missforeignlanguageteacher.com

If you’re serious about learning a language (or if you’re serious about not getting a bad grade), there are many things that you can do to help you reach that goal.

Meeting the requirements on the syllabus is one thing. Let’s look at the standard requirements in foreign language classes–today we’ll talk about attendance and participation.

Most foreign language courses require you to attend almost all classes. Think about it: if you went to another country to learn a language, you would constantly be surrounded by it (interacting with people, hearing it on the TV and radio, reading it in newspapers, etc). When you take a class that meets only a few hours a week, you have a lot less exposure to the target language. If you don’t show up half the time…well, sure, you can still pass the course, but your fluency probably won’t be that great.
Attending class allows you to participate, and participating in class helps you listen to and practice speaking the language. Each lesson focuses on one specific part of language learning (one grammar point or one vocabulary theme, for example), so the context for listening and speaking is clear, plus the exercises done in class help reinforce the grammar or vocab.

So the first step to being successful in learning another language is to just show up.

Next up: Why all the homework?