In past blogs I
have talked about ways that I, my friends and students have tapped into
surroundings to communicate in a new language. But what if you are living in a
country where the language that you are studying is not spoken. How do you
build – or at least maintain your listening comprehension and/or speaking
ability? The following are
some ideas I have gathered over the years that have worked for me. Many of the
techniques were incorporated into a training module which I gave each term to
graduates of the Language Institute of Japan in Odawara, where I was director in the early 1990’s.
LIOJ was
perched on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, The views would have done the
grandest hotel proud and those of us who came there, both teachers and
students, were constantly amazed by the surrounding beauty. Apart from the
amazing setting, the center was known for its innovative programs, including
the “Business Communication Program”, or BCP, a residential program where
businesspeople from some of Japan’s largest companies came and spent a month
immersing themselves in English,
often just before heading overseas for long-term assignments.
Rules were
rigid – if they broke the “English Only” policy, participants were sent back to
their companies – and staff were expected to spend untold hours not only
training, but also partaking of meals, trips, and joining in a range of social
activities together with students. It was hard work but the results were often
spectacular. My experience at LIOJ left me convinced that, if you really want
to improve your communication skills and can’t head to a country where the
language is spoken, the best way to evolve is by studying daily in “dense”
sessions over a shorter period, rather than for an hour or two each week for
years and years.
Some
participants arrived shell-shocked having been told in the morning by their
boss that they were about to be sent abroad and to “catch a train to Odawara”. Some of these men (in those days, women were rarely
sent abroad) were about to
be transferred overseas for several years and had just one month to get ready. For such individuals, the focus of the first
week was more on counseling than
language training. We tried to get these unfortunates psyched about the bomb that
had just exploded in their world. The transfer would be an adventure, a growing
experience for both the men and their families, right? It could be a hard sell
but we did our utmost to put a positive spin on things.
However, not all was desperation. Some participants had just entered a company and
were at LIOJ as part of an initial training component, while others were there
as a “reward”. One company president liked our program so much that each year
he gave his best employee the opportunity to take a month off and study with us
as a “bonus” for a job well done. The reasons for being at LIOJ were as varied
as the teaching staff, who
haled from around the world. Some groups were more memorable than others but
every term we understood the
importance of the training being carried out. To this day, a network of alumni staff and students
remains in touch thanks to Facebook and Twitter.
LIOJ’s
residential business program was very structured. At the end of each term, we
would herd the participants into a room and prepare them for the real world
outside our doors in a training session titled “How to study after LIOJ.” The
days of classroom study were over and maintenance of hard-earned fluency was
now each participant’s responsibility. Techniques were presented in a humorous
manner but the message was a serious one: Without extra efforts, language
skills would deteriorate. The following are some of the tips we gave our
graduates.
- Traditionally, the Japanese
approach to learning another language is to memorize lists of words in
isolation, usually in preparation for a test. All materials at LIOJ
revolved around a context, for example, magazine articles or news
broadcasts, to make meaning more memorable. We encouraged everyone to
continue this context-based learning.
- Grammar was a gremlin. For adult
learners the study of grammar often formed the foundation of their English
learning experience before coming to LIOJ, with endless drills that were
safe and familiar. But was this approach effective? Rules for English were
often learned in isolation, like math formulas that could be computed but
didn’t really lead to an application in the real world. At LIOJ, it wasn’t
that we were against grammar. It just seemed more logical to explain
structures when students tripped over a phrase that puzzled, for example,
in a magazine article or even a karaoke song. Our motto was, “Learn the rules with a
reference.”
- When it came to reading, we were
very specific. Some of our students actually studied dictionaries at
lunchtime to “build vocabulary.” More reading means more input and will
help you build knowledge of words; however, “reading” a dictionary is
definitely not what we had in mind! The general rule was to keep study
sessions short and frequent with material you found informative and
entertaining. 30 minutes of reading every day with a journal, manual, even
comic book that held your interest was much more valuable than a blitz
session on the weekend spending hours reading a mind-numbing textbook or
thesaurus.
- If we look at how a child learns
their mother tongue, it’s obvious that a lot of language goes in before
words come out. Once listening and speaking have developed, the next
challenge is to learn how to read, usually followed by attempts at
writing. But for learners at academic institutions around the world, this
process is often reversed. First comes the textbook with passages to read
and probably write, followed by listening activities and, if you’re lucky,
a little mouthing of phrases that may have absolutely no relevance to your
reality. This was how I was introduced to French at school and how most
learners begin their study of English in Japan.
Fortunately, with the advent of the
Internet, an endless range of study options to develop all four skills now
exist online (at least for English). With regard to improving listening skills
– and subsequently speaking ability – the “How to study after LIOJ” advice
still applies. We told everyone to start with “macro” listening, in other
words, to catch the gist of what is being said before going “micro”, or
analyzing utterances in detail. “Micro” learners tend to focus too much,
ruminating over each word and, in the end, losing the overall meaning. Trying
to understand every single word is incredibly inefficient and we discouraged
it. We told students to catch the general meaning first then go back and listen
for details if you really need to.
- Listening for gist does not mean
that you should be passive. We trained our students to “control” the
conversation by interrupting and clarifying when they lost the flow of
what was being said then confirming what they understood. This “control”
training (see blog entries 27 and 28) was a popular component of the BCP and was
mentioned frequently in course evaluations. Students recognized that they
had to be more assertive and manage conversations rather than let the
language overwhelm them. They also understood that, the more they
understood, the greater the chance of improving their speaking ability.
- Students were told not to be
perfectionists. Native speakers make mistakes in their mother tongue so
why couldn’t you do the same in another language? We advised the
participants to make opportunities to talk with people, for example, by
visiting popular tourist spots in their area, and not to worry about
making mistakes. Learners who “over-think”, painfully placing words in
order in their head before attempting to speak, end up being out of synch
with the conversation – if they speak at all. Just say what you want to
say, warts and all!
- Finally, we told everyone that, if
they did have the opportunity to use their English (or any language for
that matter) with another person, use the occasion to self correct. As a
non-native speaker, if you make a mistake, the listener will usually
signal when he or she doesn’t understand. Then it’s up to you to do some
quick repair work. Or maybe the listener will try to guess your meaning.
If the corrected version is what you wanted to say, copy it (see “Copy
Correcting” in blog
entry 8). In this way,
students take advantage of every conversation to “clean up” their speech.
At the end of “How to study after LIOJ”, we would tell everyone the
more they used their English, the more comfortable it would become. And with
comfort, their confidence would grow in an energizing cycle. By choosing
materials they enjoyed and trying to maintain a schedule of short, regular
study sessions, their linguistic ability didn’t have to decline. And, if they
really needed an “English fix”, they could visit us any time at LIOJ.
Sadly, the latter no longer holds true. As everyone knows, Japan has a
lot of earthquakes and, several years ago Asia Center, the facility where LIOJ
was housed, was declared structurally unsafe. The city of Odawara bought the property and tore the big
white building on top of the hill down. The land has been turned into a park
with a large open lawn where LIOJ once stood. I have visited twice and was told
by neighbors that a surprising number of visitors – perhaps I should say
“pilgrims” – drop by to look out over the sea and relive memories of their language learning experiences long ago.
