Educational institution Gomel State University
them. F. Skorina
Topic: "Methods of language research"
Completed by: student of group A-13
Feoktistova Daria Vladimirovna
Checked by: Osipova Tamara Anatolyevna
Gomel 2014
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...2
1. Understanding methodology, methodology, method, technique in linguistics…………5
2. General methods of language research…………………………………………...6
3. Private methods of language research…………………………………………….8
References………………………………………………………………13
Introduction
Methods and principles of linguistic analysis of different sides, aspects of the language are different. The selection of one or another aspect of the language is often inseparable from the method of its linguistic consideration. At the same time, the language itself is defined as a complex and historically mobile phenomenon, which is reflected in the model of language description that was developed within the framework of traditional (classical) linguistics, which invariably includes such sections as phonetics, lexicology, morphology, syntax, etc. .d. Each of these sections has its own subject of study and at the same time forms part of a single science of language. The very structure of classical linguistics as a science clearly indicates that, when describing linguistic phenomena, scientists proceeded from the belief that language is a certain system.
Understanding language as a system becomes the most important methodological principle of linguistics of the 20th century. Therefore, as one of the main tasks of linguistic research, analysis, a task is put forward related to an adequate description and interpretation of the relationships in which the components of the language system are located among themselves. However, the language system is complex, and its complexity lies primarily in its multi-layered nature, that is, in the fact that it consists of a number of subsystems that are singled out on the basis of the so-called stratification principle. These subsystems form the levels of the language. According to the ideas prevailing in modern linguistics, it is only with the help of the concept of level that it is possible to correctly reflect such an essential feature of the language as its articulate character and the discreteness of its elements. Despite this, the question of the number of levels in a language does not have an unambiguous solution. Many agree, however, that there are four of them: 1) phonetic-phonological, 2) morphemic, 3) lexico-semantic, and 4) syntactic.
The method is often understood as the general methodology of sciences, the philosophical method of cognition, which formulates the basic principles of the theory of cognition as a whole. For us, such a general scientific, philosophical method is the dialectical method, according to which matter is primary, and consciousness is secondary; matter and consciousness form a unity; motion is a way, a form of the existence of matter, therefore the material world must be studied, learned in motion; phenomena of the world around us are interconnected and so on. These and other principles of the dialectical method constitute the philosophical basis of any science oriented towards materialistic dialectics, including linguistics. On the other hand, the method refers to a method of obtaining specific scientific knowledge. Consequently, the linguistic method is the means, the method by which we obtain information about the language, we learn the language. The combination of such methods constitutes a system of special methods. Most general definition method: "... A set of techniques and operations for cognition and practical transformation of reality." To obtain effective results with the help of special methods of language learning, it is necessary to use these methods correctly, to master them well. The rules, the sequence of using linguistic methods, as well as the techniques that make up them, is the methodology of linguistic analysis.
Methods and methodology of linguistic analysis are closely related to the aspect and concept of scientific research.
The concept of methodology, methodology, method, technique in linguistics
Methodology (Greek methodos “path of research”, logos “teaching”) in linguistics is the doctrine of the principles of the study of languages. Methodology determines the approach to the object of linguistics, the method of constructing scientific knowledge, the general orientation and nature of linguistic research. Methodology largely determines the scientific results of a study. The methodology is divided into three levels:
1. general philosophical methodology (related to worldview);
2. general scientific methodology, including methods and principles applied in groups of sciences;
3. private methodology, including the methods of any science.
Differences in the philosophical positions of researchers have led to a significant variety of methodological trends in linguistics. For example, the understanding of the term "methodology" itself in Marxist linguistics differs from its understanding in a number of other areas, in which this term is more often used only in the sense of a set of private methods and techniques for studying a language.
Methodology causes different views on the language: In dialectical materialistic linguistics, it is believed that language has a material nature, exists objectively, regardless of its reflection in human consciousness. Such an approach to understanding the nature and essence of language is fundamentally different from the idealistic understanding of language - as a manifestation of the "spirit of the people" (Humboldtianism), as a phenomenon based on its mental (theories of W. Wundt, H. Steinthal, N. Chomsky). Dialectical materialism believes that it is wrong to deny the possibility of knowing the world (in contrast to agnosticism, which adheres to the approach that we do not know reality, but complexes of sensations, beyond which there is no way out).
Methods (Greek method "path of research") in linguistics: 1. generalized sets of theoretical attitudes, techniques, language research methods associated with a particular linguistic theory and general methodology - the so-called general methods; 2. separate techniques, methods, operations based on certain theoretical principles, as a technical means, a tool for studying one or another aspect of the language - private methods.
Each general method singles out exactly those aspects of the language as an object of study that are recognized as the most important in a given theory of language, for example, the historical aspect in comparative historical linguistics, the structural aspect in structural linguistics, etc. In this sense, the subject of research is created by the method. Any major stage in the development of linguistics is characterized by a change in views on the language, a change in linguistic theory, accompanied by a radical change in methods, the desire to create a new generalized method. At the same time, unlike the old views on the language and replacing them with new ones, the methods inherited from the previous stage do not disappear completely, but retain their meaning at the new stage as more private, but with this main method. Thus, modern linguistics has several common scientific methods dating back to different eras. Modern linguistics is characterized by the linguistic refraction of general scientific methods (mathematical analysis - a quantitative method, a statistical method; a systematic approach - a comparative method, etc.).
