K-mus Education Center » learning http://k-mus.com Education is the Investment Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:41:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 How About Learning French in France? http://k-mus.com/how-about-learning-french-in-france.html http://k-mus.com/how-about-learning-french-in-france.html#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:37:38 +0000 admin http://k-mus.com/how-about-learning-french-in-france.html  

People around the world love French as it has been accepted as the second most popular international language. Hence, there is a respect and inclination towards learning this language. Now, as the internet is a ruling force in every sphere of life, many websites are providing online course on learning French. But you can imagine how challenging it could be if you are not learning a foreign language without the guidance of an expert. If you are serious about mastering a language as useful as French, you should look for the right guidance especially an institution that is popularly known for teaching French to the foreign learners successfully. There could be no better place to learning French language than learning it in its native place surrounded by its native speakers. The non-French speaking international students having a sheer interest in learning the language will love to learn French in France or Switzerland.

 

ESL School offers a specially designed course for the French language learners and also for other interested learners who are not the native speakers of the French. At ESL, they understand that the perfect procedure of learning French, for adults, is under the direct supervision of an efficient trainer in a classroom environment. Hence, they have developed planned study structure for adults above 16 years. After a great deal of research and in-depth analysis on the French learning process, each course module has been designed and tailored so that the foreign participants find learning French easy and stimulating. Hence, French learning process with the able guidance of the experienced trainers is the best way of learning French.

 

Many international students look up to the opportunity of learning French in France through ESL where the school edifice is a beautiful 19th Century building featuring 12 spacious and bright classrooms. The participants can relax at the shopping zones situated nearby the study centre. Moreover, accessibility to the place by air, train and bus has made it easy for the students to reach the centre and attend classes on a regular basis. Students are also offered other facilities such as access to internet, assistance and support from the staff.

 

ESL offers the most innovative process of learning French language in the beautiful and charming location of France. The programmes are implemented by a team of dedicated and professional language trainers. The ideal setting for coursework, structured material and chance for active participation in leisure activities form an excellent quality-price ratio. Thus, learning French in France solves two-fold purposes of visiting France and learning its native language and culture as well.

 

]]> http://k-mus.com/how-about-learning-french-in-france.html/feed 0 Why Learning German is Important http://k-mus.com/why-learning-german-is-important.html http://k-mus.com/why-learning-german-is-important.html#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:37:40 +0000 admin http://k-mus.com/why-learning-german-is-important.html Learning German can be scary if you are a beginner, especially if you have attempted to learn it once before and failed. The reasons take on a variety of forms: the pace is too fast, an overwhelming amount of vocabulary, and problematic memorization. Learning to speak the German language can be made much easier, and the learning process made much faster, by joining any one of these specialist German language schools in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
Learning German can be an enjoyable experience, and it can also be a very useful skill. Despite the rise of China, Germany stands as the fourth largest economy in the world and the economic powerhouse of Europe. Learning the German language can be a bit more complicated to learn than Spanish for some English speakers. It can be made easier by using word books, and especially illustrated dictionaries. A beginner should practice pointing at objects (or pictures) and repeating the German words for them over and over.
German courses are all about teaching and it’s been proven that students who engage in practicing their lesson often learn more than those who don’t stay engaged. This means that the best German course should give you the information you need in a way that will let you engage with your learning. Try to find German courses that are taught exclusively by fully qualified and experienced teachers. Taking courses in Business German (sometimes called vocational German) can also be highly useful, since it is becoming popular as people see the need for knowledge of German, alongside skills for a specific profession, in today’s global economy.
German is the most commonly used language on the Internet after English. Take note of that if your future is in banking, the investment industry, or government, because Germany is one of the top five sources of foreign direct investment in the USA. As you can see, regardless of what your business future may hold, you will likely encounter a very valuable use for some German language skills.
German is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and more Europeans speak native German than English, French, Italian or Spanish. In Western Europe, German is second only to English as the most often spoken second language, and in Eastern Europe, German is the principal language of business, diplomacy and tourism. German is one of the world’s major languages. It is spoken by around 100 million native speakers and 80 million non-native speakers.
It is particularly important in literature, philosophy, painting, architecture and music. You would be surprised at how many of the most historically important works were originally written in German. It is also an official language of five western European countries, and a second language for many eastern European countries. One encounters German speakers all over the world, as inhabitants of places in South America, Asia, and Africa, as well as tourists. German is thus considered a pluricentric language.
German is not only a language of the past. As prolific researchers and scholars, German speakers produce nearly 80,000 new book titles each year. It is closely related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. Germany is a country that truly works hard and plays hard.

]]> http://k-mus.com/why-learning-german-is-important.html/feed 0 Improve Your Mind Power With Spanish http://k-mus.com/improve-your-mind-power-with-spanish.html http://k-mus.com/improve-your-mind-power-with-spanish.html#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:03:43 +0000 admin http://k-mus.com/?p=304 Our “mind power” is largely in the way we use our words, and limited by our vocabulary. Words, and the concepts they express, are different in each language, and there are differing common expressions. That’s why when you learn a new language, you learn new ways to think.

