Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tips for Elderly Foreigners How to Learn English as a Second Language (ESL)

General Introduction of Why Learning ESL is Vital…

Learning another language besides your native language is a challenging thing to do, especially for elderly foreigners who are currently living in the United States. There are several factors indicating why they hesitate to learn another language as following examples:
  • They are too busy working to support their family or relying on their children for translation.
  • They might not have a solid background in education.
  • Their memory has been declined due to old ages.
The above factors do not seem to matter anymore if they live in an English speaking country for more than 5 years and plus because they'll find out and realize how important to understand English in America. Indeed, limited English skills in either writing or reading will lead to loss of opportunities in America, and it is a big disadvantage when looking for jobs and getting quality medical care or integrating better into society.


Several Tips to Get them Started...

There are many ways to learn the English language; however, this blog will provide some tips for adult foreigners to start the learning process when they are too busy working or don’t know where to begin with.
  1. According to page http://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/traintec.html, "Studies by educational researchers suggest that approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually..." Therefore, visual-aids and imagery can help to stimulate motivation in language learners by using flash cards to learn letters from A to Z along with the help of visual aids like images or pictures. When they have mastered the letters A to Z, they can move on to learn the word by using flash cards to memorize it.



  2. For busy working adults, attending night classes will help them on how to read, write, and pronounce the words correctly, and it's an appropriate way to study with experienced instructors. For people who live in Saint Petersburg Florida, please visit Tomlinson Adult Learning Center at http://www.tomlinson.pinellas.k12.fl.us/esol.html for night and day classes. They are free of charge!


  3. Encouraging your adult relatives and foreign parents to join certain social clubs to play some fun games, share the laughs, and speak out loud are an effective technique to communicate with native English speakers. This is good for elderly adults that want to learn by picking up from conversations.


  4. Additionally, attending a Church or Temple is one of the methods of finding out sources for learning quick ESL from the others.


  5. Non-native elderly people usually have a difficult time when involving in a conversation about their health issues. When visiting a doctor's office, you should recommend them to ask the physician to pronounce or write out their health problem. Then when it comes to medication, you should suggest them to communicate with the pharmacists by explaining what is the medication for.

  6. If they are familiar with computer or Internet, encouraging them to go online and search the web for interactive ESL online tutorials.

Language is a tool of communication in daily interaction; thus, learning English when living in the United States is necessary and a way to success.


Video Clip...

Here's a short video clip stating certain methods on how to learn ESL for adult learners. Please be patient, it will take a while to load.

Extra Resources...

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