How do you go about memorising words in a language you are learning?

What methods have you tried and found useful or more or less useful than others?

When listening to Calon Lan - a song in Welsh - on the radio, a little girl came up to her mother and asked "why are they singing about Afghanistan?"

Well she was baffled, until the girl sang the song in her own words - imagine a thick yorkshire accent:

Gallon lamb, a clown die only,
teck ash eww a lily dross (teck=take)
toys on't gallon lamb Afghani (on't=on the)
canny teeth and candyfloss

The original Welsh words were:

Calon lân yn llawn daioni
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos
Does ond calon lân all ganu
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos.

Well the kid's song was gibberish, but she memorised all the words - as they sounded to her at least - very quickly, because she associated them with words in her native language that she understood.

I've heard people using something similar to memorise words; imagining a picture of something that sounds like the foreign word in your own language and superimpose the actual meaning on the original picture so that the two are now associated in your mind. I would have thought that this kind of word association would work best when learning a language that has similarities to your own, so another Indo-European language for those whose mother tongue comes under that catagory already, because then the images and the actual meanings of a word are close or the same.

For example the Italian word Caldo = hot. So imagine someone SCALDING their hands under hot water. (bit vicious, but also a vivid mental picture).

Would it work as easily with languages that have nothing, or little in common? I mean how do you associate the Chinese 'Fang' with the English 'House'? A house with fangs? Perhaps that's not so difficult, but that's because the chinese sound is similar to an english word. What about something that has no English equivalent like, 'Hua Duo' = 'flower'?

Are there other methods for learning words/phrases that work better in widely differing languages?

What methods do you use?

Source:Antimoon.com

Imam Reza, 8th Innocent Shiite Imams stated:

The weapon of the Prophets is essential for you. When asked "What is the weapon of Prophets". He stated: "supplication!".

(USOOL KAFI, Vol 1, P 468)

Teaching the "Th" Sound to Young EFL Learners

Camran Shirvani
camran.shirvani{at}gmail.com
Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr (Qaemshahr, Iran)

EFL learners often mispronounce the "th" sound. What follows is an effective technique (a tongue exercise) for in-class practice. This is especially effective in case of young EFL learners since it is entertaining and produces near-immediate results.

Introduction

Mispronouncing the "th" sound by making a simple "s" or "t" sound is very common among English language learners, and the case has been discussed for several decades. Carr (1967) in her article "Teaching the "th" sounds of English" in the first number of the first volume of TESOL journal begins as follow:

"There is nothing boring about teaching the ancient and honorable the sounds of English – the phonemes which are so characteristic a part of the stream of the speech in English but so rare among other languages of the world. If instructor and learners keep even a few bit of information about the structure of English in mind, these lessons can be the most successful effort of a semester."

Helping ESL Students Adapt to Authentic Listening Situations

John P. Madden
jpmadden{at}stcloudstate.edu
St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, MN, USA)

Learners and teachers give listening greater emphasis now than in the past (Flowerdew & Miller, 2005), though frustrated learners traveling in English speaking countries have always recognized the importance of L2 listening. Given global travel and Internet connections, L2 listening outside the classroom will only gain in importance.  Listening after class ends presents challenges and opportunities. Having to start listening in the middle of a conversation or broadcast is a challenge for learners; pursuing their own interests presents an opportunity for L2 listeners. This article describes techniques I have used to help learners meet the challenge of listening from the middle and take advantage of the opportunity to listen thematically (Madden, 2002b). These techniques helped my intermediate adult learners in a university-based intensive English program in the United States. The techniques can be used with learners over a range of ages, languages, and proficiency levels. First, I’ll provide a rationale for the techniques, and then describe the techniques themselves.

In The Name of God

This Poem has been nominated for the best poem of the year 2005 and it is written by an African child.

{When I born, I Black
{When I grow up, I Black,
{When I go in Sun, I Black,
{When I scared, I Black,
{When I sick, I Black,
{And when I die, I still black.

?And you White fella,
?When you grow up, you White,
?When you go in Sun, you Red,
CWhen you cold, you blue,
CWhen you scared, you yellow,
CWhen you sick, you Green,
CAnd when you die, you Gray
SAnd you calling me colored??

Source:LLE-English

با سلام

فکر کنم اون دسته از دوستان عزیزی که مطالب وبلاگ رو دنبال میکردن شاهد کم شدن فعالیت های بلاگ شدن!

راستش مدتی بود که ذهنم مشغول بحث ترجمه و مترجمی شده بود و دنبال منابعی بودم که برای ارائه به دوستان در قالب جزوه آماده کنم!

