Language Learning Tools for Auditory Learners…
Everyone assumes that Language Learning is easier for auditory learners than for folks with other learning styles.
This might be true, but since only about one percent of people learn best by listening, odds are this mythical ease of learning doesn’t apply to you.
The reason that auditory learners don’t hold a huge advantage in learning languages is that learning a language consists of more than listening skills.
Language learning also requires:
- Knowledge of the concepts and meanings of the words
- Producing sounds and gestures
- Understanding the culture of the speaker
- Paying attention to body language
These skills are more hands-on (tactile, kinesthetic) than they are auditory.
In addition, language learning involves conscious and unconscious processes, particularly processes that relate to habit formation. Speaking in a smooth and fluent manner requires many automatic responses that are composed of complex habit strings.
Besides, auditory learners tend to translate as they go, a process that only slows understanding and communication.
In order for auditory learners to develop the habit of producing language, they have to listen to themselves as they form the sounds of the target language.
It is not an accident that infants and small children babble endlessly. And, auditory learners can increase their ability to produce language (without translating in their mind) by spending time babbling (in private, of course).
Recorded materials work better for auditory learners than for other groups, as long as the materials are:
- In the learner’s own voice
- Built on reinforcement theory (such as the Pimsleur Method) where verbal responses are “chained”
Unfortunately, commercial materials are very expensive. A set of Pimsleur CDs can cost between $250 and $600+ USD. (This is for a full program. The less than $20 mini-programs are almost useless for real language learning.)
Instead, auditory learners can record their own materials (using either a tape recorder or voice recorder, or their computer).
Auditory learners should also say the words out loud (instead of just mentally saying them) when they are studying flash cards.
Also, auditory learners needs to learn to take notes in a way that allows rapid review since they tend to get bogged down by…
- Trying to memorize by repeating
- Remembering every word (Because words are important to them)
And, sustained practice is more important than any advantage that learning by listening can provide. Learning a language benefits more by 10 minutes or practice every day than by 140 minutes of practice, once a week.
Whatever our learning style, be sure to practice your target language every day.
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