Which sentence describes one’s mother tongue or a foreign language?

• A We are not taught but learn anyway.• B Some people think that we are born with an

ability to learn this.• C We can learn faster if we develop study

skills.• D Most people have mastered this by the age

of five.• E We learn this in a special place where we

can get help.• F It takes longer to learn this.• G We learn this by communicating with others.

F

F

M

M

M

M

M and F

Fast reading

Tell whether each of the following sentences is true or false.

( )1.Learning a language is only memorizing words, phrases and structures. ( ) 2.Although experts don’t agree with each other, they all share a common opinion :Life is a very successful language school. ( )3.Learning a foreign language is quite different from learning one’s mother tongue. ( )4.We learn a foreign language much slower than we learn our mother tongue. ( )5.Successful learners have some similar characters. ( )6.Most children have mastered their mother tongue at the age of seven.

Fmore than

T

T

F

Tfaster

Ffive

Careful reading

Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.

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1. The sentence “ Life is a very successful language school” means _____. 2.How is learning a foreign language different from learning one’s mother tongue? 3.What characteristics do the successful language learners share ？ 4. What’s the purpose of writing this article?

1.The sentence “ Life is a very successful language school” means _____. A. We are equipped with a special ability to learn language. B.The key to learn the language well is to communicate with the people around us. C. Parents can give children language lessons. D. People can learn the language by themselves

2.How is learning a foreign language different from learning one’s mother tongue? A.We spend all day long learning a foreign language. B. We can communicate with other speakers frequently, just as we do in learning one’s mother tongue. C.we learn a foreign language in a school and have few chances to learn it. D. it’s slower to learn a foreign language than one’s mother tongue.

3.Successful language learners do share the following characteristics except _____. A.the ability to memorize the words B.an interest in understanding their own thinking C.willingness to take chances D. confidence in their ability

4. What’s the purpose of writing this article? A.Learning a foreign language is twice as hard as learning our mother tongue. B.Learning a foreign language is more important than learning our mother tongue. C.Learning a foreign language is twice as easy if we develop our study skills. D.The number of people learning a foreign language has increased with years.

Main idea of each paragraphLearning AForeignLanguage :Twice AsHard ?

No

Purpose

Paragraph 1

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3

Paragraph 4

Paragraph 5

Paragraph 6

A question

Answers

Differences

Characteristics

Skills

Conclusion

When we learn a language, we do more When we learn a language, we do more than just than just mm______ words. Language ______ words. Language aa________ is a complex process and ________ is a complex process and people learn in different ways. We people learn in different ways. We acquire our mother tongue by acquire our mother tongue by cc____________ with our parents and ____________ with our parents and others around us. We make others around us. We make ss_____ of _____ of what we hear and what we hear and dd_________ from bad _________ from bad language. We are language. We are ee_______ with an _______ with an ability to adjust ourselves to the ability to adjust ourselves to the language and culture by which and in language and culture by which and in which we are living. To be successful which we are living. To be successful we have to take chances and take we have to take chances and take cc________ in our ability to learn English.________ in our ability to learn English.

emorizecquisition

ommunicating

ense istinguishquippe

d

onfidence

Paragraph2 Others think that we learn language in the same way we learn other things, such as walking or solving problems, and that what we are born with is a general ability to learn and adapt, not a language-specific part of the brain.

宾语从句

宾语从句

定语从句

主语从句

Difficult sentences

Paragraph3 That may not seem true to you--- think of all the hours of hard work you have spent learning English! 定语从句

spend something (in) doing somethingon something

eg:1.The students spend their energy cleaning the place up.i.e. The hours he should have spent ________(study)were used to play football.studying

Difficult sentences

除了其他……以外

Paragraph4The data suggests that what successful language learners have in common is, among other things, that they are interested in understanding their own thinking, curious about the world, willing to take chances and confident in the their ability.

宾语从句 主语从句

表语从句

among other things(or people ）

whatis

that

Difficult sentences

i.e.At the meeting they discussed, among other things, recent events in the city.

Paragraph 5 The less anxious and more relaxed the learner (is ), the better their language acquisition(is).

the more --- ,the more---

=>the + 比较级 + 陈述句 ,the + 比较级 + 陈述句 越……越 -……

eg; The higher the ground, the cooler the air.

i.e.The more careful you are, the fewer mistakes you make.

Difficult sentences

Paragraph6If we develop our study skills, we may find that learning a foreign language does not have to be twice as hard as learning our mother tongue, but can in fact be twice as

easy and a lot of fun.

宾语从句

learning a foreign language

as learning our mother tongue

Difficult sentences

Exercises1. 你英语听得越多，它就变得越简单。The more you listen to English, the easier it will be.

4.I had invited 50 guests to the party, but actually twice _____ came. A. more than B.as many C. as much D. less than

2. 大量的时间我都花在了解释这个计划上。There is lots of time I spend explaining theplan.

B

i.e. I find the difficulty/trouble he has ___________ (read) the novel.(in) reading

Phrases• 1 acquire a language• 2 communicate with• 3 make sense of sth.• 4 distinguish from• 5 be equipped with• 6 adjust to• 7 be born with• 8 regardless of / despit

e /in spite of• 9 as a consequence of

/as a result of

1 掌握语言2 与……交流3 弄懂4 区分5 装备6 调整7 天赋8 尽管

9 作为……结果

• 10 in other words• 11have sth. in comm

on with• 12 be curious about• 13 take chances• 14 be confident in

/have confidence in

15 take a risk/risks

16 contribute to

17 adopt habits

10 换句话11 与……有共同处

12 对 ……好奇13 找机会14 对 ……有信心

15 冒险16 对……贡献17 养成习惯

Discussion How can we learn a foreign language well?

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