The Linguist - language learning should be fun

Portuguese - - a new experience

This weekend I decided to start studying Portuguese again. About two years ago I bought some beginner books on Portuguese, Teach Yourself and Colloquial. I went through them both but never really got into the language. When I went to Portugal I did not understand much, although I could sort of read the newspaper.

So this time I went to the Portuguese Store in LingQ. There is not a lot of content there. What there has been created by Mairo, a member from Londrina in Brazil. I downloaded about 15 minutes worth of his material. For the last 3 days I have listen many times to Mairo and his girl friend Ayla. I am getting the rhythm of the language. I have saved words and phrases that I need. Since Portuguese is similar to Spanish I can read. I am reading The Witch of Porto Bello in Portuguese. I had bought the book in Portugal last year but never really got into it.

What I can say is that I am enjoying Portuguese. I am enjoying the casual and friendly tone that Mairo brings to his podcasts and recordings. I am happy not to have to deal with text book content. I am getting a rhythm from listening to Mairo, and some key vocabulary , that gives me momentum when I read Coelho's book. I am at about page 75 in the book and really enjoying it.

Granted that I am not starting from scratch in Portuguese, but this is the way to go. One day in the near future I will talk to Mairo or some of our other Portuguese members in Portuguese, but I am in no hurry. I have lots to learn yet. And I can do a lot of it just by enjoying my listening and reading and vocabulary review a LingQ.

I have not stopped my Russian, I am just taking a break. I think it will be good for my Russian.

The Linguist Convivium - Japanese

How I saw The Linguist community three years ago. From my book, published 2003.

外国語の学習方法

コンビビアリティ(自立共愉)

ここまで読んできてもうあなたは学習が学校の中だけでするものではないということがおわかりになっただろう。学習とは他者や自分を取り巻く世界から知識を得たいと欲する個人によってなされるものである。私がリングイストとして成功したのは言葉に対する興味を掻き立てられたこととキケロいうところのコンビビアリティ―国籍や言語に関係なく人生を分かち合うために他と共にあることを楽しむこと―を追求してきた結果である。

人とコミュニケーションをしたいという欲求と結び付いた自主的な態度は世界中で多くの人々が共通して持っているものである。世界は潜在的リングイストに満ちており、かれらに必要なのはただ自分の能力を伸ばす最良の方法をみつけることだけである。あなたはその一人だろうか？

著名なオーストリア人のリングイストであり哲学者のイバン・イリイチは「専門家」に支配される正規の教育システムに代わって学習の“コンビビアル・ウェブ（自立共愉的学習ウェブ）”を創ることを提案した。このコンビビアル・ウェブというのは自立した精神を持つ人々が形式的な学校教育よりもっと効果的な方法で学び知識を分かち合える資料を提供してくれる非公式の共同体というものであった。イリイチのビジョンは時代に先行するものであったが、インターネット時代でどのように外国語学習を組織付けるかのよい参考となった。

コンビビアルな（自立共愉的な）外国語の学習環境とは実際にはどのような作業が行なえるのだろうか？ 今日、インターネットは、多様で常に増大している外国語の内容のコレクション、つまりフィクション、ノンフィクションの広い分野のテキストとともに、異なる言語の異なるライフステージにいる現実の人々に対するインタビュー、を提供している。これらはオーディオ形式でもテキスト形式でも手に入れることができる。オーディオの方はダウンロードできるし、テキストはウェブサイトで読むことができる。オンラインの辞書や、単語やフレーズの特製のデータベースは語彙の学習に大いに役立つ。さらに、現代技術は効果的で実践的な発音や作文訂正などをも可能にしているのである。“The Lingusit”のウエブサイトはこのようなチャンスが得られる唯一のシステムである。

インターネット上に、インスタント・メッセージやEメール、ボイスチャット、ビデオチャットを通じて、他の学習者やネイティブスピーカーを会員とするコミュニティを作り上げることができる。また、会員はネイティブスピーカーの指導を得て、或いはそれなしに、様々なイベントを企画することができる。このような共愉的な学習共同体では、事を率先するのも自ら言葉を発見していくのも学習者次第である。 このようにして早く、またもっと楽しく学習できるのである。 

私はよく学習者からお勧めの特別な学習プランはどんなものかと訊かれる。「毎日何をしたらいいんでしょう？」「どんな単語を覚えればいいんでしょう？」などと。道教と日本の品質管理を結び付けることだ、というのが私の答えだ。

