Archive for category Foreign Language
The Essence of Meaning in Foreign Language Reading
Posted by admin in Foreign Language on July 9, 2011
Understanding a text does not necessarily mean knowing the definition of every single word written; indeed, the reading comprehension process involves extracting, as efficiently as possible, the essential information from secondary ideas, complementary data and details. Comprehension is not achieved, thus, by looking up every unknown word in a dictionary. This is likely to be unproductive, tiresome and extremely fruitless, leading to a low-quality level of significant comprehension.
Normally, when reading happens, one’s eyes do not move from word to word in a straight line, but flick backwards and forwards over the text. To illustrate, if we cover a magazine’s agony column with a blank sheet of paper and, literally, try reading word by word, we will soon lose track of one’s personal disgrace and we will need to keep looking back to take in whole sentences. This simple experiment highlights the fact that it is almost impossible to read and effectually understand a text this way.
According to Doff, A. (1998) two distinctive reading activities can be stated: semantic reading (or silent reading) and rhetorical reading (or reading aloud). The former occurs when people read a newspaper, pay attention to road signs, follow a recipe for a chocolate cake, or interpret a scientific theory. It involves looking at sentences and analyzing the message they convey; in other words, making sense of a written text. When people read for meaning, they do not read every letter or every word in each sentence. Provided the text’s message can be discerned, readers can infer from much of what is said as they keep on reading, as well as activating their schemata (background knowledge). Read the rest of this entry »
Expand Your Career Opportunities With Foreign Language Skills
Posted by admin in Foreign Language on June 18, 2011
As many search for jobs or for an advancement in their career, it is more important than ever to have a wide skillset. Your resume, now more than ever, may be one of hundreds in a stack; what are you going to do to make your resume stand out? One exceptional skill that will set you apart in the job market today is foreign language fluency. Learning a foreign language is no simple undertaking, but the reward for this further education is great. As the business world becomes more global, the need for speakers of multiple languages increases. In the American economy, there is much room for workers to expand their resume by adding a foreign language, as the average American education does not include a level of foreign language learning that produces fluent speakers of other languages.
Explore the emerging markets in your field of expertise. If you are in a profession or industry, look at clues for the direction that your current trade is going. If you can get ahead of the industry and begin learning a language that will be important in the future, you may be able to get a leg up on other job seekers and position yourself to advance your career. Perhaps your industry is likely to expand into Latin America, Asia, or Europe. If you are not already committed to a specific industry or career path, think about where you would like to live or travel in the future, or the culture that appeals most to you.
Next, explore the most widely spoken languages in the region that you would like to work. Learning a common language in an area is ideal, as many business transactions will take place in a widely spoken language. For example, while Indians may speak a wide variety of regional dialects as a first language, Hindi is a common language that would allow more diversity in communication. If you do have specific goals in mind, however, you may find that there is a need for a less widely spoken language, as there will be fewer people with this skill. Read the rest of this entry »