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Learning in a typical language classes classroom environment works well for some people while others thrive in learning environments with movement and change or others benefit from solely listening to the instructor. Traditionally in school classrooms we sat and took notes and listened to the instructor. A student whose natural learning style differs may have deduced that they not capable learners. In reality, the student simply has not had the chance to learn in a way that suits him or her best.

Understanding your own natural learning style is one element to improve your language learning effectiveness. Unconsciously, you probably already know how you learn and what practices work best for you. This article sheds light on three different learning styles; visual, audio and Kinesthetic and provides tips suited for each style.

The Visual Learner:
Your natural learning style may be that of a Visual learner if you remember written directions well and you need to see materials to best absorb a lesson. Perhaps lessons with few visuals impede your focus. If you relate to this learning style, you prefer using images, pictures, colours, and maps to organise information. To supplement your weekly language lesson, you may need to use visual aids when studying. Picture dictionaries may be great for you as often you think in pictures. When reviewing your notes, use a colour coding method and write out key points. While learning new words visualise the spelling. You focus best in small group classes or one-to-one lessons. You need to interpret the instructor’s body language and facial expressions to fully comprehend the lesson. You also crave handouts and homework.

Audio
Your natural learning style may be that of an Auditory learner if you can remember accurately what you hear but may have difficulties remembering what you read or write. You find it hard to read facial and body language. You learn best in verbal lectures, discussions, listening to others and talking aloud to resolve an issue. Auditory learners intuitively interpret the underlying meaning of speech listening to pitch, tones, speed and other voice nuances. Written information has the most meaning when read aloud or by digital recording replay.
If you relate to this learning style, to supplement your weekly language lesson, you may wish to record yourself saying vocabulary and listen to it over and over again. Repetition is key and this practise of saying and repeating will help trigger memory. Perhaps study with a partner to talk about key lesson points or use picture dictionaries and say the pictures aloud.

Kinesthetic or Tactile
Your natural learning style may be that of a Kinesthetic or Tactile learner if you need hands-on activities involving touch and movement. You may have difficulty sitting for long periods and assembling furniture or toy model airplanes is a snap for you. Kinesthetic learners are constantly moving when studying by tapping their fingers or feet and playing with hair or continuously squeezing a stress ball. Tactile or Kinesthetic persons best learn through a hands-on learning approaches and actively explore the physical world around them.
As a Kinesthetic leaner you may wish to take class notes using diagrams. Perhaps stand and walk around a room while reviewing weekly notes. Use flashcards and place around the room or move the cards around on a table. Re-write your notes when studying and use colour coding. Record your voice saying new vocabulary or read your notes and play back while exercising or doing chores. Take frequent breaks when studying and stretch. Try studying in a position other than a chair and desk set-up and use your fidgeting to its best help to focus on learning.

The following tips can be applied across learning styles.
Word Association. The brain learns by associating something new with something old. When introduced to a new vocabulary visualise the word and try and connect this word with one you may already know.

Learn by Chunking. Chunking means learning by organising into familiar manageable units. For example learning short three word expressions provides an excellent learning base and obviously is easier than trying to learn longer word sentences.

Categorise: In our language lessons, we often categorise vocabulary into weekly themes. For example in our children’s classes, one week we teach body parts in the My Body Makes Music theme and a different week we teach house vocabulary in the Whose House Is This theme. For adult learns you may wish to make lists and categorise food words, house words, clothing words etc. Display these lists around the house and refer to them often.

Read stories. Brain research has shown that when vocabulary is presented in a meaningful manner retention is greatest. Read newspaper articles or stories such as children’s books in the target language. Language Champs children’s classes often finish with a theme-related story. As an adult you may benefit enormously from reading children’s books as you may already be familiar with the story and translation is easy.

Understand Language Structure. Languages have similarities in their structure. All languages have present and past tenses and sight words; high frequency words, such as the, and, I, was etc. European languages have common origin words such as Mother and in German Mutter or night in French is nuit in German Nacht, in Polish noc in Greek nyx. Knowing certain language structure nuances will dramatically increase your ability to learn the language.

Learn Sight Words. Most languages have sight words, words such as I, he, and, the etc… that are used in the language up to 30 percent of the time.  Obtain a list of the top 200 most used words used in the particular language know them and this will provide a solid basis of knowing the language.

Understanding Cognates – Many English words are very similar in other languages with just differ in the word ending. For example in Spanish the word necessary is necesario or map is mapa. Another example in Italian knowing that “tion”  becomes “ione” then one can easily know words such as action that become accione and station become stazione. Combining the two elements of knowing the site words along with understanding word endings a language learner can know perhaps 50% of the language. Learning the language becomes easier.

Understanding False Cognates – There are also false cognates or what linguist refer to as “false friends”. Words that sound and look the same but do not share similar meaning. In Spanish for example once means eleven not one time or carpeta means folder not carpet. Both German and English use the word fast but in German it means almost. Memorising a list of false friends can help you avoid much embarrassment when using the language.

Listen to Music. Music speaks to a certain part of our brain that makes remembering so much easier. Find foreign language music and appreciate the musical talents of the culture.

Learn By Speaking And Doing. Whole brain learning has shown that learning is associated with movement.  Children learn a language in the first two years by listening to commands that require them to do something. This type of learning is called Total Physical Response.  We utilise this technique frequently often in our children’s classes. As an adult learner, you may try to do the same. If you learning verb or emotion vocabulary, as an example, do the actions while saying the vocabulary aloud. Hence, stand, sit, make the facial expressions as happy, sad or frightened. It is fun and this practise of verbalising and movement will help solidify the vocabulary in your brain.

