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Today we have a guest book review of Peter Pickert's Field Manual for the LACE Method of Language Learning.  Marion James' article first appeared in the January 13, 2008 addition of Sunday's Zaman.  Marion is the co-owner of Greenhouse bookstore, the largest English language bookstore on the Asian side of Istanbul found in Kadikoy, where this book can be found.  Enjoy!

"Language wasn't meant to be learned in an academic setting!" So says, Peter Pikkert, an experienced teacher of English as a Second Language, and a man who speaks a number of Middle Eastern languages fluently, including Turkish.

This may seem a little bit like gamekeeper-turned-poacher, particularly if you are one of his ex-students (!), but it is worth our while reading on to hear why he makes this claim: "During our high school years many of us were linguistically wounded. Forced to study, say, French, the awful experience had two effects on us: we were so-o-o glad when we completed the course, and we concluded that language learning was the most difficult and frustrating of all linguistic exercises."

I must admit, these words ring true to my experience. In the UK, at least in the 1980s when I was at school, we didn't start learning a foreign language until age 11. Then French was introduced into our curriculum, just at the time when instead of "science" we graduated to studying biology, physics and chemistry. French seemed just another academic task. Because of my family's financial situation I had never been abroad, so learning French was purely an intellectual exercise. I recall more than one occasion being frustrated when I had translated a sentence from English to French word-for-word, and my French teacher put a big red cross by it. "They don't say it like that." "Well, why not?" I asked. "They just don't." That didn't really satisfy my mathematical mind, and I would have dropped French as soon as possible after three years, except that I was told I would have to have a foreign language O Level to go to university. I persevered to age 16 and then thankfully left my French textbooks behind.

Then, as an adult, I came to Turkey. Learning Turkish was suddenly no academic exercise, it was a necessity of life if I was to survive and to be able to negotiate daily life in a busy city. It was also mandatory if I was to be able to join in conversations, to have a social life and do more than smile and nod at my neighbors when I went visiting. I felt a desperate need to be able to communicate. I actually wanted to learn a foreign language!

For those of us who are not in our home countries trying to learn a language from books and audio material, but who have the opportunity of interacting with native speakers and being surrounded by the foreign language all day, Peter Pikkert has developed the LACE method of language learning.

LACE stands for Language Acquisition for Cross-Cultural Effectiveness. The basic premise of the method is this: Children are the world's best language learners. And how do they learn? -- by asking questions and by having context-related language experiences.

I am constantly amazed by the linguistic abilities of many expat children here in Turkey. I know a family where the father is Canadian and the mother German. Their five year old can switch happily from English to German to Turkish and seems to know instinctively which adult in the room will speak which language. Even where the home is not bilingual, for example where both parents are Korean, the children seem to be able to speak Korean to their parents, turn to me and say something in English, and then explain to the other children present in Turkish what is going to happen next.

Mom and dad are usually quite a few steps behind in their language learning, have a foreign accent that their children seem naturally to avoid and often have their Turkish corrected by their kids!

Pikkert says, "To recreate the way children learn language [you need to be exposed] to a lot of comprehensible input laced with a few new words or concepts, the meaning of which can largely be deduced from the context."

The central plank of the LACE method is that you hire a language helper. Note, this is not a teacher, it is a native speaker who has the time and commitment to help you, who has a good accent and pronunciation and who is prepared to take part in a whole pile of exercises that will be led by their foreign partner.

In normal language learning, the teacher takes the lead. The teacher decides what the learner needs to learn today and decides the speed with which the exercises should be tackled. In the LACE method, the learner takes the lead, the learner chooses which vocabulary or grammar they most need to learn right now and which activities to do to learn them.

The Field Manual for the LACE method is not language-specific. You can use it to learn Turkish, or your Turkish husband or wife can use it to learn your language. It is a detailed set of activities and exercises that mimic a child's learning methods, to be used as a basis of your daily time working with your language helper.

