Trinity Self-Instructional Language Program
Advice for Students

 You are about to undertake the study of a foreign language in a format which, in all probability, is quite different from any previous experience you have had with language study. Using special audio-intensive materials, you will be engaged in a self-instructional program, and accordingly, you are your own teacher. Self-directed learning is certainly nothing new or experimental. Thousands of students in American colleges are engaged in the self-accessed approach to language study with notable success, and your efforts will be similarly rewarded if you adhere to a few basic rules and recognize certain fundamental characteristics of self-instruction that differ from the more traditional classroom-based approaches to learning. Your eventual mastery of the language can best be assured through rigorous and conscientious attention to the following points:

 1) Never proceed to the next lesson until you have thoroughly mastered all material in the lesson being studied. Merely reading the dialogues, exercises, and grammatical explanations will not accomplish this. In order for the language that you are studying to become ingrained, it is necessary to repeat all audio material numerous times, until you reach the point at which the dialogue, exercise, or drill is virtually memorized. When you can understand and respond properly to all such text/tape material without hesitation, error, or prompting, you have begun to “internalize” the material. Your ability to control and manipulate the grammatical structure and vocabulary of the language becomes automatic, and does not require conscious analytical encoding and decoding. Using a foreign language is like deciphering a secret code. Learning a new language through frequent repetition is similar to the development of such skills as driving a car, playing the piano, or typing. (Of course, the analogy is not perfect, but the illustration is instructive.) Effective language study is based on mastery of a skill that can be perfected only through practice and more practice. The academic study of “facts” (e.g., analyzing verb conjugations, memorizing lists of words, etc.) is of secondary value in developing proficiency in producing any foreign language.

 2) The number of hours per week devoted to language practice will determine the pace at which you proceed. However, it is important to devote time to your language study on a daily basis, especially including actively drilling the audio material. Even if you cannot give more than a half-hour or so to concentrated study on a given day, it is nonetheless necessary to work with the language on a regular basis. Your control of the material will be more firmly established if you devote at least ten hours per week to working with your assigned language materials (in addition to the scheduled tutorial drill sessions). Hence, if you spend less than an hour in language study one day, you should compensate with longer study periods on following days. Under absolutely no circumstances should you relegate your language study to weekends (or any similar fraction of the week). As with swimming, dancing, gymnastics, or any other physical skill, language acquisition requires persistent effort.

 3) You cannot ignore the audio component of your language materials and expect to learn the spoken language, regardless of the time spent reading the text. The audio materials are an integral part of the instructional materials, and must never be regarded as optional or supplementary. Except for the time required to read explanatory notes on grammar and usage, you should always be working with the audio exercises and text jointly, or using the audio materials with the text closed for comprehension and response practice. Since proper utilization of the audio component is so fundamental to the acquisition of basic language skills, you are far more likely to be drilling with the audio portion independently of the text than you are to be studying the book by itself (i.e., without concurrent audio drill). Audio is at the core of the self-instructional approach to language learning. Without it, your text has very little self-instructional value. The importance of the audio materials cannot be emphasized too strongly.

 4) If, while working with your audio materials, you experience difficulty in mastering long sentences, you might try the “backward build-up” technique: Divide the sentence into short phrases, and begin drilling the final phrase. When you are comfortable with it, add the phrase (or few words) immediately preceding, and so on, until you have reached the words that start the sentence, at which point you will be reciting the entire statement without error or hesitation. When done properly, you will be able to produce the sentence fluently, without glancing at the text.

 5) During the initial stages of studying new material, it is natural for you to rely heavily on the textbook. However, your book's primary value is in preparing you for the tape-based oral/aural work. Since your objective is to speak and comprehend the language in actual conversation, you will want to wean yourself from the visual "crutch" (i.e., the dialogues and exercises printed in the text) as you become more adept at working with the taped material. Since you will not have your text in hand when actually using the language, you must be able to handle all material fluently in each lesson before advancing to the next one. Remember, the text provides the starting point for aural drill, but the final test of your control of the material is the ability to comprehend, and appropriately respond to, the audio drills without relying on visual cues in the text.

 Through serious and disciplined application of the techniques that have proven effective for thousands of students in self-instructional language programs nationwide, you can attain your objective of building a solid foundation in the language you are studying. On completion of your formal course work, your study of the language should not end. Learning to speak a language (even your native language) should be an unending process of growth, development, and refinement. However, the first steps are certainly the most important. Thus, as you begin to establish a foundation in the essential structure of a foreign language, do not ignore or skip over any of the material presented in your text and tapes. All items included in the text (and corresponding audiovisual component) are basic to mastery of the language, and must receive your complete attention and effort. Only in this way are you able to acquire the all-important basic language skills through the self-instructional approach to language study.

 For more information, please refer to the SILP website:

or contact the Director,. Dr. Stephen Field, (210) 999-7526