In the meaning of the research method, the term reception can be used (as a synonym for the term method). Techniques can be called private methods, that is, a technique can be used in several methods. For example: the reception of transformations (transformations) is a part of the descriptive and historical-comparative methods, which exists as a set of certain research rules within the framework of specific methods.
The term technique is also used synonymously with the terms method and technique. The term can also mean a collection of methods. However, more often this term means the practical application of a particular method or technique.
General methods of language research
General methods of studying languages are always associated with a particular linguistic theory. The main general linguistic methods are
1. descriptive;
2.taxonomic (structural);
3. comparative-historical;
4. comparative.
The main goal of linguistics is the description of linguistic facts. The descriptive method is a system of research techniques used to establish the facts or phenomena of one language and their characteristics at a given stage of its development. This method was also used by scientists in antiquity to create normative and descriptive grammars (5th century BC, Panini's grammar, a description of the morphology of Sanskrit), and modern linguists (descriptive, that is, descriptive linguistics, which arose in the USA in the 20th century to describe structures of the languages of the American Indian tribes - B. Block, J. Trager, Z. Harris, etc.). The descriptive method allows you to accumulate a large amount of factual material, which is then classified and interpreted. The main technique of this method is observation with the allocation of language units and their reduction into classes. The observation technique is complemented by others, in particular, the description technique. The content of this technique is the repeated actions of recording the results of observation of the facts of a language in writing - fixing the observed features of linguistic phenomena, the conditions in which these features appear, the dependences of one feature on another, their identities and differences, etc. In the 20th century, the descriptive method was deepened and improved through the introduction of a linguistic experiment into the practice of linguistic research. This is a particular linguistic method within the descriptive one. It consists in the fact that a certain element is removed from the composition of a structure, or an element is inserted, or a structure is transformed, or a given element is replaced by another element. This makes it possible to observe semantic differences, etc., to reveal the hidden nature of phenomena.
The taxonomic (structural) method emerged in the 20th century. In linguistics in the 20th century, a new direction appeared - structuralism with the concept of the systemic integrity of the language. This concept required the location of the facts of the language in the same time plane, abstraction from their historical development, so the descriptive method was taken as the basis. But the method of structural linguistics differs from the traditional descriptive method (in the presence of a common feature - timelessness) in that it describes the language system, which is derived from the linguistic material by complex inferences. The descriptive method deals with actually observed linguistic phenomena. The content of the taxonomic method is “comparison of similar (similar) phenomena in the same or in different languages as the basis for the classification of linguistic facts and the languages themselves” (Akhmanova O.S., “Dictionary of Linguistic Terms”). Therefore, the taxonomic method is also called the classification method. Private methods within the framework of the taxonomic method: distributional analysis, analysis by NS (direct components), transformational analysis, component analysis.
The comparative historical method is a system of research techniques used in the study of related languages to restore the picture of the historical past of these languages in order to reveal the patterns of their development, starting from the base language (protolanguage). Unlike the descriptive method, which analyzes the language at a certain time slice (that is, from a synchronous point of view), the comparative historical method is a method of diachronic (historical) description of related languages. Comparison of the state of languages in different periods helps to recreate their history, including the most ancient periods, and restore the parent language. When studying related languages using the comparative historical method, scientists select the elements of the language that are the most stable: in the field of morphology - a system of declension and conjugation, which, as a rule, are not borrowed; elements of the sound system; in the field of vocabulary, this is the most stable vocabulary fund, which is present in all languages without exception. But in general, lexical facts must be handled with care, since words easily pass from one language to another. The language units selected for analysis must be identical in origin (they may not coincide materially and semantically, for example, the sounds [g] and [g] regularly correspond to each other, in particular, in the root morphemes of different Indo-European languages: Russian iron - lit. gelezis, Russian yellow - lit. geltas, etc.). To establish the genetic identity of language units, data from related languages and dialectology are used. In addition, the comparative historical method involves the reconstruction of the most ancient forms (protoforms): gold ← zolto, etc., as well as the chronologization of language processes (the establishment of absolute and relative chronology). Private methods within the framework of the comparative historical method: external reconstruction (that is, involving the facts of related languages) and relative chronology.
The comparative (comparative-comparative, typological) method aims to characterize the phenomena of comparable related or unrelated languages, establishing the common and different in similar phenomena. The comparative historical method is aimed at studying related languages, while the comparative one studies both related and unrelated languages, and two languages are more often compared, while the comparative historical method requires taking into account all related languages. The comparative method differs from the descriptive method in that it is built on a comparison of facts. different languages. Comparative study makes it possible to detect the structural features of different languages, to establish the type of structure according to certain features: phonetic, morphological, syntactic, therefore it is also called typological. The application of this method led to the emergence of a special branch in linguistics - linguistic typology. The typological study of languages has led to the creation of typological classifications. The most common typological classification is morphological; there are syntactic and other classifications. Linguistic typology also reveals linguistic universals.
