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Those who have studied languages realize that looking-up individual words cannot convey a language in the correct manner. Becoming fluent means being able to verbalize ideas ; not learning technical rules and identifying the Past Predicate Indicative.
The audio part of this method has been my favorite portion of the learning process. Not only is the pronunciation slow and clear, but it is presented so that I remember the flow of sentences and concepts.
Thank you for the opportunity to work with this amazing program; it has been a blessing for me."
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Master Those Verb Forms In 5 Simple Steps!
by Nathalie Fairbanks
When you speak your native language, I bet you hardly ever
think about grammar. You speak because you want to
communicate. I'm also pretty sure that you never memorized
a dictionary or a grammar book!
That's the point you want to reach in your new language--to
not even have to think about grammar, but to have word
order, conjugations, endings, etc., come to your mind
intuitively when you need them.
I know many language students who faithfully memorized
"tables" of all kinds: declensions (in German, Russian,
etc.), conjugations (most European languages), and grammar
rules.
The assumption that you'll be able to scan these tables
fast enough to come up with the correct ending or the
correct verb form when you're trying to say something is
ambitious...but unreasonable. It doesn't work. Our internal
processor just isn't fast enough, and it's not its role in
the first place.
The better way to study grammar is to go after a question
that puzzles you. In a text that you understand, pick one
word and start digging. Let's take an example from our
SpeakEZ German course (this approach does work for all
languages with conjugations):
ENGLISH: Did I get your name right?
GERMAN: Habe ich Ihren Namen richtig verstanden?
DECODED: Have i Your Name right understood?
Just the decoding gives you a wonderful clue as to how the
sentence is put together. You can immediately see the
difference in word order and tense.
Let's say you want to investigate the word, "verstanden."
1. If you use the decoded text, you already know what it
means ("understood" is right underneath "verstanden").
Let's assume you didn't know that, but you have a hunch
that it might be a verb.
Go to www.verbix.com. Verbix is a fantastic tool when
it comes to figuring out verb forms. You'll see why in a
minute. Verbix supports a number of languages--check the
bottom of the home page to see if the language you're
learning is one of them.
On the left hand side, there is a link to "Is it a verb?"
in the on-line services box. Go there and put in
"verstanden."
2. It tells you that it's a verb, and an inflection of
"verstehen." If you click on "verstanden," it will give
you the whole table for the verb - all the verb forms!
You'll find that "habe" (the first word in the sentence)
actually is part of the verb and that "habe verstanden" is
in the present perfect tense.
This is where I lose most students. Present perfect tense?
Grammar is a language of its own that many people are not
fluent in.
Is it really necessary to know what each tense is called? I
have to say that it makes communication about grammar a
whole lot easier in a classroom when everybody knows their
grammar terminology! However, if all you want is to
understand the language and have access to decoded texts to
study--you do have a choice.
3. If you want to know more about the present perfect in
German, now is the time to find that section in your grammar
book. Using it as a resource instead of memorizing it will
actually help you retain the information you're after.
Figure out how to form present perfect tenses for different
kinds of German verbs and play around with them.
4. WAIT! You're not done! Unless you practice using these
forms in a context that's relevant to your life, you've
just wasted your time.
5. Take your original sentence and make variations:
- Change the subject (WHO understood: you, she, etc.)
Hast du den Namen richtig verstanden?
Haben Sie den Namen richtig verstanden?
Hat sie den Namen richtig verstanden?
- Change the verb (try forget, pronounce, say, etc.,
anything that makes sense.)
forget: Habe ich den Namen vergessen?
pronounce: Habe ich Ihren Namen richtig ausgesprochen?
say: Habe ich Ihren Namen richtig gesagt?
Say all of these variations out loud, several times in a
row. At all times, be certain to know what you're saying.
It's easy to get caught up in repeating verb forms like a
parrot just to get through them.
Instead, picture what you're saying. Imagine you're
talking to someone and you're really asking that question.
Act it out and do whatever you need to do to make it take on
life!
© 2008 Nathalie V. Fairbanks
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You may, as long as you include this blurb with it: SpeakEZ Languages publishes "Language Learning Express," a free bi-weekly e-zine for language learners who are eager to discover the secrets of efficient language learning, transition seamlessly into a new culture and have fun on the way. Get your FREE subscription and your FREE e-book now at http://www.SpeakEZLanguages.com.
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