Hi Pln! Just five minutes to read and reply the first part of your post.
> I enjoyed reading about how you and your daughter spent time doing > interactive activities in English! We don't have timetables at all, I just take advantage of situations. For instance, as we are headed somewhere (school, park, restaurant (sometimes), to jog, etc.), or doing whatever, sometimes I carry that book or texts, or simply keep talking to her. I talk to her pre-made phrases or simply, phrases I hear or from my inspiration ;) LOL. Sometimes we have to wait, "nothing to do", then I take advantage or her ;) When I don't have a book or magazine, I just tell her, e.g. I say "It's getting dark" (but in Spanish), and she answer that in English, she already know that I want she say it in English. She knows me ;) Lately we have been practicing conditionals, e.g. "I don't buy a car because I don't like it. If I liked cars I would buy one" (but in Spanish, she gives me the phrases in English). Both of us are practicing and 'learning'! > The words or actions you found difficult(e.g.manure,gills,plough > fields,lay eggs)to explain can only be shown by > pictures,illustrations,or by your own demonstrations of gestures or > drawings.;) Oh yeah, pictures and illustration are great for that! When she was little girl, we used to play English lottery! (flashcards). Time to work. Have all a good day! Pablo > I find real direct ways like flash cards much much more effective than > words as the words tend to distract learners' attention.It applies to > adult students,too! > > What you have been doing with your daughter seems to be on the right > track to me.As a matter of fact,I don't think I've done a better job > with my kids than you have.:( > > What my BF and I have been doing with our 2 sons since we moved to > Poland is to use only English at home whileas they only use Polish at > school and at kindergarten.Sometimes on the weekend they learn how to > write simple Chinese characters with me,and every Thursday they attend > a Chinese class taught by me at my elder son's school with other > Polish kids aged 5-8. > > We minimize their using Polish at home which means they watch mostly > Disney Channel.Our focus is to keep their English alive and to let > them have constant contact with Chinese.So as you do with your > daughter,we provide them lots of English and Chinese DVDs and books! > When they make grammartical mistakes or pronounce some words > wrongly,we correct them by asking them to repeat the correct sentences > without any explanations.That's all! > > Oh,by the way,I met a friendly and energetic Polish woman 3 weeks ago > who started to open a tri-lingual(Spanish,Polish & English)daycare > centre in Warsaw since this end of April. > > She hired 3 native speakers to look after babies and small kids aged > 0-3 for more ambitious working young parents.She offered me a job to > join her summer curriculum to work as a Chinese native speaker. > (Polish,English & Chinese) > > Because her ex-husband is Spanish and her present one is French,her 8- > year-old son is trilingual attending a French school in Warsaw. > > She told me he had bad luck adjusting to Polish teachers and peers > because they didn't even bother to pronounce his Spanish first name > correctly...:( It happens to our 2 sons as well unfortunately...:( > > I'll try to find the multi-lingual family support group I used to go > to last year for your reference.If you have more doubts or other > questions,maybe that's the right place to ask for help.;) > > Oh,no! I forgot to remind you of your wife's birthday!LOL > It's very near your own birthday,isn't it?If I remmeber it > correctly...;) > That's unforgivable if I may say so for your wife!LOL > > Nice day to you and all of us! > Pln > On May 12, 4:58 am, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi Pln and all, > > > At this time of my day, I'm a bit tired, so, I'll post just short > > sentences. > > > > First of all,thank you for remembering to wish me "Happy Mother's > > > Day!",Pablo! > > > Guess what... I forgot my wife's happy birthday :( Well, that happens, > > doesn't it? > > > Well my doctor prescribed to me, some pills, vitamins and a cream (I > > forgot to buy the cream!). And at the same time, I'm jogging again as > > I told you. But, my right calf is hurting me... :( I guess I need > > something more serious, like physiotherapy... > > > > I had the same fear and concern when SARS struck Taiwan,too in 2003...: > > > ( > > > We had to go everywhere with masks and our elder child in the pram > > > with a rain cover during hot summer days! > > > > As long as you and your family,especially your daughter wear mask > > > properly(and don't forget to change it when torn),and wash your hands > > > as often as you can!(we used to use a lot of hand sanitizer(a tiny > > > bottle of transparent liquid,quite handy when you can't wash hands > > > with water right away)) > > > Thank you very much for your advice. I'll read and get more info. > > > > I will reply to Mr.D's and your reply to him regarding my kids' > > > exposure to 3 languages hopefully tomorrow! > > > I'm looking forward to listening to about your kids languages > > experiences. > > > About my daughter, as happens with kids, they learn in a 'natural way' > > and I was careful about that. I mean, I never taught her grammar, > > just talking and watching videos again and again. The last weekend I > > was doing this activity with her: I have a nice illustrated > > encyclopedia for teenagers, with lots of subjects of 1 or 2 pages of > > length. I was reading to her in Spanish and she gave me the sentences > > in English. I think inverse translation is stimulating and also useful > > because you work around