Visually Speaking: Maurice Hazan's new Kickstarter project

Visually Speaking: the Science of Language Acquisition with QTalk: Revolutionary new Visually Speaking app will trans...: NEWS UPDATE:   Maurice's new Kickstarter project is for the revolutionary new Visually Speaking app, Maurice has a prototype working and he's so excited that at last his dream may become a reality. He needs your help, so please share and repost this link and pledge even $1 to help make Maurice's project reach its goals.

6 tips to teach language to teenagers

Looking for ideas to keep your middle school and high school students engaged, challenged and focused in language class?

Here are six tips I can share based on my own experience and the advice of language teachers at Tribeca Language and other schools.


1. Be clear: The teenage brain is going through huge developmental changes. From day to day a student may appear to be a different person - and they actually are! With all the neural, hormonal and social changes, not to mention their body shape and size changing and growing, teenage life can be very confusing. So keep things clear in the classroom.

2. Keep it simple: You might think it's exciting to mix multiple topics and activities, but many teachers find it's more effective to provide a simple routine so that students always know what to expect. When students don't understand the purpose of the lesson, don't know how to perform the activities expected, or are unclear about the outcomes you are looking for, you can lose some or all of the students' attention very quickly.

3. Be brief: Anything that seems to go on and on and on
can appear to be a chaotic, impossible topic to a teen. We are language teachers - we think language is fascinating! But with teens, we need to put our brakes on and take breaks. That usually means breaking a longer activity into shorter parts with c
lear start and stop times. Briefer lesson segments also provide you with better ways to signal when it's time to talk and interact, versus when it's time to remain silent and listen to others.

4. Remain in the target language: Tell students what you expect, and write on the board, flipchart or Smartboard, provide handouts and assignment sheets, to give every student multiple ways to make sure they know what's going on and what you expect of them. That's a lot easier to do, when you use a visual scaffolding system such as the QTalk Method, or a story-based method such as TPRS.

5. Be silent: Leave silent pauses between your sentences. Provide time for sustained silent reading or study - even if it's only three minutes to let students reset their attention. Any single activity should last no more than five to eight minutes without a pause - a chance to reset, recalibrate, or just let students absorb for themselves what they have achieved.

6. Be active: If you are standing or sitting in front of the class, static, you will be boring. If you move purposely and comfortably throughout the classroom, engaging with individual students or small groups, you will keep everyone's attention - they never know when you might walk right up to them and ask a question.

Use these six tips and you will keep your teens focused and learning during every language class.
For more information about how to use the QTalk visual method, visit the QTalk Method training site:
http://qtalktraining.weebly.com/

If you'd like to find out more about free samples, pricing and options for schools, homeschools and individuals for the various QTalk Method materials suited to teenage language learners, visit www.QTalkPublishing.com, the sole source provider subscriptions, publications and classroom manipulatives to support Maurice Hazan's QTalk Method. You would want to look at the Sapling materials for Level 1 and Level 2. Some older teens might also benefit from the Tree materials, so take a look at those also.

Do This At Home - Tip 4 - QTalk Gradual Immersion

I am going to get a little wonky here, sorry. Maurice Hazan has been utilizing the findings of cognitive research and the great thing about Tribeca Language is we don't need to wait for a major textbook publisher to support a new approach - we can just jump in and do things differently. But we don't just "try this, try that," there really is science behind the visual method and these techniques you can use with everyday situations, anywhere, any time.

Cognitive Science explains how we learn

Parents, you are going to really love this technique. It builds on the "QTalk Echo Technique" (See earlier post.)

“QTalk Gradual Immersion”

Another technique we developed in our classrooms at Tribeca Language is what we call “QTalk Gradual Immersion.” When Maurice Hazan created the QTalk method, he was asked why not simply use immersion.

True vs. Faux Immersion needs to be understood. Many of our students at Tribeca Language have a parent or other caregiver who speaks the target language (the one you want your child to learn in addition to English) and we are often asked how that person can work with the child. 

Everyone knows that true immersion is the fastest way to learn a language - however, please notice I said TRUE immersion, meaning only the target language is spoken and heard around the clock. The brain of a child is bombarded by brand new experiences practically every minute of every day. 

The main way children prioritize what is important is by how often something occurs. Events that happen regularly become labeled "substantial" by the brain. If only 1 or 2 people in a child's life are speaking to that child in a certain language and everyone else is speaking English, the brain says, "English is an option. I only need to get the gist of what is being said to me in this other language in order to satisfy this adult."

Children with parents or caregivers who speak other languages usually develop some level of comprehension - sometimes very high levels of comprehension - however, they are generally unable to say much of anything back - unless someone is working on their understanding of individual words and phrases to the same degree they are being worked with on their English. Understanding what is being said and being able to respond back are two very different processes. They are performed by separate parts of the brain and are as different as understanding how someone rides a bike and physically going through the process of learning to do so on one's own. Speech is muscular. It is not developed by listening, comprehending or writing, only by actually speaking - and speaking by way of true recall - going through the process of being able to pull the words out of thin air - not by reading them off a piece of paper. Think of the time you have spent with your child as a toddler having him/her repeat all those primary words over and over. Correcting their questions and statements throughout each and every day - it's been tremendous work. Being communicative in one's own primary language is a hard won feat! We are born to do it and can all learn any language on the planet but it takes consistent repetition.

If English is spoken in your home and you want your child to both fully comprehend and be able to speak back to you in a second language, we suggest you begin the use of the “QTalk Echo Technique.” (See prior post for examples and instructions.)

Step 2. Once you have been using the “QTalk Echo Technique” and your child has grown accustomed to hearing the target language repeatedly, with the English naturally sandwiched in between, you can gradually begin leaving the English out. 

You have the juice, water, milk conversation probably 10 times a day so by the end of day one, you could begin removing the English from the question "Are you thirsty?" You can begin moving to the "Immersion" version of this conversation - you just have to decide to be strict about not giving your child what he/she wants until they have made a repetition attempt. In no time they will be coming to you asking for things in the target language. This is what we call "QTalk Gradual Immersion" and that's all there is to it.

The concept is part of what is called Comprehensible Input or "CI" as the language teaching experts refer to it. If I just ask you "¿Tienes sed?" and refuse to translate it for you and just keep saying it over and over. You might literally NEVER figure out what I am actually asking you. You might get that is has something to do with receiving a beverage but that doesn't mean it is something you can actually use. Theories vary on this topic but we find the Echo Technique to dramatically increase the speed with which students are able to begin using words and phrases independently. So give it a try and share your experiences!

This is the most wonderful adventure you can have, helping your child learn a new language. I want you to use these techniques with confidence, knowing they actually WORK.

As always: Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!

Hello world! Welcome to my tips for language learners.
You will be amazed at how quickly you can learn a new language, if you are using the right method.
Here's the secret: you are a language learner by nature. Forget all the stressful, boring, confusing language classes you have ever had in the past. Visualize and speak - that's the secret!

As director of Tribeca Language in Lower Manhattan, I have enjoyed the great privilege of helping hundreds, probably thousands of students to learn a new language. Our method at Tribeca is the amazing QTalk visual method developed by Maurice Hazan.


I will LOVE to get your comments, so please comment away, and I'll respond to as many as I can.