If you are a beginner you need a teacher.

Here is the podcast (including a mostly word for word reading of the following text)

So far, most of our learners at The Linguist are intermediate and advanced learners of English. They are people trying to improve their English. They want to speak English better, write English better or understand English better. To do all of this they want to increase their English vocabulary. Fine.

Soon we will start a new chapter in The Linguist as we offer our multi language version. We will be looking for Beta testers for different languages by the way. We will also be looking to people to provide us with natural authentic audio and text content in a variety of languages.

But here is a fundamental question. What about beginners? Don't beginners need a teacher to explain the language, to teach the grammar? What if the new learner starts to speak incorrectly? How will the beginner figure out the meaning of even the easiest content items?

My answer! Beginners do not need teachers. Beginners and teachers have nothing to say to each other. They can only communicate in a language other than the target language.

The beginner needs to listen and read and build up vocabulary. The beginner needs to relate or link the new language to what he/she already knows - another language. So with the help of translation the beginner begins to form relations to concepts, usually in his/her own language, but eventually between sounds, words and phrases in the new language. The learner starts to discover the language, without relying on someone else's explanation.

By sticking to meaningful and interesting content, graded for difficulty and related to what the learner already knows, the long road of language learning can begin. The learner becomes increasingly familiar with a new language, first hand. And with The Linguist the arduous task of learning all those words will be made easier. Gradually the learner will start to apply what he/she learns, when he/she feels like it. And yes, there will be mistakes. At first there will be many and then fewer.

Comments

[Ethan Poole]

It's be sweet to be able to test the Linguist for Spanish...

I am not sure that I entirely agree with you here. I have taken Spanish class since second grade (I live in Florida). However, while I did not become fluent in school, I effectively learnt quite a bit of vocabulary and grammar.

This learning methods made me an excellent written translator, simply because this is how we tended to practice grammar and vocab. I was not a fluent level of speaking or reading, but I could produce a perfectly translated piece.

I became fluent via watching TV, reading tons online, and using it as much as possible. Actually, now in Spanish class (at the advanced levels) we learn new vocab in a whole new way. We have a vocab list based around some reading in Spanish, usually a piece of classic Hispanic literature. I've found this to be very effective and much more interesting.

But, a teacher is really nice for a beginner. You just get a basic grammatical understanding, a small vocabulary, and some experience in the language. You will not get fluent via this method, obviously, but it is a nice way to build a foundation in a language. It isn't necessary, but certainly a viable approach to beginning to learn a language.

[Tomás Lucas]

Hello Steve,
If you need Beta tester, real audio and text in Spanish, we could contact and chat on it.
I'm from Madrid (Spain).
Thank you and good luck in your new challenge.

Hola Steve,
Si necesitas un testeador, audio o textos en español, podríamos contactar y charlar sobre ello.
Soy madrileño (España).
Gracias y buena suerte en tu nuevo desafío.

[Edwin]

Steve,
Thanks for the enlightening article. You got me thinking there.

Just need a bit of clarification. When you say a 'teacher', you mean a human being that is supposed to 'teach' you, right? I suppose beginners still need some language text books or resources to start off with. Or do you think these are unnecessary too?

[Steve Kaufmann]

Edwin,

I am being a little extreme, perhaps. The beginner needs short easy texts in audio and text, and translations of these texts as well as access to a dictionary giving translations in her own language. As he progresses the texts become longer and more difficult and the need for whole translations disappears. However quick reference to an online dictionary like Babylon is needed. in the Linguist the words that are looked up collect in a personal database where a lot of good things start to happen to help the learner remember the new words.

[Ken]

My first French teacher was a specialist in French phonology. She saw my interest in attaining a really good pronunciation and gave me some helpful pointers and exercises. But I agree with your basic premise. Language classes are a waste of time. We must be responsible for our own learning.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Tomas,

We will need Beta testers who are learners of the languages they are testing.

On the other hand we would be really keen to get Spanish content from you. An interview with your neighbour or a recording of your thoughts on anything you like, or anything. This will earn you points towards content in the language you are trying to learn.

When we are closer to Beta testing I will explain the concept in more detail in a podcast.

Gracias por tus palabras de apoyo.

[patrick]

Hello Steve

I'm excited to learn that there will soon be a multi-lingual version of the linguist.

I'd like to know when will it be happening? And what languages will be included?

I thank you in advance!

Patrick

[Seré]

I am native English speaker who really enjoys this podcast and witnessing the evolution of the linguist system. I have a personal interest in learning Spanish and Portuguese to the degree where I can communicate, comprehend and have some level of fluency. I have a tendency to agree with the principles of the linguist system. I find these podcasts very valuable in understanding how people naturally learn. Having this understanding gives an individual the tools necessary to get information in a way that is effective.

So if you're a beginner do you need a teacher? Sure, as long as you realize that your teacher(s) are your resources. As a beginner you need resources that are effective. You need content that is of interest to you, to facilitate your natural ability to learn. I really look forward to the multi language future of the linguist, and hope to participate as a beta tester as well.

-Seré

[gabriel]

Hello

If you are learning english, the best way in my opinian is the time that you apply for your study. You must spend good time reading even if you don't understant, those complicated text you can translate, through this way you will increase your vocabulary, than your english will be better and your ability in comunication will only increase.