A TED conference presentation.
Image by Juliana Rotich
on Flickr.com.

The slogan for the Technology Education and Design (TED) organization is, “Ideas worth spreading.” Well, I have some great ideas for you about language learning from TED – and these ideas are definitely worth spreading!

First let me tell you a little bit about the TED organization, which is really a great resource for you to know about (I have actually recommended this resource once in the past in a post about where to hear more English online). TED is, at its core, a global series of conferences.  There may even be one of their conferences happening near you now! These conferences bring together smart, innovative, and creative people to share their knowledge with each other and the world. One of the best things about TED is that many of their awesome conference presentations are available online for you to see for free. TED is a big organization though and they have many resources, not just conference presentations. One of those resources is a blog, another of those resources is TEDEd.

TEDEd creates short educational videos on interesting topics. Below I have listed 5 GREAT TedEd videos on English language! I highly recommend you check these out.

Now, let’s get back to the language learning tips I told you about from TED translators. These tips come from this TED Blog post.  You should definitely check these tips out in their full format on the TED Blog.  Here I will give a summary of these tips, along with some thoughts of my own.

TED Blog language learning tips from the post – How to learn a new language: 7 secrets from TED Translators

1. Get real.
This tip is about setting real and attainable goals. This is very important, particularly to keep you from becoming discouraged as you learn a new language, like English. Setting a small language-learning goal each week is a great idea. This goal could be anything, such as: learn 10 new words in English, read 3 newspaper articles in English, watch 1 hour of English television, etc. Small goals over a long period of time leads to big progress!

2. Make language-learning a lifestyle change.
This tip is about consistency. It is important to remain consistent in your attempt to learn English, even when you are on vacation from school, or work, or when life gets hectic/busy.  Continuing to practice your English regularly is very important to continued growth and progress. It is best to think of learning English as a lifestyle not a task or chore.

3. Play house with the language.
This tip is about the quantity of language exposure you bring into your life. If you only study English when you are in class, you are missing out on many opportunities to bring more English into your life! You want to always try and increase the quantity of time and opportunities you give yourself to learn English. This can mean anything from labeling (or naming) items, in English, that you see as you walk to work, or watching only English TV at home. Be creative – try to bring English with you everywhere you go.

4. Let technology help you out.
This tip is self-explanatory – use technology to help you! The Internet of course is a great language-learning technology resource, but there are many others. Transparent Language offers many opportunities to help you use technology to improve your English. This blog is just one example! Check out other ways you can tap into technology to improve your English with Transparent Language at our website.

5. Think about language-learning as a gateway to new experiences.
This tip is about jumping into your language learning through everyday opportunities. For example you could decide to always watch TV in English, or always find recipes for your next meal in English, or only do online searches in English.

6. Make new friends.
This tip is about using the language you are learning with other people – this is so important! To really feel comfortable speaking English, you have to, well, speak English! This means talking :).  Finding ways to speak more English can be challenging at times, but it can be done. Here are some ideas; you could set up a regular weekly date, with a small group of students in your English class, where you meet at a coffee shop and only speak English together for an hour. Or maybe you could find a native English speaker who wants to do a language exchange with you. In a language exchange you meet twice a week with another person; at one of the meetings the two of you only speak English (and the native speaker helps and corrects you), at the other meeting you two only speak your native language (and you help and correct the native English speaker in your language).

7. Do not worry about making mistakes.
Again this tip is self-explanatory, but important not to forget! We all make mistakes, and it is okay, but we need to take the opportunity to learn from our mistakes to become better. I’m sure you have caught a typo of mine on this blog – even as a native English speaker I still make mistakes writing English.

Now, check out these TEDEd videos. I think you are going to love them.

How languages evolve
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-languages-evolve-alex-gendler

A brief history of plural word…s
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-plural-word-s-john-mcwhorter

How did English evolve?
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-did-english-evolve-kate-gardoqui

Making sense of spelling
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-sense-of-spelling-gina-cooke

Why is there a “b” in doubt?
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt-gina-cooke