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Questions about
Spain?
Write to David at:
dbolton99b@yahoo.es
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Should we learn as
children do? |
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There are some language teaching
methods that are based on the idea that when adults begin a foreign
language, they should try to learn it as children do during the first years
of their lives. In such books, often no explanations are given in English;
everything is explained - albeit in a simplified fashion - in the target
language. Grammar usually isn't stressed much. Instead, there are a lot of
pictures with accompanying texts, conversations, etc. The teacher who uses
such an approach speaks exclusively in the target language. Naturally,
concrete situations which can be easily recognized by the students are used
as settings for these conversations, for if more abstract areas were dealt
with, it would be extremely difficult for the students to follow what is
going on.
The rationale behind this type of method is that children learn their native
tongue without recourse to grammar, or even reading and writing. Rather,
they learn by listening and repeating.
If it works for them, why shouldn't it work for adults?
I personally don't like this approach for two reasons:
1) Adults' brains don't work exactly like those of children. When you
consider all that a child learns in the first four or five years of life, it
becomes obvious that a child's brain is decidedly more "absorbent" than that
of an adult. I'm certainly not qualified to explain the scientific reasons
why this is so, but my own observations make it plain to me that children
are almost always more open than adults. Their minds are much more
receptive for all they encounter. Also, they are relatively unfettered by
inhibitions. Many adults, for example, are afraid of trying to speak in a
foreign language, for fear of sounding ridiculous. Children, on the other
hand, are seldom so inhibited: they simply speak out, and if it's not quite
right, they probably don't even realize it, and don't care much anyway!
2) The advantage the adult has over the child is the fact that he/she has
developed a superior capacity to reason, as well as to analyze. When we try
to learn a language the way children do - by simply seeing, hearing, and
repeating, with no attempt to analyze why things are said in certain ways -
we rob ourselves of the chance to use one of our main strengths, that is, to
logically sort out how the language is structured, how the rules of grammar
are applied, the precise differences between the target language and our
native one, and so on. If you know the verb tenses in Spanish, for example,
it's much easier to learn them in French, Italian, or even in German, since
you have a better idea of what you're looking for. If you wish to say, for
instance, "I will have dinner in the city tomorrow", you know you need to
use the future tense, and if you have taken care to learn the verb tenses
well in your new language, this information will be readily retrievable.
This is not to say that I don't approve at all of "total immersion" methods.
On the contrary, I feel that "submerging" yourself completely in a language
(preferably by living in a foreign country for a while) is almost a
necessity if you really want to advance quickly, and to eventually master
your new language. However, I feel that in the beginning (if possible,
before taking a trip to another country), you should learn the language's
basic grammar, using a book that explains everything in your own tongue.
This way, you will grasp the fundamentals of grammar much more quickly.
Even when you are in another country, and are (hopefully) spending a lot of
time conversing with the natives, you will want to have a good grammar book
back in your room, so that you can study different grammatical constructions
you heard during the day, and compare them to English (should that be your
own mother tongue). After all, there will be many times in the beginning of
your stay in the other country when you will think something in English, and
will want to then transform it into your target language, so doing
comparative studies of the two languages will make it easier for you to
convert what you wish to express from one language to the other.
When you are living in a "total immersion" setting, you will have many
opportunities to pick up new words and expressions the way children do, and
this is fine. Just don't deprive yourself of all the help your adult,
rational, logical mind can give you in your quest towards acquiring a new
language: after all, you have spent all of your life developing these facets
of your mind, so it would be a shame if you didn't put them to good use!
And now... have you ever asked yourself:
20)
How long will I need to learn a
foreign language?
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