Learning methods

I have been asked many times, what is the best method of learning?Frankly speaking, an ideal method does not exist! Why? Because everystudent is different, has different needs, expectations and personalstyles of learning.If “visual” intelligence predominates your life, you “see” language likeyou see other things. In this case, it will be easier for you to rememberwords you have seen written. You probably like working with texts,presentations, photos, movies, schemas, diagrams, lists of words andpictures. It is also possible that you do not like to talk too much an in yourlanguage you use expressions like“ I don’t see ”, “show me”, “ let’simagine” and “ this is clear”.If you learn the language by listening, than you would prefer attendinglectures instead of making notes. You probably would like to repeat newwords and expressions aloud and discuss problem with others to findsolution. It is possible that you would use expressions like “listen, I amtalking to you”, “ it sounds bizarre”, “I have a question”.If your “channel” of experiencing the language is though emotion,movement, and touch, then you learn language by action, doing things,experimenting, and role-playing. You probably tend to use a lot ofgestures, like to move, and maybe have some spelling problems.Expression you would like to use would include “ to take something”, “ Idon’t feel like…” “to hold fast”, “to touch upon an important question”.Many times you can be “visual” and “emotional” at the same time!Knowing your type will help you in a process of learning and will make itmore pleasurable and fun. Nothing will be too difficult.Based on this knowledge above, you can choose between individuallessons, group courses, tandem courses or e-learning that follows yourpreferred method.During the individual lesson your teacher can concentrate only on youand your needs so the time can be used very effectively.If you choose to study in a group because you like to meet other peopleand you prefer group learning, it can either speed-up or slow-down your

process depending the group you are in. The collective motivation playsa big role in a group learning as well. When choosing groups, we shouldnot forget about self-learning after classes.The teacher can help you a lot guiding this process but a lot of work youmust do alone to master a language.As a complement to the information above, I would like to recommend avery good way of learning foreign languages called “tandem languagelearning”. A lot of language schools and universities are using thismethod. From my experience it is a very effective and pleasant tacticbased on language exchange between two native speakers, eachwanting to learn the other’s language.In tandem the most important benefit is the absence of stress andunnecessary rivalry that can be present in a group. These factors canincrease your motivation for learning and mutual failures along the wayremain private between the two speakers. When the tandem methodworks, it can yield fantastic results.Regularity of meetings is another important key to learn. These meetingscan be face-to-face or via internet. For example, twice per week, onehour of English and another hour of Polish. It is crucial to have the samelevel of engagement , preparation, and effective use of time whenworking with the tandem method.Being open and accepting your partners culture, practicing toleranceand understanding brings enormous benefits and aids learning greatly..Cross -cultural interactions offer learning opportunities that can providedepth. For example, things like colloquial language and slangs. Studentscan also visit each other’s homes, meet in the pub, cook and eat whilelearning more, more and more…Students can exchange music, movies, and books if both learnersshare common interests and are on the same level. If not on the samelevel, there is always the opportunity to practice patience. It is alwaysgood to plan ahead and set goals and achieve targets. Sometimes toomuch freestyle can be demotivated.

From my experience students learn more effectively when we reduceunnecessary stress to the minimum, that is, if they have fun, if they canplay, if they have TIME for learning. If you are here for a while(Socrates/Erasmus) and you can dedicate more time for learning,besides the regular lessons try the tandem and just taste the language!Give yourself this luxury to taste the language! And definitely share yourexperience with me!This article was published in “The Wrocław International”-Wrocław’s FirstEnglish-Language Newspaper, February 2012, Issue 16, ISSN 2082-730X