.

· Assist students in selecting the right means to attain their ends.

· Only then should the “inspirational”, “motivational” part start. Otherwise, an inspirational teacher helps students waste their time, which I consider unethical.

· The teacher should always take a step back, so that students become not dependent upon him.

Do you want proof that the concept of the “inspirational teacher” is bogus? Here it is.

Have you ever met inspiring teachers during all your school years? Probably, yes. At least one. Now: have you opened a book on mathematics, physics, geography, history, philosophy, chemistry, biology unrelated to your current job during the last four weeks? If no, even though those teachers may have “inspired” you to learn until the final exams, all that “motivation” evaporated with your graduation day. Do you really want to learn a foreign language, just to finish a course and then forgot about it?!

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for English, Russian and Romanian speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

The GO Method

Gerhard J. Ohrband

Contact

Send us an e-mail: Gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com

Our homepage: http://thegomethod.mozello.com/

Our online courses: https://gerhards-school.thinkific.com/

Our podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-of-learning-foreign-languages/

Our blog: https://thegomethod.blogspot.com/

Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theGOMethod/

On Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerhard-j%C3%B6rg-ohrband-22525147/

If you want to save time in learning a foreign language without a teacher, please check out my book “The GO Method” on Amazon.

When to give up a foreign language

Photo by Kat Jayne from Pexels

Whether you like it or not: learning a foreign language is for most of us an experience of failure. In any given country in the world, everybody going through school has benefitted from several years of foreign language instruction. If you stop somebody on the street, my guess is that 1-5% are fluent speakers because of their school education.

In language schools, the typical phenomenon is to drop out. I remember when I took a Portuguese course at the University of Hamburg. The course was free for students of other faculties. We had an excellent, experienced teacher from Portugal. She was not only a good pedagogue, but she was also an internationally renowned scholar in Portuguese studies. During the first lessons, the room was overcrowded with around 40 students. In the second half of the course, we were about five or six students attending classes.

Why do people drop out?

Here are the typical answers students give:

· I have no time

· It is too complicated

· I do not like the teacher or the teaching method.

Foreign languages is one of the very few areas in life where all humans are equal. A Donald Trump, a Bill Gates, an Angela Merkel or a famous sports or movie star: they all face exactly the same challenges when learning a foreign language as we do. Otherwise, if money could buy language skills, they would be all over Twitter and TV bragging about it.

There are good and bad reasons to give up a concrete language.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of language and dialects alive on this planet. You will never ever be able to speak all. Many get into language learning, as they get into bed with someone: by accident. You wanted to impress somebody, or you went on vacation and wanted to communicate with locals. Although many parents still teach this: we cannot possibly finish everything we start. You really need to make a cost (effort)-benefit analysis for continuing to learn the language. Maybe what you know is already enough?

However, most people I know give up, even if their career and life would greatly benefit from learning that respective language. Their reason is almost always: it is too difficult. I have rarely encountered in any area of life so much resentment and negative emotions as in the language learning industry. This is because most students have completely unrealistic expectations about the whole process. They have been seduced by clever marketing into believing that one could and even should learn a language in just few weeks. People drop out to protect their ego. They are afraid of looking dumb in front of others. Continuing to learn a language may be a signal to others that the learner lacks talent, if he or she takes so long.

My rule of thumb is this. Most people feel a desire to drop out of things that would really benefit them, while almost never feeling a desire to drop out of all the unhealthy, immoral and stupid habits that hurt them in the long run. Most people do not write an email to their social media provider: “I am sorry, but I need to renounce your program. I simply do not have enough time.” Or to their colleagues: “I cannot participate any more in our gossiping sessions by the water cooler, because it is becoming too complicated for me.”

If you are in the situation that you want to discontinue a foreign language, be very clear what your motivation for learning that language was, and why exactly you feel you want to drop out.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for English, Russian and Romanian speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

The GO Method

Gerhard J. Ohrband

Contact

Gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com

http://thegomethod.mozello.com/

https://gerhards-school.thinkific.com/

https://thegomethod.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theGOMethod/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerhard-j%C3%B6rg-ohrband-22525147/

If you want to save time in learning a foreign language without a teacher, please check out my book “The GO Method” on Amazon.

What authorities should I follow in language learning

Imagine the following setting. In a new German language group, I will have to teach six students, each having a different goal for learning German.

Robert: wants to become an undercover agent in the Berlin drug and sex trafficking scene;

Lucy: currently studying opera singing – wants to be able to sing German operas without an American accent;

Don: plans to emigrate to a small village in Switzerland and to write poetry in German;

Arabella: is about to go on a hiking trip through the South of Germany;

Bill: dreams of picking up German girls during his next Germany trip;

Maria: has just finished her studies as a medical doctor, wants to pass an official German test for doctors and to work in a hospital in rural Austria.

