My grandmother always says, “You have two ears and just one mouth.”

So, shouldn't we spend double the time listening to the foreign languages we are learning?

Every language has its own intonation, its own rhythm, its own style of being spoken. In order to learn effectively we have to train our ears to hear what's being said. Per D. Renukadevi’s research, “Listening awakens awareness of the language as it is a receptive skill that first develops in a human being.” This highlights one of the main reasons we perceive listening exercises to be a critical language learning method at Key Babel.

As an example, the Mandarin Chinese language is known for being a tonal language. It technically has five tones, while the Cantonese Chinese dialect has nine! The falling 4th tone sounds harsh to most American Chinese language learners. You should see how some of the children react to being corrected on the fourth tone initially in our children's classes. We always send parents messages to remind their child that our teachers aren’t angry or criticizing them. It is also not as easy to understand Chinese linguistic art forms, such as song lyrics, children's chants, etc.,  due to the inability to decipher rhyme and rhythm in Chinese poetry. Adult students may take more time than children to get used to it.

Language learners of tonal languages such as Chinese are usually quick to feel intimidated by the fact that they do not hear any differences in vocabulary, or struggle to differentiate inquiries from commands. It definitely takes some getting used to, but lessons that uphold traditional teaching methods such as dictation and audio repetition are quite useful in building your ability to process what you are hearing. Teachers may also exaggerate their pitches to try to help get the point across. However, even in "tone-less" languages like Spanish or Russian, learning to hear what is actually being said will be crucial to your fluency success.

Most of the research done on this topic of the role of listening in language acquisition agrees that we gain 45% of our language competency from listening alone. In Key Babel classes, we start with listening activities right from the first lesson. Of course we do not expect for students to understand every word (or any word if they are completely brand new to the target language) as we embark on your language listening journey.

While the listening focused media used in classes will vary in speed and accent, you should not feel any pressure to understand what is being said initially.  The teacher will also not interrupt often so as not to distract student ears from acclimating to what is being heard.

As we work on increasing vocabulary through various methods, Key Babel students are excited and more confident when they realize that they hear much more than then they previously could. Our teachers also love to hear the reactions of students reacting to themselves understanding the listening portion of each lesson.

Besides your nose, the ears are one part of your body that cannot be closed. Focusing on that fact alone, you can see how making sure that we are listening correctly is taken seriously even outside of foreign language learning classes. Being able to hear the tone of someone's voice; the specific style or pronunciation they use on certain words are all part of the process that builds our understanding. This is one of the main reasons many arguments are started when it comes to text messaging or email.

So, while you get ready for Chinese classes at Key Babel Institute, keep in mind the reason we put so much emphasis on having "two ears to hear".

“The wise will hear and increase their learning.” - Proverbs 1:5

After considering some of the struggles that come with learning a foreign language through immersion in the US, our team has come up with a few ideas to keep students in the swing of things both in and out of class sessions. Homework is seen as busy work by so many people that sometimes, especially our adult students, they start to lose momentum. Our children love doing their worksheets and projects for homework, and they don't mind getting a little bit more "busywork" to keep from being bored. (Can you believe that? Children say they get bored sometimes... as in having nothing to do!)

We've decided to offer planners, games, puzzles and more! Sure adults might already have a planner or their own little journal, but do you have a journal that helps push you along in your language journey? Some will be available for download as soon as March! Hard-backed shippable copies will become available at a later date.

We hope you enjoy our foreign language immersion shop and stick around for our various classes and events.

Make 2021 count when it comes to your fluency goals! 

Thanks for reading!

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With much of the interpersonal connection of the classroom setting lost, how does classroom discipline play out? The average child is active in classes and doing what they can to follow the teacher. How do we help those that may be prone to distraction, or acting out under a new virtual learning experience?

Just like in the regular classroom we go over the class rules at the beginning of each class for the first eight classes. By the half-way mark, students are able to guess the rules based on various hints that the teacher may give. After this period, the teacher may ask students recite the rules from memory at various points in the course as a way to check both their understanding of and commitment to the class flow.

