Topic awaiting preservation: Learnin' English Good (Page 1 of 1)

So I've been seeing this wonderful Japanese girl the last few weeks. She's been in America almost three years now and speaks English well.

We have little trouble communicating, but she needs to improve her English so she can pass her Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in order to get into the MBA program. She's taken it a few times and she gets better each time, but she's still a bit short of getting the required score. Mostly, she has trouble with her reading speed and with understanding proper structure.

I've been helping her study, which she says has helped her a lot, but I'm hoping someone could give me some advice on some techniques to help her improve more quickly. Tricks, exercises, book recommendations, anything.

Anyone taught English to Japanese speakers before?

Arigato. (Yeah, I'm learning a little Japanese, too.)

Now this machine eat a nice long post....

to make it short: I was in a similar position once, and what really helped me was going to church - the long, well pronounced seremons were always an opportunity to improve my english, and the are way better than television or movies (or political speaches, for that matter).

so long,

->Tyberius Prime

Hmm...maybe one thing she could do is watch a DVD in English with English subtitles...I learn a bit of other languages, eg German ydco ,af (.qj.ly cb I.pmab ,cyd I.pmab ogxycyn.o .

alter ego n. 1. Another side of oneself; a second self. 2. An intimate friend or a constant companion.

Based on my experience with English as a second language there are things I did and still do for that matter.

If I don't understand I ask !! Lots of people are embarrased to ask " What does that mean or what did you say"
even more so if you are from another country.

Go to the movies - reason for that - you can really focus in on the sounds of the words and very few discrations.
A play is another good option .

Speak a little slower and make sure you are not swallowing half a sentence and so on.

Play wordgames - it is easier to learn when one has fun at the same time.

And on it goes ....

Hope that helps little

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto..

English is my first language and yet I have trouble with the evil semi-colon.

Make her read lots of English books. Especially things like the Encyclopedia which will always have perfect grammer and spelling. And make sure she asks you about pronounciations.

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"Dawn is nature's way of telling you to stop using that stupid quote."
- me.

i taught english as a second language (esl) for nearly 8 years.

what everyone's suggested so far is great for general comprehension and just getting used to how the language flows.

but sometimes it helps to break it down to just one grammar principle at a time. for example, 1st conditionals ('if you study hard' / 'you will pass the test) ... then drill that principle with word games etc. because practice practice practice makes perfect, right? ...

i'm off to work at the moment, but i'll stop by again and post some of my favourite self-study english language resources

sun
//till then//

Sorry about the end of my last post, the keyboard screwed up randomly like it sometimes does. Anyway, I've interupted this post, so I'll just leave now.
As you were...

alter ego n. 1. Another side of oneself; a second self. 2. An intimate friend or a constant companion.

AlterEgo, just edit the last post, a 2nd post isn't required, like that.

(Ich kennen ein klein portion auf Deutsch.)

How well does she speak English?
Like, if she said
"Hi, I'm Sasaki, nice to meet you. I am from Japan, and enjoy fishing with my hands and using spears to hunt buffalo."
would she mess it up at all?

Or is it just the tougher stuff she has problems with?

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"Dawn is nature's way of telling you to stop using that stupid quote."
- me.

I imagine learning English to be like learning any other language - computer or written. Read a little well written examples, write a little well written examples. Read some more well written examples, write some more well written examples. If she isn't already sufficient in it, explain American English sentence structure to her. Buy a book of vocabulary for the SATs, create index cards, and begin expanding her vocabularly. A great book on punctuation is Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. The big will certainly help her understand when to use various punctuation but you should note its written by someone from the UK. While UK sentence structure and vocabulary is similar to ours, it might be a little confusing to her.

Before taking the TOFEL test myself, I purchased CDs that prepares you to take the TOEFL test.
In addition, getting the TOEFL sample CD from the test center is a good idea.

After all, the test wasn't quite different from the training CDs!

That allowed me to score 600/660 (CBT) as I recall.

Another way, I use to learn english is watching movies or just hearing dialogs.

--
Regards,
Elias

This is a little gem i found, to make a point in a "freezing" thread: punctuation. It's pretty straight forward.

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Support Justice for Pat Richard

I don't think church is going to be an option; it would have to be something I would have to make her do and, well, I hate church.