Private Methods
Particular methods are used within the framework of general linguistic methods and complement them in one way or another. Let's take a closer look at the following private methods:
distributional analysis;
component analysis;
analysis by direct components (HC);
transformation method.
The method of distributive analysis (DA) aims to classify linguistic units of one level or another according to their syntagmatic properties, in particular, according to their distribution relative to each other in the speech stream. It turns out in what environment a linguistic unit can be. The totality of all possible environments of a given unit constitutes its distribution (from Latin distributio - “distribution”). The principles of DA were originally developed and applied in the American school of descriptive linguistics. Phonetic (phonological) elements lend themselves most easily to such an analysis, since their number in the language is small and strictly limited. For example, analyzing the compatibility of deaf and voiced consonants, we see that the deaf are combined with the deaf, voiced - with voiced: quarrel, stop, sing; landless, hut, here. But: in, in '- voiced, but combined with the deaf: yours, kvass, light, etc.
YES to morpheme elements:
Tel-chik (-shik) -ets -un
Learn + - - -
To love + - - -
Appreciate + - - -
Fly - + - (+)
Thus, the following distribution classes can be distinguished: write, read; teach, love, appreciate, etc.
YES in syntax: as a result of symbolic notation, many specific statements of the text are reduced to a set of typical pattern patterns (formulas). For example, for verbal sentences:
With them. Ch. - The child is sleeping.
With them. Ch. From wine - The postman delivers letters.
S. im. Ch. Inf. - My brother loves to sing
etc. The technique of substitution (substitution) is used: the verb loves can act not only as part of an utterance with a distributive formula C im. Ch. Inf., but also as part of a statement with the formula With them. Ch. From wine: Brother loves singing.
YES in vocabulary (YES of semantics) consists in the fact that the semantics of a word is studied in the course of observing its use in the text, in its connection with other words. For example: the object of study is a group of words of modern in English“common names of persons”: baby “baby”, boy “boy”, child “child”, children “children”, chap “small”, citizen “citizen”, enemy “enemy”, fellow “guy”, friend “friend” , girl "girl, girl", gentlemen "gentleman", lad "guy", lady "lady", man "man", mate "comrade" people "people", person "person, person", stranger "stranger", women "woman", youth "young man". This group is a high-frequency zone of the lexical system of the language, which is expressed in the variety of compatibility of the analyzed words. The material was selected from the works of art by English authors of the 20th century (all phrases: to play with the child, etc., about 65 thousand units). High indicators of the frequency of combination with words that have the value of a person's qualifications, with verbs of feeling, verbs of speech, verbs of movement. For example, pairs of words woman - girl, woman - boy, man - woman, girl - boy, etc.
The semantics of words can also be studied using the method of component analysis. This analysis is based on the recognition that the meaning of each word is decomposable into its constituent components. Such an analysis can be carried out on the material of one language, as well as on the material of different languages (with their comparative study). For example, according to A. Kroeber, a representative of the American school of ethnolinguistics, the semantic content of kinship terms in various languages can be described by all possible combinations of the main features:
generation sign;
gender sign;
a sign of the sex of the person of reference ("ego");
the sex of a person who can be simultaneously a relative of the "ego" and another person;
consanguinity (as opposed to legal kinship;
a sign of linearity of kinship;
age within one generation;
life or death of a relative.
With the help of component analysis, it is possible to describe the meanings of many words quite clearly and clearly. The word uncle, for example, denotes a male relative who is the brother or husband of the sister of one of the parents. But (this is the limitation of the method of component analysis, as well as other methods), according to the dictionary, uncle is generally “an adult man” (in common parlance) or, even more broadly, “in an address to someone.”
The syntax of a language can also be studied using the method by direct components (NC). It was developed within the framework of American descriptive linguistics.
NS is one, two or more components from which one or another structure is directly formed. Syntactic analysis consists mainly of identifying successive layers of NNs, of describing the relationships that exist between NNs, and those relationships that cannot be reduced to relations between NNs. Analysis of the National Assembly can also be written in symbols: adjective - A, noun - N, verb - V, any group of components - P.
A little boy threw a rubber ball.
The method of analysis by NS is used in research practice even now, but its possibilities are rather limited. Its disadvantages are: 1) it is impossible to fix obvious differences in the syntactic structure of sentences; 2) non-distinguishing between active and passive structures; 3) cumbersomeness, etc. Therefore, within the same descriptive linguistics, they began to develop a new method of parsing, which was called the transformation method. This method itself is considered a continuation of distributive procedures at the syntactic level and is associated with the names of American linguists Z. Harris and N. Chomsky.
The entire syntactic system of the language is divided into subsystems, one of which is considered the original, nuclear, the rest are derivatives. At the same time, the nuclear subsystem is characterized as a set of elementary types of sentences: any somewhat complex syntactic type is a transform of one or more nuclear types. The nuclear sentence is also included in the class of simple sentence transforms. Nuclear sentence - with a verb in the indicative mood, present tense, active voice, affirmative form, not containing modal and emphatic words. For example:
nuclear proposal
(1) The professor is examining a patient.
