Despite what the marketers at Simon & Schuster say in their advertising and at the end of every Pimsleur recording, there is no way you can learn a language by simply listening to a new 30 minute lesson every day. You can gain some confidence with a few useful phrases for vacation or business travel, perhaps. But it takes quite a bit more to learn a language. Nevertheless, the Pimsleur recordings are a valuable rallying point.
I just bought and read Dr. Pimsleur's posthumously-published "How to Learn a Foreign Language", now available as an e-book. It's short -- he may have intended to make it longer but he died before it was completed. Be that as it may, it contains some very useful advice that's in alignment with my own philosophy about language learning. On the topic of whether language learning is easy:
"... learning a language is a serious commitment, and if one's aim is to speak it comfortably ..., this is likely to take the equivalent of six months of full-time study."
He goes on to say that to become fluent, one would need significantly more effort including time spent immersed in the target language. However, he points out that not everyone wants full fluency. For people who might be dismayed at the idea of making a serious time commitment, he notes:
"They should reflect on the fact that one year from today they will be one year older whether they undertake this learning task or not. The only question is whether, on that day, they are going to be well along toward mastering the language that they have dreamed of knowing, or whether it will still be only a dream."
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Positive and Negative
I haven't posted in a while, but I have been working on Greek daily! In my personal experience, I think that familiarity with other languages really helps with learning. I know Spanish (low intermediate) and German (high intermediate) and have some shallow experience with other languages as well (Latin, Italian, French ...)
Positive: I'm already familiar with some grammar points that would be new to me as an English speaker. For example, in Greek the subject pronoun can generally be left out because that information is included with the verb ending. That is, katalavaino (καταλαβαίνω), not ego katalavaino (εγώ καταλαβαίνω) unless there is a need to emphasize the pronoun explicitly. That is familiar from Spanish.
Both Greek and German have masculine, feminine and neuter nouns (with adjective endings to match) and I can remember that "girl" and "child" are neuter in Greek because that's also true in German. Greek, consistently, also treats "boy" as neuter. And a quick check with Google Translate shows that, like German, Greek treats baby animals as neuter (kitten, puppy, duckling, calf, foal, lamb, etc.).
I also absorb some words quickly thanks to knowledge from other languages. For example, the Greek word for "beans" is fasolia (φασόλια), which is similar to the Italian fagioli. I don't know much Italian, but I do know how to make "pasta fazool"!
Negative: I am struggling with some words because in my mind they're already connected to the opposite meaning. In informal German and archaic English, "nay" means "no". In Greek, nai (ναί) means "yes". While I have thoroughly learned this as a rational fact, it's not 100% at the language-speaking level. I can use the correct word when needed, but I still sense a slight hesitation. This effect also bleeds into my absorption of the word for "no". I also have a problem with the word for "there" (εκεί) because it's similar to the Spanish word for "here" (aquí).
As a teacher, I can use this experience to help my English learners, especially those who speak Romance languages. Highlighting similarities between our languages really does help with vocabulary learning. Drilling has a place, especially with stubborn words. And I see firsthand why wait time (giving a learner a second or two of extra time to formulate their response) can be helpful at first. But I can also see reducing wait time with language that should be familiar in order to discourage mental "translation"!
Positive: I'm already familiar with some grammar points that would be new to me as an English speaker. For example, in Greek the subject pronoun can generally be left out because that information is included with the verb ending. That is, katalavaino (καταλαβαίνω), not ego katalavaino (εγώ καταλαβαίνω) unless there is a need to emphasize the pronoun explicitly. That is familiar from Spanish.
Both Greek and German have masculine, feminine and neuter nouns (with adjective endings to match) and I can remember that "girl" and "child" are neuter in Greek because that's also true in German. Greek, consistently, also treats "boy" as neuter. And a quick check with Google Translate shows that, like German, Greek treats baby animals as neuter (kitten, puppy, duckling, calf, foal, lamb, etc.).
I also absorb some words quickly thanks to knowledge from other languages. For example, the Greek word for "beans" is fasolia (φασόλια), which is similar to the Italian fagioli. I don't know much Italian, but I do know how to make "pasta fazool"!
Negative: I am struggling with some words because in my mind they're already connected to the opposite meaning. In informal German and archaic English, "nay" means "no". In Greek, nai (ναί) means "yes". While I have thoroughly learned this as a rational fact, it's not 100% at the language-speaking level. I can use the correct word when needed, but I still sense a slight hesitation. This effect also bleeds into my absorption of the word for "no". I also have a problem with the word for "there" (εκεί) because it's similar to the Spanish word for "here" (aquí).
As a teacher, I can use this experience to help my English learners, especially those who speak Romance languages. Highlighting similarities between our languages really does help with vocabulary learning. Drilling has a place, especially with stubborn words. And I see firsthand why wait time (giving a learner a second or two of extra time to formulate their response) can be helpful at first. But I can also see reducing wait time with language that should be familiar in order to discourage mental "translation"!
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