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Intensity is the Secret | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| portunhol Triglot Senior Member United States thelinguistblogger.w Joined 6254 days ago 198 posts - 299 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (classical) | Message 57 of 87 13 April 2009 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Aren't we talking about the effectiveness of intensity? While this is not hard-core data, I think there is a reason why most of the world's top language schools mainly offer intense courses. Michel Thomas would teach for nine hours straight sometimes. I think that there is something very beneficial about going over the material and practicing it quickly enough so as not to forget it. You lose less time reviewing and can spend it practicing what you know or learning something new.
Those of you who prefer to spend fifteen minutes to half an hour a day studying are welcome to continue. If you are happy with that and don't want to change that's fine. I do think, however, that many people quit learning a language because they feel very little progress. A system that helps people progress will encourage students to use it more because progressing in a language is fun. Intensive study methods are often very conducive to this for most people. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 58 of 87 13 April 2009 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well it wouldn't convince me -- as I've said before, I think much of learning styles is about coping with poor teaching, not about an effective way of learning, but that is of course just an opinion. At the very least, it would reduce it to "agree to disagree", as i know I'm not capable of convincing anyone that my opinion on learning styles is correct. If that's the best we can hope for, I'd have to find that satisfactory... ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Steve Kaufmann Newbie Canada thelinguist.blogs.co Joined 5707 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes | Message 59 of 87 13 April 2009 at 9:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
Teaching may influence learning, but it is not a necessary part of learning, and this is particularly the case with language learning where the resources need to learn a language abound. The best way to deal with poor teaching is to cut out the teacher. in the first place. That said, a good teacher, in other words someone who can turn on the learner, is a valuable resource. Learning can and usually does take place independently of the teacher. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| icing_death Senior Member United States Joined 5863 days ago 296 posts - 302 votes Speaks: English* | Message 60 of 87 13 April 2009 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
Many people consider studying flashcards to be studying out of context. Most people who study lists and flashcards have taken them from context, just like you. It's good to keep this in mind when you criticize studying wordlists. And some people who study words out of context by your definition, Iversen for example, do just fine. I think just about everyone studies out of context. What we're really discussing is where to draw the line. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Steve Kaufmann Newbie Canada thelinguist.blogs.co Joined 5707 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes | Message 61 of 87 13 April 2009 at 11:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Many people study isolated lists of words in preparation for tests like TOEFL etc. Most of them do not get a very good return from this investment of time. That is what I was referring to by "studying words out of context" You chose to interpret this differently. Noted.
All lists and flashcards at LingQ have captured the phrase where the words occurred, and provide access to all examples from familiar contexts where this words occurs. I believe it is difficult to learn words without having met them, and more than once, in meaningful contexts. I always advise learners that reviewing words only helps them to become more observant of the language, but it will not usually enable them to "learn" these words. That is why, at LingQ, we highlight all previously saved words in yellow in subsequent texts, to remind us that we have already started to try to learn these words, and for quick access to the ,often, already forgotten meaning. There are obviously others, like Iversen, who have a different approach. Noted. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6448 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 62 of 87 14 April 2009 at 12:04am | IP Logged | |||||
I think that's a very good point. People who are against the use of word lists often talk about them as if there is no context provided, which usually isn't the case. Iversen often pulls the words he's learning straight from a dictionary, and at least with a dictionary worth anything, lots of context is given. In all of my good dictionaries, a topic will be marked with a symbol or abbreviation (healthcare, aviation, etc.); example phrases will be given (or sometimes, whole sentences). If a word has multiple meanings depending on the context, those meanings are given. Indeed, perhaps somewhat ironically, it could be argued that you can get more "context" for a word by looking at a quality dictionary entry than you can from reading one sentence with the word in it. Furthermore, in regards to verbs, good dictionaries will indicate how to use them - whether it takes an accusative object, or is reflexive, or what have you. I'll happily admit that to just learn verbs - the single word, with nothing else along with it - along with its translation would be rather futile. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6448 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 63 of 87 14 April 2009 at 12:07am | IP Logged | |||||
Have you ever considered altering how LingQ works a bit, by showing the word in the context of the entire sentence, as opposed to the "phrase" - that is, just the few surrounding words? I checked out how LingQ has developed since I last gave it a try, and while I like how things have progressed, I personally would find seeing the word in the whole sentence more helpful than within just the few surrounding words. I suppose the whole sentence approach might become cumbersome if the sentence is quite long, though. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6677 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 64 of 87 14 April 2009 at 12:07am | IP Logged | |||||
Are your sure? I think Ivesen works with word lists, but he uses words from context (books). 1 person has voted this message useful |
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