自分を信じ自分の興味に沿ってやること。自分の興味のあることを追求すれば動機が生まれる。聴いて、観察して、真似をして、できる限りその言葉に接することによって学んでいくこと。ここまでは道教の部分である。しかし自分のしていることを測定しなくてはならない。目的を達成するためのコースにちゃんと乗っているかどうか確かめるためにはインプットとアウトプットを測る必要がある。

インプット（文法ではない）

語学の学習者としてあなたのしたいことは新しい言語で楽に自己表現をすることだろう。これは確実に達成できることである。しかし自己表現できるためには新しい言語を吸収していなければならない。外国語を吸収する方法は大量のインプットしかない。意味ある考えを伝えることができるまで充分にその言葉を吸収しておかなければ使いこなすことはできない。言葉の取得にあたってまずやるべきことはインプットに集中すること、そしてその外国語を学ぶ期間の大半をこの熱心なインプットに当て継続することである。その言語が自分にとってかなり楽なものになるまでは文法的に正しいかどうか考えることは第二義的なものだ。

外国語を取得するのに最もよい方法は私が「エンジン」と名づけたこと、即ち強力な相乗作用のある三つの基本的な外国語学習の活動、聴くこと、読むこと、単語とフレーズを体系的に習得すること、である。本章で「エンジン」の機能について述

The Linguist Convivium - English and Chinese

Where are we headed at The Linguist? You can read an excerpt below in both English and Chinese from my book, published in 2003. This will give you a sense of our philosophical direction regarding education. We have not changed our basic concept, but the means of delivering it are getting more exciting all the time.

Our goal is to take advantage of the power of the Internet to create a powerful "convivial learning community" covering the whole world and all languages.

Things are evolving quickly so it is a bit of a moving target. Some of the obvious benefits of the Internet are

1) Ability to distribute and access multimedia information at low cost without reference to geography. Call it the iTunes model. We will use that.

2) Ability to customize features, learning content, learner profiles, activity records, achievement records etc. not just to proficiency levels, but right down to individual learners. We use that.

3) Ability to find the exact quality of service and product at the best price from anywhere in the world. The elance model. We use that.

4) Ability to offer product customized to customers evolving interests. The amazon model. We use that.

5) Ability to conduct auctions. The eBay model. We use that.

6) Ability to build communities of people with similar interests. We use that.

So there is no simple answer to your question. Just watch us.


如何学习语言

学校……学生……被学校集体训练成分辨不清教导与学习，进步与教育，文凭与能力……
伊凡˙依里奇（1926 – 2002），教育家，着有「没有学校教育的社会」（1973）等书。
欢聚
每个人在学习的时候，都要决心从其它人身上及周遭的环境当中去增广见闻。这并不需要非学校不可。我之所以能够成为语言家，是因为我对语言的兴趣，及追求西塞罗所谓的「欢聚」-- 享受与人同聚的欢乐时光，因为这些人与我们分享生命，不管他们讲的是何种语言。
这种独立自主的态度，再加上人类想要与人沟通的欲望，在全世界都十分普遍。这世界充满具有潜力成为语言家的人，只要他们能找出一个更好的方法把这种能力开发出来。你是否就是其中的一个呢？
奥国著名哲学家及语言学家伊凡˙依里奇，提出了「欢聚学习网」的创见，亦能取代被「专家们」所支配的正规教育系统。「欢聚学习网」是一种非正规的社群，能够提供各种资源给具有独立精神的人去学习并分享知识，这比起那些正规的学校教育要来得更为有效。依里奇的这种愿景很有先见之明，同时它也强烈地暗示着在互联网时代，应该如何去组织语言的学习。
「欢聚学习」的环境该如何在实际中来运作呢？今天，互联网上提供了各式各样的语言学习素材，还有真实人物的访问，并且是使用各种不同的语言， 同时还有涉及各种不同主题的读物，包括小说类及非小说类。所有这些内容采用了有声及文字的形式，你可以由网站下载这些录音并在网站上阅读原文。在线字典和客户化的数据库可以有效地帮助你提高词汇量。此外，现代技术还可以提供发音及写作更正的功能，效率高而且非常实用。语言家就是一个提供了所有这些功能的系统。
在互联网上， 学习者可以建立属于会员自己的社区，在这里他们可以彼此沟通，也可以和讲母语的人对话。沟通和交换信息的途径很多，你可以利用在线短信、电子邮件、聊天室、影像聊天、甚至面对面的聚会。每个时段并不一定都有讲母语的指导老师，全靠成员自己积极主动去组织安排并且自我发现语言的乐趣。用这种方法你可以学得更快，而且更有趣。
很多学生都要求我为他们量身度作制定学习计划。“我每天要学什么？”“什么样的单词我应该去记？”他们会这么问我。我的答复则是把道家的态度和日本的质量监控手段结合起来。
你必须靠你自己，追寻你的兴趣。如果你有兴趣，则会有动力。尽可能地沉浸在语言里，去听，去观察，去模仿。这是道家的态度。同时你一定要评估你已所学的。测评你输入了多少，结果如何，保证你按计划实现你的目标。这， 就是质量控制的手段。

