Nobody wants to make mistakes in foreign languages. In the past,
·
School teachers have punished us;
·
Parents have interrupted us;
·
Classmates have laughed at us.
We often feel guilty or ashamed, after somebody has corrected us. Therefore,
many language learners think that they should avoid mistakes at all costs. This
is very dangerous and unproductive.
Yes, our goal is to speak without mistakes. At the end (!) of our
learning process. Not in the beginning. Why?
There are various ways to reduce mistakes.
·
You can simply shut up. If you do not open your mouth,
you will not make any mistakes.
·
If you speak in extremely short sentences, you will
make few mistakes only.
·
If you memorize sentences, you will make few mistakes.
Most language learners adopt one of the above strategies. This is very
stupid.
We need to make mistakes in the beginning,
·
so that we can discover new rules,
·
so that we can experiment to say more complex things,
·
so that we can gain experience.
One of the stupidest ideas I have heard (many times) is this: If you make
a mistake in the beginning, you will never get rid of it. If this were true, no
baby would ever learn to speak. As babies, we have made billions of mistakes
during our first years.
The following is essential.
You need
·
to document your mistakes,
·
to analyze them,
·
to work systematically on them.
For your whole life. This process should never stop.
The GO Method
“I have been living in
Germany for years. I have gone through all the levels and sustained the
necessary exams. Nonetheless, I still make too many mistakes as to get a
serious employment in my profession.”
It is easy to start a foreign language. It takes only
practice and living abroad to get fluent. To learn the last (!) 5% and to speak
without mistakes, however, you will need completely different approach.
The GO Method helps you get rid of your chronic grammar and
pronunciation mistakes by applying psychology and principles of quality
management.
We offer corrective courses for some languages, as well a
general system for improving your use of any language. We support companies in
improving the language proficiency of key employees.
Gerhard J. Ohrband
Has helped more than 1200 students advance their studies and
professional career by obtaining excellent German and Spanish skills.
Psychologist and language teacher, from Hamburg /Germany
(*1979). Married, one son. 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. Speaks 21 languages.
Contact
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 comments:
Post a Comment