Discover how technology influenced the way of acquiring foreign languages!

1923

Nowadays social media, language apps, e-books and easy access to the Internet completely changed the way in which people acquire knowledge of foreign languages. The online sources are ubiquitous and even teachers attempt using them to encourage students not to cram words and phrases, but have fun with learning languages thanks to interactive solutions. In this article you can find some guidelines how to acquire languages.

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Theory of multiple intelligences versus new media

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences was coined in 1989 by Howard Gardner. According to him, the way in which we are acquiring knowledge depends on our prominent intelligence. You can distinguish eight varieties of intelligence, such as: logical-mathematical, musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Being aware of your prominent intelligence, you will be able to find the best learning method. Bear in mind that the whole learning and psychological approach changed dramatically when the digital revolutions appeared. Scientists discovered that a new technology can be used to enhance reading and writing abilities – especially e-books are recommended for kids and beginners. Undoubtedly, some word processing software or activities like blogging or microblogging (Twitter) can also improve the writing abilities better than sitting in the front of the paper and just writing an essay. Maybe, many of you wonder what is a big difference between writing an essay at school or university and writing even some posts for own blog? There is no doubt that thanks to blogging, you will be receiving comments and suggestions from your readers, so you will be able to slightly improve your writing skills. It is also worth recommending the online proofreading software “Ginger”, which is partly free. Bear in mind that using this online software does not give you a 100% guarantee of the correctness of your text, but at least it is really helpful especially with highlighting the misspellings.

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How to encourage children to learn languages?

Starting to learn a language can be really boring at the beginning – especially when it is mostly focuses on grammar rules and learning really basic words. In that case, it is nothing unusual that children will attempt not to cramming words and grammar structures. For them the best solution is to be completely indulged in a new language, like playing some language games or taking advantages of the language apps, as “Duolingo” or “Babbel”. The first one is really appreciated by users as it is a really simple app which does not require possessing the special IT skills as well as it provides you with a daily reminder of language lesson, so you will not forget that you need to take a next language class. Next, you are obliged to do one lesson after another, so you will acquire language slowly, but you will feel more confident in usage some phrases later. The other advantage is that you can practice language in many ways, like: fill-in the missing words in a sentence or write what you hear. Remember that “Practice makes perfect”. On the other hand, the app “Babbel” has also many supporters who appreciate learning a tremendous amount of useful dialogues. In fact, you will be able to communicate easier and practice your language skills even during simple daily activities, like shopping. No matter which language apps you choose (I only shortly mentioned the two most popular ones), each of them provide you with the language skills and allow you enjoy learning languages which are an inevitable part of everyday life.

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Read more: 

Social media in professional development of teachers of business English

Sources:

How technology can help language learning

Duolingo and Babbel: how they differ

 

Written by Aleksandra Święcicka. Journalist, web editor and social media expert. Communication Trainee at TermCoord