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Monthly Archives: February 2005
Testing
What is the best kind of language testing? For English learners. If the person being tested is going into an English language school or English language program I think it is unnecessary to test the learner. I believe that language programs should… Continue reading
Easy English. Phrase by phrase.
I am starting a personal diary. The diary is for members of The Linguist system and for readers of my blog. I will set this diary up as a separate blog, but not right away. Even though I am using easy English, I hope this diary can help many of yo… Continue reading
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What is coming next?
Over the next few posts I will talk a little bit about testing. How effective are the existing language tests for English? How do we know what our skill level is in another language? How can other people best judge our skill level? Is our own subj… Continue reading
Grammar
I often get resistance to the idea that language learning should not emphasize grammar instruction. At The Linguist we believe learning should be driven by enjoyable input and a systematic approach to learning words and phrases. We also favour usi… Continue reading
Obsessive compulsive disorder and language learning
In Jeffrey Schwartz’s book The Mind and the Brain, he points out just how constantly adaptable the human brain is. Research has shown that this adaptability or plasticity continues throughout our lives. The brain is constantly retraining and rearr… Continue reading
Pronunciation
The following from our Linguist Forum may be of interest. One of our learners, Assad, sent an MP3 file of him reading a text. This enabled our tutors to pick out areas to work on and provide the following recommendation on improving pronunciation…. Continue reading
More on vocabulary and learning
I read the following books on vocabulary, all published by Cambridge and purchased through Amazon: Vocabulary in Language Teaching by Jack Richards, Learning Vocabulary in Another Language, by Paul Nation, Vocabulary, Description, Acquisition and … Continue reading
Skiing and words
The last three days I have been skiing at Whistler. There was not a cloud in the sky for two days and today is a little overcast. The snow conditions are not ideal but not bad. A little ice in spots and some bare patches. You kind of have to pick … Continue reading
Free up education, more random thoughts.
I guess I got a little carried away on my last post. I was hoping to create some controversy but only got one comment, and that seemed to agree with me. There are many dedicated teachers and university professors. However, most of the insitutions … Continue reading
Caleb Gattegno
Apparently this gentleman is the founder of a school of education known as the silent approach. The gist of this school is that the teacher cannot teach but can only hope to awaken the learner’s desire to learn. Gattegno is a wise man, especially … Continue reading
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Ling Test 1 