December 2013
Writing “Correctly?”
12/02/13 Filed in: teaching kids
“What is the correct way to write ‘…’ ?”
“…” usually being a lowercase or uppercase letter—“i,” for example.
We often get asked such questions by very worried parents. Sometimes parents are concerned about the fonts that we use for our students’ worksheets. They may feel that a particular letter is not represented “correctly.”
Japan is a country renowned for its attention to detail and this has served it well. In everything from engineering to calligraphy to cuisine, Japan has earned this reputation. This marvelous focus on detail, however, can work against us if it approaches obsession. One can fall into the trap of “not seeing the forest for the trees,” that is, losing sight of the big picture because of focusing only on a small part of it.
Human language developed first and foremost as a means to verbally communicate. Language is phonetically founded on this, and proficiency in verbal communication is our primary target. Historically, reading and writing came later. Of course, in this day and age, reading and writing are absolutely necessary, but without a strong foundation in verbal skills, they are weak and cannot support realistic face-to-face communication on their own.
At English Now! we prioritize our child students developing verbal skills and introduce reading and writing as a means to support this. Reading and writing are vital tools, but they are not an end in themselves.
American schools devote far less attention to correct “stroke order” than Japanese schools do. As long as the child’s writing is legible, the teacher is usually satisfied. In fact, the various workbooks available for practicing the alphabet often teach different stroke orders—particularly for letters like “M” and “H.”
Which is “correct?”
They all are, and nobody seems to lose sleep over this.
Likewise with fonts. In school, everybody learns to write the single story versions of lowercase “a” and “g.” But in almost everything we read, these letters appear in their double-story versions. This may seem to be inconsistent, yet once again, Americans don’t seem to be bothered by this.
At English Now!, we don’t come down too hard on the younger boys who can’t yet get the hang of writing neatly. Most of the boys are typically way behind the girls in handwriting. This is natural and to be expected and we try to reassure their worried parents. It usually takes the boys a few more years to develop better penmanship, but they eventually get there. We gently point their sloppiness out to them, but we don’t punish them for it.
We are, however, very strict on pronunciation and phonics. Pronunciation is at the core of language, while phonics is absolutely essential to reading efficiently in the future. Everything they learn later will depend on these skills.
And when we do introduce writing, we start with lowercase because this is what the children will encounter most. There is no practical reason to start with uppercase letters.
All language is based on sound and, moreover, English uses a phonetically based alphabet. At English Now!, we are convinced that giving our children a strong foundation in the sounds of English will ensure rapid progress towards their truly being able to communicate meaningfully in English.
“…” usually being a lowercase or uppercase letter—“i,” for example.
We often get asked such questions by very worried parents. Sometimes parents are concerned about the fonts that we use for our students’ worksheets. They may feel that a particular letter is not represented “correctly.”
Japan is a country renowned for its attention to detail and this has served it well. In everything from engineering to calligraphy to cuisine, Japan has earned this reputation. This marvelous focus on detail, however, can work against us if it approaches obsession. One can fall into the trap of “not seeing the forest for the trees,” that is, losing sight of the big picture because of focusing only on a small part of it.
Human language developed first and foremost as a means to verbally communicate. Language is phonetically founded on this, and proficiency in verbal communication is our primary target. Historically, reading and writing came later. Of course, in this day and age, reading and writing are absolutely necessary, but without a strong foundation in verbal skills, they are weak and cannot support realistic face-to-face communication on their own.
At English Now! we prioritize our child students developing verbal skills and introduce reading and writing as a means to support this. Reading and writing are vital tools, but they are not an end in themselves.
American schools devote far less attention to correct “stroke order” than Japanese schools do. As long as the child’s writing is legible, the teacher is usually satisfied. In fact, the various workbooks available for practicing the alphabet often teach different stroke orders—particularly for letters like “M” and “H.”
Which is “correct?”
They all are, and nobody seems to lose sleep over this.
Likewise with fonts. In school, everybody learns to write the single story versions of lowercase “a” and “g.” But in almost everything we read, these letters appear in their double-story versions. This may seem to be inconsistent, yet once again, Americans don’t seem to be bothered by this.
At English Now!, we don’t come down too hard on the younger boys who can’t yet get the hang of writing neatly. Most of the boys are typically way behind the girls in handwriting. This is natural and to be expected and we try to reassure their worried parents. It usually takes the boys a few more years to develop better penmanship, but they eventually get there. We gently point their sloppiness out to them, but we don’t punish them for it.
