Lessons

Lesson Info

Active vs. Passive Learning

I would like us to analyze what we mean by when we learn actively on passively. And I think we all probably get the gist of the word active and passive and what does it mean? But you might not be aware of this, but a lot of our learning is done in a passive way. On the more passive we are at times, the easier it is to fit into our schedule and also to learn efficiently, efficiently. Sorry. Well, why is this? Because, quite literally, we can't learn. Unfortunately, there are a few people out there that insomniacs I wish I was at times. It would certainly help my work schedule, but we can't learn 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's impossible. So we need to be making. We need to be mixing things up and seeing how we can fit active learning and passive learning into our time schedule on donned active learning, for example, is, as the word suggests, we're learning by doing. Were actively going out there seeking looking for and acquiring information on were completing a lesson. When we ...

do this is a traditional stander situations in which we re generally traditionally usually acquire active our do active learning by completing a lesson in a book on an app. We memorize vocabulary. We have lists. We look at dictionaries. We learn grammar. We learn a specific grammar rule concerning verbs concerning the use of propositions. Onda. We practice pronunciation. We listen. We learn how we go about pronouncing, making sounds and sometimes sounds that we don't understand or we don't initially understand. And we don't usually have in our languages the languages that we already speak. So we're actively putting our mind toe, learn to acquire and, most importantly, toe a quiet information, new information that we intend to retain and to internalize. And this will constitute one of the major pillars of our language learning process. But as I said before, there's another side to the flip to the coin, and this is the other second major Peller, which is passive learning and passive learning. I don't mean that in the traditional sense of the setting of a teacher lectures his students, his or her students and the students sit there taking notes on a begrudgingly obey on and listen to what the teacher saying without actually really understanding are trying to understand what's been set now. Here, compared to actively, obviously, is where the emphasis is on receiving information without actively going out and processing it or acquiring it. The main emphasis here is not on focusing on what is being said. What is written, what the information we're acquiring were receiving. It's not about understanding every single word, every single phrase the structure in it is becoming furthermore and most importantly, aware on familiar with sorry, a familiar with information through exposure, without initially actively going out on learning it. This exposure on the more exposure we have, means that mother more knowledge we obtain without internalizing it initially. So what do we do? What can we what we were throwing, too, when we talk about passive learning now, a great example of something that is very pleasurable to most of us is watching a film in the original language. So instead of watching a film where you've heard about this amazing film on bond, it's an Ellingwood. You don't speak and you've always thought Okay, well, I'm not gonna does no point me watching it, I watch it in the English dubbed version. Nothing against dubbed films. I personally do not like them at all simply because I feel that they're the the institution is a very, very professional institution. But I really think that it is. My personal preference is to hear what's being said in that language. And we can do this by having them watching a film easily with subtitles. And I know many of you I know of people that say Subtitles means that you don't get the film, that you lose something. You've dropped something on the floor. The popcorn's going everywhere. I'm going to pick you up and then I've missed the first to the last two sentences. Well, maybe leave the pop down as they leave the popcorn on the floor. But it's not simply just about that. There is no reason why you can't actually follow a film and your your mind, your brain. Your eyes were able to follow the two things at the same time because we can listen and read at the same time. We can listen and speak. We can listen and right so it's not a question of it's not as if we're not able to do that. We're actually definitely more than it capable of doing it. But then again, we don't necessarily have to listen and understand the film. I mean in the case of the film, than it would be nice. But what about listening to the radio in the morning? You could turn on the radio and listen toe a radio broadcast in Arabic and could be with Arabic music. You know, you're waking up, you're a bit dreary. You think seven am? Why am I in the kitchen? And then all of a sudden, Arabic music comes on in your your start dancing around. You don't know what's being said, but you know at some point that you're going to understand what's being said because you're exposing yourself to the language. But you're not aware initially immediately of what is being said, and you don't understand it, but you will acquire it because you're being exposed to the language. Just as we were his Children, we were taught. No one stood next to us, telling us what they song men in English. We started listening to it. We started imitating the sounds. We started singing ourselves, probably annoyed. I parents because we sang it all the time and then we acquired the information and that is how we were also able to do it as