Disney has broken into almost every corner in the world with various products and merchandise and one of the latest endeavors the giant company has delved into may still be unknown to some people in other parts of the planet. Walt Disney Co. has English language learning schools in Shanghai, China and young children are benefiting from this project.

The company says that the program is primarily about teaching English language skills to children and not to extend its brand in the most populous nation in the world. However, the company’s flagship school in Shanghai is filled with Disney references thanks to the massive Mickey Mouse sculpture in the school’s foyer and to the diction lessons offered which star Lilo and Stitch.

Children as young as two years old can have joined the English language program of the school and their attention are held by memorable names and settings form Disney films; and the Disney Magic Theater which is the main teaching tool in the school with combined functions of a television, computer and chalkboard.

The language learning industry in China is booming and as what Premier Wen Jiabao said in his speech last January, more than three hundred million Chinese are studying the English language. Disney is extending its brand in China through its English schools and it has produced two films in the country which are due for release soon. The company has recently asked permission to build a Shanghai Disneyland that could open in 2014.

Teaching English to Chinese children is one of the ways Disney uses to expand its reach. The company plans to have four Shanghai English language centers by June from the current two and it plans to launch in Beijing within a year. The executives of the company say that if their endeavors in China are successful, they will most likely create English schools in other countries around the world. However, they stress that their goal is authentic English language learning, not a marketing push. They are set to teach Chinese kids the English language.

The students in Disney’s language schools are introduced to as few as four words a week and the language is presented through Disney TV shows, books, and movies. Students get Disney merchandise such as Mickey Mouse book bags, pens, hats, CDs, bilingual books, and flashcards which are otherwise unavailable in China. Aside form the activities in the English school, the children’s supplemental learning materials can be used at home with their parents. Parents can check their children’s progress online with the children’s teacher since they are not allowed to enter the classrooms. Disney English is a hit with people from China’s growing middle class and it may spread out to other members of society soon.

Are you among those who are interested in learning foreign languages, and are you aware that you don’t need to go far, far away in order to achieve your goal? The computer is one of the most powerful tools in learning languages considering that there are many courses and methods available online which you can avail of at your own pace and at your own way. However, do you want to learn a language online in a more interactive way?

If you are interested in learning a language in a more focused approach and interactive way, better try out using Skype. Through Skype you can connect with people who know how to properly speak and communicate with your target language and learn the right pronunciations and grammatical usage; you will also have a chance to be updated with the local slang words of the language.

Skype is an application on the computer which allows its users to make phone calls over the internet. Calls to fellow Skype users are free of charge while calls to mobile phones and landlines have fees. What is interesting about Skype is that it includes instant messaging, video conferencing and file transfer among its features.

You can learn a foreign language through Skype by connecting with fellow Skype users form different parts of the world without having to worry about international call fees. You can connect with people who speak your target language natively by searching through Skype forums on the web. You can arrange for language exchange with native speakers by teaching them your language too and make it a more fruitful experience! There are also language learning sites which offer lessons in text, image, and video formats and they have the additional offer of language tutors you could connect with through Skype!

Why is Skype a good way to learn a foreign language? The application offers you the major benefit of allowing you to communicate with someone who is a native speaker of your target language thus giving you the chance to learn how to speak like a native too! A real person who will teach you how to use and pronounce words in their natural way is better than listening to recorded audio exercises!

The downside with learning a foreign language through Skype is that not everyone is capable of availing online language learning not only due to lack of equipment (a good quality computer and a stable internet connection is needed in order for Skype to work properly) and monetary budget but also some people don’t think this language learning method fits them.

So, if you are among those who are interested to learn a foreign language through online correspondence, check out Skype-related online language courses and pave the way to a multilingual new you.

Summer is fast approaching and you might wonder what you are better of to do during that season. Going on a vacation and having fun will be most probably the top things on your mind, however, have you ever thought of going away on vacation, having fun and learning something new at the same time? How about planning to go to a summer camp and learn languages?

Summer camps nowadays are not limited only to arts and crafts activities. Specialty summer camps offer a wide range of activities from counseling to sports to music to language immersion. Language immersion is one of the most popular ways for young ones to learn foreign languages since they will be given the opportunity to live and experience the language everyday for a period of time.

Language immersion language summer camps teach various languages from English, to Spanish, French, among some. The other activities in the summer camp for example, music, dance, cooking, arts, and field trips are also presented in the language the camper wants to be immersed in.

Most language immersion summer camps start their days with language classes in the morning and then in the afternoons they offer a range of activities which may help the campers improve their language skills more.

The summer camps which offer language immersion for young children and teenagers are typically secure places where you can spend your summer. Most summer camps are designed to guarantee that it meets the expectations of the campers and their parents and that includes security, quality language courses, clean accommodations, healthy food, and interesting activities.

Then why should you rather spend your summer in a language immersion summer camp than a regular summer camp?
• You will be learning a new language! You will be able to speak a new language by the end of your immersion period and if your target language will be offered in the next school year you will be prepared to tackle the language!
• You will have a chance to travel to a different place and experience a different culture and language!
• You will be able to meet new friends form different parts of the world who are also interested to learn your target language.
• You will have the opportunity to enhance your skills in other fields such as art and music, at the same time learn a foreign language!

So what are you waiting for? Better plan your summer ahead and try to spend it meaningfully in a language immersion summer camp!

We have already introduced Automatic Language Growth or ALG in our article How to Learn Languages Like Children and we believe, through the reactions and comments we have received from the public that we have only skimmed the surface about the program.

