How to Be a More Successful Language Learner (Teaching Methods)

Rating:
Summary: Wish I Had This Book Long Ago
Review: I wish I had this book 20 some years ago when I began learning Chinese. Although I have many years of language study behind me (including a degree in Chinese language and literature), I still found helpful, new ideas in this book when I bought it two years ago.

Many language teachers do not teach well HOW to be a student of the foreign language that they teach. That is because many of them are native speakers and never themselves had to think about how they learned language. Also, many of the teachers (particularly native Chinese teachers) are the product of a very archaic and dsyfunctional (my opinion of course) education system. Students of such teachers would benefit greatly from reading this book.

Also inspiring is the latest research and theory about language learning presented here. When I began foreign language learning, it was an accepted "fact" that adults (like me) could not learn languages as well as children. It is a suprise and relief to read in this book that research now debunks this myth.

I was suprised to see the other reviews of this book here on Amazon and to see that they were negative. I have found it to be a very helpful, well researched and well written book and an important reference in my continuing language studies.

Rating:
Summary: Good on theory, poor on practical advice
Review: The book is designed to cover the "psychological, linguistic, and practical matters surrounding the successful acquisition of a new language." It covers the first two quite well, but the presentation of "practical matters" often falls short in providing nuts-and-bolts ideas with sufficient examples to help you implement them.

A much better book for most aspiring language learners looking for a how-to guide is Graham Fuller's "How to Learn a Foreign Language". It is less academic and more practical in tone, providing many suggestions with plenty of examples. The only practical things I saw in Rubin and Thompson's book which Fuller's did not have are (a) a self-test to help you identify your weak spots in language-learning skills, and (b) a section to help you clarify your objectives in learning a new language.

If you like the academic approach, this may be a good book for you. If you prefer a more familiar tone with a "hands-on" emphasis, get Fuller's book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the price
Review: We are using this book, believe it or not, as a required text in an intermediate level French course. I would not recommend it. Almost everything in this book is simply common sense. The information is too general to be useful - it would be much more helpful simply to learn about the language you are studying. The writing is rather simplistic. The only people who might find it useful are those who have never studied a foreign language. If you are already learning one, you know everything in this book that applies to you.