In the typical language school situation, all six would be expected to consider me and the holy textbook as their supreme authority and follow my every instruction.

From my perspective, knowing my strengths and weaknesses, I would consider myself a suitable authority in teaching them a solid grammar, and installing in all students a home routine, as well as a learning system for continuous improvement. If students encounter obstacles, as a psychologist, I can offer useful guidance. However, each of those students should follow also other authorities, suited to their individual goals.

I would not be a good authority for Don, Maria and Robert when it comes to adopting the right accent so that they can integrate best in their local community. Although I like both opera music and classical literature, I am incompetent in giving advice on opera singing and poetry writing. Picking up girls (or men) also requires special linguistic skills that one better learns from a proven expert. Arabella would probably need a phrase book and to learn a certain number of phrases by heart, but not follow my method of learning complex grammar.

What should you not do?

· Follow no authority at all (“I will figure out everything out by myself”, “I don’t need any guidance”)

· Follow your current textbook, teacher or Youtube celebrity instructor in everything related to that language.

Take the example of Robert. If he learned “perfect” grammar with me, he would be automatically detected as an outsider in the Berlin crime scene, because almost no one in it speaks in perfect formal grammar and with the standard accent you hear on television. Following my accent and advice could even endanger his life.

What you should do?

· Become clear of your personal goals in learning the language;

· Find out what micro skills you need to master (e.g. accents, grammar, fluency, creativity, asking questions, public speaking, official correspondence, speaking in different emotional states, interacting with specific social groups, technical language, becoming more disciplined, improving your memory, reducing mistakes, overcoming learning blocks);

· Make a list of those skills, and assign an authority for each one of them;

· Periodically update this list, every time you come across a better role model.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

The GO Method

Gerhard J. Ohrband

Contact

Gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com

http://thegomethod.mozello.com/

https://gerhards-school.thinkific.com/

https://thegomethod.blogspot.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerhard-j%C3%B6rg-ohrband-22525147/

If you want to save time in learning a foreign language without a teacher, please check out my book “The GO Method” on Amazon.

How to survive with a limited vocabulary

Most language students complain about not knowing enough words. This, however, is not the main problem in speaking foreign languages. To get clues about what we should focus on, we need to pay attention to what we do in our native language, first.

If you did an inventory in your own kitchen, you would be at a loss trying to name each and every item by its official name. There are so many words we do not know, even those pertaining to our everyday lives, and we feel no stress in learning them.

The typical foreigner, while attempting to speak, makes frequent and long pauses in which he tries to remember the correct words for what he wants to express.

What do native speakers differently?

Let us take professions or job titles. The typical foreigner will pause until he found the correct noun in the following sentences. “Do you know a … watchmaker/plumber/carpenter?” A native speaker may say: “Do you know someone who can repair my watch/toilet/couch?”

Or imagining buying different home repair items. Many would just point their fingers at the desired objects, saying: “A pair of these, please”, instead of “a pair of hinges (or drywall anchors/emery paper/screw compressor clamps).

Native speaker will use other, more accessible words, for describing the missing word. To be able to do that they operate flexibly with a small number of well-rehearsed words, and put them into a correct sentence structure.

Consequently, as a non-native speaker, you should identify that group of everyday words, and train yourself in building improvised sentences at high speed.

Where to find those words?

There are word lists with the most common 100, 1000, 2000 etc. words in the most popular languages. Many of those lists are derived by a computer program counting words in written texts. I have tried to learn according to such lists, but I have stopped early on. On the one hand, it may be boring, as many words do not necessarily coincide with your interests. On the other hand, spoken words may differ from texts. Typically, those lists do overestimate words used in newspaper articles and official documents.

An alternative would be to observe what words you use in your daily life in your native language, and to make a list of all words you cannot translate into the foreign one. Or, you regularly record conversations in your native language and try to translate them. If you hunt every day after 5-10 “untranslatable” words, you will soon arrive at those 1000 or so words you really need to know.

Another practical exercise is playing with sentences. Here are some ideas what to do:

· Generate x number of spontaneous sentences with each new word you learn.

· Take an existing (and correct) sentence and try to replace a certain word with as many words make possibly sense.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

The GO Method

Gerhard J. Ohrband

Contact

Gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com

http://thegomethod.mozello.com/

https://gerhards-school.thinkific.com/

https://thegomethod.blogspot.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerhard-j%C3%B6rg-ohrband-22525147/

If you want to save time in learning a foreign language without a teacher, please check out my book “The GO Method” on Amazon.