The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2005

seeing them every day, everywhere she looked, solidi- fied the concepts in her head. The learning consul- tant service at FSI offers a test to help you assess your learning style, and can also offer suggestions on what study techniques best match your style (see p. 52). Get musical! How many times have you turned on the radio and listened to a song you last heard five or 10 years ago? You know all the lyrics, or at the very least the refrain. Anyone who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s can probably recite the preamble to the Constitution thanks to “School House Rock.” Music has a way of sticking with us, no matter what the words or concept. Find songs — and their lyrics — in the language you’re trying to learn, and listen again and again. Children’s songs sometimes work especially well: because they often tell a story or are designed to teach about a cer- tain topic, the words are useful and simple and thus easier to learn. And get creative yourself. Make up your own song or poem to understand a concept or remember how to conjugate a verb. Find some rhymes or make up a tune, and you’ll remember better. Another helpful hint: use mnemonics. Do whatever you can to remember vocabulary words. In Russian, F O C U S J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 Nine Simple Rules for Language Learning 1. Realize you are not alone. 2. Discover your learning style. 3. Get musical. 4. Use mnemonics. 5. Find a study partner. 6. Make a tape. 7. Repeat it all. Repeat it all. 8. Take a breather. 9. Keep up your enthusiasm. UNIVERSITY OF MI SS OUR I PRESS www.umsystem.edu/upress 1–800–828–1894 “Fascinating” Behind Embassy Walls The Life and Times of an American Diplomat Brandon Grove “When American foreign policy is working well, you’ll find a few top-quality diplomats like Brandon Grove employed in the nation’s service. Behind Embassy Walls explains why. Here are the sights and sounds, the clashes of ideas and egos, in a fascinating foreign service career vividly depicted.” —George P. Shultz “Diplomacy is the first line of national defense; and if you want to understand the things our diplomats actually do for the safety of our country, there is no better guide than Brandon Grove’s Behind Embassy Walls. In addition, Brandon Grove makes a solid contribution to recent history with fascinating characterizations of leading diplomatic players.” —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 352 pages, 25 illustrations, $34.95 An ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Book