well. Now the thing is and I'd like to stress this, you have to combine the two. You can't possibly just do passive learning and expect, like from so sign from above that the language is going to fall into place. It won't not like that it will. However, if you combine it with passive pack passive learning with active learning where you're actively going about during your scheduled during your day to day of picking up, even if it's just picking up a few votes of a bit. Volk up a few words in the morning on then combining it with a passive activity. And this is where I'd like you to start thinking about this. Now we have an activity in the workbook I think is actually the work. Yes, exactly. So it's page number seven on. I'd like you to, if possible. I've just come up with a few activities here that weaken dio. I'd like you now to take this time while I'm speaking and think about three activities you can personally do toe help your active learning on day three again three activities in how you're able to come up with activities that you conduce in a passive way. So, as again, as I said before, the emphasis is on how to a client information without doing in an active way without going out there and actively engaging the attempting to acquire the information and to retain it now, in the process of why you're coming up with these ideas and going to jot down a few things here on the white board of how I would like to how I usually go about my day in acquiring active and passive on, I fill my day with active and passive learning. Matthew, if I like my son is learning, Imagine right now. So I haven't read me a book learning Sure, if easy fishing speaking most definitely That would be, if you ask me that from you would be would be passive. Your son is instructing you and he's not asking you about the vocabulary. So you're you're listening to Europe being exposed to the language on without necessarily questioning what you've understood. If you ask them what you've on the stud thing, that would be a way of combining passive and active. And it's also something that I've come up with the first activity, which would be to learn a grammar rule during breakfast. That might sound a bit, too, really. But you've made your questions or whatever, and you've got a grammar of one rule that you'd like to look at this morning before you go to work or you go to the gym, whatever on while you're doing that Now, some people might perceive this as a distraction. But listen to the news on the radio. Or, as they said, listen to some music. Have the on in the background become aware of the sounds of the language. You're familiarizing yourself with the sound, the rhythm, the structure of the language. Because even if you're not listening, I mean how Maney was listen every single second to the news broadcast or toe a song. I mean, even the best thing that we'll see this later with music is we know songs that we don't like there so many songs that I don't like, and I know the lyrics to just because of the exposure. And sometimes I genuinely wish I'd never then often but unfortunately I have. My parents used to listen to music I hated as a kid. Funnily enough, I now like but remember, he is a kick thinking like why? And now awful enough, I like it. But there are other things were into it I don't like, but, you know, just because you're exposed to it, you're the amount of exposure that you receive equates to the ability to be able to recognize and to pick up on the information and to retain it. I'm as anyone come up with an online or who are here that they'd like to share with me. Sandra, um, I wrote down like reading in a newspaper article. Yeah, as active. Yeah. If you If you're looking for the vote, Captain, definitely. I mean, definitely. And would you and how would you fit a passive act? Passive activity into your your daily routing? Listening to music? Yeah. Listen to music. That's great. Great. So here, for example, we can have something simple as well. You can complete a short lesson. And as I said before, the great thing is about language learning nowadays is you don't have to spend an hour completing a lesson. Let's say in this case we complete a shot lesson if on the app for 10 to 15 minutes there are lessons that we complete on and up that will take 10 to 15 minutes. All of us have 10 to 15 minutes when we're commuting to work going home on the way to the cinema to meet friends on the way for for dinner in the evening on the weekend. We have so much time that we're able to incorporate this into our in tower. It's our daily life, Andi, If I may I would like Teoh. Now I'm not sure if this is hope this will work. I would like to show a an example of how we can literally spend. I won't spend 15 minutes doing it, but how we can, how we can go about acquiring information for a mere few minutes a name in a language that we're learning. So, for example, if we go to the bubble up and then we can also we can start learning with our without up we can do and have chosen the beginner's course. Once I've kept it really simple on da Are we need to do is so we're on here. One home when we've gone to the courses and we select beginner's course one. And then we're going to start with the very first lesson which is sell you sever. Hello. How's it going? Start. And within the 1st 3 minutes, we have Messi. And then we can actually called ourselves doing this. So we're able toe check our pronunciation, Maxie. Okay, so they did it wrong. I have to speak with them or French accident and instead of a Quebecois recognizes over. But we can go through this constantly. Maxie may have way on dunk. Okay, so we have fine, young, young, and we can go through this waken, actually, so it's