Are adults better learners than children are?

Many students believe that it's better to learn a language when you're a child. Certainly, kids have more neuroplasticity and their brains are able to construct connections because....well, they're kids. That is what the brains of kids do: build connections to understand things more clearly.

Today, I want to present another point of view to the idea that, if you're an adult, you can't learn English - or learn any skill - properly or efficiently.

Here's a short list of what adults can do that kids can't do.

1. Adults have intrinsic motivation to learn. Many adults like learning for many reasons: it gives them a sense of accomplishment; it helps them build relationships and open up opportunities - or maybe they just like learning because they like learning. This isn't always true with children. There are some kids who do enjoy English (God bless 'em!) but most kids don't think of learning as something that's fun, maybe because they don't see learning as something that will help them in the long term.

2. Adults are able to think critically. Well, most adults, anyway. They can see how things are connected or not connected, how things are related (or not related), they know that you can't just say anything. (Most adults are also aware that you have to say SOMETHING - it's not acceptable to sit there with your mouth closed and not say anything.)

3. Adults are able to visualize connections and structures. Most adults have the ability to see the relationships between words and ideas. They also understand that you can put different things together to create different effects, especially with language. That means that....

4. Adults understand how language can be changed or adapted to get different results. Every adult realizes that you don't use the same kind of language with your boss as you do with your kids. The question here isn't about language - it's about social roles. Kids know what it means to be a kid: they don't have the experience of trying to be different because all they have to do is be a kid, so they don't have to adapt to different situations. Adults have to fill many roles in their lives (with work, friends and family) and they have to change their language depending on what role they are fulfilling at any moment.

5. Adults understand that there is more than one way to do something. Again, most adults can do this; some adults need help seeing this. Since adults have an easier time of setting goals and seeing the steps they need to take to reach a goal, they are usually better about developing techniques to do that. Additionally, if their techniques don't work, they're usually pretty good about finding other ways, techniques and solutions to reach that goal.

So don't despair if you're not a kid any more. Not being a kid does not mean that you will never learn English. As they say in English: With age comes experience.

When you think about what it means to be an effective communicator in English, which of these things are most important for you?

Ladies and Gentlemen...presenting...The Grammar Grater!

Years ago, Penguin Books (I think it was) published an extremely useful book called "Right Word, Wrong Word" that analyzed words that were similar, but used in different ways or had completely different meanings.

Unfortunately, that book is no longer in print, but the lovely people at Minnesota Public Radio, in the United States, have something that's just as good, if not better: The Grammar Grater...

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/podcasts/grammar_grater/

Seriously, guys.... bookmark this link. You can download the podcasts onto your personal stereos and listen to them when you've got some quiet time; and be sure to check back regularly to give yourself as much practice as possible.

Why studying doesn't work.

"I have to study more."

How many times do you hear yourself saying that? How much studying do you actually do during the academic year?

Instead of studying, think about practice. Why? First of all, most people say that they feel that they should study.... but they actually don't do anything at all. Maybe they buy some books or maybe they have lists of vocabulary, but I'll tell you from experience - 90% of students don't even go that far.

Can you imagine what would happen if Alberto Contador wanted to win the Tour de France, but never got on his bicycle? Or if Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to win the World Cup for Portugal, but never put his shoes on? If you say that you want to study, but you don't do anything, all you do is guarantee that you will fail.

Here's an easier idea: Don't study - practice. Use your English every way you can. Listen to music. Write a journal. Watch short videos on YouTube. After all, you're learning English so that you can use it in the real world. The best way to use it in real situations is to practice in controlled situations, and to make it as diverse as possible.

If you think this advice is ridiculous, read this article from The New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/353qvzo.

Remember: You are the boss of your learning. Teachers are there to help you, but they cannot do your work for you.

TRY THIS: I will... I will... I will...

Have you ever wondered why, at the beginning of every episode of "The Simpsons", Bart Simpson is trapped in a classroom and has to write a specific sentence over and over again?

Writing a sentence fifty, one hundred or two hundred times used to be a very common way of trying to teach school children not to misbehave or do things that would annoy the class. Psychologists now know, however, that this is also an extremely effective tool to get people to visualize positive change in their lives and to make themselves believe that something is true. The more times you hear something, the easier it is to remember it - and if it's easier to remember something, you're more likely to do it.

So if you're having problems keeping your focus or staying motivated....TRY THIS:

Think of a positive sentence (something you might want your teacher to tell you, for example) and write it down fifty times. Take a clean piece of paper, write the sentence at the top of the page in red ink...then take half an hour to an hour and keep writing and writing and writing the same sentence over again.

Here are some examples of sentences you might try:

* I don't need to translate from Spanish to English: my English skills are good enough.
*I will get excellent marks on my exam.
* When I go to (name city here), I will not have problems speaking English. I can understand and be understood.
* Learning more slowly does not mean that I will never learn English!

This trick also works well with words or structures that you have problems remembering, like not putting the modal verb in the IF- clause in a conditional sentence. (You probably don't need to write it fifty times, however...ten or fifteen times is probably enough.)

Interview: Ken Gomez, the Genius behind the ENGLISH LEARNER'S NOTEBOOK

Ken Gomez worked as a product designer for twenty years before he took the plunge and became a CELTA-certified teacher last year. Now he's combined his two talents and created the ENGLISH LEARNER'S NOTEBOOK, which is on sale at Booksellers (c/Fernandez de la Hoz, 40 - Metro Iglesia or Gregorio Marañón) in Madrid.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ken this morning and to ask him to tell me more about the NOTEBOOK.