(2) Does the professor examine the patient?
(3) The professor does not examine the patient.
(4) The patient is examined by the professor.
(5) The professor will examine the patient.
(6) The patient will be examined by a professor.
(7) Who will examine the patient?
(8) Who examined the patient?
(9) Who examines the patient?
(10) Examination of a patient by a professor.
(11) A professor examining a patient.
(12) Patient examined by professor
All transforms of this sentence form its paradigm, and phrases are also included in it.
The method of transformational analysis is also applicable to phrases: writer's invitation → writer invited
→ the writer was invited
Thus, the task of the transformational method is to reduce the various sentences and their types to a minimum (to identify the main types of sentences, their meanings).
Bibliography
Literature
1. Reader according to the methodology of the Russian language. Russian language as a subject of teaching / Comp. A.V.Tekuchev. - M., 1982.
2. Lvov M.R. Dictionary-reference book on the methodology of the Russian language. - M., 1997.
3. Fundamentals of the methodology of the Russian language in grades 4-8: A guide for teachers / Ed. A.V.Tekucheva, M.M.Razumovskaya, T.A.Ladyzhenskaya. - 2nd ed. - M., 1983.
VADIM GRISHIN
There is no inability to learn foreign languages.
There are effective and ineffective methods of learning foreign languages
EFFECTIVE METHODS OF LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES
How to start learning a language.
It is best to start learning a foreign language by listening to small, light texts in that language. It is most effective not to listen to the entire text at once, but to separate sentences or phrases, and listen to one phrase many times. It would be nice if each phrase was illustrated with a picture, from which the meaning of the phrase would be clear, because. at this stage, it is extremely important that foreign words are associated "directly" with the objects, actions and concepts that they mean, and without any interference from the native language (Russian). It is also useful to vividly imagine the situation, “around” the phrase, to imagine yourself as a participant in the dialogue. At this stage, you should look at the translation of phrases as little as possible and only to make sure that you understood the meaning of the phrase exactly.
Then, as you continue to listen to the phrase, repeatedly try to pronounce it as accurately as possible, comparing your pronunciation with the recording. At the same time, keep the text of the phrase in the target language in your field of vision.
what sounds, what letters or combinations of letters are transmitted
how the sentence is built (what follows for what)
what new words did you learn from the phrase and the whole text and how they are written
It is desirable to listen to phrases in this way every day for at least 1 hour, and at the beginning of each lesson, repeat all previously heard phrases. Try there is no need to memorize the phrases, if you listened to the phrase many times, it will be remembered automatically.
It is inconvenient to listen to tape cassettes in this way, because. have to constantly rewind. Some multimedia discs with language courses are excellent for this kind of listening. For example, discs EnglishGold, EnglishPlatinum, OxfordPlatinum, DeutschPlatinum (similar discs are also available for Italian and French). These discs contain dialogues voiced by native speakers, texts for them in 2 languages, almost every phrase is illustrated with a picture, you can listen to dialogues by phrases or in full. These discs cost anywhere from 80 to 120 rubles. You can also use TALKTOME series discs, but they are less convenient to use because they do not translate phrases into Russian.
We recommend that you listen to texts in this way, even if you are studying with a teacher or in courses, because listening to the same phrases repeatedly is very important on initial stage language learning. So, by the way, students of language faculties begin to learn the language, but they, as a rule, listen all at once text several times, which significantly reduces the effect of listening: after several such listenings, it becomes quite difficult to “keep” attention on the text, attention is constantly turned off from the text.
Simply repeatedly listening to long texts in a foreign language is not effective.After 5-7 texts or dialogues listened in this way, one should move on to individual sounds - learn to pronounce and practice the pronunciation of individual sounds and their combinations in words. It would be great if a good teacher would put your pronunciation. But finding a “decent” teacher who would agree to deal with you only phonetics is quite difficult (class teachers are usually very reluctant to teach from scratch), and for 45 minutes such teachers charge from 25 to 45 dollars (in Moscow).
Fortunately, in the same multimedia discs there is a "Phonetics" section, in which you can work out the pronunciation of individual sounds, their combinations, words and phrases. With a microphone and normal sound card, the program will evaluate your pronunciation by comparing it with your ideal pronunciation. But still, due to the small number of examples for each sound, the phonetics section in these discs does not reach the level of the classical philological faculty. For working out English pronunciation we highly recommend purchasing the disc "English without an accent, Professor Higgins" (Phonetics + grammar, costs about 100 rubles).
Practice pronunciation until you begin to pronounce sounds naturally, until the tongue and lips automatically (without the participation of consciousness) take the correct position for pronouncing the sound, and easily take the correct position for pronouncing the next sound in the word without "delays and stumbling" .
If you are studying a language with difficult pronunciation, such as English or French, we still recommend that you take at least a few phonetics lessons with a good teacher so that he can check whether you pronounce the sounds correctly, tk. if you learn to pronounce the sound incorrectly, and your speech apparatus gets used to the incorrect pronunciation of the sound, it will be quite difficult to relearn later.