We are, however, very strict on pronunciation and phonics. Pronunciation is at the core of language, while phonics is absolutely essential to reading efficiently in the future. Everything they learn later will depend on these skills.
And when we do introduce writing, we start with lowercase because this is what the children will encounter most. There is no practical reason to start with uppercase letters.
All language is based on sound and, moreover, English uses a phonetically based alphabet. At English Now!, we are convinced that giving our children a strong foundation in the sounds of English will ensure rapid progress towards their truly being able to communicate meaningfully in English.
“Don’t Break the Chain!”: Language Learning & Jerry Seinfeld
12/02/13 Filed in: how to study
Professional writers often talk about the necessity of writing every day. When one famous writer was asked why he was so severe about his commitment to writing every single morning, he replied that if he missed a day, he was afraid he would never write again. He realized how delicate his craft was and how necessary it was to keep constantly at it.
The momentum carries the discipline.
This applies to language learning. If you’re studying only once a week, it’s a hobby, and at some point you’re likely to get sidetracked and quit. Your study must be a real habit and this demands regular, frequent repetition. Your daily schedule must be arranged around your English study. Make a daily appointment with yourself, show up, and do it. No ifs, ands or buts.
But there’s more to this than simply toughening up to study. There’s a genuine method in the madness.
The good news is that your daily study sessions need not be long. It has been demonstrated that frequent 30-minute study sessions are better for long-term memory than multi-hour cram sessions. The cram sessions only have value when you’re going to take a test soon, since what you’re trying to learn only survives in your short-term memory.
Your daily 30-minute English study sessions should include both review and new material. As you master certain material, its review can be spaced out over gradually longer intervals as the new material is added.
In the 1990’s, one of America’s most popular TV shows was the comedy Seinfeld. Jerry Seinfeld, the real-life comedian who starred in the show committed himself to writing comic material every day and motivated himself to keep this discipline by using a big wall calendar with the whole year on one page. He hung this calendar where he couldn’t miss seeing it and crossed out each day with a big red X when he wrote.
Seinfeld said, “After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.
Don't break the chain!”
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret
「鎖を断ち切らないように！」：言語学習とジェリー・サインフェルド
プロの作家には、毎日書き続けることの重要性を主張する人が少なくありません。ある著名な作家は、「どうして毎朝欠かさず執筆することにそんなに拘るのか?」と聞かれてこう答えました。「一日でも空いてしまうと、もう二度と書けないのではないかと不安に駆られるのだ」、と。この人は自分の作品がどれだけ繊細なものか、そして、毎日こつこつ続けることがいかに大事なことかを知っていたのでしょう。
こうした日常の中の勢いや流れが、習慣に繋がっていきます。
言語学習も同じことです。週に一度だけではただの趣味止まりで、きっとある程度のところで関心が他に向いてしまい、学習から離れてしまうこともあるでしょう。地道にこつこつ繰り返して、本当の意味で習慣にしてしまう他ありません。日々の予定すら、英語学習に合わせて組み直す必要が生じるでしょう。自分で決めたことを必ず守り、毎日堅実に実行します。「もしかしたら...」「でも...」などという言い訳は無しです。
単純に自分を鼓舞する方法のように聞こえるかもしれませんが、実のところ、この裏には筋の通った理論があるのです。
幸いなことに、日々の学習にそんなに長い時間を割く必要はありません。長期記憶のためには、数時間の詰め込みよりも、毎日の30分学習の方が有効であると証明されています。詰め込みで学習した内容は長く記憶に残りませんから、テスト直前くらいにしか役に立たないでしょう。
毎日の30分学習には過去の復習と、新しい内容の学習、その両方を含めて下さい。例えば文法など、何か一つのことを習得できたと思ったら、それを見直す時間が必要です。ただし、まずは翌日、次は一週間後、一ヶ月後...と、復習の間に置く時間は少しずつ長くしていって下さいね。もちろん、日々新しいことを学びながらですよ。
90年代のアメリカで人気を博していたコメディ番組といえば、やはり Seinfeld でしょう。ジェリー・サインフェルドはこの番組で主演を務めたコメディアンであり、彼もまた、毎日ネタを作り続けることを心に誓っていました。彼が自分を奮い立たせるために用意したのは、大きな年間カレンダーです。確実に視界に入る位置にそれを取り付け、毎日毎日大きな赤いX印を書き込んでいきました。
サインフェルドはこのように言ったそうです。「何日かすれば印が鎖みたいに見えるようになってくる。毎日続けて、長く連ねていくんだ。それに慣れて数週間もすれば、伸びた鎖を見ること自体が楽しくなってくるだろう。そうなれば、しなくちゃいけないことは後一つだけだ。
そう、鎖を切らないようにね！」
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret
The momentum carries the discipline.
