The Linguist - language learning should be fun

Krashen revisited: Reading and Listening.

Here is the podcast: Download Krashen again

Stephen Krashen is controversial. I do not agree with all of what he says. But there is a lot of common sense there, backed up with research. This list of comments about reading is worth looking at. Here he talks about the connection between reading and spelling. Here are some studies that talk about the importance of listening. Here is a discussion about to "teach" listening skills.

I believe that we waste a fortune in training teachers in various skills related to teaching reading, listening, spelling etc,. We should be looking at how to enable learners to spend more time reading and listening to things that they find interesting. As Manfred Spitzer said in his book, the brain is a remarkable learning machine, much better at forming its own rules and recognizing patterns, than absorbing theoretical explanations. Reading and listening should be fun. If we like it we will do it.

Learning styles and Twitter

Here is the podcast
I believe we all learn the same way, but that we have likes and dislikes. Different people like doing different things to learn. Rather than worrying about whether people are auditory learners or visual learners etc. we need to provide the greatest possible range of content and materials and help people learn the way they like to learn. Most of all we need to find ways to keep learners turned on. The enthusiasm of the teacher is important.

I talk about his here, and I question the role of Twitter. I am not against it. I have signed up. I just do not see myself following all these people and reading short messages about what they are doing. But I am willing to learn.

How to become a good language learner?

Here is the podcast

I think I can say that I am a good language learner. I speak 11 languages and have a good head start on a 12th, Korean. I have observed a lot of other people learn. Other than the obvious need for strong motivation, and the opportunity to use the language, I think there is one absolutely key element that is often ignored.

That key element is the willingness to accept uncertainty, vagueness, imperfection. Most people seem to want to nail things down when they learn. I think that accounts for the popularity of certain podcasts and other content that is not at normal speed and is not authentic.  I think that is why people enjoy Michel Thomas and Pimsleur with their English content. I think that is why people want explanations, most of which they cannot remember or apply.

I have always wanted to get to authentic, native content, as soon as possible. I would never want to listen to something like ESL Podcasts if I were learning another language. Yet these are far more popular than our own EnglishLingQ Podcasts, where Mark and I just ramble on at normal speed.

I am prepared to listen to things and read things that I do not fully understand, in the knowledge that this will lead me to understand and feel the language faster and better and more solidly, than trying to understand everything and get expanations.

So I think the key to successful language learning is to accept uncertainty vagueness and imprefection, for a long long time, and to enjoy it. Maybe that is just me.

Esperanto and French immersion

Esperanto was developed to be a neutral international language, an alternative to the dominance of one language. French immersion is a popular way for English speaking school children to learn French. I have been asked to comment on these and so here goes.

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Language learning, literacy, advocacy, job protection and what works.

I believe that language learning and literacy learning are closely related. I am sure that I will get criticism over the following but I welcome it. I want to learn.

Here is the podcast

" In the USA at least 30 million, and arguably 93 million, adults would benefit from
additional literacy instruction, and that the system today can only serve
approximately 3 million adults through combined federal, state, and
philanthropic funding.”  according to ProLiteracy, a major US organization devoted to improving literacy.

Their website sets the tone. "We need more funding" " Poor literacy costs the economy money" "Literacy education goes hand in hand with social change" and other slogans and exhortations. It appears there are many organizations committed to literacy learning, and they attract a lot of funding. "Advocacy" would appear to be one of their main activities. (See also the website of the National Coalition for Literacy.)

93 million people out of 300 some odd million or so Americans would benefit from literacy instruction. Wow! You cannot accommodate these people in class rooms. That has to be close to half of all adults in the US!

I suspect that most "literacy programs" do not have much of an impact. Based on my experience with language learning I suspect that literacy teaching is no more effective than language teaching.

I am convinced that LingQ would help, at very little cost. I have not been successful in interesting anyone in the literacy establishment because they are more motivated by advocacy than in finding solutions that can be more effective and less costly. I have asked them to look at LingQ to see if it could be adapted to the needs of the literacy campaign. I have told them that it could be used free of charge. I have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not interested because I am "for profit" and/or because I do not have the requisite academic credentials.

In praise of passive vocabulary

I have heard people say that they can only learn a word if they use it. I do not agree. I know far more words passively in my foreign languages, than I use actively. There is nothing wrong with that. I enjoy my listening and reading and feel that understanding what I hear and read is essential. I do not mind struggling to find words when I speak. I find that the more I listen and read, and review my words and phrases, the greater my passive vocabulary, and therefore the greater my potential active vocabulary. When I have more opportunity to speak, I find these passive words gradually migrating over into the active category. Here is the podcastDownload Passive vocabulary

Beginner language content, introductions and the like.

What kind of content do we need when we start learning a language? Can we learn how to introduce ourselves, or what to say in a restaurant, at the train station and other such situations?

I do not think so. I do not think this kind of content is necessary, although there is nothing wrong with it. It really depends on what the learner is interested in. The point is that the learner needs to get used to the language through a lot of exposure. The learner is unlikely to remember a set of phrases for different situations. As soon as a real person talks back, the learner is usually lost. So what to do?

Download Introductions or watch the video.

Comparing different language learning systems.

Pimsleur, Assimil, Teach Yourself, Michel Thomas,Colloquial, Berlitz, Hugo, Rosetta Stone and many more. There is no shortage of language learning systems. What do I think of them? Here is a podcast on Learning systems

Here are two videos.

1)

Cultural weightlessness and language learning

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In my book The Way of the Linguist, A Language Learning Odyssey, I talked about the need to get outside your own culture and not resist the language you are learning.  Here I get into more detail on this subject, so important for language learning success, much more important than having an "ear" or "talent" for languages.

So here is a video about lazy language learning

Download Lazy language

I did not mean the post on advice for lazy language learning to be demotivating. Here is a video on it.