Achieving "decent" pronunciation at the initial stage of learning is very important, especially if you are studying languages, the pronunciation of sounds in which differs significantly from the pronunciation of the sounds of the Russian language. In English, for example, without a “decent” pronunciation, you won’t get far. Memorization and automatic recall of words and phrases to a certain extent will depend on how close to the ideal pronunciation they were and can be pronounced by you. (Subconsciously you will know what is in the word “marriage”, and strive to get rid of this marriage, that is, of the word).
That's why, take the time to practice pronunciation.
Mikhail Shestov in his book: YES! YOU CAN LEARN ANY LANGUAGE AND
TEACH YOURSELF TO LEARN EFFECTIVELY" reveals a terrible teaching secret": until the level of pronunciation is close to the standard, at least by 70%, lexicon the student does not develop at all.
When pronouncing a word, imagine every letter, even the unpronounceable. This will help you remember the word better and write it without mistakes.
Write out new words from each text / dialogue and ask someone to dictate them to you (dictate in Russian - you write in a foreign language). Then carefully check and analyze the errors.
Let's portray detailed description"listening" in brief:
listen to the phrase look at the picture compare with the meaning / meaning
listen to the phrase look at the foreign text look at the Russian text
Take from films in the target language (scripts for films can be found on the Internet) simple phrases that you also use or can use in Everyday life and learn them. These phrases are usually remembered very easily.
It is also very useful not only to listen to the phrases, but also to see how a native speaker pronounces the phrase. Watch news releases, or some educational programs in the language you are learning and watch the facial expressions of the announcer or presenter. Record several news releases on a videotape, watch it several times, while watching, say familiar words after the announcer, trying to copy the announcer's facial expressions and imitating him.
How to learn words
What does it mean to know the word:
be able to pronounce the word correctly
be able to spell the word correctly
know the meaning of the word / the main meanings of a polysemantic word
remember the most exact equivalent of a word in Russian / equivalents for polysemantic words
Foreign words must be associated directly with the objects, phenomena or actions they mean. For example, to remember English word apple(apple), imagine an apple and repeat apple, apple, apple... Thus the concept of "apple" is directly associated with the word apple.
Trying to remember foreign word as a translation of the Russian word, i.e. repeat apple- an Apple, apple- an Apple, apple- apple, will lead to the fact that in the future you will not be able to use this word spontaneously, which is necessary in order to speak the language. This wrong way of remembering words is very often used by children when they are just starting to learn a foreign language.
In order to remember the word better, you need to make the association of the word with the image as “strong” as possible. For this:
take our word apple, repeat apple, apple, apple, apple and at the same time
visualize an apple clearly and clearly
imagine that you take this apple and hold it in your hand, fix the sensations
Smell the apple
take a bite of an apple, feel the taste of an apple
hear the sound of an apple being bitten
imagine or, as it were, “quickly write in your imagination” the letters “ a p p l e"
To memorize long words that do not designate an object, you can use this method:
Form an image to a foreign word, repeat the word and imagine this image, at the same time:
Mentally write a word, imagine it spelled
determine the color of the letters in the word or color the word
feel each letter in the word
Learning a new language is complex and individual characteristics. While some are banging their heads against the wall, trying to memorize at least “my name is Vasya”, others already easily read Hamlet in the original and communicate with foreigners at ease. Why is it so easy for them to learn? Are there any special secrets of mastering foreign language? You will learn more about this below.
How do we learn a language
When someone says they are incapable of learning a new language, they want to object back.
Anyone can learn a new language. This ability is hardwired into our brains from birth. It is thanks to her that we unconsciously and naturally master our native language. Moreover, being placed in an appropriate language environment, children are able to master a foreign language without any effort.
Yes, then we go to school, learn grammar and punctuation, polish and improve our knowledge, but the basis of our linguistic skills is precisely the foundation that was laid down in early childhood. Please note that this happens without any tricky techniques, language classes and teaching aids.
Why can't we, as adults, just as easily learn a second, third, fourth language? Maybe this linguistic ability is inherent only in children, and as they grow older it disappears?
Partly it is. The older we get, the more our brain plasticity (its ability to create new neurons and synapses) decreases. In addition to purely physiological obstacles, there is one more. The fact is that the process of language acquisition in adulthood fundamentally different from children. Children are constantly immersed in the learning environment and gain new knowledge at every step, while adults, as a rule, allocate certain hours for classes, and use their native language the rest of the time. Not less than importance also has motivation. If a child simply cannot live without knowing the language, then an adult without a second language is quite capable of successfully existing.
This is all understandable, but what practical conclusions can be drawn from these facts?
How should we learn the language
If you want to quickly and efficiently master a foreign language, then during training you should try to follow some simple advice. They aim to minimize the effect age-related changes your brain, and also help you go through the whole process as easily and imperceptibly as children do.