This applies to language learning. If you’re studying only once a week, it’s a hobby, and at some point you’re likely to get sidetracked and quit. Your study must be a real habit and this demands regular, frequent repetition. Your daily schedule must be arranged around your English study. Make a daily appointment with yourself, show up, and do it. No ifs, ands or buts.
But there’s more to this than simply toughening up to study. There’s a genuine method in the madness.
The good news is that your daily study sessions need not be long. It has been demonstrated that frequent 30-minute study sessions are better for long-term memory than multi-hour cram sessions. The cram sessions only have value when you’re going to take a test soon, since what you’re trying to learn only survives in your short-term memory.
Your daily 30-minute English study sessions should include both review and new material. As you master certain material, its review can be spaced out over gradually longer intervals as the new material is added.
In the 1990’s, one of America’s most popular TV shows was the comedy Seinfeld. Jerry Seinfeld, the real-life comedian who starred in the show committed himself to writing comic material every day and motivated himself to keep this discipline by using a big wall calendar with the whole year on one page. He hung this calendar where he couldn’t miss seeing it and crossed out each day with a big red X when he wrote.
Seinfeld said, “After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.
Don't break the chain!”
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret
「鎖を断ち切らないように！」：言語学習とジェリー・サインフェルド
プロの作家には、毎日書き続けることの重要性を主張する人が少なくありません。ある著名な作家は、「どうして毎朝欠かさず執筆することにそんなに拘るのか?」と聞かれてこう答えました。「一日でも空いてしまうと、もう二度と書けないのではないかと不安に駆られるのだ」、と。この人は自分の作品がどれだけ繊細なものか、そして、毎日こつこつ続けることがいかに大事なことかを知っていたのでしょう。
こうした日常の中の勢いや流れが、習慣に繋がっていきます。
言語学習も同じことです。週に一度だけではただの趣味止まりで、きっとある程度のところで関心が他に向いてしまい、学習から離れてしまうこともあるでしょう。地道にこつこつ繰り返して、本当の意味で習慣にしてしまう他ありません。日々の予定すら、英語学習に合わせて組み直す必要が生じるでしょう。自分で決めたことを必ず守り、毎日堅実に実行します。「もしかしたら...」「でも...」などという言い訳は無しです。
単純に自分を鼓舞する方法のように聞こえるかもしれませんが、実のところ、この裏には筋の通った理論があるのです。
幸いなことに、日々の学習にそんなに長い時間を割く必要はありません。長期記憶のためには、数時間の詰め込みよりも、毎日の30分学習の方が有効であると証明されています。詰め込みで学習した内容は長く記憶に残りませんから、テスト直前くらいにしか役に立たないでしょう。
毎日の30分学習には過去の復習と、新しい内容の学習、その両方を含めて下さい。例えば文法など、何か一つのことを習得できたと思ったら、それを見直す時間が必要です。ただし、まずは翌日、次は一週間後、一ヶ月後...と、復習の間に置く時間は少しずつ長くしていって下さいね。もちろん、日々新しいことを学びながらですよ。
90年代のアメリカで人気を博していたコメディ番組といえば、やはり Seinfeld でしょう。ジェリー・サインフェルドはこの番組で主演を務めたコメディアンであり、彼もまた、毎日ネタを作り続けることを心に誓っていました。彼が自分を奮い立たせるために用意したのは、大きな年間カレンダーです。確実に視界に入る位置にそれを取り付け、毎日毎日大きな赤いX印を書き込んでいきました。
サインフェルドはこのように言ったそうです。「何日かすれば印が鎖みたいに見えるようになってくる。毎日続けて、長く連ねていくんだ。それに慣れて数週間もすれば、伸びた鎖を見ること自体が楽しくなってくるだろう。そうなれば、しなくちゃいけないことは後一つだけだ。
そう、鎖を切らないようにね！」
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret