Language learning activities
Activities for class time
The Abrid method has many creative, fun activities to be used in class in the teacher’s book for each level. If your teacher is not using them, you should ask them to do the activities that correspond to each lesson. Remember, you are in charge of your language learning. You may need to read the teacher’s manual for each lesson to prepare and direct your teacher to do the supplemental activities. The teacher’s books are found on the website under the course title for each level of the course. They are also a good resource for explanations of things you might not understand.
Activities for personal study time
1. Vocabulary
Flash cards- Using an app or analog, make your own flash cards or use ones that are already made (See links tab on the website). Put signs on objects around the home. Make a subject dictionary listing all words to do with one area (ie health, kitchen, transportation, etc) together (sometime associating words in this way helps with remembering) On the Abrid website, two VERY helpful resources are:
Common Verbs: https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-abrid-books/ and
95 useful phrases with audio: https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-books/
2. Comprehension
Watch films and other video resources in the language.
The Listening Exercises book from the Abrid series is a good tool for this.
There may be youtube channels/TV stations where tamaizght is spoken. Ask your neighbors or pay attention to what they watch.
Have someone record phrases or stories for you to listen to.
On the Abrid website:
Common Verbs: https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-abrid-books/ and
95 useful phrases with audio: https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-books/
3. Fluency
You will want to listen to and practice phrases until they become natural. For instance, moveable pronouns are something that need to be practiced and heard over and over to be mastered. The Abrid course workbooks can help with this. And yes, rote repetition is often needed to master certain aspects of language.
On the Abrid website: 95 useful phrases with audio: https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-books/
Dialogues
https://abridlanguagecourse.com/other-abrid-books/ You can use these with a
language helper, you can have someone record them to listen to, you can memorize them to give you fluency with certain phrases and expressions.
Workbooks/exercises
The Abrid series has a workbook with each level. Doing the exercises will help you master the material you are learning.
Pronunciation
This is hard to work on because most people are too polite to correct your pronunciation mistakes. Listening is key to good pronunciations so don’t shortchange this in personal interactions as well as using tools such as Listening exercises and 95 common phrases on the Abrid website. Before beginning language study, a script and pronunciation course such as Alif Baa is very helpful. It is for Arabic but it helps you develop facility in writing, hearing and speaking the sounds in Arabic/Tamazight. https://www.amazon.com/Alif-Baa-Introduction-Arabic-Letters/dp/1589016327
Activities for community time
Listening is a very important activity for community time. Don’t discount just being with people and listening. You will develop an ear for the language, for pronunciation and you will begin to recognize words and phrases.
The LAMP method (Language Acquisition Made Practical) is an older book, available used on Amazon or in PDF on-line at https://archive.org/details/languageacquisit0000brew . Although you may not want to use this approach as your main language learning approach, it has many helpful activities to use in the community. It will have you plan out sentences (at first), paragraphs then later, even stories that you will tell to shop keepers, friends, your house helper, your language helper. For instance, you plan how to say “This is my son. His name is David. He is 5 years old. Do you have children?” You use this with the shop keepers, the neighbors and others. People will come to expect you and your phrases and will become invested in helping you to learn their language.