Idiomatic expressions include the more colourful ones like "take the bull by the horns" and every day useful expressions like "you bet ya". Here we talk a little about some of these terms. The best way to learn them is by saving them in The Linguist, reviewing them and looking for opportunities to use them.
I read recently that children do most of their talking to themselves in their first few years of learning a language. Here I talk to myself in Russian. This is something we can all do when we want. We can record ourselves and we can share these recordings with others, or simply keep them as records of our progress.
Miko asked, in a comment here, about learning how to read in Russian and how to best retrieve vocabulary. I believe that one should combine reading and listening when learning a new language. This makes it easier to learn vocabulary. The audio and visual learning are combined. When reading you can select words and phrases for particular study and review. You become more observant of what is happening in the language. This is the process we try to make more efficient in The Linguist.
However, when you go to speak, it is the words and phrases that you have heard so often, that start to come out. As long as you do not let your native language get in the way too much, and let yourself go in the new language, it will gradually come.
You must believe that the mistakes do not matter. The mistakes you are making, the holes in your vocabulary, the constructions that seem strange and impossible in the new language, they will eventually become second nature to you if you keep going, and enjoy yourself.
Oh, and Miko, to learn to read Russian you just have to start. The first few weeks are tough, and thereafter, whenever you read, you are improving. Having learned Chinese characters, Japanese Kana and Korean Hangul, Russian writing is really not that tough. you just have to force yourself at the beginning.
I was off the Russian for the last month or so, concentrating on the languages of the countries I was visiting in Europe. I am back on to listening to and reading Russian now. I have essentially not spoken to anyone over the the last nine months of on and off listening to Russian, but feel that my Russian is now at the stage where I can speak comfortably. I just need to work on vocabulary more which I am starting to do with the new Linguist system.
One interesting phenomenon is the following. I have a few hours of Russian on my iPod shuffle. I have listened to it all many times. I shuffle the content. But when phrases are running around in my mind, they are not the phrases that I just finished listening to. They are phrases from content that I listened to very often 6 months ago!
Whatever you put into your mind by reading and listening, stays there. You just need to figure out how to trigger these items to reappear when you need them. You just need to train yourself to be able to retrieve the words and phrases you need.
I should add that I have avoided all explanations of Russian grammar!
On November 11 Carmen and I drove from Faro on the south coast of Portugal (Algarve) to Toledo, where we overnighted before continuing to Madrid airport for our flight to London on Nov 12.
Toledo is like no place I have visited. In the old town the streets are unbelievably narrow, with houses climbing 3 and 4 stories on either side. The city has been Roman, Visigoth, Arab, and Christian Spanish, with a large Jewish community always living there until they were expelled in 1492. The old town is lively with tapas bars, restaurants, shops and too many cars driving down the narrow streets. Most people live in the new parts of town, but a suprising number still live in the old town.
Toledo is where much of the knowledge that the Arabs had gleaned from Greece, China and India, and created themselves was translated into Latin by mostly Jewish and Arab scholars contributing to the European Renaissance and eventually the modern European culture.
Today I am in London and it is a different world from old Toledo.
Some thoughts on how to get a better TOEIC score. To improve in TOEIC, especially the reading section, but in fact all of TOEIC, you need to improve your reading skills. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.
Extensive reading. (to increase your reading speed)
A) Read a lot of easy content where the number of new words is not greater than 10 % of the total number of unique words. (Note that this information is provided when you click on the title of new items in the Linguist Library).
1) Read a new item quickly once. Then try to summarize out loud to yourself what the item was about.
2) Listen to the item and read along at the same time. Make sure that you can read faster than the audio file you are listening to. If you cannot, read the item again and continue practicing to try to increase your reading speed. Note that most articles, including news reports are read at about 140 words per minute, whereas conversations are around 160 words per minute and Dr. Laura is closer to 200 words per minute. You will need to get your speed up to 200 words per minute or faster to really do well on TOEIC.
3) Select a new item and do the same again. You can use imported content if (as in the case of VOA) there is a sound file provided. If there is no sound, do as in B) below.
Note that you should read these easy items at first without listening, and then read along while listening. The objective is to increase your reading speed.
B) Read newspaper articles, magazine articles, or other handy material, including web sites, on subjects of interest to you.
1) Make sure you are interested in the content.
2) Do not look up any words. Just read, scan and try to figure out the meaning.
3) Do this daily and try to enjoy it. Do not look up any words in a dictionary!!
4) Try to summarize the meaning to yourself.
The goal is to develop the ability to scan, and to guess at meaning.
Intensive reading. (to increase your vocabulary and ability to use phrases)
A) Choose content items with more than 10% new words and up to 20% new words as a percentage of unique words. (See the Linguist Library information on each new content item.)
1) Read through once, saving new words.
2) Listen and read. Save additional words and phrases that cause trouble.
3) Listen to the text 3-5 times.
4) Read the text 2-3 times.
5) Review the saved words and phrases.
6) Continue listening and reading to the item 3-5 more times.
Practice a mixture of extensive reading and intensive reading. Your reading will improve and so will your TOEIC score. But remember to stick to articles that you find interesting, as much as possible.
I have spent the last two weeks in Spain and Portugal. In Spain I wanted to use my Spanish, but it was difficult to do so. I am traveling with my wife, staying in tourist locations where English is spoken by airline personnel, rental car personnel, and most people we come into contact with. The amount of Spanish I can use in restaurants and stores is quite limited. I did find a book sore operator in Salamanca who was a goldmine of information on his region and I spoke quite a lot with him. I kep on going back to visit! Mostly, though, I had little chance to use Spanish.
On the other hand I was able to immerse myself in listening and reading. Radio, TV, newspapers, a political book and comic CD that I listened to many times. Even in Spain, I was forced to spend most of my effort on input. And when I did speak to Spaniards, I was mostly trying to listen to their phrasing and how they said things. Still I enjoyed it an my Spanish certainly improved.
Portugal is different. I do not speak Portuguese. I can read it with little difficulty since it is so similar to Spanish. The Portuguese in the toursit areas of the Algarve in Southern Portugal speak English very well, better than the Spanish, on average. My theory is that people from smaller countries do better in language learning because they have less of a "language ego", but more on that later.
Here, in Portugal, I rely entirely on listening and reading. When I try to speak Portuguese, Spanish comes out. But I do not mind. I am happy listening and reading. I am gradually getting to used to the language. I bought a Portuguese audio book of Hans Christian Anderson stories, and one on Islam. That is all that was available. I bought The Little Prince by St.Exupery and a book by Paolo Coelho to read. I thought that the Little Prince would be easier, since it is a children's book and I already know the story. I found that the book by Coelho was easier to read because I was more interested to follow the story. Again, as i have said so often, interest, meaningful content is key to langauge learning.
It does not matter to me that I stumble every time I try to speak Portuguese. I enjoy listening and reading. If I stayed here for a few months listening and reading, I would gradually feel confident enough to speak. But I feel no pressure, no pressure to speak at all, let alone correctly. I know that it will eventually come.
In langauge learning it is important to enjoy the journey and not to set unrealistic time lines. If you live where it is not practical to speak, do what you can do, listen and read. Get as good as you can be in listening and reading. When you find yourself in situations where you need to speak, when it is meaningful to speak, you will start to do so, perhaps with many mistakes, at first, and then better and better.
Shashi, Mira and others in the London area, how about trying to meet on the the 14th, either for lunch dinner or a coffee or beer. One possible location would be Mira's Pub at Victoria Station. Please let me know on this blogsite. My access to the Internet is sporadic.
