Reviewing Second Languages--Audio and Visual Method

This week I am reviewing my Spanish, bringing myself more "up to speed."  Today I started a new approach in my review.  Working with the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, I started listening to the unabridged audio in English and reading along in an  unabridged Spanish companion book.  This way I hear the English and see how it has been translated into Spanish.

I have suggested that audiobooks and companion books are a great way for English language learners (ELLs) to build their English skills.  This was by listening to unabridged audiobooks in English and reading the unabridged companion book in English.

Now I am exploring a different arrangement.  Listen to an unabridged audiobook in one language and read the unabridged companion book in a second language.  Currently I am practicing by listening to the audiobook in English and reading it in Spanish.  In the car I am listening to the same audiobook in Spanish.  For another book, I will listen to the audiobook in Spanish and read it in English simultaneously.

This is a challenging way to advance in second languages and to put practice into practical use.

Language Tests, Language Practice, Language Learning and Review

In previous posts I have talked about the importance of maintaining second language proficiency.  Today I ordered some DVD movies in Italian from WalMart.com and was watching another DVD movie in Spanish that I had ordered from Netflix.  I have also been watching several DVD movies in French--some from my own library and some from Netflix.

I received a call today concerning a business opportunity I had applied for on October 29, 2009.  Today was the first I had heard about that application.  In the next few days I need to take a battery of tests in Spanish to compete for the position.

I had signed-up for the online language program to review my French and will now be reviewing my Spanish grammar while watching DVD movies in Spanish. 

It is amazing how many business opportunities can come forward when second-language proficiency is attained and maintained.  I am happy that practice is as enjoyable as watching DVD movies in the target languages and that these DVD movies are so readily available.