The Linguist On Language

There is a point of view amongst language teachers that learners should only use monolingual dictionaries in the language they are trying to learn. Al of my experience argues against this point of view..

I am neither a classroom teacher nor an interpreter. If I were I would own monolingual dictionaries. But I am a language learner. I do not study dictionaries. I learn from content. I have done so for over 40 years. My shelves are ful of foreign language readers with glossaries which give simple translations of words into English. To me these are mere hints of the meaning. Only after meeting these words in many contexts do I learn how to use them. I do not want lengthy explanations of new words, nor unrelated examples of the words in use, nor synonyms nor other, to me, irrelevant information. I want a quick hint so I can get back to trying to figure out the meaning of what I am enjoying reading (and often listening to). A dictionary does not define the meaning of words. Usage does. A dictionary just reports on different examples of common usage at the time of printing.

Language learning is, to me, a fuzzy logic process. We can try to learn words and rules deliberately, but mostly we learn incidentally, from listening and reading, as we get used to the language. The content needs to be interesting, in order to keep us motivated. Thanks to online dictionaries, MP3 files etc, I can alternate between easy texts and difficult texts, I even recommend doing so. The meaning of what I am reading is sometimes unclear. There are contexts which I do not ful y understand. But I do not ask why, because I know from experience that it al becomes clearer eventual y. The important thing is to continue the exposure to content of my choosing. In that task the quick hint based on the experience of my own language is most effective. Using a monolingual dictionary in the language I am learning is less efficient. I have tried. And in language learning efficiency is the great accelerator, the great intensifier.

Language learning is a hockey stick

Progress in language learning is like an upside-down hockey stick. During an initial period of study you actual y progress quite noticeably. From not being able to say anything, you al of a sudden can actual y say something in the new language. You can even understand or read something in the new language. Wow!

That is the first steep growth period. That is the blade of the upside-down hockey stick.

Most learning material is directed towards this first stage. You cover the usual subjects like the train station, the bank, the post office etc. However, you still cannot carry on a conversation.

You stil cannot function at the train station, bank or post office. In a way you have an ornament and not a useful tool.

It is the next long stage of language learning, the shaft of the hockey stick, that is the most difficult. There are so many words to learn. Many important words and phrases do not appear often enough to be easy to learn. Instead they are just easy to forget. It is during this period Steve that you need interesting content to keep you going. You need lots of exposure to the language, listening and reading. You need a systematic way of accumulating and retaining words and phrases. You need practice in writing and speaking. This is a long road.

If what you are reading and listening to is interesting, you keep going. It is your interest in the subjects of your reading and listening that keeps you going. Read widely. Read in your area of professional interest. Also read novels and literature. Gradual y you start to notice these new words and phrases more and more. Natural y, and ever so slowly, you start to use the new words and phrases and they become a part of you.

Dogs

1) We used to have a dog, a cross between a Labrador retriever and a Springer Spaniel.

His name was Tank. If he was chasing a bird or a squirrel, he would run through thick bushes and come out the other side of the bush, al bleeding. It did not matter. He wanted the bird (which he rarely caught).

2) The biggest factor in my wil ingness to study any item of content is not how easy it is, but how interested I am in the content. I wil attack even items with a relatively high percentage of unknown words, if I am keen to understand what the content is all about. If it is just some article, or story, that I am required to study, I find it hard work.

3) In speaking a new language, I do not worry about how I sound in the language, nor how many mistakes I make, when I am intent on communicating with someone for real. If the communication is artificial, either with someone who knows my language, or in an artificial "role playing" setting, I become more self-conscious. It is not real. I do not see the bird that Tank used to see.