We can all flow much better together when we know what is expected of each other and when. Although we do not have strict rules to "sit down", "take notes", "no talking", we definitely brace the students for accepting that there is a time and a place for all of the activities they wish to engage in.

The mind of a child is full of wonder. Because it was formed without the knowldege of how things work, it must seek for itself the solutions to the many questions that it holds. As long as children have a dedicated time for exploring the various "cool" functions of annotating a screen, sharing a screen, adjusting their cameras, etc., they will use them appropriately to properly express themselves when necessary or share when given the chance.

We enjoy children leaving their cameras and mics on throughout the class experience so as not to interrupt the natural flow of language. We want to every voice follow along to the song, interject when they are confused about an answers and engage in open dialogue with each other. Just like in the classroom the teacher gives verbal and physical signals of when it is time to calm down or even get rowdy!

*This is a reminder to parents that yes, sometimes it is indeed the teacher that has encouraged your child to speak a bit louder, get out of their seat and in some cases raise their foot to the camera! It's all part of the lesson. Trust us.*

Some children can be very quiet in a group setting in general. They can be even more so in the online classroom. This makes it critical that the teacher is constantly checking their grid of videos to make sure they see the less outgoing yet eager to participate child. We must be conscious of the internal feelings that may be lying shallow under the surface of a child that looks otherwise disinterested. Even in in-person classes, there is bound to be a student or two that strays from the group with a longing heart.

It is also a good idea to have a name calling system in place that puts the less active students in high rotation during certain times of class. We must help those that are always demanding the stage understand that we live in a world full of other people, each with different needs.

Inevitably, there are times in which students of all personality types like to push their boundaries and see how far they can go. In these cases teachers should first calmly give the child a warning and an explanation of the consequences of not heeding the warning. Should the student continue, the teacher can decide to offer one more chance of a warning (or two more depending on the severity of the issue). After that, the teacher must enact the consequence that was told to the child the first time.

Ideally, the entire class must hear both the warning and the consequence, so that they also will have the opportunity to both weigh their options when decided to engage in the questionable activity, and also understand the situation when either the behavior of the offending student changes or they end up receiving consequences.

Some consequences that can be implemented on various virtual platforms would be:

• muting the student's mic forcibly
• denying the student the ability to annotate the screen
• denying the student the ability to share/control the screen
• removing the student from class (with a note in the chat box)
• etc.

At the end of the day, virtual school can feel like physical school. Teachers and students should familiarize themselves with the various online tools they will be using, and make a commitment to using their time to the best of their ability. When the lesson plan is well-thought out and the students are familiar with the setup and routine, classes can run quite smoothly.

Of course, you should always be prepared for the occasional meltdown in frustration, chipper chat box, and solemn doldrums since we're all just humans full of emotions, whether we're big or small.

You may be a kinesthetic learner if doing the following helps you retain information faster and longer than simply seeing the concept or hearing about it.

• Take notes in your own style;
• Create your own flashcards, models, etc.;
• Tap your fingers or feet while thinking;
• Can study much better on a moving vehicle or ... just moving around in some way.

These are actually pretty good traits to have when classes implement a Learning by Doing methodology.

You're probably thinking, 'how do you learn by doing online? If class is virtual, how do you help make sure things are going well?"

You don't need to overthink this at all. Humans have always been a social creature. We love being able to communicate with each other and show off our works, be they good or lacking in some way. Even now, our youngest students take the time to create something related to the class and then proudly present their process every few minutes. The adult students can be a bit more shy or perfectionist. They may complete projects in their own time and then we discuss them during the class, making adjustments as necessary.

Remember, a language is learned for the specific need to communicate. No matter what topic we cover in class, there will always be a way to get the student moving and creating to help solidify the concept - no English required.

Our teachers have been in this industry for quite some time in various countries around the world. Surrounding a student in a full immersion foreign language class or school just beats the odds at creating a second home in the brain. Many have researched how languages are acquired in the first place and we are in complete agreement with the possibilities of achievement through immersion. 