Think in the language. This is a crucial step that will improve your language fluency ten-fold. Frequently we see this event at our school with our newly arrived language teachers. Their English improves dramatically when they tell me they begin to start thinking in English versus their native language. As a language learner you may wish to try an exercise for example, at a restaurant. Think about the food related lesson you may have learned in a recent language class and review the menu in the target language. This will reinforce what you have learned and the words will start flowing automatically.

Translate.  Once you have established some knowledge in the language, attempt a language translation. One of our English students used this technique and had enormous success. She was from Japan and her English improved dramatically when she started translating her young child’s school beginning-to-read books. She photocopied her daughter’s readers and translated the words to Japanese. Gradually she was able to translate newspaper and magazine articles and more complex writing styles. In the beginning it took her hours to look up words. However this process became so much quicker and easier even though the complexity of the writing increased greatly. Translating written words is highly beneficial because it targets language as a whole not just as parts such as learning phrases or vocabulary in isolation. Translate something that you are expert in or a children’s book. You will be amazed at how many cognates you may know.

Reflect. Periodically stop and reflect on how much language you have already learned and what strategies are working best for you. Adjust your learning habits where appropriate and to take language acquisition it to a higher level. Congratulate yourself, give yourself a high five and continue to enjoy your language learning process!

Written by Karen Hodgson, Director of Language Champs www.languagechamps.com.au or phone (03) 9555 5355, April, 2009.
Reproduced with permission.

As a professional working in the language translation industry, I have come to recognise key skills, education and personality traits that distinguish an average translator from an excellent translator.  At Translationz, we employ excellent translators that possess these key qualities. Here is a list of what we consider some of the most important things to consider when selecting your Sydney translator.

1.Fluency Depth. An excellent translator is fluent in the source language and the target language.  In most cases, the translator is a native speaker of the target language.  While fluency in both languages is important, it the depth, that sets the best apart.  Having a deep knowledge of a language requires the understanding of puns, slang, colloquialisms, cultural aspects, irony, subtleties, customs, social elements and particular nuances of the language. This usually comes from intuition acquired, in most cases, from having lived in the native country.  Excellent translators strive to get across the exact intended meaning by tapping into their language intuition as well as their background, experience and education.

2.Busy. An excellent translator is an active translator utilising his or her skills frequently.   As with any skill such as playing the guitar or tennis, if the skill is not exercised regularly, the effectiveness is reduced.  Skills not sharpened become dull.  If you don’t use it, you lose it. An excellent translator will actively hone his or her skill. Busy translators listen attentively and are fervent readers and researchers of various types of writing styles and topics. Excellent translators study well-translated work and travel back and forth to their native country keeping current with changing vocabulary, customs and social issues.
 
3.Specialised.  Excellent translators are experts in one or two industries.  For example, the terminology and writing style used in medical documents is vastly different from the terminology and writing style general used in legal documents.  By specialising, the translator’s speed and accuracy increases substantially. Specialised translators can jump right into translating and have the necessary tools and resources at hand.

4.Education and Certification. The best translators are generally professionals and have completed substantial hours of related education. Most have language, linguistic or translation-specific degrees. These translators are often certified translators in their residing country. Certification is required, in most cases, to translate government documents such as marriage or birth certificates. Increasingly, corporations are requesting certified translators to complete translation projects. For translation project in specific industries such as medical, legal or engineering, the best translators are those whose first degree is in the particular industry (lawyer, doctor or engineer) and subsequent degrees are linguistic or translation related.

5.Excellent Communicators. Excellent translators are prolific writers both in the source and target language. The translator should have university-level grasp of grammar, vocabulary and punctuation. The best translators understand their country’s various dialects and formal and informal writing styles and nuances. In addition to having these text-book qualities, translators also must be able to write in a style that conveys the intended meaning, tone, impression and feeling of the source document. All too often, this element is overlooked and the thus the saying “it gets lost in the translation” emerges.

6.Resourceful. The best translators utilise all resources available to them such as bilingual dictionaries and industry-specific (medical, legal, computer) dictionaries. The best translators also utilise encyclopedias, participate in language forums, language organisations and chat groups to ensure their translations are accurate and exact to the meaning of the source document. Words can have many different meanings and knowledge of this is critical to bring across the exact intended source document meaning. Choosing the best translated word to bring across the intended meaning is a talent that develops over time.

7.Experienced. The best translators have years of experience and thus have acquired the background and knowledge that make them excellent translators. Experienced translators have learned from their mistakes, continuously strive to improve, understand the process and have perfected their skills.

8.Client Focus. Translation is a service industry and translators must deliver for their clients. Quite often translation projects require immediate turnaround. We live in a fast-paced world and time is of the essence. Excellent translators are dedicated and are flexible to meet the client’s specific needs. Excellent translators will do whatever it takes to meet project deadlines and produce high quality accurate translations.

9.Reputation. The best translators have enormous pride in their work and value their reputation. They strive to consistently get it right. The translation industry is very competitive. The best translators, can identify with this correlation “a salesman is only as good as his last sale” and “a translator is only as good as their last translation”. Excellent translators believe that every piece of work is important and can positively or negatively impact their reputation.

10.Responsible. Excellent translators have a deep sense of responsibility and understand the significance of their work. Inaccurate translation can be damaging to organizations particularly in areas such as medical, legal and contract documents. There have been many instances of inaccurate translation of marketing materials. As an example, when Pepsi introduced its products in China, their slogan, “Pepsi Brings You Back to Life” was literally translated. The slogan in Chinese was written “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave.”

Employing an excellent translator for translation projects requires due diligence. The time and effort spent is well worth it given the risk of damages if “it gets lost in the translation”.

Author: Karen Hodgson is business manager of the Translation division www.translationz.com.au of Language Champs that provides world-wide translation and interpreter services for most languages.