Learning a foreign language can be a huge challenge for students. There’s vocabulary to learn, a plethora of tenses to absorb, and a whole new accent to perfect. Often, students can get lost in the minutia and details, losing engagement to the broader picture of cross-cultural connection and the enjoyable challenge of language learning. At AJ Tutoring, our tutors can help students cultivate an interest and appreciation for the languages they are learning while also showing great progress with class assignments and tests.
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Quite often, a student comes to AJ disliking the language she’s learning because she feels overwhelmed by all of the new vocabulary, verbs conjugations, and syntaxes to memorize or the stress of preparing for a high stakes exam like the AP Exam or SAT Subject Test. Parents want to help their student be successful, but they don’t know how because most adults haven’t studied a new language since high school.
When learning a foreign language, it is important to constantly remember the bigger picture. Each lesson and each year a student is expected to learn new grammar concepts and new vocabulary. Think of those as lego pieces. As time passes, a lego masterpiece starts to form. The learning curve can be frustrating, but it helps to know that, as the years pass, the journey gets more rewarding because the fruits of labor can be harvested.
Envisioning a trip to a foreign country or even a fluent conversation with a foreign language-speaking friend can make the rewards of language learning feel more concrete. In the meantime, practicing the language with classmates, parents, and friends or watching movies in the target language can remind students of the benefits to their study. Always knowing that there is a bigger picture and there are reasons we are learning each concept helps with wanting to master the language.
Here you can find some helpful online resources to aid with practice for languages commonly taught to students at Bay Area schools:
http://www.wordreference.com/
https://studyspanish.com/
http://www.bonjourdefrance.co.uk/
https://newsela.com/articles/#/rule/spanish
With language learning, targeted practice and 1-on-1 coaching are highly effective. Private tutoring is commonly thought to be the most impactful way to improve reading, writing, and speaking skills. At AJ, our tutors come to us with a breadth of experience and background in helping students progress with their studies of foreign languages like Spanish, French, Latin, and Mandarin. Our educators are able to bring perspective to everyday lessons and turn the most difficult parts of learning the language into more enjoyable and engaging activities.
Reach out to us to learn more about how we can help your student with foreign language study!
