I use the internet a lot. I use it to learn new things, keep up to date on the news, debates etc. I like learning. My recent learning project was building this website. It took time and patience and I just needed a little layout help with my niece and nephew. Now, my next project is to continue this blog on bilingual education, and learning a second language.
The most recent article I read was on learning languages. I’m a bilingual educator for children who are deaf. I feel deaf students need to learn both American Sign Language for communication and instruction and English for print, because ASL does not have a written counterpart, hence bilingual education. The website that held the article was brainscape.com It's titled, “5 Rules for Real Language Learning”. I believe this will apply to any teacher and classroom.
This article was written by Aaron Knight, who created a free daily email course called “Year of English” for English learners who want to be fluent. Fluency requires more socialization and practice with phrases recently learned and the most difficult part, making it as natural as possible.
1. Don’t learn words or grammar by themselves.
Make sentences and phrases that are natural. Meaning, teach real and natural conversation phrases that happen every day. Like, an introduction, ending with nice to meet you. Where you go to school? Think of everyday conversations with a stranger, interests, etc.
2. Always review what you’ve learned.
Building fluency requires review in sentences and phrases to aid retention. A deaf child in the family or classroom, everyone will be able to review recently learned sentences, and vocabulary consistently.
3. Model authentic Language.
You never see people practice vocabulary in their native language without dialogue with another person. Aaron says, when you continue to use language that is incorrect, you’ll develop bad habits that are difficult to break. We see this a lot with people trying to learn sign language by vocabulary, or they forget. It’s har at first but natural conversations are more fun, and students see the point of doing so. Put learning into a game, learn a new vocabulary, make a sentence, have a conversation.
4. Mix it up.
There is a need for variety. Have the students make up a game, watch videos with the language being spoken. Watch a video with a book being told in that language. Students in the elementary grades will enjoy this, especially if it’s a book they know. YouTube has many ASL videos with stories in them.
5. Make it an addiction:
Families and teachers who are able to use ASL everyday have a huge advantage in making it work, the practice every day, expanding vocabulary in conversations that will help support ongoing development. There is nothing better than when you must use the language everyday it’s called immersion, and it helps with fluency, I’m a witness of this and its beautiful.
My aim for this is two-fold. One for families and teachers with Deaf students, the other is for teachers who enjoy teaching American Sign Language in their class. On another note, this information can be used in just about learning any language.