The importance of patterns in Language Learning

Do you remember your second grade year, when you were supposed to find the next shape in a pattern, or the missing number? For languages, it works exactly in the same way.

For TLH teachers, patterns are a great way to speed up the learning process.

Patterns are a sequence of logical events, for which you can predict how a similar verb would be conjugated, or how an article, adjective and noun need to AGREE in gender and number. Is this Chinese to you? It is normal, because certain grammar rules do not apply to English, or because you might be confused by what an article actually is.

Because grammar is hard (maybe it has always been, maybe you never really studied it, maybe it is just a remote memory), applying patterns makes more sense than explaining the actual grammar.

Let's take, for example, the verbs conjugation. Everyone studying a Latin language would tell you that conjugation is the hardest thing to learn. We, at the Language Hub, could not agree less. Conjugation of regular verbs is very predictable. Once you learn how the verbs change in the present tense, you can conjugate any regular verb in the present tense. Same for the past, future, conditional, or even subjunctive!

Yes, you can argue that there are many verbs that are irregular and therefore unpredictable, or difficult. True. As a matter of fact, I still remember the pages long list of irregular verbs in English, that I was forced to memorize like a poem. Exceptions do happen in languages, but there are a number of ways to memorize more easily (Read the blog on "The power of visualization").

Working with patterns allows the students to understand the sequence. You learn it once, and you can apply it to hundred of thousands of words, or sentences, to create infinite combinations.... until you find yourself speaking, without even realizing how you got there.

Are you ready for some PATTERNING? ;)