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How to be successful in any second language class!

Learning a second language is not rocket science. Anyone who has managed to learn to function in his/her first language is a candidate for acquiring a second language. The secret is to break up the work in small, manageable components and work consistently each day.

In this class you will take a short quiz each day over the meanings and spellings of words assigned as homework from the night before. The average number of new words/expressions each evening will normally be 10-12. In addition, students should take a couple of minutes to review old words from earlier in the current chapter.

*All of the activities below should take about 10 minutes each night.

STEPS:

  1. Get flashcards (3X5 cards work best).
  2. Write your new word/expression on the front of the card (check spelling carfully carefully!).
  1. Write the English equivalent of your new expression on the back of the card.

  1. Once you have mad a card for each word/expression, (10-12 cards on average) take out three cards and lay them down on a table/desk with the French side facing up. Practice these three cards until you know them well.
  1. Set them aside and lay out three new cards. Practice the second set of three cards until you know them well. Then lay all six down and practice them as a group until you know them well. Move the six cards aside and lay down a third group of three cards. Continue this until you can easily identify all of the English meanings of your new words.
  1. Now, repeat the process, but with the Englishside of the cards showing until you can identify all of the French meanings for all of the new cards.
  1. Stack all of the cards with the English side showing. On a scratch sheet of paper write the spelling for each French word as you move through the stack. Any words you mispelled misspelled should be written several times (until you feel comfortable with the spelling).
  1. LAST: Pick up your cards from one day earlier in the chapter and practice them again. This should take about 2 minutes out of the 10 minutes you spend each night.