The Linguist On Language

I think the differences that arise wil be individual differences of attitude and learning method, not of innate learning ability, nor differences of nationality. Everyone can be a linguist if the real y want to be, and if they treat it as an enjoyable adventure.

Why I decided to learn Russian

Leonid asked, in a comment, what my reasons were for choosing to learn a new language.

So let me give them here, working backwards from my most recent learning activities. I have always been interested in Russian literature, which I have read in translation. I read The Idiot by Dostoevsky in French, as one the first ful -length novels I ever read in French, at the age of seventeen.

But I had a more specific reason. Ever since I studied Chinese, I have believed that teaching and explaining and giving questions on grammar has a negative effect on language learning. In my view, occasional grammar explanations can be helpful, after the learner has absorbed a lot of the language. However, introducing theoretical explanations at the beginning, in an attempt to describe what the learner wil encounter in the language, spoils the fun and is counterproductive. I think we learn better if we just discover the language through input, lots of listening and efficient vocabulary accumulation. We train ourselves to become observant. I guess it is like the difference between just being the passenger in a car and doing the driving yourself. If you are the driver you notice things and you remember the route.

I was concerned that this approach only worked for "grammar light" languages like Chinese or Japanese. Even though I had, in my own mind, confirmed this truth when learning German and Italian, I wanted to test it again in a "grammar heavy" language like Russian.

Perhaps I am not objective, but I did find that I could not make sense of the grammar explanations of the cases etc. in Russian, but I was able to get used to how the language works through a lot of listening, reading, and vocabulary review.

Why I decided to learn Korean

We started the Linguist system with the local immigrant population in mind. I began buying infomercial time on local Chinese language radio stations . What made sense for the local Chinese community also made sense for the Koreans. There are a lot of Koreans in Vancouver.

Korea itself is also a large potential market. Speaking the language would give me credibility.

From a personal interest point of view there were other reasons. Learning Korean represented "low-hanging fruit" in the sense that I had already learned Chinese and Japanese and could get a further return on my investment by studying the language. I also enjoyed the sound of the language. I find the male Korean language quite strong and masculine and the female version elegant and feminine. I was also intrigued by the writing system, Hangul, which is unique and quite efficient. (The official transliteration system into the Latin alphabet, on the other hand, is hopeless from the point of view of the foreigner. Fortunately, as a learner, you can essentially ignore it by relying on sound and Hangul.)

Incidentally, to me language learning confirms the French adage that ―l’appetit vient en mangeant‖. Even if moderately interested in a language, for a true language learner, the more you get into it, the more you like it. I thought Cantonese sounded ugly until I started learning it. I guess the same wil happen to me when I start learning Dutch.

CHAPTER II: NATURAL LEARNING

In most classrooms, language teaching involves instructing students in a new language, then asking them to produce the language, and then correcting them. This is not how we learn a language naturally. I believe we learn better if we discover the language on our own, with a little help from our friends. I think we retain what we have learned better if we acquire the language natural y.

Understand before you speak

Before you can speak a language you must first understand it. I like to learn a language first, before I start speaking.

Some people say that they can read and understand a language but cannot speak it. I find far more people who say that they can speak a language, and, in fact, do manage to say things in the language, but obviously do not understand when spoken to at normal speed.

I believe anyone who understands wel , and who can enjoy reading a wide range of content, and who has acquired a large passive vocabulary, can easily learn to speak if and when the opportunity or necessity presents itself. The first job in language learning is to understand. If this is done thoroughly, then speaking wil come easily. It is pointless to put pressure on learners, or for learners to put pressure on themselves, to speak before they understand.

False friends to avoid