frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6944 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German
| Message 257 of 430 02 May 2008 at 12:12pm | IP Logged |
CaitO'Ceallaigh wrote:
frenkeld wrote:
P.S. How is Kato Lomb's book coming along?
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I got through the first page. :)
I need a dictionary, but it is an enjoyable read.
I've actually been distracted with a lot of stuff going on in my life, but I do intend to read it. |
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The early chapter(s), where she talks about how she learned the first few languages, are the most fun.
Edited by frenkeld on 02 May 2008 at 12:17pm
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 258 of 430 02 May 2008 at 12:50pm | IP Logged |
frenkeld wrote:
slucido wrote:
I prefer Skype or telephone, because I don't have visual context, it's harder and I learn more. |
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Have you ever tried full immersion? If yes, for how long?
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Yes, Spanish for more than 40 years.
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 259 of 430 02 May 2008 at 12:56pm | IP Logged |
frenkeld wrote:
CaitO'Ceallaigh wrote:
It's just a formula, Frenkeld. Input and output can take on different forms. Could be Skype, could be immersion, could be DVDs, singing along with the radio, reading a book. The possibilities are endless. You're getting caught up with what you think Slucido's definition of "input" and "output" are, when it could be all sorts of different things. |
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The question is whether raw "input+output" are enough for everyone to learn a language given enough time, or whether some learners require additional tools.
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Yes, input+output it's enough.
Whatever method you use is about input and output.
The word "raw" is your "straw man" addition.. nor mine.
And yes, some people may need more, for example people who has suffered brain damage and can not talk. The problem is we don't have other tools than input and output.
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frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6944 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German
| Message 260 of 430 02 May 2008 at 1:03pm | IP Logged |
slucido wrote:
frenkeld wrote:
Have you ever tried full immersion? If yes, for how long? |
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Yes, Spanish for more than 40 years. |
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What about Catalan? At what age did the immersion begin?
Edited by frenkeld on 02 May 2008 at 1:03pm
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frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6944 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German
| Message 261 of 430 02 May 2008 at 1:09pm | IP Logged |
slucido wrote:
The word "raw" is your "straw man" addition.. nor mine. |
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The distinction between raw input and graded input is indeed fuzzy. If one has access to a large amount of native sources, one can make a selection greatly varying in the level of difficulty, starting with some rather simple works, including materials for children of different ages.
In practical terms, one will ask if the simplest of the simple works one has at one's disposal is comprehensible. If not, one needs help, and this help is what I would call a non-raw input.
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CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6858 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German
| Message 262 of 430 02 May 2008 at 1:10pm | IP Logged |
frenkeld wrote:
slucido wrote:
The word "raw" is your "straw man" addition.. nor mine. |
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The distinction between raw input and graded input is indeed fuzzy. If one has access to a large amount of native sources, one can make a selection greatly varying in the level of difficulty, starting with some rather simple works, including materials for children of different ages.
In practical terms, one will ask if the simplest of the simple works one has at one's disposal is comprehensible. If not, one needs help, and this help is what I would call a non-raw input.
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Raw input or graded input = INPUT.
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frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6944 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German
| Message 263 of 430 02 May 2008 at 1:17pm | IP Logged |
CaitO'Ceallaigh wrote:
Raw input or graded input = INPUT. |
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That is correct. They are two subcategories of a more general category and thus both members of the top-level category.
Depending on which of the two subcategories you use for your language studies will greatly affect your rate of progress or even your ability to learn the language at all.
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 264 of 430 02 May 2008 at 1:19pm | IP Logged |
frenkeld wrote:
slucido wrote:
Dictionaries are a linguistic device that has a psychological component. The strength of this psychological factor depend on cognates and context. And it depends whether it's bilingual or monolingual as well. So what? |
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The point is that while using a dictionary may have some "psychological component", it is not just a placebo. Some of its effects are quite real. Therefore, methods that do not involve a dictionary (or its rough equivalent, a translation) may be much slower than those that do. Therefore, some methods are objectively different from other methods, which is one of the central points of contention in this thread. (A method, approach, whatever, isn't just about comparing Assimil and FSI - it must be seen more broadly.) |
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I hope you are misinterpreting me. I will repeat:
1-I've never used the word placebo regarding language methods
Language methods have positive and real effect, because they have input+output.
(Ramipril and Losartan are drugs with pharmacological effect)
I think language methods between themselves don't have meaningful differences, but they are NOT placebos.
(Ramipril and Losartan may not have meaningful anti hypertensive differences between themselves, but they are NOT placebos)
2-Methods are different (like Ramipril and Losartan), but I think this differences aren't meaningful regarding language learning, but mainly psychological.
3-Psychological effects can destroy you, they are not necessary something light.
For example, those psychological differences had created a huge amount of emails and rabid reactions on this thread. Psychological differences can produce wars.
frenkeld wrote:
To reduce the number of posts, let me change the subject and get back to the "passion" issue. Of your two ingredients, time and passion, I find time to be a hard requirement, but I find passion to be a nice extra that is in no way fundamental to successful language-learning. You grew up in a Mediterranean country, you guys are all passionate and such. Where I grew up there were days with -30 Celsius outside, which left no room for passion. Still, some people learned their languages, and not only in the spring. People come with different characters and personalities, and some can make a decision to learn a language and sustain it without feeling any great passion for it, at least not all the time. In fact, a life-long commitment to a language is sometimes compared to marriage. Marriages that rely on passion alone to hold them together are known not to do very well on average. Some even say passion is secondary to a successful marriage.
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TIME is the main factor. Working more every day and with more intensity.
How can we manage this?
I used different words: passion, love, motivation, having fun,...
You can use whatever you need to work harder with more intensity and with more time.
Maybe some people need a gun in their head to get motivated: FEAR.
I have read in this forum about one person who learned Spanish quickly, because he was threatened to be fired.
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