注意输入而不是语法
身为一个语言学习者，你会希望自己能够随心所欲地使用新语言去表达自己的意思。这是可以实现的目标。但在你能自由表达之前，需要输入新语言。通过大量的输入你才可以吸收语言。在你掌握了大量的、能够用来有效沟通的元素之后，你才可以使用这种语言。所以要学好语言，你必须首先专注于输入，很长的时间内你都要坚持做到这一点， 直到你对这种语言觉得很自信了，语法的完善是第二步。
听、读和系统地学习单词和词组，这三项学习活动我称之为“发动机”，籍此语言可以学得很快。“发动机”的运作原理将在本章详细解释。

Conviviality
By now you understand that learning does not only take place in a school. Learning is done by individuals who want to acquire knowledge from others or from the world around them. My own success as a linguist has been driven by an interest in languages and the pursuit of conviviality in the sense that Cicero meant it - enjoying the company of others because they share our lives, regardless of their country or language.
This attitude of autonomy, combined with a desire for human communication, is common to many people around the world. The world is full of potential linguists who only need to find the best way to develop their abilities. Are you one of these people?
The famous Austrian linguist and philosopher Ivan Illich proposed the creation of convivial learning webs as a substitute for the formal education system dominated by “experts.” These convivial webs were to be informal communities which provided resources for independent-minded people to learn and share knowledge in a manner that was more effective than formal schooling. Illich’s vision was ahead of its time but it gave a strong hint as to how language learning could be organized in the age of the Internet.
How can a convivial language learning environment work in practice? Today the Internet can offer a varied and constantly growing collection of language content; interviews with real people in different walks of life and in different languages, as well as texts on many subjects, both fiction and non-fiction. This content is available in audio and text format. The audio can be downloaded and the text can be read on the Internet. Online dictionaries and customized date bases for words and phrases greatly assist in vocabulary learning. In addition, modern technology makes available pronunciation and writing correction systems which are effective and practical. The Linguist is just one system that takes advantage of these opportunities.
On the Internet learners can create communities of members who can communicate with other learners and native speakers using instant messaging and email, voice-chat, video-chat or even face to face meetings. Members can organize different events, with or without native speaker coaches. In this convivial learning community, it is up to the learners to take the initiative and to discover the language themselves. In this way they learn faster and more enjoyably.
I am often asked by learners to recommend a specific plan of study for them. “What should I do every day?” “Which words should I learn?” they ask. My answer is a combination of Taoism and Japanese quality control.
You must rely on yourself and follow your interests. If you follow your interests you will be motivated. You must learn from the language as closely as you can, listening, observing and imitating. So much for the Taoist part But you must measure what you do. Measure your input and measure your output to make sure you are on course to achieve your objective. That is the quality control part.
Input not grammar
As a language learner, you want to learn to express yourself comfortably in a new language. This is certainly achievable. Before you can express yourself, however, you need to absorb the new language. You can only absorb the language through massive input. You will not be able to use the language until you have acquired enough of it to be able to communicate meaningful thoughts. To acquire the language you must focus on input first, and continue this commitment to input for most of the period of your language study. Until you are fairly comfortable in the language, correct grammar should be a secondary consideration.
Language is best acquired by using what I call “the engine”, a powerful synergy of three essential language learning activities; listening, reading, and the systematic study of words and phrases. The mechanics of the “engine” will be described in this chapter.

Learning Japanese

Cliff Kwok, in a comment to my blog, asks about my experience in learning Japanese. Cliff has read my book in Chinese and would like to know more about how I learned Japanese in 6 months.

I learned Japanese in Japan. I had a very preliminary exposure to Japanese in Hong Kong before moving to Japan, while still in Hong Kong in 1970. For about two months I exchanged English and Japanese lessons over Chinese lunches twice a week with a Chinese speaking Japanese diplomat, Mr. Ohara. (The next time I saw Mr. Ohara he was on television interpreting for Japanese Prime Minister Sato on his visit to China in 1972). I also bought some books and tapes on Japanese but the texts were very poor. Essentially I arrived in Japan without any significant knowledge of Japanese.

However, I knew Chinese characters. The most important decision was my determination to pull out all stops and devote myself to learning Japanese during the first 6 months of my stay. I cannot repeat enough that attitude is 70% of the battle in language learning.

