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Be a copycat
Remember in school how the teacher always made you take notes in class? She could have given you a handout describing everything she was writing on the board, but she was teaching you a valuable process, one that could help you when learning a language: copying. In last month's Language Learning Tip, we mentioned the importance of keeping a language journal in which you can practice your new language by writing down new vocabulary, forming sentences, and keeping track of your general progress. But have you thought about using your journal to copy information you already know? By taking notes on the material you read in a book, you are being more active than passive in your studies, and the more active you are, the more you'll take in. Use your language journal to copy verb conjugations, the vocabulary that you will find most useful (this is a good chance to separate out what you will need the most for everyday conversations in your language of choice), and even reading passages that you come across in your book or online as you branch out in your studies. Copy these things as many times as you can stand to! Repetition is key. You can also transcribe audio: dialogues, example sentences, vocabulary lists. This will exercise both your listening skills as well as your spelling skills. Copying text is especially useful if you're studying a language that doesn't use the Roman alphabet (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Hindi, etc.); getting your hand used to writing special characters by copying passages will help you recognize characters that may at first seem very foreign. Start by writing your name in characters a few times! It may seem simple, but as you start to feel more comfortable just writing your name, the script too will start to feel like a part of you. Tags: copycats, journal, language learning, newsletter, taking notes, tips
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