We persist in immersion to see students succeed in all subject areas on an academic level. Languages are not just for mere communication. They're also needed to acquire academic skills. When started at an early age, it can be much easier to obtain a nearly native accent as well. Imagine going out to do business, working to build up diplomatic relations or completely avoiding a rare health scare that can only be resolved by being able to read ancient hieroglyphs! Or...not. That's the goal when we immerse you in our language classes. Once you reach bilingual levels, your brain will work less hard to focus on what is truly important.

You must prepare yourself or your child as much as you can mentally before beginning a full immersion language class. Especially if you've never taking the foreign language before. You'll want to ease the moment of shock when you look around yourself 10 minutes into class and realize, "the teacher hasn't spoken a work of English! How in the world do they expect me to learn anything in here?!"

Trust us. All you've got to do is sit back, relax and follow the leader. A good teacher will use inflection in their voice to try and help you pay attention. Great teachers will find ways to model their point, use various modes of media to fill in the gaps that virtual instruction can have, use body language and more to make sure they've given your brain enough clues to begin to decipher their meaning. The brain will use context clues to differentiate sounds and zone in on visual details to tell you what's going on.

We use the Natural Approach, bringing language to you authentically through subjects you need to know or are interested in. Everyone learns better when they can relate to something through music they like, celebrities/professional people, current events and the like. And this is what immersion is all about. You learn a language to assist you in successfully navigating situations that really do pop up in life.

Every time a full immersion language class is on the table, parents believe their children will somehow reject the English language and become a person that they cannot recognize, or simply fall behind in being able to use English. Fortunately, we can assure you that your child will be fine as long as you're still speaking English at home and in other places that are not the target language classroom. There are studies that have found that when the English language takes a backseat to the other, it simply bounces back with about 2 years of instruction. In fact, their English will likely gain some weight. Keep in mind that getting the hang of a language usually takes a good three years anyway.

You may be wondering if learning Chinese or Korean will throw children for a bigger loop. So far, we haven't found any evidence supporting this. Humans were made to acquire language and communicate with each other. Remind yourself that, when done naturally in a relaxed environment, we can learn most anything. That includes children. They're only little humans.

'But what if my family is not really too close to the upper class? Has no way to interact with the ethnic group of the target language outside of class? Is younger/older than the other students?'

Fair questions. So far, it looks like if a child has learned a mother tongue, they'll be able to learn another. Let go of some of that stress and prepare to watch your child ease into a new language despite the odds believed to be stacked against them.

Learning any language takes real commitment. We don't mean copying 10 pages of lines each day or translating a dictionary by hand to accomplish this. You have to let the brain do what it does best; figure things out. Humans can hear from within the womb. In the first few hours after entering the real world, we are thrust into hearing everything all the time. 

Without taking a single note on paper, or hearing one translation, we suddenly pop out words around 10 months. At about a year and a half years old, we're making small requests, but in just one more year those request have become longer winded demands. If all of this can occur by merely being spoken to (and around), sang to (and around) and read to (and around), don't you think you or your child will learn your language of choice in due time?

There is no way for us to judge your previous experiences with traditional language classes or even other immersion schools. However, we know what we do in class. We know what we do outside of class. We are attached to our commitment of seeing you through to the other side, multilingual.

Play games with us. Sing with us. Watch heartwarming video with us. Each time we interact, you should be walking away with a little bit more than what you came with. More than a language. A new perspective, piqued curiosity, the possibilities are truly endless.

     When it comes to learning to read in Chinese, we really think you should start the process with ㄅㄆㄇㄈ. This will give you a leg up on pronunciation when you need to present your reading skills by presenting them orally for discussion or debate. However, as an adult, it should also be learned alongside 拼音so that you will be able to communicate through typing on the computer that you already own.

      That being said, children probably benefit more from first learning to read with BoPoMoFo solely, and then progressing to pinyin down the line if they choose at a later date. Yes. You can definitely type using BoPoMoFo. It's not exactly right, but we assume adults wouldn't want to learn a new typing system in addition to this language.