Mastering a Foreign Language: How To Become A Brilliant Speaker, Part 6 of 7
January 6th, 2010Imitation is the easiest route to fluency. If you imitate
something long enough, it will become real for you, and this is
especially true for mastering a foreign language.
You can see this easily in children, the world’s greatest
language learning machines. They imitate the language they hear
around them all the time. They hear something, try it, and see
what kind of reaction they get. They get feedback from family,
friends and teachers, and adjust and learn.
The use of imitation is a true language-learning gem, and it
will serve you well to the extent that you use it! Listen and
copy. Listen and copy. Listen and copy. Imitate until it is real
for you. Imitate your way to fluency.
You might be wondering how to do this, but really it is as
simple as it looks and sounds. As you listen to native speakers
of your target language, say on TV or on the radio, repeat back
what they say as soon as you hear it. This works especially well
with news broadcasts for two reasons. First, the announcers use
clear, standard pronunciation. Secondly, the speed at which
announcers speak is a natural for the native listeners, yet
moves along at a speed that is likely to present you with a bit
of a challenge, especially in the beginning.
At first you may find it a little hard to wrap your mouth around all of those words, and that is fine. Be gentle with yourself
and know that the more you do it the better you will get at it.
The first few times you try it you might just catch a few words
here and there. Then you’ll breakthrough to being able to
imitate phrases, and then you’ll increase your ability so that
you will be able to repeat whole sentences and keep the string of
language going. Pretty soon you will be communicating you own
ideas with the same clarity and ease.
Before you know it you’ll be sounding like a TV star or
newscaster of that target language! You’ll have brilliant
pronunciation, and a greater ability to catch and understand the
words you hear from various speakers of that language, and
you’ll develop an incredible level of fluency that you acquired
in a very short time — all through imitation!
Here’s to Your Success!
Teresa Bolen
Copyright © 2006 by Teresa Bolen. All rights reserved.
Teresa Bolen is a teacher at Todaiji Academy, one of the top 5
schools in Japan, and the author of Master Plan to Master Exams:
How to Discover Your Hidden Abilities to Create the Success You
Desire. You can get her ‘Academic Excellence Report’ at
http://www.MasterPlanToMasterExams.com.
‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life
you have imagined.’
— Henry David Thoreau –