This rule will teach you how to speak like native English Speakers, and the most important rule in this lesson is – LISTEN FIRST.
Do not try to speak at one, listen to what it is said and how it is said first. Studies show that any attempt to speak (or even think about language), before automatic speaking comes, will cause damage and limit final results.
This rule will teach you how to speak like native English Speakers, and the most important rule in this lesson is – LISTEN FIRST.
Do not try to speak at one, listen to what it is said and how it is said first. Studies show that any attempt to speak (or even think about language), before automatic
speaking comes, will cause damage and limit final results.
We will teach you how to use a very long "silent period" to focus only on listening. After 6 - 12 months of intensive listening, you will begin to speak spontaneously and naturally-- without effort and without thinking.
You must listen to UNDERSTANDABLE English. You must listen to English EVERYDAY. Don't read textbooks. Listen to English. It’s the key to your English success. Stop reading textbooks. Start listening everyday.
In most schools, you learn English with your eyes. You read textbooks. You study grammar rules. We will teach you English through a listening system. You learn English with your ears, not your eyes. You listen 1-3 hours every day and your English speaking will improve quickly. You will speak English easily -- just like us. Spend most of your study time listening- that is the key to great speaking.
The following information can be read at: http://searchwarp.com/swa543863-Improve-My-English-Conversation-By-Listening-Responding-And-Asking.htm
Listening
Anywhere you go, and by this I mean anywhere you go to try and learn a language, they will tell you to listen. There are many reasons for this. For one, listening is such an important aspect in any language that you would be at a disadvantage in life if you didn't listen. It is what makes a language. A language needs listeners. That's where you come in.
Listening is a skill. It is something that needs to be practiced a lot. If you are fluent in a language, for example your native language, then the skills you need to work on are different from the skills of someone listening in their second language. I will be speaking briefly on listening in a second language.
If you are just starting out or having a difficult time learning your second language, there is something that you can do to drastically enhance your knowledge of it. It's not studying from a book. And it's not learning how to write it. It's LISTENING to it!
Just listening to a new language can train our brain to the sounds, speech patterns and pronunciations of your new desired language. Take a minute and think about when you first learned how to speak. A baby isn't born KNOWING their language. So how does it learn the language that it eventually speaks?
You're right! It listens. And at first, that's all babies do is listen. But what eventually happens with the baby? That's right! It finally says a word. Odds are that it will say something that has been repeated to it a lot. It does take a long time for a baby to finally grasp a language.
Usually around 3-5 years the child has an understanding of the simple ways that sentences are put together. And passing through the years, eventually has a good grasp of the language around 10-12 years. Minus, of course, the vocabulary.
I am not saying it will take you that long to learn a new language. Clearly you are more sophisticated than a child. I am merely saying that if you listen, you will learn.
Responding
Responding is a very simple skill. But there is one important aspect that you must consider before applying the lessons taught here. And that is LISTEN. You must listen to know how to respond. If you were not listening to what your conversation partner had to say, how will you know what follow up questions to ask.
Responding can show your conversation partner that you are interested in what they are talking about. Not just by the way you were using your non-verbal listening skills. Responding shows that you are actively engaged in this conversation. Remember, just because you are not doing the talking, does not mean you are not a part of the conversation.
This part of the conversation may seem minor, but it is very important in keeping the two-way activity going. Because if you are only nodding and smiling, the other person might just think you are a robot. So you must use this little but important aspect in your conversations.
Responding to what someone has said can be very easy. Especially if you would rather have them keep talking or if you are sincerely interested in what they are saying. You can simply ask what they meant when they were talking about a certain point in their story.
Asking
Asking is part of the responding process. But it is also a key role. Perhaps THE key to active listening. This part of a conversation is a key role because it provides you with the knowledge and understanding of the conversation.
When you are actively engaged in a conversation, you should be getting something out of it. You're goals should be: learning from the person you are speaking with, and creating a friend or partner for the future.
Asking questions will also take the conversation where you want it to go. If your conversation partner is talking about something that offends you (and this can happen) be polite, wait until they finish their thought, and ask a question that directs the conversation away from the previous subject.