Watching movies with the English subtitles turned on is something we already do. We've been watching the Back to the Future trilogy that way, in fact.

She's certainly not ashamed of asking questions. She's very good about that. Very eager to learn and to pronounce things properly. And having had plenty of speech training from my theatre days, I'm sure to speak clearly, especially when I talk to her.

We tried Scrabble -- I figured that would help her with her vocabulary -- but it turns out it's a little too early for that. What she really needs help with is structure, anyway.

She's been studying from TOEFL books with sample tests, and she even bought some TOEFL flash cards, though the flash cards weren't that great. (Most were too easy, some could have been written better, and one I even had to throw out because it was entirely wrong.)

I wrote out some test sentences for her, which went well, but it's actually a hard thing to do. I don't think I could find the time to write them proficiently enough to really help her.

I think what she has trouble with mostly is her reading speed, which stems from general comprehension. She understands the words, but not always the idea. She can read a four-paragraph story (like in the test) and she understands what the topic is, but not always individual points, which is what the follow-up questions ask about. It takes her a while to find where the story covers the point and then to understand exactly what's being said.

The other problem area is choosing the correct structure for a given sentence. Those who've taken the TOEFL know what I'm talking about: A sentence is given with a blank and you have to select from multiple choice the correct phrase to insert.

Maybe it would help to have her read short stories to me aloud. Hearing myself say things always helped me remember them better and I've read it's a good technique for others. It may help her to acquire an ear for proper structure.

I certainly welcome other ideas if anyone has them.

They teach ESL here where i work and though its mostly hispanic people we use a number of ESL softwares for the PC.

The Rosetta Stone seems to be the most popular among the students, i dont teach myself, so ive not had any direct experience with it, but it might help. there are many others that one just stands out as it gets the most use around here.

The BBC world service has some interesting sites Wes, I'll just go dig up a few..................
OK here's the main site Learning English and another one Teaching English. This one has several radio programmes for which you will need Real Player. Then there is BBC Skillwise Here and Here
I also like the idea of reading short stories out loud. My suggestions of AA Milne's Winnie The Poo, and poetry by Edward Lear and Roger McGough, may be helpful, but I suspect it reflects my pleasure of listening to these works being read to me, by the light of the silvery moon.

:::tao::: ::cell::

(Edited by Tao on 08-15-2004 16:18)

Rosetta Stone looks a little pricey. I'll have to check out the BBS stuff, thanks. Probably need to watch for British differences in pronunciation, though ...

Or learn them yourself buddy!

Wes I currently work for Berlitz here in the Czech Republic teaching english.. In september I am taking the Cambridge examiners course if ya need a hand or help in anyway just give me a holler on icq..

Couple of books i would recommend if she is having problems...


Raymond Murphy's English grammer in use, there are three levels beginners (red) intermediate (blue) and advanced (maroon).

Try and get her to get the TOEFL course books and teachers books aswell, you should easily be able to walk her through the coursebook.

Like i said just holler if ya need help..

tom

(Edited by tomeaglescz on 08-18-2004 21:10)

(Edited by tomeaglescz on 08-18-2004 21:12)

I remember taking the TOEFL after High School and although it's pretty straightforward there are a few rough spots even if english is your first language.

From what you've described, it's not learning english that's the problem but the proper grasp of sentence structure and comprehension skills (and judging from what you see on the internet, quite a few native english speakers have problems with this ).

In school, we'd do comprehension tests where you would have a set time (10 minutes) to read a short story then answer some questions about that story. If this is a stumbling block for her, then the only way to get better is to keep on doing this.

Get her to read a short story in a set time, then ask questions about it. Some nice rewards for doing well should also help, say, for instance, offering to do the dishes for a week (or choose your own reward. I'm married now and doing the dishes is up there with cleaning the toilet on my list of "stuff to avoid").

As far as sentence structure is concerned, do the same thing the test does. Just throw out sentences and have her try to complete them. Again, the reward thing is a plus.

But most of all, don't let it degenerate into a structured lesson plan. Have fun with it because people learn a lot more when they're enjoying themselves. Make it a game or something to do after dinner. The comprehension takes need some planning, but the sentence game can be done anytime.

Hope that helps.