Most Americans see money as something created, not as a static quantity to be divided up. This is no coincidence. English is one of the few languages that speaks of “making” money. In other languages, the verb used is “to gain,” “take,” or “get.” The words used affect how people think about money. Personally, I think “making money” is a very healthy perspective.

Hablas Español?

Did you know that in Spanish, you’re not thirsty, cold or afraid? You have to say “I have thirst (yo tengo sed)”, “I have coldness (yo tengo frio),” or “I have fear (yo tengo miedo).” Could this change the way a person experiences things?

Definitely. Therapists are now telling people to stop saying or thinking things like “I am afraid.” That way of expressing it creates too much identification with the feeling. It’s healthier to say “I feel fear.” You’re not afraid, you’re a human; fear, like all feelings, is just a temporary visitor.

In Spanish you “take” a decision (tomar un decision). Is it possible that “taking” a decision could be less stressful than “making” one? It might subconsciously limit you, too, since you generally “take” from what’s available, while to “make” leaves your options wide open.

Other Advantages Of Learning A Language

You gain words when you learn a language, but also the ability to understand things better. Who can speak more precisely about snow; someone with three words for it (snow, sleet, powder), or an eskimo with 22 words for it? Which is more efficient, the German word “zeitgeist,” meaning “the taste and outlook of a period or generation,” or the nine words I just used to say the same thing?

According to the research, most people experience a general improvement in memory from studying a language. Research has also demonstrated that you can halt age-related decline in mental function by learning a new language. Tuck that little tip away for later in life, or better yet, why not start learning a new language today?

]]> http://k-mus.com/improve-your-mind-power-with-spanish.html/feed 0 18 Strategies For Enhancing Language Skills http://k-mus.com/18-strategies-for-enhancing-language-skills.html http://k-mus.com/18-strategies-for-enhancing-language-skills.html#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:50:44 +0000 admin http://k-mus.com/?p=267 The following strategies are offered for enhancing language skills and managing language challenges. This listing is by no means exhaustive, but rather is meant as a place to begin.

Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne

1. Take the mystery away.

The first and perhaps most important strategy is to teach students about the components of language, common language challenges and language strategies, and to help students understand their own language strengths and challenges. This process is sometimes called demystification – taking the mystery away.

2. Simplify directions.

Students with receptive language challenges may need directions broken down into their simplest form. They may also benefit from a comic book-type illustration of steps to take for the completion of a task.

3. Give written copies of directions and examples.

Students with receptive language challenges may need directions given to them at a relatively slow pace. They may need directions repeated to them. They most often benefit from having a written copy of directions that are given orally. Examples of what needs to be done are also useful.

4. Provide frequent breaks.

Students who have receptive language challenges may use up a lot of energy listening, and, therefore, tire easily. Consequently, short, highly structured work times with frequent breaks or quiet periods may be helpful.

5. Give additional time.

Students with receptive and expressive language challenges are likely to have a slower processing speed and should be allowed additional time for written work and tests.

6. Sit Close.

A student may want to sit close to the teacher so he can watch the facial expression of the teacher when s/he is talking. This may also help to diminish interference from other auditory distractions.

7. Allow voluntary participation.

Students with language processing challenges should not be put on the spot by being required to answer questions during class discussions, especially without being forewarned. Rather, their participation should be on a voluntary basis.

8. Teach summarizing and paraphrasing.

Reading comprehension is often enhanced by summarizing and paraphrasing. This helps students to identify the main idea and supporting details. It may be helpful to provide key words such as who, what, when, where and why to orient attention to the appropriate details.

9. Teach a staging procedure.

Most students find a staging procedure beneficial when writing paragraphs, essays, poems, reports and research papers. First they should generate ideas, and then they should organize them. Next, they should attend to spelling and grammatical rules. They may also list their most frequently occurring errors in a notebook and refer to this list when self correcting.

10. Encourage renewed investment of energy in older students.

Older students who have experienced reading failure from an early age must become convinced that a renewed investment of energy will be worthwhile. According to Louisa Moats, an expert in the field of reading, older students who are very poor readers must have their phonological skills strengthened because the inability to identify speech sounds erodes spelling, word recognition, and vocabulary development. Phonological awareness, spelling, decoding, grammar, and other language skills can be taught as a linguistics course in which instructors use more adult terminology such as phoneme deletion and morphemic structure. Phonemic drills may include games such as reverse-a-word (Say teach; then say it with the sounds backwards – cheat.)

11. Give Foreign Language Waivers

Students who have experienced problems with their primary language are more likely to have difficulty with a foreign language. Foreign language requirements may need to be waived for these students.

