the intensive study of more difficult texts in language learning where you are saving many words and phrases and listening and reading the same content many times. You want to increase your word power.
In weight lifting, you would overload certain muscles to strengthen them. In accumulating word power you concentrate on a certain subject matter to make sure that the new words and phrases you need to learn appear often enough for you to learn them. People talk about business English, or academic English or whatever other kind of English. To me there is only one kind of English. To improve your ability to write business English or to write academic papers in English, you just need to overwork that kind of content. You need to select just business papers or academic papers in your field for a period of time. You need to save words and phrases from that kind of content. You need to review these words and phrases. You need to listen to and read this kind of content over and over. You overload in that content type.
It is not normal y recommended in physical training to only lift weights. Running and aerobic exercises are necessary for your heart. In the same way, extensive and pleasurable reading and listening on a variety of subjects wil strengthen your ability to concentrate on your heavy lifting, your focused study of certain content areas. So it is important to have a balanced approach.
In running there is a concept cal ed the 'fartlek' run. This comes from the Swedish termsb 'fart' which means 'speed' and 'lek' which means play. So fartlek means speed play. The idea is that when you go jogging you should also do a little sprinting. If you do not, your body gets used to the comfort of running at a steady pace and the training benefit is reduced.
I believe some of the same concepts apply in language learning. I think learners should listen to content read slowly and then read at normal and even high speed. They should listen to different speakers with different accents. It might even be a good idea to hear the same content read by different voices and using different accents.
I certainly notice in my Russian studies that after listening to co ntent that is read very quickly, even though I do not understand so much of it, when I go back to content that is read more slowly, I have an easier time with this slower content than before. I have trained my brain to become more nimble and alert, to become more language fit for Russian.
By the same token, when I start a language, like Russian, I make sure I buy two different beginner books and CDs so that I can cover more or less the same beginner content listening to different people cover more or less the same beginner vocabulary but in different contexts.
Mixing up content, voices, speeds, and accents can help improve our language fitness.
Nevertheless, when it comes to working on pronunciation it is wise to concentrate on one voice which we find pleasant and imitate that person's intonation, pronunciation and tempo. If we want to internalize new phrases and words we also need to listen repetitively to the same content. So the key is to mix it up.
I propose that we offer children comparative language as a subject in grades 1-7. This would consist exclusively of listening to and reading stories. No marking, no output! Children could choose one or two languages a year. They would be able to change every year or stay with the same languages. The purpose would be purely exposure.
Thereafter language would be optional. The students could continue with this exposure approach but would be asked to concentrate on one or two languages. Only then would they be expected to start writing and speaking. But the main thing would remain listening and reading.
If the emphasis were on choice and pleasure, perhaps a larger percentage would end up genuinely motivated to learn. And once they decided to commit to learn they would be more flexible and better prepared for success. In any case what we are doing now in schools does not work for most students.
In strength exercises you need to work the same muscles repetitively in order to get stronger. Language learning is a little like that. Athletes in al sports do repetitive exercises to increase their strength.
I have always found repeating effective. When I start learning a language, I listen to the same content repeatedly. It helps if the content is interesting and the voice pleasant to listen to. When I listen I pick out or focus on different phrases or words each time. I then read that same content repeatedly for fluency in reading. I wil review new words and phrases from that same content. I have saved these words and phrases on a separate list. (This is automated in LingQ). Then I go back to listening and reading the same content again.
This is my strength training in language learning. It can be quite passive. I can listen while walking or jogging or even driving or sitting in a bus. But it is deliberate and is done almost every day during my period of intense study.
Many language learners just want to talk. They think that if they just talk they wil improve.
In my experience just talking is not enough. Talking is like playing the game of language learning. In a way it is the reward. It is why we do the other things like read, listen, write and accumulate words and phrases. We work hard to acquire more and more effective language tools so that when we talk we can express ourselves more accurately and more natural y.
Just talking is good practice....... at talking. However, conversing in a foreign language, while fun, is also a little stressful. It is not the ideal place to learn new words and phrases . It is a great place to confirm your knowledge of words and phrases that you have already learned, or to identify your gaps...
Conversation class can be time consuming and expensive. It can also become quite boring if the conversation is forced. Like everything you do in language learning, you learn best when the context is meaningful and real. Conversation is a most effective learning activity if it is genuine and combined with other activities.
I am back from my fitness session and have had breakfast. I guess there are major differences between physical exercise and learning languages. Here are few that come to my mind.
1) If you stop exercising you wil lose your fitness level quite quickly and it wil take a lot of work to get it back. If you stop working on a language, you get a little bit rusty but you do not lose much. It is easy to get it back.
2) In learning a language, the emotional commitment to the language, the words, the subject matter, the sounds of the language, people you know who speak the language, episodes that you remember, etc. are al important parts of your learning. This is not true for the pure 'grunt work' of physical exercise, although it helps if you enjoy doing it.
Since ancient times people have been developing systems to assist with memorization.
Mnemonics are clues or associations that are supposed to help us remember. Hopeful y these clues are easier to remember than the objects themselves. I have never used mnemonics.
It has always seemed like a lot of work to set these systems up.
Memory retrieval systems organize information to be memorized in a certain order. Bits of information are ranked and the frequency with which they are studied and reviewed is determined by the learner and/or by an algorithm, which, according to some research, optimizes retention. The Leitner cardbox system and Supermemo are examples of this approach.
There is undoubtedly value in these systems for those who enjoy using them. I would think that the cleaner the bit of information, the more effective these systems are. When it comes to learning words, I feel it is unwise to rely too much on such systems. I also question the relevance of the learning algorithms.
