“What is the word for…?”
Posted on 02. Jul, 2012 by lgancarz in Uncategorized
Often times, when you start learning a new language, you find yourself asking, “What was the word for…?” In fact, you could be asking yourself that right now as you study. It is not uncommon to forget terms when you are writing a paper or having a conversation. While it can feel discouraging at first, especially if you know that you have learned the word or phrase before, don’t let that roadblock get you down. What is important is to use this moment as a learning experience.
As British linguist David Wilkins wrote in his book Linguistics in Language Teaching (1972), “While without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” This powerful statement still holds true today.
Without knowing the proper words for items in the target language, it is extremely difficult to get the meaning across. You can’t walk into a grocery store and ask someone to help you find an item without knowing what the word for that item is. There is almost no way the employee helping you will be able to understand.
Grocery Store (License: CC BY 3.0 by Karin Dalziel)
As you start learning a new language, learn basic phrases and words first, then move on to more complicated grammar techniques. If you have difficulty remembering words, trying carrying a pocket dictionary in your native language and the target language. That way, if you are having a conversation with someone in the target language and happen to forget one of the words, you will be able to look it up quickly.
Transparent Connect online language courses allow you to interact with an instructor in a virtual classroom. Transparent Connect instructors can teach you words that you are interested in learning as you further your language proficiency.
