Sentence expansion drills can be done by yourself or with a native speaker of the language and are one avenue to practicing the language in ways that build upon the knowledge you already have. The name does much to explain this drill, but the basic idea is to start with a core simple sentence and then to expand it one part at a time. This is best understood if demonstrated so you might start with a simple sentence and proceed like this:
- I eat food.
- I eat food with a fork.
- I eat food with a fork at a restaurant.
- I eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant.
- I eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant with my friends.
- I often eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant with my friends.
This is all pretty simple, but when you are beginning to learn a new language and to understand how the structures of the language work, this can be an intentional way to practice and give yourself a lot of repetition.
How It Works
You can do sentence expansion drills in a lot of different ways. The simplest is to just have these sorts of conversations with yourself about the things you see around you.
You could also do this drill on paper. This allows for a bit more reflection on the process and the ability to go back and check your sentences with a native speaker.
Another great way to do these sorts of drills is to do them with a native speaker. Explain what you want to do and then start by making a simple sentences. Have your native speaking friend add one new component. Then you add a component. This interaction allows you to get immediate feedback and clarification and will keep the sentences more real. If you add something that sounds funny to a native speaker’s ear, they’ll let you know.
However you do the sentence expansion drill, they can be a great way to get some regular repetition with new words and grammar forms of the target language.
Have you ever done sentence expansion drills in your head as you go about your day?
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I actually have done this sort of thing at random, e.g.: how do I say this? and then that’ll remind of something else, so then I say ok how do I say THIS, then that’ll remind me of something related. Not exactly the same, but similar.
Great exercise though, I’ll give this a shot.
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew,
I think it is a natural thing we do as learners to have these sorts of conversations in our heads throughout the day. I think the drill just sort of brings a bit of intentionality to it all. Also, when you do it with a native speaker, you can really tease out the nuances of how the different elements of the language can be used. In English I think of a simple adverb like ‘quickly’. You can move it all over in the sentence – but not everywhere.
-Quickly I ran to the store.
-I quickly ran to the store.
-I ran to the store quickly.
X-I ran to quickly the store.
By doing this sort of drill, the learner is allowed to explore and experiment and to learn.
I’d love to hear your experience after you give it a try.
Aaron
Aaron, it’s such a simple and natural exercise but seems like it would be very effective. I’ve never thought about trying this method and am excited to use it. Thanks a lot man!
Kevin,
Thanks for the great comment. Simple is good isn’t it? I like most of all that you can do this one alone or with a native speaker, allowing you some great opportunities to get good practice anywhere. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
Aaron
[...] In my last post, I introduced a simple drill called the sentence expansion drill. I received a lot of good feedback for this activity and so in today’s post I want to introduce [...]
It’s a great tip for beginners. Thanks a lot for sharing!
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