Remember now that you have them talking about something of interest to them, they will know if you are listening to what they are saying.
Now take your time to read this interesting scientific work:
Scientific Research by Dr. J. Marvin Brown
In 1984, the American University Language Center in Bangkok started using a new approach to teach the Thai language. The method is called ‘The Listening Approach’. In more recent years it’s become known as ‘Automatic Language Growth’. The method says that any attempt to speak (or even think about language), before automatic speaking comes, will cause damage and limit final results! In other words, the method uses a very long "silent period". During the "silent period", students focus only on listening. After 6 - 12 months of intensive listening, students begin to speak spontaneously and naturally-- without effort and without thinking!
THE CHILD’S SECRET
Everyone knows that when people move to a new country the children will eventually speak the language natively and the adults won’t. The normal explanation is that children have a special ‘talent’ that they lose as they grow up.
Teachers said that for adults, languages should be taught and studied instead of learned naturally.
But are we any better with present language teaching? Why, for example, do adults in Central Africa do better when they move to a new language community than our modern students do? Could it be that early teachers were mistaken? Maybe adults can do what children do. Maybe it’s just adult behavior (not lack of talent) that prevents them from succeeding.
THE MISTAKE – Children can do something that adults cannot.
THE UNASKED QUESTION – What would happen if an adult were to just listen for a year without speaking?
OUR ANSWER – Both adults and children can do it right, but only adults can do it wrong.
Imagine a 4 year-old child and an adult reacting to somebody talking to them in a foreign language. The child most often just listens, while the adult usually tries to talk back. Now imagine that ‘not trying to speak’ was the child’s secret. It makes sense that listening to things that are always right would build the language right, while saying things that are always wrong would build it wrong.
What would happen if adults were to do the same thing children do, (that is, just listen for a year without trying to say anything).
In 1984, the AUA language centre in Bangkok started doing exactly this in its Thai classes. The students just listened for as much as a year without speaking at all. We found that adults get almost the same results that children do. If adults understand natural talk, in real situations, without trying to say anything, for a whole year, then fluent speaking with clear pronunciation will come automatically.
It seems that the difference between adults and children is not that adults have lost the ability to do it right-- but that children haven’t yet gained the ability to do it wrong (that is, to destroy it with forced speaking).
Forced speaking damages adults. Consciously thinking of one’s sentences – with translations, rules, substitutions, or any other kind of thinking prevents you from speaking like a native. Natural speaking (speaking that comes automatically) won’t cause damage (not even when it’s wrong). The damage doesn’t come from being wrong; it comes from thinking about the language.
What we’re suggesting is this. The reason that children always end up as native speakers is because they learn to speak by listening. And the reason that adults don’t is because they learn to speak by speaking.
Adults talk too much.
The formula is this: ‘Listen’, ‘Don’t speak’, and ‘Be patient’. And now it appears that this is not only the child’s secret. It’s everybody’s secret. And while children do it more faithfully, adults can do it faster.
TWO - HOW ALG WORKS
Most language teachers are constantly telling their students to try to speak as much as they can, and to think carefully before they say anything, so they’ll get it right. And now I’m saying that this kind of speaking and thinking is the exact thing that prevents adults from learning languages well.
THREE – PUTTING ALG IN THE CLASSROOM
We look at children who have moved to a new country, and we see them ‘listen, laugh, and stare’. The child’s secret; ears open, mouths shut, no tests. They became near-native within two years. Then we look into language classrooms around the world, and we see just the opposite; ears practically closed (the students use their eyes instead), mouths open, and a lot of tests. Very few of these students become near-native.
Two things are needed for modern students. First, they need experiences in the language that are so interesting (fun, exciting, suspenseful, etc.), that the students forget that a new language is being used. And second, the students understanding must be high enough to learn - and this means 80-100% from the very first day! It takes a lot of work to train teachers to be both interesting and understandable. But it is the secret to success! Interesting and understandable listening, and a long "silent period", is the key to speaking like a native.
Source: http://www.effortlessenglish.com/
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