Best way for girlfriend to study English on her own?

Discussion Open Forum
#1

I work 40 hours a week…so I’m not teaching her (before anyone suggests it). And she works 48 hours a week…so studying at a school isn’t practical.

I saw an electronic “pen” that reads and translates text…saying it aloud…but not very clearly. Then I started looking at electronic dictionaries…the more expensive ones have lesson plans in them…but as a teacher I wasn’t too impressed with the lessons, but then again I can’t read the Chinese and I might have not fully understood the features. And I haven’t looked at software…but I’m guessing there are some programs that can be bought for my computer that could help her out…but my version of Windows is in English…and therefore might not be compatible with a primarily Chinese program.

Anyone know of something that has actually worked for anyone? She’s pretty hardworking…and she has a study desk next to my computer. She likes studying at the same time I’m doing stuff on the computer…and I’m always on the computer.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

#2

Translating is basically the worst way to learn a language. Introduce her to Mr. Roget and take away her Chinese/English electronic dictionary. Not one of my students uses a C/E Dictionary beyond their first two weeks with me.

Get her to read aloud everything she can get her hands on.

Write. Keep a daily journal that, as her skills improve, she can return to and edit.

And motivate her by explaining that English = $$$$$$

#3

What Toe Save said. He’s smarter than he looks.

The ‘pen’ may not actually read the text. There is a product which is starting to be used with some newer publications which reads a code embedded behind the words (or pictures). The code corresponds to a recording, downloaded from a CD and stored on flash media inside the pen. This may not be the same thing, but it sounds like it. In any case, it’s a gimmick useful for marketing to people who want to have someone/thing tell them the answers. It won’t much benefit anyone who is taking responsibility for their own learning.

#4

Send her off to Happy Hours…without you, of course. You’d just give her too much pressure.

#5

Why hasn’t anyone asked what her level is?

Can she speak at all?

Does she even want to learn?

Why does she want to learn English?

Do you guys mostly talk in English or Chinese at home?

These questions should be answered before any serious suggestions can be given.

I disagree about electronic (or even paperback) dictionaries. When you need to learn the definition of the word and nobody is around, how else are you going to get to understand the word? Have the student explain the Chinese definition in English. More often then not, a conversation about the word shortly follows along with alternate meanings and eventually a broader understanding of the words usage.

#6

[quote=“worryman”]Why hasn’t anyone asked what her level is?

Can she speak at all?[/quote]

If you can read, you can speak.

Yes. Motivation is key. I spend a goodly portion of my time simply motivating.

Presumably it’s so she can say, “Faster, faster!” instead of 加油加油. j/k. Again, see motivation.

I’m not the OP, so I can’t answer that one. I’m good, but not pre-cog.

Agreed.

If the electronic or paperback is an English only, then fine. We must discourage translating and anything that supports it. There is never an emergency to learn what a word means. My s/s annotate their new words, research as many as they can (using English only tools) and those that remain a mystery are cleared up the following class. I do agree that interesting tangents often occur as a result of discussing a single definition, but if you use your mother tongue, the conversation becomes moot.

#7

She can speak broken sentences…as a lot of her co-workers are Filipino. And she uses English to talk with them. But she’d have difficulty reading a word as short as “cap”. So she probably has about a hundred word vocabulary…or more…but needs to start reading at an A,B,C level.

I speak only Chinese with her. She always throws in English words when she can…but cutely enough I sometimes have no clue what they mean…but she swears her Filipino friends do…hmmm, maybe she’s speaking Tagalog (sp?).

#8

Toe Save,
I am not here to debate each others teaching methods for I really am not a “qualified” teacher. Though I do have to comment on when you said,”If you can read, you can speak.” I will pretend that you were joking and leave it at that.

Mordeth,
There are plenty of phonetic software for ABC level students floating around the internet (wink, wink) that you can obtain one way or another. You will laugh, but I have taught adults using materials from Sesame Street both software and books. In my opinion, Sesame Street is a really good source for all ages of Taiwanese students especially in the phonetics area.

It will be harder for you guys because you are already in the groove of speaking Chinese. If she is serious about learning, you need to start speaking more English with her. For example, when she wants something, don’t do it until she asks (to the best of her ability) in English. i.e. Can you give me that pen? Can we go to the mall? Little things like those examples will build a vocabulary fast. Be careful though, this can frustrate you both and you have to be consistant. Just an idea.

I think it is a good way until you find a better solution.