SS: This is fabulous! Where did you get the idea?

Ken Gomez: I studied a CELTA last year at Hyland Language School - I'd been working as a designer, but work was slipping away. While I was teaching, I was watching the students and how they learned, and I thought: If we gave them a notebook with templates, that might be helpful. So I spoke to Catherine Morely, I spoke to the people at Hyland, and they thought it was a good idea.

After all, every student needs a notebook, so if you have a tool, if you have templates, it's even better. It helps the students make their own English book as well! And it makes it easier for students to get into the habit of writing down the information they need.

SS: How has the reaction been so far?

Ken Gomez: I haven't had a lot of reaction yet, because the book's only been out for a couple of months; I've just had the reaction of some students and some teachers, but it's been really positive. Right now it's only on sale in Madrid at Booksellers, but I have someone in distribution looking at it. And people will be able to buy the book through the website (http://www.enleno.com) shortly.

SS: Any plans for a second edition yet?

Ken Gomez [laughing:] We still have to get through the first edition! But yeah, I've already started getting feedback from some teachers, and I already have some ideas about what to do with the second edition.

Don't waste your vocabulary!

What do you do with all of that vocabulary that you've learned in class?

If you're like most students, you probably have at least two or three notebooks full of words and notes that you may not have looked at since you finished that class. This is a shame because classes are the perfect place to observe and ask questions about how vocabulary works. But if you don't look at your notes or take the time to review what you've done, then it's all for nothing. It's as if you never went to class. And if you're planning on taking an exam like the First Certificate, it means that you may not be able to use a very important part of your vocabulary during the exam.

You have a better chance of remembering your vocabulary if you do the following things:

1. Record new words and expressions in the context you learned them. Let's say you're doing an FCE class on science. You know that the names of the fields (like biology and psychiatry) are almost the same as they are in Spanish. But you also learn new groups of words and expressions, like to conduct research/an experiment, to record and process data...

Take a piece of paper and draw a circle in the middle. In the middle of the circle, write the name of the context: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. Then take your pen/pencil and divide the page into different sections: one section might be for the names of laboratory equipment (gauges, test tubes, Bunsen burners, computers), another for the names of people who work in science and technology (laboratory assistants, laboratory technicians, analysts, engineers) and the places where they work (to work in the field, to conduct research on-site....). Keep this sheet with you all the way through the year, and any time you read or hear a new word or expression that talks about science and technology, add it to the list. It seems like a lot of work, but it isn't. It only takes thirty seconds for each new piece of vocabulary. It's really a much more efficient way of practising new words and expressions.

2. What does it sound like? Most students don't have a problem remembering new vocabulary if it's only one syllable. Words that are longer than one syllable can sometimes be difficult, especially if the word isn't made up of words that you already know (copy·right, for example.)

To make sure you can remember how to say the word properly (and that you will understand the word the next time someone uses it in a conversation), make a note of what the word sounds like. Write the accented syllable in capital (CA-pi-tal) letters, and use shorter words that sound like words that you already know.

Here are some examples, using words that I did yesterday in a class in a law firm:

PIRACY: PIE-ra-see
RESTRUCTURE: re-STRUCK-sure
MERCHANDISE: mur-CHAN-d'eyes

You will find it easier to pronounce and hear the word if you understand how it's said in English.

3. Who does what? Verbs are the basis of language: Every language in the world has them. But can you remember which verbs are only for people and which ones are only for things, for example?

Let's take another example from yesterday's class: to counterfeit (COUNT-ur-fit). This is a word that can work as a noun, a verb and as an adjective, but it's very specific to copyright law and piracy. "Falsify", which is close to the word Spanish, won't work: it's too general.

So, to make the word easier to remember and use, let's give it context by using it in specific examples.

Verb: The Guardia Civil arrested a gang that counterfeited €50 bills.
Adjective: I saw a man selling counterfeit CDs in the Metro yesterday.
Noun: Is that a real Prada handbag? -- No, it's a counterfeit (=copy).

Observe the examples: In each case, the subject is a person, and the direct object - the information that you need to complete the idea of the verb - is a thing. It's always a think. You can't falsify or make copies of a person or an animal, and it would be difficult to do it to an idea or concept. This is important to remember, because it helps eliminate any possibilities that are not correct or may give a different meaning to the verb.

(I know, this is a really obvious example, but it becomes more important when you have to learn problem verbs like GET or phrasal verbs like MAKE OVER that may have more than one meaning, depending on whether the direct object is a person, a think or an idea.)

REMEMBER: Your teacher can give you all the new vocabulary that you want, but it's the responsibility of EACH STUDENT to find a way to remember and use the language!!!

THIS WEEKEND'S PRACTICE

Have you ever had a word (or more than one word) that you can't remember, no matter how hard you try? When I was learning Spanish, I swear it took me at least a year to remember the difference between suelo and techo. No kidding. (You can imagine how embarrassing that is when you're in a hotel.)

What do you do if there's a word you just can't remember?

1. Go to your desk and get a Post-It note and a big red pen.
2. Write down the word and its definition in English (NO TRANSLATIONS!!).
3. Put that Post-It note in a place where you have to look at it all the time. Put it on the screen of your laptop computer or on your phone. Stick it on your bathroom mirror or on the door of your refrigerator.
4. Every time you see the word, repeat it three times.
5. Do NOT remove the Post-It note until you are absolutely sure you know the word, what it means and how to pronounce it.

A typical person needs to see and use a word eight to ten times before he or she can remember what it means. The more times you see and use a word you have trouble remembering, the easier it is to use the word in the future.

Try it!