the output. For instance, in the "Animals > > page", we found this phrases: "Female chickens are called hens". She > > didn't know or had forgotten the word "Female". Another: "Hens lay > > eggs". The eggs hatch. She didn't know the word "lay". What about > > this one: "Farmers use machines to spread manure over plough > > fields" (or something like that). (perhaps four unknown words for her, > > and one or two for me). Fish breath with gills. (I didn't know that > > word). Well, but mainly, easy phrases, to get a little of fluency. > > > Well, a first conclusion is that I don't know a lot of words of a > > reference easy book like the one mentioned above. I mean, we can use > > such kind of texts to learn a lot of basic vocabulary. The second > > conclusion, when you have someone who do some activity with, you can > > reinforce, review and also learn a lot. > > > And we watched a movie too, audio in Spanish, captions in English, > > with songs in English :) Sometimes, we watch movies with audio in > > English and captions in English or Spanish. > > > Thank you, > > > Pablo > > > > Good day to us all! > > > Pln > > > > On May 10, 12:41 am, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hi Mr. D. > > > > > I think it's important to comment to all of you about my experience > > > > with my daughter. > > > > > When she was 4 or so, I decided it was about time she learned > > > > English. Perhaps it had better been before but it couldn't be like > > > > that. Well, I started to teach her the alphabet and her first words. > > > > And I used to talk to her in English, e.g. "please, pass me my shoes", > > > > "go to bed", "are you ready?" (for school), "hurry up!", etc. I had > > > > to learn new words or expressions and I was practicing at the same > > > > time. Now she is 12 and I consider she can hold a conversation. I > > > > think she is high beginner and I keep talking to her or practicing > > > > with her. > > > > > I mean, it's really valuable if you have somebody who you can practice/ > > > > talk to. I keep trying to get new partners, be native, or EFL learners > > > > like me. I also have tried to have an English club at home, no luck > > > > so far. > > > > > About your suggestion, to tell the truth, I think it can turn out > > > > difficult or not so pleasant if words don't come up, I think it's > > > > easier to follow a text or dialog. From now on I'll try to focus > > > > myself on using the words and the language. Here some ideas: > > > > > - Read aloud a book/text/paragraph, repeat 'interesting' phrases > > > > - Get texts oriented to fluency, and read them aloud > > > > - Repeat phrases while listening to your mp3 player/tv news, etc, no > > > > pauses, you just repeat what you are able to hear > > > > > By the way, my mp3 player has a function to repeat 2 or more times, a > > > > segment A-B. You press twice to decide the segment duration. My mp3 > > > > player is cheap but has a smart function and can break sentences > > > > relatively well. It's more useful when the audio is not so > > > > understandable. > > > > > Or simply, read any book or whatever you like, aloud. I think most of > > > > us (EFL learners) keep listening to or have listened to a lot of audio > > > > input, but the output has been very limited, perhaps in a proportion 9 > > > > to 1 if not more? The same about writing, I think we read/write in a > > > > proportion 9-1 if not more? > > > > > Evereybody, ;) looking forward to knowing about your experiences, > > > > opinions, ideas. And a happy mother's day! Especially to Pln, who > > > > else? ;) > > > > > Thank you, > > > > > Pablo > > > > > On 9 mayo, 09:02, "Mr. D" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hey Pablo, > > > > > > Absolutely, the first thing I ask a student is "Do you want to speak > > > > > English?" > > > > > > They always answer yes. Then I say...speak English with an over the > > > > > top > > > > > enthusiasm to try and illicit a response and to break the ice a bit. > > > > > > Here's a method I tell students to use, perhaps you guys can try it > > > > > with > > > > > yours. I ask them to try to these "simple" but not necessarily "easy" > > > > > tasks. > > > > > > 1. When they get up in the morning they should go to the mirror to > > > > > brush > > > > > their teeth and look at themselves and say OUT LOUD! " Today, I will > > > > > speak English, maybe tomorrow I'll speak (native language) but for > > > > > today > > > > > I will speak English. > > > > > > 2. I encourage them to say everything OUT LOUD that they are thinking > > > > > as they prepare to > > > > > go to school or work. No matter how simple or odd it may seem. Like, > > > > > hmm... > > > > > I think I will wear my blue shirt or brown shoes. Oh, it's almost > > > > > 7:30am I > > > > > better go have a shower, or where is my purse or notebook whatever. > > > > > > 3. Next, when they are commuting or waiting somewhere in public they > > > > > can use > > > > > their cell phone to call imaginary people and have pseudo > > > > > conversations. If they're > > > > > not sure what to say, I encourage them to read from the newspaper into > > > > > their phone > > > > > or better yet their textbook. > > > > > > Anyway, I'm a firm believer in speaking to learn to speak and I hope > > > > > this helps > > > > > somebody out. > > > > > > ~Mr. D > > > > > > On May 6, 7:13 pm, Pablo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Hi friends, > > > > > > > This interesting article: > > > > > > >http://www.helping-you-learn-english.com/how_to_learn_english.html > > > > > > > Do you agree? > > > > > > > Pablo- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ESL Podcast". 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