#9

[quote=“worryman”]Toe Save,
I am not here to debate each others teaching methods for I really am not a “qualified” teacher. Though I do have to comment on when you said,”If you can read, you can speak.” I will pretend that you were joking and leave it at that.

[/quote]

Actually, I am very serious about what I said. However, my process is much more complicated than the simplistic statement implies. Given what Mordeth has subsequently informed us about re: her aptitude (100 words), my system would be much more difficult to institute. Difficult, but not impossible.

I’d share the details with y’all, except, it’s my bread and butter. Trade secrets, if you will. Maoman himself has worked with aspects of the system and maybe he’d be kind enough to pop by this thread to support my point. Suffice it to say, it has proven itself successful time and again.

Mordeth, given her limited exposure, I’d have to say that you’ll need to put some time in to get her off the ground. Have her read simple stories to you. AE Milne, EB White, et al…would be a good place to start. I’d further suggest that you make a deal that whenever you communicate with her, say on the phone, you try to use English. Face to face, you can use Mandarin, but get her speaking a little bit each day.

Good luck mango.

#10

[color=green]Mod note – irrelevant posts have been split and temped. Stay on topic please. :wink:
DB, Open co-mod[/color]

#11

I know you’re primarily looking for things she can do at her study desk. I would consider heading in the audio materials direction (CD’s and the like) because learning languages is primarily an auditory task. We learn our native tongue by listening, and then replicating what we hear. Another reason is that spelling in English is not a clear sign of pronunciation. (Of course, learning a phonetic spelling system and learning to read, aloud as TS suggests, will be an important part of the program.)

Try starting with a moderately priced set, and if she really USES it a lot, consider investing in a bigger, more expensive set of materials.

Also, I’d strongly recommend a language exchange partner too. Maybe they can go over to your place and have the exchange while you compute. But live interaction is key. Only a real person can correct pronunciation and grammar, and answer questions. I know she works a lot, but an LE is much more flexible than an in-school class.

#12

I know you’re primarily looking for things she can do at her study desk. I would consider heading in the audio materials direction (CD’s and the like) because learning languages is primarily an auditory task. We learn our native tongue by listening, and then replicating what we hear. Another reason is that spelling in English is not a clear sign of pronunciation.[/quote]I absolutely agree that starting with a mainly auditory approach is best.

The Rosetta Stone software is very useful, though expensive. I used it for a year (with the online subscription option) and it improved my Chinese. Though it looks a little dated now, I think it’s still one of the more efficient ways of getting started in terms of CALL and audio visual stuff. It’s got the key ingredients of input and response which also make techniques such as TPR (at least TPR as described by its originator) work so well.

There’s a free online demo so you can try before shelling out the big money.
rosettastone.com/en/individu … -demo-form
Fill out the form – they don’t email you if you uncheck the “contact me” box. Then go through the first, web-based demo. After that you can download the Flash demo and try out various levels of many different languages. The Flash demo gives you a better idea of how the full paid version feels and works.

#13

[quote=“Mordeth”]I work 40 hours a week…so I’m not teaching her (before anyone suggests it). And she works 48 hours a week…so studying at a school isn’t practical.

I saw an electronic “pen” that reads and translates text…saying it aloud…but not very clearly. Then I started looking at electronic dictionaries…the more expensive ones have lesson plans in them…but as a teacher I wasn’t too impressed with the lessons, but then again I can’t read the Chinese and I might have not fully understood the features. And I haven’t looked at software…but I’m guessing there are some programs that can be bought for my computer that could help her out…but my version of Windows is in English…and therefore might not be compatible with a primarily Chinese program.

Anyone know of something that has actually worked for anyone? She’s pretty hardworking…and she has a study desk next to my computer. She likes studying at the same time I’m doing stuff on the computer…and I’m always on the computer.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.[/quote]

mordeth. My Gf couldnt speak more then a few words of english when I met her and I couldnt speak a sentence in mandarin. We forced each other to speak in the language that we were not good at. I spoke to her in mandarin and she would correct me best she could and she would speak to me in english and i would correct her best i could. In three years her english was good enough for her to get a job as a stewardess with Cathay pacific. It works !! and my mandarin is very good now. Those three years set a foundation for my continued learning. Now i speak mandarin at chinese high school level (at least) and shes married to someone she met in First Class !!

#14

Moral of the story – don’t teach her English or she’ll run off and marry someone else! :astonished: