Hello. My name is Duncan Brown and I am an English Facilitator, here are some of my thoughts about learning English.
Chicken or Egg?
You may know the saying, “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” and know the scientific answer, it’s the egg. In this case, I’m using the phrase as a metaphor, the meaning of which is, it’s not clear which comes first and which should be first.
Q & A or A & Q
When learning English, do you learn questions first, or answers? You need to understand the question before you can answer it, but you also need the words to answer. Questions are a huge part of English conversation and are essential for learning more.
However, you can discover words (or the answer) without a question being asked. For example, if I hold up an apple and say, “apple”, you infer the word/answer is apple. After learning the answer, the question word can be learned by lifting an object and asking, “What?”. The question word becomes the answer to your question. Easy?
Many ways to ask and answer
Communicating through gestures, drawings, objects, and simple explanations answers questions, albeit slowly and sometimes inaccurately; words are better. Difficulties in communicating can be overcome with modern technology, but this isn’t always accurate; usually, the old ways are better to learn.
In my lessons with free conversation, new words are usually introduced. When the student asks, “What do you mean by OO?”, I explain in simpler English. If that isn’t understood, I may draw a picture, badly! When that isn’t understood, we look up the word in Japanese and choose the best translation in context. It’s more memorable trying to work out what is being said and making notes than quickly using a translating device.
Just a few words
For beginner English learners, I believe learning questions, answers, and statements are the first steps to acquiring the language. Starting with “What?”, one-word answers “Apple”, and statements to help learn “I understand/I don’t understand”. From these few words, you can increase your vocabulary, communicate with words and actions, and show if you know or not.
Questions, answers, and statements
For us which comes first, the question or the answer? Yes, they do, and a statement too. Confused? Ask me a question.
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