اما بعد از گذشت تقریباً 3-4 ماه به این نتیجه رسیدم که به همون رویه قبلی ادامه بدم بهتره!

چون بحث مترجمی به تجربه کافی و دانش بالا نیاز داره که خدا رو شکر دوستان بسیار خوبم آقایان سید مهدی توکل،استاد مسعود هاشمی و سایر دوستانی که آدرس آنها در قسمت پیوند های بلاگ موجوده به خوبی از پس کمبود ها در این زمینه بر آمده اند.

*جدیداً خدمت چند تن از اساتید محترم دانشگاه پیام نور مرکز دزفول هستم که به یاری خدا قراره  یه همکاری هایی با هم داشته باشیم تا در زمینه آموزش، جزوات،کتابهای الکترونیکی ونرم افزارها و...(مانند مطالب و کتابهایی که در آرشیو وبلاگ موجود هستند) تلاش هایی انجام بدیم.

þمنتظر نظرات سازنده شما هستیم...

Congratulations!!!

Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (A.S.), the eighth Shi'ite Holy Imam was born on 11th Zee al-Qa'adah 148 A.H. in the holy city of Madinah. He was divinely entitled 'Al-Reza"(meaning that Allah Almighty and His Holy Messenger (S.A.W.) were deeply pleased with him).The Holy Imam (A.S.) is also considered as the Aalim (the Greatest Erudite) of the Holy Ahlul Bayt (A.S.). Holy Imam was poisoned by Mamun, the Abbasid caliph in Sanabad in Toos region (Khurasan).The Holy Imam (A.S.) attained martyrdom on the last day of the month of Safar 203 A.H./ 818 A.D. and was buried in Sanabad. After the burial of Imam Reza (A.S.) in this place, Sanabad soon transformed into a metropolis. The holy shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.) in the holy city of Mashhad is also one of the most extensively visited pilgrimage center in the world and annually more than 20 millions pilgrims and lovers of Holy Ahlul Bayt (A.S.) from all parts of the world visit the holy shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.).
On the Happy and Auspicious Occasion of the Birthday Anniversary of Imam Reza (A.S.) we extend our Heartiest Felicitations and Happy Greetings to all the lovers of the Holy Ahlul Bayt(A.S.) in the world.

Source:Imam Reza (A.S.) Network

In The Name Of Allah

با عرض سلام و قبولی طاعات و عبادات شما

آغاز سال تحصیلی جدید رو به همه دانشجویان عزیز تبریک میگم.

انشاءالله که بتونیم امسال هم مانند سال های پیش و بلکه بهتر در کنار هم باشیم و آموخته های خود رو به هم دیگه منتقل کنیم...

سال گذشته رو تقریبا به طور کامل به تهیه و تنظیم کتب الکترونیکی اختصاص داده بودم و امیدوارم که مفید واقع شده باشند؛اما امسال- اگه خدا بخواد- میخوام بیشتر به مباحث مختلف زبان بپردازم.مثلا زبان در رشته های انسانی (از جمله مدیریت) و یا زبان های فنی رشته هایی مانند مکانیک و... .

منتظر نظرات مفید شما هستم!

بنام خدا

چند روز پیش داشتم با یکی از دوستانم که اهل اندونزی است از طریق اینترنت صحبت میکردم.ایشون گفت که یه مطلبی رو درباره جناب آقای احمدی نژاد آماده کرده و میخواد برای من ارسال کنه.

God loves those who are humble in their personal life too!
The Fox New TV (US) asked the Iranian President Ahmedi Najad ; "When you look into the mirror in the morning what do you say to yourself" ?

He answered : I see the person in the mirror and tells him "Remember, you are no more than a small servant, ahead of you today is the heavy responsibility, and that is to serve the Iranian nation".

And this was how the broadcaster introduced him.

Ahmedi Nijad, the Iranian President who astonished many when he first
reached to the office of the Presidency by donating all the high valued  Iranian carpets to one of the mosques in Tehran by replacing them with the low cost ordinary carpets.

He observed that there was a huge extravagant langue for receiving and welcoming the VIPs and he ordered it to be closed and asked the Protocol office to arrange for an ordinary room instead with the wooden chairs, though more impressive in fact...!

On many instances he joins the cleaning staff of the municipality for leaning the streets in the area where his home and the Presidency Office locates.

Under his authority whenever he appoints any minister to his post he gets a signed document from him with many points, particularly highlighting that he shall remain poor and that his personal and his relatives accounts will be watched and the day he leaves the ministry shall be with dignity, and therefore it is not lawful for him or his relatives to take any
advantage of his office.