Spaced repetitions
This technique allows you to better memorize new words and concepts. It lies in the fact that you must repeat the studied material at certain intervals, and the farther, the smaller these intervals. For example, if you are learning new words, then they should be repeated several times during one lesson, then repeated the next day. Then again after a few days and finally fix the material after a week. Here is how this process looks like on a graph:
One successful application that uses this approach is . The program is able to keep track of which words you have learned and reminds you of their repetition through certain time. At the same time, new lessons are built using the material already studied, so that the knowledge you have gained is fixed quite firmly.
Learn a language before bed
Mastering a new language requires, for the most part, simply memorizing large amounts of information. Yes, for grammar rules it is desirable to understand their application, but in general you will have to memorize new words already along with examples. For better memorization, do not miss the opportunity to repeat the material again before going to bed. A study by American scientists has confirmed that memorization before going to bed is much stronger than during a lesson during the day.
Learn content, not just language
Teachers with great experience are well aware that the abstract study of a foreign language is much more difficult than if it is used to master any interesting material. This is also confirmed by scientists. For example, an experiment was recently set up in which one group of participants studied French in the usual way and the other was instead taught one of the basic subjects in French. As a result, the second group showed significant progress in listening comprehension and translation. Therefore, make sure to supplement your classes with the consumption of content that is interesting to you in the target language. This can be listening to podcasts, watching movies, reading books, etc.
We are all constantly busy, and making time for full-fledged activities is not so easy. Therefore, many people limit themselves to 2-3 hours a week, specially allocated for a foreign language. However, it is much better to practice, albeit less in time, but every day. Our brain does not have such a large buffer of RAM. When we try to cram the maximum amount of information into it in one hour, overflow quickly sets in. Much more useful are small in duration, but frequent classes. Just perfect for this, special ones are suitable that will allow you to practice at any free moment.
Mix old and new
We try to quickly advance in learning and get more new knowledge. However, this is not entirely correct. Things go much better when the new is mixed with already familiar material. So we not only learn fresh material more easily, but also consolidate the lessons learned. As a result, the process of mastering a foreign language is much faster.
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A dozen successful negotiations with foreign businessmen and two packs of A-4 format translated technical documentation, not counting the many contracts and letters, commercial offers give me the right to talk about high efficiency proven way to learn any foreign language.
The surest way suggests a strong, burning desire to learn the language. In the absence of desire in a person, the method does not work, however, like any other methods.
The essence of the method is as follows.. Let's say you do not know a language, for example, English or French at all, but burn with a flame of desire to learn it. Where to begin? First of all, you need to decide on the pronunciation. Whether it's English, whether it's French or Chinese, you first need to learn the basic letter combinations of the language and work out their pronunciation, familiarize yourself with the exceptions to the rules. This is the base. At this stage, it is advisable to resort to the help of a tutor and take several lessons from him to practice the pronunciation of all letter combinations of a foreign language.
After that, it's up to you and the little ones. Take any book in a foreign language of interest to you (you can buy it either in a bookstore for an expensive price, or in a second-hand store for a cheap price), a good and convenient (not too large on the outer perimeter) dictionary of thousands of 50 words (more is possible, but dictionaries less than 10 thousand words I do not recommend), sit in a secluded place and read aloud a foreign text for 15-20 minutes.
To get started, you need to earn minimum vocabulary, which in the future will serve as the basis for written and oral communication with foreign contingents. Therefore, it is necessary to read a foreign book in the following way: read one foreign word, find its translation in the dictionary, get acquainted with the transcription (if any) and the translation of the word, work out the pronunciation and enter the word into the memory database, repeating it and its translation aloud 3-4 times in a row. Move on to the next word. Then we read the whole sentence in a foreign language aloud, we make a translation. Also listen. All aloud. Let's move on to the next offer. And so 15-20 minutes. Then a break.
At first, it will be insanely difficult to pronounce all the words and their translations, translations of the text aloud, the jaw will ache. But the game is worth the candle. In this way, you will not only work out pronunciation, but also throw in the "piggy bank" of your brain the initial minimum of a foreign vocabulary, remember the spelling of words visually, which will then greatly help with grammar.
Personally, in one summer in the 10th grade, I turned from a chronic three-year student in English into a leading straight-A student. Mom bought me a 100-page tabloid novel in English for a couple of rubles in a second-hand store. I read it diligently along with a dictionary, diligently saying everything out loud, like a parrot, 3-4 times. The result was obvious: five in the language at school and the successful passing of the entrance exam to the university on the budget; the trust of the superiors at work, expressed in shifting all the translation activities of the company onto my shoulders. The most important thing in this method is to start working on yourself + a strong desire.
except self-study English by reading foreign books aloud, there are several other, alternative and effective ways to learn a foreign language.
First of all, it is, of course, direct communication with representatives of foreign culture. Communicating with native speakers of a foreign language - native foreigners - "natives", you grasp the features of speech and pronunciation of words by ear, intuitively understand the meaning of a particular word, phrase, based on the facial expressions and gestures of the interlocutor, the environment and the nuances of the situation.
It usually takes about 3 months to study a foreign language “from scratch” abroad. At the end of the year, the student becomes a "language pro".