For example, a child learns new vocabulary by pointing at a picture and asking, "What is this?" They decide which words they are ready to learn, leading their parent as they point at different things. If they forget a word, they go back and point at the same thing again. Learning is reinforced by the parent who may "switch places" and point to a picture and ask the child, "What is this?" So, if you want to learn the vocabulary for all the things in your home or office, you could arm yourself with an IKEA catalogue, learn the Turkish phrase for "What is this?" and then spend an hour with your language helper asking questions.

Because the learning is interactive and also the words are being introduced along with a visual stimulus, in context, the proponents of the LACE method state you will have a higher recall than if you had met a list of the words written up on the blackboard.

In addition the method advocates Total Physical Response. Have you seen children at a pre-school learning to respond to phrases in a foreign language such as "stand-up," "sit down," "touch your knees," "touch your toes"? At first, they may not understand the individual words, but they recognize the phrases, and the actions help reinforce their retention of the phrase. LACE integrates giving and receiving commands, using a picture book and doing simple projects into a simple, cohesive program.

The manual is rich in activity ideas, including 42 basic texts to get you started, conversation starters, nearly 600 total physical response activity ideas and a range of language acquisition projects.

So, if your New Year's resolution was to improve your Turkish and your good intentions have floundered already as you are getting bogged down with a standard textbook, you may like to try Peter Pikkert's LACE method … for a refreshing change!

(If you are living in Istanbul, be sure to stop by the Greenhouse Bookstore in Kadikoy and pick up your copy today.  If you are outside of Istanbul you can order it from Amazon.  Just click below!)
 
 
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Radyo ODTU has some great Turkish language podcasts, but one of my favorites is called "Şimdi Neredeler?" It is a super fun where are they now show with each episode timing in at right around three minutes.  The audio is clear and not too rushed and the people they dig up are a wonderful blast from the past:  Webster, Adam Ant, Tom Sellek, Ralph Maccio, M. C. Hammar, Scott Baio, Mr. T, and many, many more from all generations.  I am a child of the 80's so these are the names that stuck out to me.  Great short listening pieces.  Put them on your cell phone or mp3 player and you can listen to an episode four or five times in a row on the way to work.  By the time you get to work you will know where Webster is now! (Atlanta Georgia - founder of Emmanuel Lewis Entertainment)

Find the show at their website or on itunes.
 
 
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Reading in the target language should be an integral part of your language learning journey - and it should be one that never ends as life long language learners.  The importance of reading cannot be overstated.  However, if you pay attention to how you read in English (or your native language) you will notice that you do not read every letter, but rather skim through each sentence taking in whole chunks of letters at a time and easily connecting these chunks to words and expressions.  Our brains are quite amazing this way.  For example:  I tihnk the bairn is rlelay azmanig! Eevn tihs snectene is radebale.  Could you read that?  If your a native English speaker you probably could - I think the brain is really amazing.  Even this sentence is readable.  When we begin to read then in our target language, our brain, which is trained to take in chunks, will continue its ingrained habit and skip right along through the text - especially as we advance in our knowledge of the language.  I find that when I read in Turkish this happens a lot - even skipping through new words or long pesky words that I really cannot pronounce well.  Taking the time to read out loud then forces your brain out of its old habits and into pronouncing each and every syllable - the way we would if we were speaking.  This is a good way to "train" your tongue and your mind to work together with the new rhythms, intonations and sounds of the language.  It will slow your reading down - but done in chunks of 10 - 15 minutes a day,  "read aloud" time will be a a great tool to improve your overall fluidity in reading aloud, as well as to improve your general speaking ability.  Give it a try for a week and let me know how it goes.
 
 
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Our move is complete.  We've a new address now, and as of yesterday we also have the internet.  We've been promised hot water by Monday.  By then, I hope as well to write a little about the many language lessons this move has offered.  Have a great Sunday and get some rest.
 
Moving Homes 04/21/2010
 
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I think I am supposed to be posting a tip of the bi-week this week - yesterday.  But we are in the process of moving to a new home, preparing for a summer visit to the states and of course the general business of life.  Looking for a new apartment did remind me of the importance though of forcing new situations upon yourself.  Last week I was suddenly immersed in a new world of vocabulary and expressions that I had not encountered much.  I have learned a lot of new words and a lot of new expressions that i probably would not have if it were not for being out shopping for houses.  These things come up in life and we learn - sink or swim.  But as language learners, it is important as well to occasionally intentionally find new arenas, new areas to explore and throw yourself into.  Be creative!  Have fun!  Explore and learn.

As well, jump over to www.english4turkey.com and make a recording via your iphone or follow the instructions on the native speakers page and share your opinion and thoughts about a host of topics - and help Turks learn English.
 
 
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Looking for ways to help friends learning English?  Wikipedia offers a great resource.  Here is how Wikipedia describes the page:

Simple English Wikipedia is a version of the Wikipedia encyclopedia, written in Simple English. Articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use fewer words and easier grammar than the English Wikipedia. The Simple English Wikipedia is also for people with different needs, such as students, children, adults with learning difficulties and people who are trying to learn English.

Does anyone know of sites like this in Turkish for Turkish language learners?





 
 
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Well today is my son Malachi’s 6th birthday so I will borrow a bit of a lesson from my observations of his learning of Turkish.  He has done quite well and amazes me with his ability to take in the language, process it and use it effectively.  We are no longer constantly amazed, but one observation that I notice and knew would be the case for all kids, is his ability to approach language learning without shame or fear or the thought of embarrassment.  It is this reckless abandon that I think we must all strive to step into as we learn language.  Linguists talk about something called the affective filter.  This encompasses all those things listed above and the “higher” the filter is, the bigger a barrier it is to effective language acquisition.  Children tend to have very low affective filters.  So, the tip of the bi-week is to become like a child.  Leave the pride behind.  Come to grips with the fact that we as language learners will be the town clown – for a while.  Good luck on the journey and remember, don’t take yourself – or your mistakes, gringo accent, or cultural faux pas - too seriously.   

 
English4Turkey 03/26/2010
 
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I have updated the Ingilizce Dinlemek page and changed the name to Engish4Turkey.  I think it will be a great site for the exchange of ideas and for Turks to find a good, interesting and fun source of comprehensible input for helping them learn English.  I have also connected this page and that one in the hopes that Turks will come here to record their answers for our narrow listening site on the new Türkler İçin page.  As well, you can shoot over to the Native English Speakers page of English4Turkey to record an answer to one of the questions posted there.  If you are living in Turkey, just add that fact to your introduction.  I think it should be a great place for Turks to go to find good, quality listening material, but it will only be good, if we take the opportunity to share our opinions, values and thoughts to the questions posted there.  Be the first!  Head on over and participate. 
 
 
Would you give 60 seconds to help a Turkish friend learn a little English?  To help your Turkish friend learn a bit more about your home culture?  Well, of course it may take a bit more than 60 seconds, but I am excited by the prospects of a new website dedicated to producing narrow listening files for Turkish English language learners to access nd use.  You can be a small part of this by checking out the Native English Speakerpage and contributing a bit yourself. As of now the page is called Ingilizce Dinlemek.  Not too exciting so if anyone has a suggestion for a better name, please let me know.  Kolay gelsin.
 
 
The University of Texas at Austin and Brigham Young University have teemed up to produce a fantastic site called Cultural Interviews with Turkish-Speaking Professionals.  There are literally hundreds of short video interviews with Turkish professionals and executives talking about: professional activities, negotiation practices, courtesy, and stereotypes.  The Turkish is very clear, they speak quite slowly and really well.  As a source of narrow listening it can’t be beat.  Everybody is talking about the same topics!  Check it out today!  And a huge thanks to this website for our first real narrow listening files.  We are slowly getting recordings together here, but don’t yet have enough to put a narrow listening file together.  It is coming though!  For now, check out this great site.  Just click on the tabs at the top and then click on the person you want to listen to.  Each video is accompanied by the transcript of what they are saying as well.  Happy Listening!