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Learning a Foreign Language: the Psychological Factor
When it comes about learning a foreign language, many people wonder if they will be able to memorize enough vocabulary. But this question never occurs about their mother tongue. And yet, it was a foreign language; nevertheless, among all the questions that new parents ask, no doctor has ever heard: "Will my baby be able to learn my language?" Be honest. Do you know all the words of your mother tongue? The answer is: "no". New words, and new ways of using old words, appear every day. Twenty years ago, who would have been able to understand such a sentence: "Click here to download your digital book"? Nobody. You never stop acquiring new vocabulary and you never know how long you will be needing it. Do you still use "tomagotchi"? When you don't know the exact name of a thing, you don't hesitate to call it "whatsit". Why do you think foreigners do otherwise? (The French word for whatsit is machin. That's a good start! You already know the word that can virtually replace any other!) Sometimes, you have the word on the tip of your tongue... and it sticks there! But you do know this phenomenon and don't think that it is due to a bad memory. You should not give this phenomenon more importance in the language you are learning than in your mother tongue.You need to learn only 2000 or so basic French words to be able to create any paraphrase you need. You can't avoid some work in order to learn these essential words and all the more if you want to learn quickly. Before you contemplate to buy a learn-in-a-breeze method, be sure it is right for you. It is not as wise as it is said to rely on a method based upon mnemotechnics. The first words seem very easy lo learn; so, you buy the method; and you discover quickly, though too late, that a dozen words later, it is all the more difficult to learn a new word that you have also to learn the trick to memorize it. The next topic will be about lists of words: why they work and why they don't. Gabrielle Guichard is a French teacher who can be reached on GabrielleGuichard.com and listened to on French Podcasting
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. Weekly world news quiz (BBC News) At the end of another week, test your knowledge with our world news quiz. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Kanye arrested in paparazzi scuffle ... Report: Critic smacked Ebert with binder ... Cafe Tacvba nominated for 6 Latin Grammys ... Groban to perform TV songs at Emmys ... News from United Press International. United shares climb after news debacle (UPI) CHICAGO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A computer program assigning dates to news stories was partly to blame for a sell-off of United Airlines stock Monday, a Google spokesman said. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (San Francisco Chronicle) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. In a statement, the global seller of outdoor advertising said it was in exclusive talks with Rupert... Site: news - Google News Fidelity to Roll out New Home Page Providing Real-Time Financial ... - MarketWatch
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for language Indian regional politician withdraws language stir (AP via Yahoo! Singapore News) A regional politician withdrew a campaign Thursday to disrupt movie screenings of India's best known Bollywood family, ending a language spat that saw a premiere of an Amitabh Bachchan movie canceled and a film theater trashed by right-wing activists. Language Web site offers survival kits, other free materials to deploying troops (Fort Leavenworth Lamp) PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center activated its new Language Materials Distribution System Web site July 1, making available hundreds of language survival kits and other materials free of charge to deploying service members. ONLY NATIONAL LANGUAGE FOR KL SIGNS (Bernama via Yahoo! Malaysia News) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will only allow the use of the national language for road signs in the city. Bollywood legend seeks to defuse wife's language row (AFP via Yahoo! News) Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday sought to defuse a simmering language row involving his wife, Jaya, insisting that neither he nor his family would ever insult Marathi speakers. LPGA players address language rule (San Jose Mercury News) South Korea's Se Ri Pak defended the LPGA Tour in the wake of its short-lived plan to suspend players who don't speak English well enough to satisfy sponsors, saying Wednesday that learning the language can benefit rising international stars. Language barrier slows invasion probe (Hamilton Spectator) Hamilton police have called in Vietnamese language interpreters to help unravel what happened during an apparent home invasion yesterday morning. Police say four adults and two children were in a home on Barton Street West at Crooks Street when an altercation erupted around 5 a.m. Watch your language! LPGA veterans defend new policy (Calgary Sun) MOBILE, Ala. -- South Korea's Se Ri Pak defended the LPGA Tour in the wake of its short-lived plan to suspend players who don't speak English well enough to satisfy sponsors, saying yesterday learning the language can benefit rising international stars. Chinese language center draws crowds (People's Daily) People from other parts of the world always are fascinated by China's 5,000 year old cultural tradition. At the Paralympics Village in Beijing, the Chinese Language Center has proven one of the hotspots. The Chinese Language Center has three sections. The middle section is known as the Learn-it-Quickly Zone. It is the most popular among foreigners. With the aid of specially designed computer ... Spanish language magazine aims at professionals (The Sacramento Bee) Tatiana Bedoya celebrated her 33rd birthday last week by officially launching Vixta, a new Spanish-language magazine for greater Sacramento's Latino community. Tatiana Bedoya French-language film fest announces lineup (The North Bay Nugget) The Centre culturel Les Compagnons des francs loisirs will feature a range of movies during its sixth annual French-language film festival. The festival, held in [...] Site: language - Google News Cadence Introduces Industry's First Family of MIPI Standard ... - MarketWatch
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