Reactions to learning Beginner German (Lesson 3)

The beginner German lessons are arranged very effectively. At least they suit my learning style, whatever that may be. First I review the vocabulary that will be used in the lesson. I listen to the words being said in German and I read the word as I listen. Then I listen to a short conversation. My comprehension is greatly enhanced by the fact that I have already reviewed the vocabulary. I listen to the conversation twice. Afterwards, there is an exercise where I match the conversational statements to the correct speaker. Since it is a connected conversation, it is necessary to understand what each speaker is saying. Then there are the last two parts where I speak in answer to a question and then write the answer to that question. The correct answer appears when I click "check your answer."
Each lesson has culture notes and points of grammar. These are very helpful.
What I like very much is working at my own pace. If I want to go over certain vocabulary or pronounciation, I can do it. I am not forced to keep up with the rest of the group. I can see this as a very valuable feature of CALL.
I am becoming more comfortable with the sound of German. By previewing the vocabulary and listening to it being pronounced, I am able to follow the conversations more easily. I can see how essential it is to preview difficult vocabulary with students prior to having them listen to a lecture. Once you know the word, you have a much better chance of writing it down and following the conversation.
I like Howard's idea of keeping an on-line glossary. When I do a lesson, I think I know the vocabulary, but it is easy to forget. An on-line glossary would provide a quick and easy review.

SpanishL2

I explored SpanishL2 this afternoon. My main goal for my learning Spanish experience I expect to be focusing on grammar. In general, my comprehension of Spanish is low intermediate and I am not afraid to speak, but I never learned Spanish grammar formerly so I have no ability to monitor what I say. And after my daughters informed me recently that although I act like I know what I am saying, I am not really speaking Spanish. I guess it is time to figure out what I am saying.

Figured out I could start at Level 3 and that level would be OK. It has less translation and that was better for me. I found the English distracting in Level 1. In exploring, Spanish L2 is set up in a series of powerpoints and you listen to a presentation of the grammar point. In this case "ser" Everything said is also in text.I listened and read through the powerpoint slides quickly the first time. Then, went back and listened to the slides more slowly, pausing once in a while to write down some new vocabulary in an on-line language journal I am keeping in Word. Did not know some of the words, so signed onto Babylon which is an on-line dictionary to help me put down the definition. I used Spanish - English. Might try Spanish- Spanish, just as we ask students to use English-English dictionaries see how that goes.

I usually tell my students to hide text while listening because they are reading not really listening, but since my goal was grammar the text items always on the screen was ok, although the opening dialog, it would have been nice to be able to turn of the text. After going through the slides there are homework exercises with fill-in and multiple choice. In the completing the practice I realized, I really didn't know how to say the time or date properly, which I did not recognize till after unsuccessfully completing the sentences. Also the use of "ser" in the preterite was totally new for me as formal grammar. I use it in my speech, but probably not too well. I am starting to understand why my daughters said what they said, oh!!

Next time, I'll continue with lesson 2. Think I will try to repeat the sentences and say my own sentences a little more, see how that goes. Maybe do more listening without looking. Continue with journal. See if there are some other parts to Spanish L2 I haven't discovered.

What Language Did You Study? What'd You Do? What'd You Learn?

Tell some general observations you have as you begin your studies.

Tonight I explored the various URLs and decided that I would use the bbc URL to learn Beginner German. I actually completed the first two lessons. I found that the biggest challenge was trying to understand the conversation without using captions. It seemed much too fast and very indistinct. The captions went a long way in helping me understand and master the words and phrases.

How do you figure out which website(s) to use?

The first task was to find out which websites I would use to learn a new language. I'm beginning a new language (Portuguese), because I teach level one. I thought about what a student may do if they wanted to learn English on their own at their home computer. Obviously, they are at an advantage because they live in this environment, but you have to start somewhere!!! Going to Google and keywording "LEARN PORTUGUESE" wasn't a great help, because it gave me over 14 million results. :} The search goes on, and I will let you know how things turn out.

Thoughts about Learning Styles Survey and Your Teaching?

Post any insight you might have drawn from your particular learnings styles and the effects they have on your classroom (students, strategies, exercises, goals, etc.).