1) Some people say that you cannot make a conscious effort to learn a foreign language. They hate to study grammar and say you must simply allow the language to sink in gradually.
Others argue that language learning is a conscious and systematic process. It is necessary to study hard, practise, and constantly ask for explanations and rules.
Which idea do you believe in?
2) Some people think that to learn a new language you must completely forget your native language. Others say you cannot and should not. To what extent do you find that comparing your native language with the foreign language helps you to learn a new language?
a. To what extent do you find translations useful?
b. Would you prefer to use a bilingual or monolingual dictionary?
3) Do you feel that you can actually learn to think in the foreign language?
a. If yes, how do you think you might achieve that?
b. How important do you think it is?
4) To what extent did you find that your learning was influenced by your previous language learning experience? Do you think that knowing another foreign language was an advantage or a disadvantage when learning a new language?
5) When learning a new language, do you learn:
a. by listening, talking to others and talking to yourself in your head. You try things out by talking them through before doing them.
b. by seeing. You need an overall view and purpose. You are cautious until mentally clear. You like to see something first, then do it.
c. by doing, by manipulating things. You like `hands on` experience. You do it first, then talk about it or see it being done.
6) Are you good at mimicry? Can you easily copy different accents?
7) Have youdeveloped any language study habits (gimmicks, tricks, ways, techniques) that you find useful in learning a new language?
a. in learning the sound system,
e.g. reading aloud to yourself (in front of the mirror), repeating words silently to yourself after the teacher, etc.
b. in learning the grammar
e.g. memorizing rules through humorous rhymes, etc., forming hunches about regularities and rules and then applying them etc.
c. in learning vocabulary
e.g. by repetition, by finding relations between words, writing down words, memorizing by picturing, guessing from the context, rhyming, making vocabulary lists etc.
d. in developing listening comprehension
e.g. by listening to records, to the radio, by vowing to think/listen in the foreign language, by focusing your attention on the task and clearing your mind, by assessing your previous knowledge of the topic, by monitoring yourself (Am I getting this?), by expressing interest, etc.
e. in learning to talk
e.g. through contact with native speakers, by insisting on constant correction, by imagining dialogues in your mind, by talking to yourself, using gestures etc.
f. in learning to read
e.g. by reading magazines or books, by pointing while reading, reflecting the story with body movements and feelings while reading, by saying words in your head, etc.
g. in learning how to express yourself in written form
e.g. by writing to a pen-pal, by writing and talking at the same time, etc.
h. in learning how to spell
e.g. by counting out letters with body movements (like moving your finger), by checking spelling with internal feelings, by spelling words as they sound phonetically, etc.
What about when trying to remember a new aspect of grammar, like a conjugation, or a complicated tense? How do you remember it, do you think?
8) How is your spelling in ……? Do you ever spell phonetically? Or did you when you were first learning?
9) If you are reading a sentence in the foreign language with several words unfamiliar to you, do you:
a. first try to guess the word from the context
b. first look up some words and try to guess the others
c. look up all the words you do not know
10) When you hear the foreign language and you do not understand several words, do you:
a. make do with what you understand and guess the rest
b. occasionally guess a missing word from the context
c. concentrate on those words you already know
11) When you hear two people speaking in a foreign language, do you:
a. pay attention first to the meaning, using clues such as gestures, relationship of speakers, tone of voice
b. feel satisfied if you understand an occasional word or phrase
c. hear the conversation passively
12) When you hear or read something in the foreign language and you only understand part of it and have to guess the rest, are you:
a. fairly correct in your guess
b. occasionally correct in your guess
c. rarely correct in your guess
13) When someone (like a teacher) speaks in the foreign language, and you do not understand a good part of the message, do you:
a. make do with what you have and consider it a challenge to guess the rest
b. feel uncomfortable, but try to figure it out
c. become frustrated and give up
14) When you are trying to say something in ….. and you suddenly lack the necessary vocabulary, do you:
a. use circumlocution, i.e. say “where you buy things” if you don’t know the word for “shop”
b. skip the word(s) or change the message
c. stop speaking
15) When you have learned some new expressions in a foreign language, do you:
a. try to use them in "real life"
b. practice them while mentally speaking to yourself
c. practice them only when preparing for a test or an interview
16) When you need to learn some new items in a foreign language, do you remember them by:
a. associating with another word or expression in your own language
b. forming an aural (sound) image
c. writing them down and memorizing them
17) If you are saying something in a foreign language and you cannot think of the proper tense, e.g.. you are talking about the past but only remember the present tense of the verb, do you:
a. try to make yourself understood by using a word such as “yesterday” and using the present tense of the verb
b. use the infinitive or present verb hoping the listener will understand
c. use your native language for the missing words
18) If you have an opportunity to practice the foreign language you are studying with a native speaker, do you:
a. plunge right in, even though you may appear foolish
b. only speak the foreign language with the person after you have known him/her for some time
c. speak only your native language with him/her
19) While listening to another learner of the foreign language, do you:
a. correct any mistakes
b. mentally correct the mistakes, butlet the teacher or someone else actually do it
c. listen passively
20) Do you often correct native speakers of your own language, either to their face or in your head?
21) When you come across a structure in the foreign language that you have not yet covered and the teacher says will be explained later on, do you:
a. accept this as part of the language learning process
b. accept it, but feel uncomfortable about it
c. get frustrated because you want everything explained
22) When you try to memorize part of a dialogue, do you:
a. use rhyming or acronyms
b. practice by writing the vocabulary and repeating it
c. repeat and memorize the vocabulary
23) When you meet someone who speaks the foreign language, do you:
a. start a conversation in the foreign language
b. use the foreign language only if the other person starts the conversation
c. keep your knowledge of the foreign language to yourself, and answer in your native tongue
24) If you see someone struggling to speak in your own language and you recognize by his/her accent that he/she is a native speaker of English, do you:
a. come to his/her aid immediately by addressing him/her in English
b. wait and see if the person can manage, because you generally don’t address strangers
c. feel shy and walk away from the situation
25) When you are speaking in English, do you:
a. try to get the meaning across first without worrying about being correct, and by using gestures, synonyms etc
b. worry about being correct rather than the meaning
c. say as little as possible
26) Which of these activities are you most likely to do when studying a foreign language?
1. Organizing material; i.e. vocabulary, grammar, etc., and writing it on index cards.
2. Recording yourself and listening to the cassette.
3. Listening closely in class and mentally answering questions whether you are called on or not.
4. Guessing, when listening or reading the foreign language using contextual and structural clues.
5. Writing the material many times.
6. Applying new material mentally (silently speaking to yourself).
7. Singing the new material.
8. Practicing what you have learned with a friend or native speaker.
9. Having a friend test you on the material.
10. Looking for opportunities to use the language.
11. Remembering by making mental associations in English.
12. Remembering by making up rhymes.
13. Remembering by using acronyms.
14. Listening to other learners of the language and mentally correcting their errors.
15. Making up your own examples and testing yourself.
16. Summarizing each chapter in the textbook.
17. Translating everything into English.
18. Reading over notes taken in class after each lesson.
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