Using new technology - DVDs and the internet

Both of these are suited to language learning and to a variety of learning styles.

- The internet

You can read, listen and write. And I am sure that before long, speak.

Writing practice is excellent for your learning. You can develop both your language accuracy and your fluency. Message boards might be a good place to communicate and focus on your accuracy. Live chat rooms are a good place to focus on fluency, as people don't want to wait too long to hear your response.

For listening, the internet may be better than the radio as you can listen again and again. BBC radio is an incredible resource. The ability to listen repeatedly, and to pause, allows you to put into practice the advice I give in the reading and listening skills section.

Using a search engine like Google, you can search for sentences and phrases. It can be quite fun writing a sentence using the new vocabulary you have been learning and searching the internet for it. Has anyone else written the same sentence as you?!

- DVDs

DVDs are a gift to language learners. This is because you can watch a film in sections,
you can rewind and fast forward with ease and you can choose to have sub-titles

Why not watch a section without sub-titles?
Make notes and record what you have heard. Note down your understanding.
Then watch with English subtitles. What do you understand now? Had you misheard words?
Finally, watch with subtitles in your language. Was your understanding good?

The best thing about all this new technology is that it allows you to choose how and what to study, learn and remember. By making choices you are already helping your brain remember the language, you are improving your motivation and you can then follow good learning practice.

- Enjoy your studies and remember the following

Variety is the spice of life and

We remember
20% of what we read
30 % of what we hear
40% of what we see
50% of what we say or write
60% of what we do

and

90% of what we read, hear, say and do! (Flanagan 1997)