Authentic materials

• Instead of traditional text books, try reading newspaper articles, novels, poems, comics, recipes and other “real” texts. What kind of texts do you really need in life? What kind of texts do you read in your mother tongue?

• Remember, that you can do plenty of things even with a small vocabulary. Use your common sense and try to guess what ads, signs and newspaper headlines mean. Don’t be too tied to the dictionary but try to deduce meanings from the context.

• Find radio channels you can listen to and tv channels you can watch. You can find them on the Internet. Make a daily habit of listening to the (online) news in the language you are learning. Start your EOTO meeting by reviewing what has happened in the world since you last met.

• If reading in the target language feels difficult, try this: Read a newspaper article first in your mother tongue and then find an article about the same topic in the language that you’re studying. Compare the texts. No matter how much of a beginner you are, you can try to infer the meaning of the words by looking at the pictures and the headlines of the articles.

• In advance, decide upon a topic that you’re going to discuss in your next meeting and write it down in your blog. Thus, you can prepare for the discussion by learning the vocabulary and reading texts connected to the topic.

• Show each other the best 5 web pages that you like to read in your mother tongue. Why are they so good? Which links would you recommend to your partner?

• Google for different online forums and chats where you can discuss current topics in your EOTO language with people around the world!

• Agree on different routines. For example, write each other a daily Whatsapp message in the language that you’re learning, or by using different languages. At the beginner’s level, you can just write how you are and what you’ve done/what you’re going to do. If you are on more advanced level, you can write about deeper topics such as your studies, your future plans and world politics.

• Write different types of texts in the language that you’re learning: text messages, post it -notes, formal and informal emails, work applications etc. Think about what kind of texts you really have to write and what kind of writing skills you need the most in your future job.

Case: How to study with the movies?

Watching films is a good way to learn about the language and culture.

You can learn the target language in many ways before, during and after watching a movie.

NB! It is more effective to focus on one language at the same time. Thus, in one meeting, you can watch a movie in one of the languages, and in another meeting a movie in the other language. 

See two example paths below, how you can use movies to learn your target language. You can utilise these examples to create your own learning path: 

• Learning path 1
  • Before the movie: Read a Wikipedia article about the movie or the actors/actresses and pick useful expressions and vocabulary. Make a list and use a dictionary, if needed. (About 1 hour)
  • During the movie: Watch the movie with subtitles. Spot words and expressions that you recognise. Pay attention to the pronunciation: How are the words and expressions pronounced in the movie? You can ask your study partner to repeat them. (About 1,5 hours)
  • After the movie as a homework: Use the movie as inspiration for writing! You can write, for example, a Whatsapp message to your friend and tell briefly about the movie and why your friend should watch it. (About 1 hour)

• Learning path 2:
  • Before the movie: Prepare yourself for the movie by reading about its theme, director, and actors/actresses. (About 1 hour)
  • During the movie: Watch the movie without subtitles. Write down good expressions and new words that you hear as you watch the movie. If needed, you can stop the movie once in a while and discuss it. (About 1,5 hours)
  • After the movie: After the movie, you can look for movie reviews in different languages and discuss how you felt about the movie. (About 1 hour)