That's an interesting definition of forward
thinking... my take would be independent thinking :-)
(Forward thinking to me implies a move from backward
thinking...)

--- Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> wrote:


> Forward = she jacknifed herself  out of her

> comfortable home  

> environment, despite her family's wishes and set off

> to see the  

> world...  :)

> 

> 

> On Oct 23, 2008, at 11:59 PM, Ujwala Samant wrote:

> 

> >

> > Andrea,

> >

> >>> I don't know if I

> >> told you--it was her

> >> idea to come to the US, her family wanted her to

> >> stay closer to

> >> home.  She is a forward thinker.<<

> >

> > What makes her a forward thinker? Her wanting to

> come

> > to the US? Her saying no to her family? Her

> wanting to

> > learn English? Just curious, because "forward" and

> > "backward" are such charged words... and very

> > culturally defined.

> >

> > Regards

> > Ujwala

> >

> >

> >>

> >> Andrea :)

> >>

> >> On Oct 23, 2008, at 3:47 PM, Steve Kaufmann

> wrote:

> >>

> >>> Andrea,

> >>>

> >>> Your Thai student is highly educated.

> >> Unfortunately, if she has

> >>> been at English for a long time, she has

> probably

> >> had a lot of

> >>> explanation and correction and they may not help

> >> her break old

> >>> habits and form new habits.

> >>>

> >>> I suggest she continue her intensive listening

> >> activities using her

> >>> mp3 player wherever she goes.

> >>>

> >>> She should also listen to short paragraphs and

> >> read them to herself

> >>> at the same time. Then she should try to read

> >> those short

> >>> paragraphs out loud, imitating the intonation,

> >> even if she gets a

> >>> few words wrong. In other words focus on

> >> intonation as a means of

> >>> getting more in  tune with the language. She can

> >> even try this for

> >>> short phrases. She should work on intonation as

> a

> >> priority.

> >>>

> >>> She need not play back her sound, nor should you

> >> correct her too

> >>> much. She needs to get used to hearing the

> sounds

> >> and intonation

> >>> better. The key is to get her to observe and

> >> notice the language

> >>> better.

> >>>

> >>> Her attitude is crucial. She should think that

> she

> >> is doing fine.

> >>> She needs to feel that she can do it, that she

> can

> >> train her brain

> >>> to pronounce more accurately as long as she is

> >> determined enough

> >>> and believes in herself.

> >>>

> >>> I have another suggestion that she may not agree

> >> with but which I

> >>> think would help. She should try to learn

> another

> >> language, say

> >>> Spanish. Please read my recent blog post on the

> >> power of language

> >>> cross training. If you go to this link you can

> see

> >> the large degree

> >>> of agreement that I received in the comments

> >> section. A little

> >>> effort at Spanish may open up her language

> >> learning mind. It is a

> >>> new language and a new challenge. It may seem

> like

> >> a distraction

> >>> but could help her achieve her goals.

> >>> ......................

> >>> I have taken a few days break from Russian to

> work

> >> on Italian and

> >>> German in preparation for my trip. After a two

> day

> >> break, now when

> >>> I go back to Russian I hear it more clearly, I

> >> notice words and

> >>> endings better. I am better at it, or at least

> so

> >> it seems. I have

> >>> noticed this tendency before.

> >>>

> >>> I think that language cross training works. I

> >> think everyone at

> >>> LingQ should spend 10- 20% of their time on a

> >> minor language in

> >>> order to get better results at their major

> >> language.I believe that

> >>> it stretches the brain, refreshes it, challenges

> >> it, and make the

> >>> brain better fit and more eager to engage the

> >> major target language

> >>> again.

> >>>

> >>> Any thoughts on language cross training? Has

> >> anyone had similar

> >>> experiences?

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>> Steve

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>

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> >>

> >>>

> >

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> >

> >

> >

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