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Yesterday I visited a supermarket. As I was walking down the aisle, I could not help noticing a mother with a small child. The child was asking for some cake.

“I want that” (said the child to his mother)

“You want what?” (said the mother)

“that!” said the boy

“which cake?, this one?” said the mother pointing to a cake

“yes!”

“oh, you mean this chocolate cake. You like chocolate cake don’t you?”

“yes, I like chocolate cake”

“ok, you can have it, but you must not eat too much cake”

“ok mummy, I like cake, chocolate cake”

I realised that in 30 seconds the word “cake” was used  7 times and the word “chocolate” was used 4 times.

This is how mothers and fathers teach their children, through verbal repetition. Even when we are older, we often repeat words for others.

“Do you like my party dress?”

“Your what dress?”

“party dress”

“Ah, yes ok. Are you going to a party?”

“yes, next week”

“ah ok”

Repetition again.

Party = 3 times repeated

Dress = 3 times repeated

So, as a language learner, we can also repeat words for our practicing. We can repeat “key words” and “key phrases” to help us remember them and use them in conversation and written texts.

If I demonstrate this…

“My friend enjoys walking and we often go for a stroll together”

(new word = stroll)

“A stroll in the park, my friend really enjoys it”

“A nice walk in the park, it’s a good stroll for me”

So, keep repeating the new word with the alternative word:

These are: “stroll” with “walk”

Then a small rhyme: I like to walk, I like to stroll, its like I’m on patrol!

Remembering words through enjoyable repetition, it is similar to how children learn and adults clarify meaning!

Bye for now

Alan

My name is Alan Palmer. I am a 53 year old Conformity Manager from Lancashire, England. My hobbies are learning languages and playing guitar I've been learning French for 18 years. I started German at the age of 11 and learned it for 3 years. I restarted German again in 2001. I'm also learning Mandarin Chinese (the most important dialect in China) and I learn some Spanish when time permits. Over the years I've realised certain things about learning languages that I think may be useful to others, so my podcasts and textblogs will be language-based (or musical) and mostly in English, but I will post things in other languages too occasionally. I hope you find my webcasts interesting and I hope to post at least two per week. Take care and be good, be happy! October 2009 

Hallo! Ich bin 53 Jahre, Conformity Manager aus Nordwest England. Ich bin verheiratet und habe 2 erwachsene Söhne. Mein Interesse Sprachen zu lernen begann bereits in meiner Jugend. Mit 11 Jahren fing ich an Deutsch zu lernen. Erst mit 35 Jahren habe in angefangen Französisch zu lernen. Seit dieser Zeit habe ich mir zum Ziel gesetzt diese Sprachen zu beherrschen und betreibe es als ernsthaftes Hobby. Im Jahr 2001 begann ich wieder Deutsch zu lernen. Auch habe ich jetzt angefangen Chinesisch und Spanisch zu lernen.

你们好! 我是Alan Palmer。 (我中文的名字是阿伦）我生活在英国西北部，我是一名53岁的公司经理。我已经结婚，并且有两个已经长大成人的儿子。 在我年轻的时候，就开始对学习外语产生兴趣。我从十一岁起开始学习德语，直到35岁时才开始学习法语。从那时起，我已经开始认真对待这个学习外语的爱好，希望能把外语讲得更流利。 2001年，我开始重新学习德语；而在2007年,我又开始学习汉语

Bonjour. Je suis Alan Palmer. J'ai 53 ans et je suis Responsable Qualité dans le Lancashire, au Nord-Ouest de l'Angleterre. Je suis marié et nous avons deux fils d'âge adulte. Mon interêt pour les langues a commencé quand j'étais petit. J'ai débuté par l'Allemand à l'âge de 11 ans. Je l'ai appris pour 3 ans, puis à 35 ans j'ai commencé à apprendre le Français. Depuis, mon passe-temps est de poursuivre mon objectif, c'est-à-dire de parler des langues couramment. J'ai recommencé à apprendre l'Allemand en 2001 et je viens de commencer le Mandarin, qui est un dialecte chinois, et l'Espagnol.

Hola! Mi nombre es Alan Palmer. Soy un de 53 años de la conformidad Administrador de Lancashire, Inglaterra. Mis aficiones son el aprendizaje de idiomas y de guitarra que he estado aprendiendo francés de 19 años. Empecé en  Alemania a la edad de 11 y e aprendido durante 3 años. Me reinicia alemán de nuevo en 2001. También estoy aprendiendo chino mandarín (el dialecto más importante en China) y puedo aprender a algo de español, cuando el tiempo lo permite. Con los años me he dado cuenta de ciertas cosas sobre el aprendizaje de idiomas que creo que puede ser útil a los demás, así que mis "podcasts" (MP3) y "textblogs" serán basada en el lenguaje (o musical) y en su mayoría en Inglés, pero voy a publicar cosas en otros idiomas también de vez en cuando. Espero que mi webcasts sea  interesante y espero enviar al menos dos por semana. 

Your webhost 

Alan (Language Explorer)

www.language-explorer.co.uk