12. Use echo reading for fluency development.

For fluency development, it is helpful to have a student in the lower grades echo read and also read simultaneously with an adult. The adult and the student may also take turns reading every other sentence or paragraph. Additionally, the adult may model a sentence and then have the student read that same sentence.

13. Amplify auditory input.

Multisensory techniques can be used to increase phonetic skills and to memorize sight words. For example, a student may sound out a word or write sight words on a dry erase board using different colored markers, all while using Hearfones, a Phonics Phone or a Toobaloo device to enhance auditory input. These devices amplify and direct the student’s own voice straight back to his ears, causing increased auditory stimulation to the brain. These devices can be purchased from CDL’s A+ WebStore at www.cdl.org.

14. See, say, hear and touch.

Multisensory strategies are helpful for learning letter names. Examples include: 1) spreading shaving cream on a table top and having the child write letters in the shaving cream while saying the letter name out loud; and 2) cutting out letters from sandpaper and having the child “trace” the sandpaper letter with his or her finger while saying the name of the letter.

15. A picture is worth a thousand words.

The expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” may become especially important for the visual person who has difficulty expressing himself verbally. For example, a student may make diagrams, charts, or drawings to help him remember what he has read. If he is good at art, the student may draw or paint pictures to explain his ideas.

16. Teach active reading.

To help with comprehension, it may be helpful to underline key words and phrases with a pencil or highlighter and to paraphrase them in the margins, thereby making reading more active. If the student is not allowed to write in the book, he can write the main words or ideas on Post-It notes.

17. Guide students to read between the lines.

When first teaching students to infer while reading, the teacher should first guide the thinking by using a whole class activity. After the class as a whole has identified a logical inference, the teacher should facilitate the examination of the process by which they arrived at their inference. Leading questions may be, “What is the author saying to us? How do we know the author meant this?” Remind students that authors provide clues (imply) so readers can infer.

18. Provide individual evaluation and intervention.

Many students with language challenges benefit from individual evaluation and remediation by highly qualified professionals. It is critical to use assessment tools designed to pinpoint specific skill deficits and to provide individual or small group remediation/intervention using explicit, evidence-based strategies and methods that directly address each student’s individual needs.

When learning a new language, it is always useful to be familiar with its main grammatical units. This constitutes the first necessary step in order to understand and create meaningful speech.

Here are the main grammatical elements in Spanish and some useful information about them:

Nouns:
A noun is a word which is mostly used to refer to a person or thing. All nouns in Spanish have a gender, meaning that they are either masculine or feminine. For example, “niño” (boy) is masculine and “niña” (girl) is feminine. The best way to identify gender is undoubtedly experience, although here are some general guidelines which may be useful at the beginning: usually nouns ending in –o are masculine and nouns ending in –a are feminine. Of course there are always exceptions.

For example, “mano” (hand) and “radio” (radio) are feminine. On the other hand, words of Greek origin ending in –ma, such as “dilema” (dilemma) or “problema” (problem) are masculine. When you are learning new vocabulary, it is recommendable that you learn a noun together with its corresponding article. That will help you to remember their gender. For example “la niña”, “la mano” or “el problema” and “el niño”.

Adjectives:
Adjectives are used to qualify a particular noun, to say something about it. It is important to remember that in Spanish they are usually placed after the noun. Since adjectives are always related to a noun, they have to agree with them in gender and number.

This means that if you want to say something about the noun “niño”, which is masculine and singular, the adjective that you use will also have to be masculine and singular. Thus, you can say “niño alto” (tall boy), “niño pequeño” (small boy), etc. If, on the other hand, if you were talking about a girl, you would have to say “niña alta” and “niña pequeña”.

Pronouns:
Pronouns substitute for nouns. For example, you can say “la niña está aquí” (the girl is here) or “ella está aquí” (she is here). In this case “ella” is substituting for “la niña”. The subject pronouns in Spanish are “yo” (I), “tú/usted/vos” (singular you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), vosotros/ustedes (plural you), ellos (they).

The singular and plural “you” are used differently depending on the dialect of Spanish that you are using. It is important to remember that subject pronouns are frequently omitted in Spanish, since the ending of the verb already indicates this. Thus, native spears would say “estoy aquí” (I’m here) rather than “yo estoy aquí”.

Verbs:
Verbs indicate actions. Usually when you enumerate a verb, you use what is called the infinitive, for example “hablar” (to speak). In Spanish there are three different types of verbs, depending of how their infinitive ends. These different categories are called conjugations.

Thus, there are verbs ending in –ar, such as “hablar”, in -er “comer” (to eat) and in –ir “dormir” (to sleep). As mentioned before, verbs in Spanish have different endings depending on who the subject of the action is. These endings will vary from one conjugation to the other. For example, with the verb “hablar”, the singular “you” is “(tú) hablas”, whereas with “comer” it is “(tú) comes”. This can obviously be complicated for learners at the beginning, but once you get used to it, you will have no problem communicating effectively.

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