I was working full time at the Canadian Embassy so I had to spend my free time listening to and reading Japanese. I just did a lot of it. As soon as I was able to say a few things in Japanese I would use it whenever I had a chance. However, mostly it was constant listening and reading that started to condition my brain to Japanese.

I worked hard on pronunciation. Japanese was now my fourth language, and in a way my sixth, since I had spoken little bits of European languages while hitch-hiking in Europe. As a result I had a range of sounds in my brain that was much wider than the average monolingual student attempting Japanese. Japanese pronunciation was not difficult.

There were difficulties. The words all sounded the same. Some of the structures were completely new and strange to me. I had to learn two new writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana. The meanings of some of the Chinese characters were different from Chinese, and they all had at least two different pronunciations. But as in all language learning, only exposure can overcome the strangeness of a new language. You grow accustomed to what at first seems difficult only through constant input overload. As usual I ignored any attempt to analyze or explain the structure of Japanese. I just observed how the language worked, how the words related to each other, and I imitated.

I was not fluent after 6 months, but certainly able to communicate in many situations. If language learning is a journey, and it is, there is no destination. You will not achieve perfection. However, you can constantly improve. It is most important that you enjoy the journey. I did. I enjoyed learning Japanese. I still do. I still listen and read Japanese. I still try to add new phrases and words to my usable vocabulary. I try to make my Japanese effective for the purposes for which I use it. That does not include the latest slang nor erudite expressions.

Excerpts of my book in English,Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish are available at www.thelinguist.com. The book can also be bought at the site.

Book excerpt: Phrases

The Importance of Phrases

The principles of Chinese grammar are different from English. I deliberately ignored explanations of the theory of Chinese grammar because these theoretical explanations made no sense to me. Instead, I just accepted the various structural patterns of sentences in Chinese as normal. I knew that with enough exposure they would start to seem natural to me. I found it easier to learn the structure of a new language from frequent exposure to phrase patterns rather than trying to understand abstract grammatical explanations of that structure. I realized in studying Chinese, a language so different from my own, that the fundamental component I had to learn was not the word, but the phrase. Language skill consists of spontaneously being able to use prefabricated phrases and phrase patterns that are natural to the native speaker and need to become natural to the learner.

Phrases are the best models of correct practice in a language. Certain words naturally belong together in a way that the learner cannot anticipate but can only try to get used to. When words are combined in the natural phrases of the language they achieve force and clarity. It is not grammar and words that need to be learned, so much as phrases. New vocabulary is more easily learned together with the phrases where it is found, and even pronunciation should be learned in the form of phrases. Phrases, however, cannot be easily learned from lists. Rather it is when the same phrases are  frequently encountered in  audio and written contexts and then systematically studied and used that you are able to retain them.

Book excerpt: interesting content

Once you reach the intermediate stage you face the longest and most demanding part of your task. You now want to achieve breakthrough to fluency. You need to move from being able to say a few things in a limited social setting to being able to use the language as a practical means of communication in a variety of situations that you do not control. To do this requires a commitment to reading and listening to a great deal of language content. If the content is interesting you will enjoy the learning process and do well. Artificial dialogues and uninteresting “learner” content soon outlive their usefulness. Fortunately I was able to move to meaningful content quite soon in my study of Chinese.

The first novel I attempted to read without the help of a word list was Lao She’s novel  “Rickshaw Boy”, a human and sympathetic description of life in Beiping, without the bitterness that I found in the writings of Lu Xun and others. It took a long time to finish the book but I felt very satisfied when I completed it. There were many words that I did not know. Mostly I avoided looking them up in a dictionary so that I could enjoy the book.

There comes a point in language learning when you have to read a full length book in the new language. In most language learning programs the learner is conditioned to deal only with short excerpts. Completing a full length book is like climbing a mountain. Nowadays, with electronic texts, it has become much easier to struggle through authentic material, look up the meaning using dictionary software, and save words and phrases for systematic learning

Reading and Vocabulary Growth

Intermediate readers can be useful as long as you are interested in the content. Unfortunately most learners are not given much choice....

After about four months, I read only authentic Chinese content, mostly using readers which had specially prepared vocabulary lists. The subjects varied, from history to politics to literature. Suddenly a fascinating world opened up to me in the original language. The wonderful Yale-in-China series, “Readings in Contemporary Chinese Literature” offered a wide range of essays, plays, political commentary, and short stories by leading writers, thinkers and political figures of early 20^th century China.

