MSI Press Blog

  Last Tuesday's (and a few earlier ones have focused on using islands for improving foreign language reading (and writing) very quickly. Here is a set of slides thar can be used by teachers for developing learners' skill in using islands, but they have been primarily used with teachers.  USING ISLAND S (Scroll to the bottom of the page to reach the slides. If you like, there are videos and more there also that include the topic of islands, as well as other tools for language improvement. See more posts about  language learning . See more  Tuesday tips . To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount, use code FF25 at  MSI Press webstore . Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to buy for it? (1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it. (2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed. VISIT OUR  WEBSITE  TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent rele...

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Exercise advantages the language learner in a number of ways: ·        releases feel-good endorphins ·        boosts brain activity ·        retention of new skills in memory S Read excerpt on exercise from this book. See more posts on this book . See more posts about language learning.                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  From Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Bodies that are hungry, trying to digest food at the same time that a learner sits down to study, or full of junk food that does nourish the brain do not allow the language learner to process new language information efficiently. See more posts on  this book . See more posts about   language learning.                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Excerpt from  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Affective Dissonance: Taming Emotions That Get in the Way of Learning Affective dissonances parallel cognitive distortions. Just as cognitive distortions create chaos in your studying because of wrong thinking, affective dissonance can tear down your confidence in language learning so that your performance becomes less than it could possibly be, because of wrong feeling. Affective dissonance refers to when you respond emotionally and either incorrectly or inappropriately to language learning situations. Maybe you are using reasoning that is emotional in nature. Maybe you are talking to yourself in negative ways. Perhaps you are not giving yourself enough credit, mislabeling yourself, or feeling high levels of anxiety. You can train yourself to put aside debilitating emotions. See more posts about/from  this book . See more posts about  language learning . See more  Tuesday tips . ...

  Excerpt from  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Avoid Emotional Reasoning If you are an emotional reasoner, you may get completely derailed on your journey to good language proficiency because you let your emotions rule your reason. Emotional reasoning, often lumped in with cognitive distortions (Beck, 1979), lets your emotional state, which can be a result of your academic experiences or a result of the events in your life or both, color your attitude, whether that is toward your course, your studying, your homework, your teacher, your textbook, your assignments, your classmates, or any other aspect of your academic life.   Definition of emotional reasoning Emotional reasoning feels like you are riding a roller coaster. Your performance chugs upward, then speeds downward, over and over. Under these conditions, your performance is tracking with these emotional peaks and valleys, ups and downs, and not with your study. Here are some ex...

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star WORK YOUR MEMORY  Just having a memory is not enough for good langauge learning. One just use it. Here are some ways in which you can use your memory.  Make rote memory your back-up, not your primary approach Learning "by heart" ids the least effective means of remembering anything. Yes, there are tools, such as flash cards. Yes, this is among the most popular approachces of traditional textbooks. And yes, relying on rote memory can set learners up for overload and failure. As a back-up, yes, it can provide a sense of support and be there when you need automatic and even unthinking recall, but as s business-as-usual approach to language learning, rote memory is not the business you want. Associate memory works better, and binnding works best. Take a look --    Rote memory Rote memory is what you learn without a whole lot of meaning attached. Just repetition. Of course, repetition is one of ...

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star No one uses the word, sloth , nowadays, but it is a good word. Learners who spend their time glued to a chair, couch, or bed will find themselves fighting fatigue—from doing too little. Get up, get out. Run. Go to the gym. Whatever it takes to get the blood circulating in your body, and the endorphins that come from exercising pumping through your veins. Those endorphins play an important role in learning. See more posts on  this book . See more posts about   language learning.                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .