Talk Your Way into Another Language

Need to learn another language for a job abroad? Textbooks and tutors may be the worst
approach

Go into a coffee bar, sit down, relax and try to talk to someone. It may look to others as though
you are wasting your time. It may even feel that way to you. But so long as you are doing this in
a foreign country, where you speak the language badly or not at all, you are probably acquiring a
new language better than you ever could by formal study with a teacher and textbook.

The social situation, properly used, beats the classroom hollow. It is full of native speakers
asking you questions, telling you to do things, urging you to take an active part in conversation,
and using gestures freely to make their intentions clearer – just like your parents did when you
were an infant. So plunge in, all you have to do is talk back.

The proposition that infants can acquire language by prolonged exposure to them is self-
evidently true: it is the only way available to them. Older children and teenagers who move to a
different country can pick up a new language with a speed that baffles their parents. But in
adulthood we find ourselves envying our rare contemporaries who can still acquire language
easily.

There may be biological reasons why the capacity to learn languages fall away with age, even
more than the capacity to learn other things. The brain may be designed to do its best language-
learning in infancy, and then to redeploy its resources at puberty. But psychological factors play
a big part too. As we get older, we get more self-conscious, more inhibited, more dependant n
other peple’s judgement. This process may undermine our capacity to acquire language, because
language underpins our sense of personality and identity. We fear to make mistakes in it.

Stepen Krashen, an expert on second-language acquisition, makes a strong case for the
dominance pf psychological factors. Accprding to Mr. Krashen, peole with outgoing
personalities do best at learning a new language because ‘tey have the ego to make the necessary
mistakes involved in learning’.

When we want to learn a new language in mid-life for reasons of career or curiosity, we
commonly but wrongly tackle it with the sense of doing something difficult and unnatural. We
turn to grammar books and compact discs expecting a fight. We are going to ‘struggle’ with the
language. We will ‘master’ it, unless it defeats us. And with that sort of attitudes, it probably
will.

All other things being equal, the best learner will be the person who is the best relaxed in
conversation, and the most self-confident.

Exercise 1. Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-H below!
1. For adult language learners, an informal setting is better than
2. It is obviously the case that children learn language as a result of
3. Adults who have a natural talent for new languages are generally
4. Confident people learn language fast because they are not afraid of
5. middle-aged language learners are often unaware that they are
A taking a negative approach E losing all sense of identity

B demonstrating an unsual ability F producing errors in front of others

C worrying about the view of others G moving to another country

a. Passive Voice
D being in a classroom situation H living with other speakers of the
The pattern for passive voice is: S + be + V3
language
The use of be in passive voice is determined by the tenses. Briefly, the be which is used in
passive voice can be classified into 5 groups:

1. Present : is, am, are

2. Past : was, were
3. Continuous (progressive) : is, am, are / was, were + being
4. Perfect : has, have / had + been
5. Future : will / be going to + be

To determine what kind of be is needed, we should pay attention to some guidance of choosing
be in acordance with the tenses:

1. Present, if the time signals used are adverbs of frequency, such as: sometimes, usually,
rarely, always, never, often; and context of sentence showing habit or general truth.
Example:

Oxygen is distributed all over the body by the blood.

(although there is no time signal indicating present tense, the context of the sentence
shows a concept of general truth wich must be stated with present tense.

2. Past, if the time signals used are: yesterday; ...ago; last..., past date; and context of
sentence showing something happened in certain time in the past.
Example:
Borobudur temple was built by the Syailendra dynasty.
(there is no time signal, byt context of the sentence indicates that that event happened in
certain time in the pas, so the be used should be in past).
3. Continuous/ Progressive (includes Present and Past Continuous/ Progressive), if the
time signals used are: now, at the moment, at present; and context of sentence showing an
event which is still occuring at the time of speaking, or still occuring in the certain time
of the past. The concept of continuous tense is also used in a sentence begun with a
command.
Example:
- ‘Is my car ready?’
‘I’m sorry, it is still being fixed because we didn’t get the sparepart until today’
- ‘Look!’ The skyscraper is being cleaned.

4. Perfect (includes Present and Past Perfect and Present/Past Perfect continuous), if the
time signals used are: for, since; and context of sentence showing something that has
already happened, has happened and is still happening, or certain event which had
happened before one event in the past.
Example:
The mail had been delivered by the mail carrier before I left for school this morning.
A. was delivered
B. has delivered
C. had been delivered
D. has been delivering
E. was being delivered

(although there is no time signal of for or since, the concept indicated by the sentence is
two consecutive events in the past (thus, it must be stated with past perfect and simple
past).

5. Future (includes Present/Past Future, Present/PastFuture Continuous), if the time

signals are: tomorrow; next...; soon/immediately; and context of sentence showing
something which will possibly happen in the future.
Example:
‘What is going to happen with those orphans after the dissaster?’
 ‘Don’t worry they will be taken care of.

Exercise 1. Fill in the blank with the correct form of passive or active!
1. The game (win, probably) ______ by the other team next season
2. The Amazon valley is extremely important for ecology of earth because 40% of world oxygen
____(produce) there.
3. Right now Alex is in hospital. He (treat) _____ for a bad burn on his arms
4. Yesterday the wind (blow) _____ my hat fell of my head
5. This meat (must, keep) _____ in refrigerator
6. A bracelet (wear) _____ around the wrist
7. Water (compose) _____ of hydrogen and oxygen
8. That beautiful bridge (build)_____ in Soeharto’s government
9. The book is not on the desk anymore. Someone must have (take) _____ it.
10. When I arrived, the car (wash) _____.
Exercise 2. Change the following sentences into pasive!
1. She is going to make a cake
2. We started this project last year
3. They have prepared the party
4. He can operate a sophisticated machine
5. The students are discussing some topics
6. A secretary helps him to arrange his schedule
7. The government must put public interest as priority
8. She has returned the books before the due date
9. Nutritious food helps human body to stay fit
10. The director postponed the meeting an hour ago

Exercise 3. Translate the following sentences into English! Use the correct form of Passive
1. Donat yang renyah dibuat dari campuran terigu dan kentang
2. Demokrasi terpimpin diterapkan pada masa presiden Soekarno
3. Hasil penelitian telah ditulis dalam sebuah laporan
4. Hasil tes akan diumumkan minggu depan
5. RUU tentang pornografi sedang diajukan kepada DPR