Book excerpt: Creating your own language world

Exploring Languages at Home

Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window,
you may see the ways of heaven.
                – Laozi

It is always easiest to learn a language when you are living in a society that speaks that language if you take advantage of the opportunities that surround you. However, a new language in the real world can be difficult to understand. People may talk too quickly or use words that even the intermediate non-native speaker does not understand. You may feel hesitant in certain situations because you are not fluent. This can be stressful.

In these cases I have always found it useful to create my own world of language, a world of meaningful language content for me to listen to or read without pressure. Until I mastered Japanese, and even as I was living and working in Japanese, I still sought out advanced Japanese readers with meaningful content and vocabulary lists to read. I also listened repetitively to interesting tapes to gain greater confidence in using certain phrases and words.

I still listen to interesting material in languages that I speak fluently. I take advantage of time that is available while driving or exercising or doing chores around the house. There is an increasing availability of high quality audio books which can be easily enjoyed using the latest in portable listening technology.

In situations where you are studying a new language away from the native speaking environment, it becomes essential to create this personal language world. This is what I have done in

Vancouver

over the last twenty years as I sought to improve my knowledge of languages that I had been exposed to earlier but could not speak.

A World Apart

When I lived in

Hong Kong

I was not in a Mandarin speaking environment, but I listened to and read a limited number of texts: history and cultural books, modern literature, and tapes of comic dialogues. These became like old friends and provided the core of the vocabulary and phrasing that I needed to use in my communication.

Communicating with this imaginary world was easier than communicating with the real world, since it was readily available and under my control. This friendly world of my own exploration was a great source of strength in preparation for the real test of communicating with native speakers.

In 1512, Niccolo Machiavelli was briefly imprisoned and tortured by the Medici family, then withdrew to a simple country house outside Florence . During the day he talked and played cards with the local people, but at night he changed into formal clothes and withdrew into his study. There he communicated with the ancient historians through books, and wrote one of the classics of Western literature, The Prince. Machiavelli is an example of how we can communicate with a culture through reading or listening, even if we do not have daily personal contact with the people.

While living in

Vancouver

well past the age of forty, I was able to make great advances on the learning I had begun in German, Swedish and Italian. I had some previous exposure, but certainly did not have fluency or confidence. For each language I had to commit myself to a concentrated period of listening to comprehensible audio material and reading texts with vocabulary lists.

At my home, I have at least fifty readers for German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish. I purchased these readers because they all have vocabulary lists so that I could avoid using dictionaries. Unfortunately much of the content of these readers was uninteresting to me, but it was the only content that I could find.

What I was only able to do through great effort is made easier and more effective today. Using modern technology, vast amounts of content can be turned into accessible learning material. You can seek out content that is of interest to you, and learn the language from it. The independent learner is more independent than ever before.

The Linguist book: Excerpt

I am going to post a few random excerpts from my book over the next few days. This book is entitled " The Linguist, A Personal Guide to Language Learning." The book is available in print form in English and Chinese and in e-book version in French, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

Fish traps exist to capture fish.         
Once you've got the fish you can forget the trap.         
Rabbit snares exist to capture rabbits.             
Once you've got the rabbit you can forget the snare.   
Words exist to capture meaning.       
Once you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.            
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?       
I'd like to have a word with him!       
– Zhuangzi, 4th century BC

THE ATTITUDE OF A LINGUIST

Just Communicate

Our ancestors created language in order to communicate. What a glorious invention. The ability to express our thoughts through language is what distinguishes us from animals. These great ancestors of ours did not have grammar or perfection in mind when they developed the first language, just the desire to get their meaning across. It may seem obvious, but to become a successful linguist you have to want to communicate in another language. People who are good at learning another language have a goal in mind, to communicate. That means to get to know people of another culture, not just to learn the rules of a new language as an academic subject .Unfortunately the emphasis on second language education in our school systems has caused many language learners to lose sight of this essential reason for language learning. In my own case, it was only when I became motivated to connect with a new culture and people that I was on my way to becoming a linguist.

Not all people are interested in meeting people of another culture and language. My wife Carmen and I were recently on holiday in California. When swimming in the hotel pool we heard the unmistakable sounds of people speaking Canadian English. There were two couples from Ottawa staying at the same resort. We joined them for a drink that evening. Interestingly both the wives spoke French and Spanish as well as English, but one of the husbands, an apparently successful businessman, was adamant that learning to speak languages was unnecessary. To him the important thing was to have good ideas. “You can always find a translator” he maintained.

I argued with him that human achievement, including business success, depended on communication. No matter how brilliant an idea, it needs to be communicated effectively in order to influence people. Surveys of employers consistently show the ability to communicate to be the most sought after characteristic in new employees. But remembering Zhuangzi I did not try too hard to enlighten this man. Obviously learning languages was not in his nature.