Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

Two points here:

1.  What do you mean by “learn a language”?  To get by in everyday situations, to speak it like a native, or to reach one of many different stages in between?   There’s a huge range of possible levels of competence, and a huge range in the amount of time needed.  Which one do you hope to achieve?

2.   People are different; some pick up a language faster than others.  The ads which say you will be speaking your target language by studying ten minutes a day, watching a video clip or simply listening to your Ipod while you exercise overlook this fact.

A typical Euroasia language course covers a range of topics.  Even in this short space of time you can make really significant progress.  If you can find time in between lessons to go over material, expand your vocabulary, listen to CDs, then you will undoubtedly make faster progress.

FAQs previously covered:

1. Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language

2. What does learning a language really involve?

3. What’s the best way to learn a foreign language?

4. As an adult, can you learn a language the same way that you did as a child?

5. How can I obtain instant/magic results in learning a language?

FAQs coming up:

7. I don’t understand grammar; we were never taught it at school?

8. Is it easier to learn a language if I go to the country?

9. Which language should I learn?

10. Are some languages harder than others?

11. So which languages will I find easier than others?

12. Which is the most popular language?

13. Can learning a language be fun?

Posted via web from Euroasia

Somehow or other, vocabulary has to be learnt, and words have to be strung into sentences using grammar, which also has to be learnt. While some courses are undoubtedly more effective than others, at the end of the day, certain bits of language have to be understood and memorised.

Unless someone has discovered a wonder drug, it’s hard to see how the magic results promised by some providers can be achieved. 

At Euroasia, we are constantly exploring cutting-edge methods and technologies. If appropriate, we incorporate what we learn into the courses we offer, which are custom-made for native English speakers. With over 3000 New Zealanders who have completed one of our courses, we draw on a significant experience base in designing effective courses to help you learn a foreign language. We explain more under Why Euroasia.

Check out the range of foreign language courses at Euroasia.

FAQs previously covered:

1. Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language

2. What does learning a language really involve?

3. What’s the best way to learn a foreign language?

4. As an adult, can you learn a language the same way that you did as a child?

FAQs coming up:

6. How long it will take me to learn a language?

7. I don’t understand grammar; we were never taught it at school?

8. Is it easier to learn a language if I go to the country?

9. Which language should I learn?

10. Are some languages harder than others?

11. So which languages will I find easier than others?

12. Which is the most popular language?

13. Can learning a language be fun?

Posted via web from Euroasia

Not entirely, because children’s acquisition of language is closely linked to the development of their brains. Some language courses try to imitate the child’s learning processes as closely as possible, but others recognise that as adults with knowledge of one language already we can’t go back to that language-free state we were in as infants.

Adults will always relate their second language to their first. Most adult courses recognise that, while we have lost the abilities we had an infants, we have acquired an understanding as adults which can be exploited to make language learning easier.

Check out the range of foreign language courses at Euroasia.

FAQs previously covered:

1. Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language

2. What does learning a language really involve?

3. What’s the best way to learn a foreign language?

FAQs coming up:

5. Some ads promise instant/magic results?

6. How long it will take me to learn a language?

7. I don’t understand grammar; we were never taught it at school?

8. Is it easier to learn a language if I go to the country?

9. Which language should I learn?

10. Are some languages harder than others?

11. So which languages will I find easier than others?

12. Which is the most popular language?

13. Can learning a language be fun?

Posted via web from Euroasia

Many books have been written on this subject… Different people have a preference for one approach over another.

While a few people seem to have the ability to learn a language from reading a book on the subject, there would probably be general agreement that it is hard to learn a language in this way. An audio course with cassettes or CD will work for some people. Others will find that Internet-based materials are effective.

Most people, though, will find that the above methods are secondary to the key one, which is interaction with an effective teacher. Language is a social experience, and we believe that it only really comes to live when it is used in a social context.

Check out the range of foreign language courses at Euroasia.

FAQs previously covered:

1. Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language

2. What does learning a language really involve?

FAQs coming up:

4. As an adult, can you learn a language the same way that you did as a child?

5. Some ads promise instant/magic results?

6. How long it will take me to learn a language?

7. I don’t understand grammar; we were never taught it at school?

8. Is it easier to learn a language if I go to the country?

9. Which language should I learn?

10. Are some languages harder than others?

11. So which languages will I find easier than others?

12. Which is the most popular language?

13. Can learning a language be fun?

Posted via web from Euroasia

Yesterday we kicked off our series of frequently asked questions on language learning with the question “Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language“. Today, we cover this question.

What does learning a language really involve?

On a very basic level, languages have two key components: vocabulary, the actual words, and grammar, which is the set of rules determining how the words are strung together to make sentences. And you encounter language in the form of the so-called four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

You certainly can’t get away from the vocabulary; some language courses avoid too much grammar, and concentrate instead on certain situations, like buying a ticket or ordering a meal. Listening and speaking are the most important skills for most people; some courses don’t offer much reading, and may leave out writing altogether.

It all depends what you want.

Posted via web from Euroasia

At Euroasia, we get asked a lot of questions about languages and language learning. So we’ve decided to compile a list of frequently asked questions. Over the course of the next two weeks, we will be releasing one question and the corresponding answer every day. If you have a question that you would like answered by us, feel free to comment.

We start the series with this question:

Why is it a good idea to learn a foreign language?

We might add… when everyone else speaks English. Well, here are some of the main reasons:

• Actually, there are many more people in the world who don’t speak English than do!
• Just think how much time and effort those who have learnt English have put into their studies; shouldn’t we make some effort as well in acknowledgment of this?
• Even learning a limited amount of the language can make a huge difference to the benefit derived from a trip overseas.
• Learning a language is often a key to understanding a people and a culture.
• You only really understand your own language when you can compare it with others.
• Learning a language is mentally stimulating and fascinating in its own right.
• In most countries around the world, it is taken for granted that educated people will speak at least one foreign language.
• New Zealand trades more with non-English-speaking countries than with those where English is the first language; surely some of us need to speak their languages.

Posted via web from Euroasia