What is ALG? ALG or Automatic Language Growth was developed by Dr. J, Marvin Brown, an American linguist who based his theory on a much earlier theory called the Silent Way which was later called the Natural Way. The common ground between Dr. Brown’s theory and the older theory is that they are based in listening and that they started by observing the way children learn a language. Dr. Brown has noticed that when learning a language, children tend to focus on listening and often do not speak the language for up to a year while adults tend to force themselves to speak the language immediately.

There are three myths that ALG wants to dispute: 1, adults can’t learn languages like children do; 2, practice makes perfect; and 3, languages must be studied.

1. Adults can’t learn languages like children do. There are studies that say that as children grow older, they lose the ability to learn languages easily and that once children grow up into adults they will have a hard time acquiring new languages. With ALG, they believe that adults have already gained the ability to reason, to translate, to analyze and to memorize and they use these abilities as their primary conscious method of learning. Children are more open to new things and don’t “fight against” what is being exposed to them. The unconscious mind does better in learning languages and if adults just let the natural process take its course, the process of analysis will come later on.
2. Practice makes perfect. Maybe almost every adult will agree with this statement however, ALG, believes that children do not practice their language! Children either know what they want to say and say it right away or that they don’t know what they want to say and just keep quiet. Young children tend to mimicry with physiological development but as they learn a second language, mimicry is largely absent. Children “know” when to speak or not speak based on their experiences in the language they are learning. Comparing the practice that adults do, they still can’t match the language abilities of children!
3. Language must be “studied”. If it is obvious that adults “study” foreign languages, children do not study them but learn them through the natural way. Children live, look, listen and learn; they gather up experiences and simply try to understand what’s going on around them. ALG believes that whatever your age or language is, if there are understandable things happening around you, you learn. Language develops automatically and naturally in an understandable environment.

There was a lot of criticism to the ALG method in our previous article, such as one made by, Rosemary Lyndall Wemm said that “children learn language from parents, care-takers, school teachers and other children, all of whom interact with the child. The child is expected to respond in some way, even if this is just to nod, stand up, sit down or take out their books. They follow the lead of other children and note the supporting gesticulations and facial expressions of the person talking to them. It is all very action orientated.”

There were many readers that emphasized and agreed that babies try to talk, when learning languages, while other readers agreed that the method could be helpful when learning new languages.

The automatic language growth method was developed around the 80’s, and it has gone through a lot of modifications and improvements up until now. David Long, the head of the Thai language program at AUA Ratchadamri in Thailand studied under Dr. Brown. He stated that experience is the best teacher and that to learn something; we have to have meaningful and transportable experience.

The ALG program believes that something taught through experience is infinitely better remembered than something taught through school. Homework, tests, and dialogues are absent in the ALG program since they are all school concepts not life concepts. The program creates experience through teacher-student interactions where teachers stand at the front of the classroom, acting out stories. The teachers speak to the students so that they can be exposed only to the perfect model. If the students were permitted to speak the language even if they are not fluent yet, they and the other students will be hearing an improper model.

Hearing a word once or twice will not help a language learner to pronounce it correctly that is why ALG promotes hearing words in context and in memorable and meaningful ways many times. Children learn the words they need when they are ready to learn them and with ALG, adults learn the same way, the learner will decide when he or she learns something.

The ALG programs require thousands of hours (two thousand hours for Thai programs) before students are allowed to speak and reason with the language. This is one of the reasons why some people are skeptical about the program—it consumes quite some time. David Long was asked why are some people resistant to a method that requires them to listen without speaking, and he answered that there are pride issues involved. People want to speak and get positive reinforcement right away that is why they tend to be skeptical of the program.

ALG puts emphasis on input (through listening) and not on speech, and on understandable experiences. These methods may reduce student anxiety to zero however, the downside pointed out by most who doubt this program is the period of time to be spent on the program. Persons who are not patient to learn through ALG will definitely have a hard time however; those who can stand the test of time will most probably gain excellent results!

Sources:

http://www.algworld.com/common_myths.php
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7910

To those who love to learn languages, there are so many methods and ways to learn a language to choose from yet the effectiveness of the method one chooses depends on how it works for the learner. One of the effective ways to help strengthen a language learner’s skills in his or her newly-acquired language is to use it frequently in order to assimilate it in his or her system.

In the small library of the Dunning Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts, about twenty-five young students have been introduced to the French language through the volunteer work of local high school students. One of the activities the high school students do is to speak French with the elementary students as much as they can.

The program which involves high school students teaching the younger elementary students a foreign language started when the members of the high school’s French Club thought of a way to encourage youngsters to study a second language. The club’s members thought of introducing the program when the school administrators made a proposal to cut the middle school modern language programs as a cost-cutting move a year ago. The goal of the club was to give the elementary students a chance to learn a second language so that they will be prepared for it by the time they reach middle school.

The elementary school children are lucky that the French Club created workbooks for them which were patterned from their teachers’ materials in their high school classes. The children are into their language lessons especially with the songs and the games that they play which involve the use of French. The younger students were designated to groups of five or six and their high school tutors moved from table to table teaching them French throughout their afternoon lessons. They go through French vocabulary and are learning French terms for common phrases. Teachers from the high school oversee the activities as their contribution for the elementary students too.

The French teachers who supervise the program say that the program gives the high school students more exposure to the French language and learn more about it. It also gives them the opportunity to do community service by teaching elementary students for free. The young ones who are learning French are having fun because they have the chance to speak a new language and the means that they are learning it are done in enjoyable ways too.

A research done in London back in 2004 has found that the brains of people who learn other language develop denser and more advanced gray matter compared to the brains of those who are monolingual. There had also been reports that students who are introduced to languages at an earlier age develop the growth of their intellect better, have a better command of their first language, and have increased awareness of other cultures.

If older language students in communities across the globe help younger students in creating interest in learning languages and help them improve themselves by learning another skill.