Faculty department

Educational websites

Students can download practice exercises and access learning tools such as digital flash cards on educational websites. If a specific verb conjugation is proving to be difficult for a student, for example, he or she can search for ‘X exercises’ online and get a variety of ways on how to use the grammar concept.

Videos
Online videos, such as structured language learning videos available for free on YouTube or simply something of interest to them, are extremely helpful for students to improve their comprehension skills. Be sure to look for videos that are produced by a native language speaker!

Future technology

As technology continues to advance, foreign language learners will benefit, as they will have more tools and methods to help advance their skills. Technology in general is seeing a lot of movement towards AI and this absolutely applies to the language learning space, as well. For example, Glossika, a linguistics company using AI for language learning, even claims that a language beginner can become fluent in just a matter of a few months with daily 20-minute lessons. Glossika CEO Michael Campbell credits the success to the combination of AI and a systemic approach to language learning stating, “Fluency first, vocabulary second– fluency is the ability to manipulate all the parts of a sentence at will. You then use these sentences to add vocabulary and improve expression. You will continue to learn vocabulary for the rest of your life, but fluency can be delivered in a matter of weeks.”

With technology so integrated into our global society and the ever-present requirement for cross-cultural understanding and language learning, language learners will only benefit from the wider array of tools available for them to advance their skills.

Is Understanding Culture Essential to Learning a Language?Learning a language goes beyond memorizing words and basic grammar rules. Just because you know how to say ‘lemon’ and ‘glass’ in French, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to order lemonade in a coffee shop in Paris. In fact, you may be surprised by what you get instead!There’s more to building a conversation with a native than you read in a dictionary. That’s why you can’t try learning a language outside of its cultural environment.Understanding culture is like having a context that allows you to give the right meaning to each new word you learn. The more you know about the sociocultural background, the easier it is to get involved and learn new words, expressions and ways of speaking.Culture is essential to learning a language well enough to communicate with natives. In fact, most universities and even high schools invest in exchange programs to allow students to learn languages in the right environments.