Should you learn English words or phrases or sentences?
When I first started to study French, my goal was to learn to speak as well as a native speaker of French. However, I was not sure how to study. I thought of words as the basic building-block of language, so it made sense for me to learn as many words as possible. A funny thing happened, though, as I studied lots of words. It seemed the more words I learned, the more I forgot! Then I went to France for one university semester and found, to my shock, that I did not know how to use the words that I did remember. I realized then that I needed to learn words in combinations. As a beginner, it seemed useful to learn phrases (groups of words) because they were useful to me in my everyday life. Only after a couple of months in Paris did I finally realize that, to reach my goal of speaking like a native French speaker, I would have to do what they do, which is to speak in sentences. It was difficult to master full-length sentences. At first, I made lots of mistakes. Pronouncing single words was difficult enough. Trying to clearly and smoothly pronounce many words together was extra hard. After a long time of studying, I realized that my decision to study sentences was the right one. It became easier and easier to speak French and to understand other people when they spoke. And guess what? I also found it easier to remember new words when I saw them.
Sometimes, I think my students don’t understand this. They seem so focused on words that they fail to learn sentences well. That means they often get stuck when they have to answer a question. And their writing, even a simple email, is full of mistakes. They also have trouble understanding English when they hear many sentences at one time - it seems they have to spend so much time to understand the first sentence that they cannot listen to the second and third sentences!
That is why, on my website, I have a lot of things that help students learn sentences. There are dictations which students can listen to over and over again until they master them completely. When they go beyond single sentences they can listen to my jokes. Now I’m trying to make videos and hope to focus on sentences and stories. Unfortunately, it seems as though the popular videos are the ones that focus on words. Will students ever be able to make real progress as English speakers if they do not start learning more and more sentences? I would like to hear your opinion on this subject - just leave a comment below!
Valentina Said,
May 2, 2008 @ 11:11 am
I totally agree with you. In my country China, there’re many students think that learn English words is the most important. So they learn it, remember it, and then…forget it just like what you did. Maybe we shouldn’t blame students, because that’s what English teachers in Chinese schools teach students. Oh, here’s a question: should I add “the” before “students” and “English teacher”?
ramavasudevan Said,
May 2, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
i thing english is difficult one to learn.
now i trying to speak fluently but still was not come a lot of words.
i have more interesting to speak Fluent English.
now i’m getting remuneration not more.
i can say that i was lack of communication in english, still i am trying to
better. at the same time i didnot read continuesly at the day or time.
when i read english some news paper, if there would have unknown
words in news paper then the intrest will decrease…
but i won’t try to learn english…
to day or tommorrow i will shine in English. this confident i have
always…
teacherjoe Said,
May 2, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Hi Valentina,
Thanks for your observation. You describe the situation among students in China IN GENERAL, so you do not need “the”. We usually only use “the” if we are referring to something particular, something that everyone knows. For example, if I talk about students that I teach (very specifici) and want to say that they do something interesting, then I should say “the students” to show I am not talking about other students. “The students are eager to learn” is probably one small group of students. “Students are eager to learn” is seems to be about all students in the world, unless we give more information about these students.
This small word “the” can make quite a difference. So, how will you learn how “the” is used in a variety of situations? Learn a variety of sentences! I just gave two sentences above, but you will see many more in the future, I am sure. Actually, I can see that you have seen lots of good sentences in the past, because your writing is quite good. Keep up the good work.
Nafis Said,
May 2, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
I made the same mistake. I just learned words and I had to repeat them a lot every night. But, next day, I had to start reading all of them from the beginning. It sounds like I go around in circles. So, now, I know how to study and thank you so much for this Fantastic idea and videos!
Mai Said,
May 2, 2008 @ 6:36 pm
You’re right ! I always meet a trouble when listening to a whole section because when I try to understand the first sentence , I miss the next ones . But , how do I learn the whole sentence ? Learning them by heart sounds quite difficult ,doesn’t it ? My teacher said ” use it three times and it’s yours ” . Do you think it’s the best way to remember something new or is there any better one ?
teacherjoe Said,
May 3, 2008 @ 2:41 am
Mai,
I think your teacher is basically right. We need to use language in order to remember it. However, I disagree with the number three. When I was first learning French, I found that I had to repeat a sentence so many times - it seemed like a hundred or more but I’m sure it was more like ten or twenty times. But then, as I got better at using sentences, I found that I only had to say a sentence a few times in order to master it. Eventually, I could “use it ONCE and it was mine”! When you practice sentences in a new language, your brain gets better and better at “processing” whole sentences. So, although learning sentences by heart is quite difficult (at first!), it will make you a wildly successful learner in the future!
Vincent Said,
May 6, 2008 @ 12:33 am
I absolute agree with you! I am chinese and I have learned English for eigth years,but it is still difficult for me to listen and speak English.I never learn English in sentence.I will focus on sentence from now on.
Nafis Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
I found this website, if you want to learn and at the same time to donate , it will be very good idea to look at this website.
http://www.freerice.com/
teacherjoe Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 12:47 am
Nafis,
Thanks for the link. Everyone should try the vocabulary learning game at http://www.freerice.com. While you learn English, rice is donated to hungry people around the world. And when you’re done with the game, you can go to that site’s “sister site” at http://www.poverty.com and read more about hunger and its solutions. Great find, Nafis!
Nafis Said,
May 12, 2008 @ 3:11 am
Dear teacher joe!
No problem! It is my pleasure.
apple Said,
September 1, 2008 @ 7:26 am
i can not agree with you more!i mastered a lot of english words,but i can not communicate with others fluently. what should i do?