simpler. You don't have to feel intimidated being on the train and speaking into your phone and everyone's looking and going like, What's he doing? You can take this function off, but it's also great because you received feedback on your pronunciation. Like, how am I saying this right? Um and ah, this inevitably So we have these this usually section of three words and we learned toe read them. We learned to hear them, and then we actively have to put them into the into the rubric. So I'm just going toe come out of this one here? Yeah, about learning in general. Yes. Hollis was wondering. I'm curious to know if Matthew thinks it's best to learn one language at a time. I'm setting friends who would like to drill down on my Spanish and start in on some Portuguese as well. Is there any drawback to doing this, or is it actually good to? Is it going to be good for me? This is a great question, and it's something that I engage in a lot. I really like learning different languages at the same time, so I don't mean that you're gonna learn on Monday at 9 15 till 9 languages at once? No, But what I mean is that you can incorporate learning different languages into the same day into the same week. There's no reason why you can't part different languages in in your timetable. The only thing is that this is something that will be looking at in the minutes. So I don't want to delve into this topic too much too soon. But it's definitely advisable, and it does pose certain, not restrictions. But it does have certain elements that we have to be aware off. That's also that is more time consuming than one language on the possibility, and this is also something we'll be delving into. Is is how to become aware to separate which language. So if I'm learning two languages that that are related to each other than a for me, from my perspective. And this is something that I would like Teoh give you all a za thought is to always emphasize on the positive side of things. So if you're learning French and Italian that which the languages that are closely related, then don't feel intimidated by that they're actually similar. Be happy that they're similar because if you understand one thing in Italian, then very likely you're very likely going to be able to understand exactly the same. Infringe or vice versa in Spanish in Portuguese because there are intrinsically linked with each other. So to answer the question after the most definitely most definitely, and it's a very pleasurable activity. And we also wanted to know if you could share Maura about how babble works exactly. Yes, so another lesson you could Yeah, sure, So I'll go into this now. So the great idea about Bubble is that, as I said, it's designed for people that want to learn anywhere they want, wherever they want and how they want. So you can learn at home with your computer. You can learn on your tablet like him doing now, or you can learn on the goal as well with your phone so you could be sent anywhere in a park, waiting for the boss, waiting for the train, waiting for your friend, whoever wherever. And you can simply use the time that you have free, too review to redo on to learn a new lesson. So in this case we have the very beginnings course, which is the beginner's course, one for French through English, and I'd like to point out as well that you can learn babble as well. You don't have to speak English is your first language or your major language. You couldn't learn through seven other different languages, so we can easily take this course as well. I thought it would be nicer to show in English, but if you want, I could show us how to learn French and Portuguese. Maybe we'll do that talk. You've been talking to it now, you know, if you wanted to show that So for example, if we go through way, have the part one and then we have the part two and then we have a review and the review is really, really important because it's the building. Is that the essence of language learning? You have to acquire information and then you have to review what you've already learned is something that we're going to know that we refer to as, well, a space repetition is something that will be dealing with later when we get to the techniques. But a ZAY said so Basically, if you go back to the 1st and they're a consists of, we have a core vocabulary off. 77 Sorry, six words and sentences. And then I think he's gonna make me to say Massey again. Yeah, I got my wires crossed. Can't talking about how exactly So I'll show you allow Charles disabled the speech recognition in a bit, and then we can We can go into looking at the at another course, but this lead now this takes me to the very important exercise and What we've just been discussing now is to organize our time effectively. So I was speaking of active and passive. And here, for example, another great way of passive is it doesn't always have to be listening to stuff. We can also read stuff. We could even read a book and we could listen to the audio book. We could listen to the original version in English so you could start reading Harry Potter, for example, in in Russian. And then you could listen to the audio book in English, and then you're looking at it, and then you're you know, you have the English version there, and then you're going through, and then you realize that word means that maybe, and then you go through that again, and then you're acquiring new vocabulary on. As I said, you're not. Maybe the focus isn't one toe. Understand that this word in Russian means that because you already know in English, you already have the ability to because you have the English translation, the English version. But it's to get used to the to be surround yourself with the language