Learning a foreign language according to special programs recorded on CDs guarantees nice results in the case of regular efforts. Personally, I like EnglishPlatinum 2000 most of all among the great variety of programs sold. It offers excerpts from real English-language films that are quite difficult for a beginner to understand, which must be understood by ear, translated and written from dictation. A handy dictionary allows you to study the written spelling and oral pronunciation of words and their combinations. The grammar section describes the rules in an accessible way English grammar. You can record your speech on the voice recorder and check it in the program for compliance with English speech.
In the last place I put learning a foreign language with a teacher. After all, if a student does not have a real desire to learn a foreign language, a tutor will not help him. Anything that goes in one ear in class will immediately fly out of the other at the end of the lesson. The help of a tutor is good in two cases: when a person is just starting to learn a language and he needs the help of a professional in practicing pronunciation and linking letter combinations of the language with their pronunciation, or when a person already knows the language well enough, but he needs to hone it, improve it, make it perfect then he needs the help of a professional translator.
Learning a language is not as difficult as it might seem. The most important thing - sincerely want to learn a foreign language and to know why you are wasting a lot of time on this (im)useless activity. If the goal does not motivate and does not cause a burning desire to work and work on yourself, then maybe it’s better not to waste your time and nerves in vain?
If you are serious about learning a foreign language, then you will probably be interested in the features vocational training specialists from translation agencies. You can read about it in the article
If you did not learn the language at school or college, then you should not worry and think that you are incapable of this: you could not learn it there.
By themselves, the school or college programs (if it is not about special program courses with a language bias) do not imply that you will be able to speak freely or correspond in a foreign language with friends, watch films without translation, read literature, etc.
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The task of school and university programs is to lay the basic foundations, to acquaint students with the very process of learning a foreign language, to a greater extent than with the language itself. That is, not even the language itself is taught, but a certain subject that tells about learning a foreign language, with a certain number of examples.
But the most serious drawback of studying at a school or a non-core institute can be considered the fact that they teach everything in a row. How many useless details fall upon the mind of the trainee! But it is believed that it is better for the student to be buried under them, but he was given all the information.
At the same time, the conscience of the teacher is clear, as well as the cranium of the student is clear - in terms of mastering the language.
This way of teaching is similar to explaining how to find the right door: “First, go down the corridor straight to the first door, you don’t need to go there. After it, too, straight ahead, and not to the right, because to the right is a dead end. There will be a corridor on the left, there are two benches in it. Uncle Petya brought them last month and put them up after the holiday. You don't need to enter this corridor. Then there will be a turn to the right, there are such steep steps - pass by, you do not need to go there. Next, you will see two green doors on the left and three blue doors on the right. There is a window between them, but the view is not very interesting. The door you need is the last one in the hallway. In general, it is immediately visible from the entrance - if you enter from the right wing, and not in the center.
See how much unnecessary information? After all, one could immediately just tell the person that he needed another entrance to the building.
Approximately the same is felt by a person studying in a school or “regular” university program. Hence the apathy and unwillingness to learn the language, the prevailing idea that 95% is a routine and hard work.
However, this is not quite true. Methods of learning foreign languages have evolved along with society, and now you can master a foreign language, already without those wasted time and boring lessons that you remember from your experience of learning in high school. Below we list the main methods of teaching a foreign language that you need to pay attention to.
Grammar-translational (lexico-grammatical, traditional) method.
The grammar-translation (traditional) method was one of the first methods of teaching. Initially, he largely repeated the programs of studying "dead languages" (Latin, Greek, etc.), where almost all educational process reduced to reading and translation. Its foundations were laid by enlighteners in the 18th century, and by the middle of the 20th this technique was called the "Grammar-translational method" ("Grammar-translational method").
According to this method, language proficiency consists of memorizing a certain number of words and knowledge of grammar. The learning process consists in the fact that the student consistently learns different grammatical patterns and replenishes his vocabulary. Text educational materials- this is the so-called artificial text, in which the meaning of what you say is not important, what matters is how you say it.
Most of the school programs, remember the well-known "family" exercises, when a student who has not yet woken up dejectedly mumbles the memorized: "My name is Ivan. I live in Moscow. My father was an engineer, my mother cooks…”.
The traditional method of teaching foreign languages is somewhat outdated, it is considered boring, difficult, and the result is achieved too long - a lot of boring and difficult grammar rules, a lot of words that need to be crammed, dreary texts that need to be read and translated, and sometimes retelling. A teacher who interrupts and corrects mistakes all the time. All this boring stuff lasts for several years, and the result does not always live up to expectations.
The main disadvantage of the traditional method is that it creates ideal conditions for the emergence of the so-called language barrier, since a person does not speak, but simply combines words using grammatical rules.
This method dominated until the end of the 50s and was the only one with which absolutely everyone was trained - there were simply no other methods. Classes were held according to the scheme: read - translate, read - translate. This technique greatly reduced motivation and interest in classes.
