Difficulties of vocabulary acquisition

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Kennen
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:37 pm
Location: Canada

Difficulties of vocabulary acquisition

Post by Kennen » Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:29 pm

I believe vocabulary is the most comprehensive and most difficult aspect of English for foreign learners to master thoroughly. They should concentrate first on learning the most frequently used and therefore most important English vocabulary for their practical real life needs.
Multiple sense English words and synonyms (words with a similar meaning) present special difficulty for foreign learners. Other difficulties with learning and using English vocabulary include fixed word collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms, proverbs and regional differences in vocabulary usage. There are differences in English usage in English-speaking countries in terms of spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. I know some specialized books dealing with British and American English differences.
English usage can also be formal and informal. Formal English is the language of the mass media, education, business, economy, commerce, technology, science, etc. Informal English includes colloquial, slang and dialect usage. It is harder for foreign learners to master informal than formal English vocabulary.
Thematic general English dictionaries combined with English synonym dictionaries are a valuable tool for mastering English vocabulary logically, comprehensively and intensively for real life needs of learners.

Kennen
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:37 pm
Location: Canada

Post by Kennen » Sat Mar 02, 2013 1:17 am

I've always supported learning and practicing set phrases in context. In my opinion vocabulary should be learned and practiced first through input (listening and reading), and then used through output (speaking and writing) on each real life topic. But vocabulary is a broad concept; it includes not only phrases, but also separate words, idioms, proverbs, sayings, etc.

Andrew Weiler
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Post by Andrew Weiler » Sun Jun 01, 2014 6:32 am

Vocabulary in fact is probably the easiest thing to master in a foreign language. The problem is that many students want to run before they can walk. For effective vocabulary retention it is important that the learner has a scaffolding in place which can support the vocab. That is learning words which you can't place within the utterance you can say ( not by repetition, but through knowing how the structure works) is a recipe for problems.

Secondly it is important to learn vocab which sits within your experience. The more you can personalise it and put meaning into it the easier you can learn. Problems happen when you try to learn vocab randomly, solely by translation and with way you can put it into what you can reasonably say.
Here are some more pointers: http://www.strategiesinlanguagelearnin ... cabulary/

ardieBaia
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 10:37 am

adult vocab learning activity that's fun

Post by ardieBaia » Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:08 am

I agree that new vocab can be the most difficult but I've recently done this lesson in both my adult tuition class and elementary level. I'm actually going to incorporate a "dubbing" lesson in all of our tuition sessions as they really loved the chance at being creative and the on screen actors are a distraction for the students to forget about speaking in front of their peers.

Here's a link to the elementary class I did it with but certainly try it with adults; I found the adult students had much better understanding after doing this a couple of lessons in a row

http://mrsbaiasclassroom.blogspot.kr/20 ... ay-to.html

@nthony
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Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:05 pm
Location: Cuba

Post by @nthony » Mon Dec 08, 2014 4:59 pm

There have always been misconception at the time of conducting an efficient English conversation on behalf of non-English speakers. Pronunciation, rhythm, intonation patterns, fluency, among other enabling speaking skills are ones of the most terrifying slips people find. I've been teaching English for 8 years in a row and at the moment and I'm unhappy to say that most of my students aren't rubbering up all these escential skills they need to go through in order to become a speaker without ties, I mean without being afraid of speaking in public places or making mistakes. If you go around asking to non-English speakers that are taking up or studying English and ask them about their main concerns and ties, they will tell you without any concern that is speaking in public. No matter the place where you're or the bussiness you're running, if you don't use it, you lose it.
Wonder this question to you, How do babies learn how to speak? Speaking!!!! And if you don't make it in all the environments you visit you'd waste your time.
Speaking brings along many important things that people need to know about, for instance; the culture, religion, and customs. People that are starting to give their first steps in English don't need to focalize on Idioms, and idiomatic Phrases, but speaking they way people do it at that place. They need to go on as far as they can making everyday a lifetime experience.

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