But even then, many were wondering: why make a philologist out of a person - if he just wants to learn to speak and write in a foreign language, to understand it? A person needs practical skills, not a second specialty. At that time, the learner actually received knowledge about the language, and not the language itself; he distinguished well one grammatical construction from another, but was not able to ask a simple question to a foreigner, being, for example, abroad.
However, despite all the shortcomings, the traditional method also has advantages - it allows you to learn grammar in high level in addition, this method is well suited for people with highly developed logical thinking who are able to perceive the language as a set of grammatical formulas.
In the mid 50s traditional method no longer meet the basic linguistic requirements. As a result, dozens of alternative methods have covered the linguistic space with riotous young shoots. However, the traditional method, although it has changed a lot, has not lost its position and continues to successfully exist in the form of a modern lexical and grammatical method, according to which well-known language schools work.
The modern lexico-grammatical method is aimed at teaching the language as a system consisting of 4 main components - speaking ( oral speech), listening (listening comprehension), reading, writing. Most Attention is given to the analysis of texts, writing essays, presentations and dictations. In addition, students must learn the structure and logic of a foreign language, be able to correlate it with their native language, understand what are their similarities and differences. This is impossible without a serious study of grammar and without the practice of two-way translation. The method is recommended for those who are just starting to learn a foreign language, as well as for those who have a strong logical and mathematical thinking.
Communicative method
To date, this is the most popular method of learning foreign languages - after the already described traditional one. For the early 70s, it became a real breakthrough, because the main goal of this method is to teach a person to interact with other people in the language being studied, which includes all forms of communication: speech, writing (both reading and writing skills), listening and understand what the speaker is saying. This is easiest to achieve by teaching a person in natural conditions - natural, first of all, from the point of view of common sense. For example, a teacher's question "What is this?" pointing to a chair can be considered natural only if the teacher does not really know what it is, etc.
The modern communicative method is a combination of many ways of teaching foreign languages. Today it is the top of the evolutionary pyramid of various educational methods.
The communicative method is suitable for most people, it allows you to learn a foreign language faster and more consciously. It is this method that the ITEC School of Foreign Languages uses in its work.
Immersion method (Sugesto pedia)
This program appeared in the late 70s, and for many it became a hope, amid the dull cramming and methodical hammering of material.
According to this method, you can learn a foreign language by becoming another person for the period of study - a native speaker. Learning the language in this way, all students choose names for themselves, come up with biographies. Due to this, the audience creates the illusion that the students are in a completely different world - in the world of the language being studied. All this is done so that any person in the learning process can fully adapt to a new environment, relax, being in a playful environment, open up, and speech and language skills become as close as possible to a native speaker.
That is, it is better to speak like a "fictional Jack" than like a "real Ivan".
The method can be suitable for creative people who like to improvise.
Silent way
According to the method called "Method of Silence" (it appeared in the 60s), knowledge of the language was originally embedded in the person himself, and the most important thing is not to interfere with the student and not impose the teacher's point of view.
Following this technique, the teacher does not speak a single word in the language being studied, so as not to knock down the students' subjective perception of the language.
When teaching pronunciation, the teacher uses color tables, on which each color or symbol represents a certain sound, and thus presents new words. For example, to "say" the word "pencil" - "pencil", you first need to show the box denoting the sound "p", then the box denoting the sound "e", etc.
Thus, knowledge of the language is formed at the level of the system of conditional interactions, up to the subconscious, which, according to the authors, should lead to brilliant results.
In addition, the authority of the teacher does not put pressure on the students, and the level of language knowledge of the teacher does not affect the level of language knowledge of the students. As a result, the student may know the language better than his teacher.
Unfortunately, training in this way can take a very long time.
Physical response method (Total-physical response)
Another interesting method is called the physical response method. Its main principle is that you can only understand what you have passed through yourself, literally, “felt”.
Classes are held in the following way: the student at the first stages of training does not say a word - after all, first he must receive a sufficient amount of "passive" knowledge. During the first lessons, the student constantly listens to foreign speech, he reads something, but at the same time does not say a single word in the language being studied. Then, in the process of learning, there comes a period when he must already react to what he heard or read - but only react by action.
First, words denoting physical movement are studied. For example, when they learn the word "stand up", everyone gets up, "sit down" - they sit down, etc. . A good effect is achieved due to the fact that a person passes all the information received through himself.
It is also important that in the process of learning a language using this method, students communicate (directly or indirectly) not only with the teacher, but also with each other.
This method is great for introverts - people who prefer to listen rather than talk.
Audio-lingual method
In a sense, this method is built on rote learning. At the initial stage of training, the student repeatedly repeats the phrase heard after the teacher. And as soon as the pronunciation reaches the desired level, the student is allowed to insert some phrases from himself, but further work comes down to the same principle - heard-reproduced. This method well suited for people with pronounced auditory perception.
Today there are more than 100 methods of learning foreign languages, most of which are not very effective, and are a common way of earning money for enterprising people.
First of all, this is the method of the 25th frame, coding, neuro-linguistic programming, etc. similar techniques.
Remember - learning a language is not possible without effort.
But you can make this training interesting and motivating for further study of foreign languages, the desire to understand and feel in another language.
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