JS-1 Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5984 days ago 144 posts - 166 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), German, Japanese, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Written)
| Message 18 of 47 01 July 2009 at 11:41pm | IP Logged |
I can see that films with subtitles are an easy source of material, but other than that,
where's the advantage in listening to your own language? Couldn't you just read parallel
texts?
Edited by JS-1 on 02 July 2009 at 12:30am
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6260 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese
| Message 19 of 47 02 July 2009 at 2:07am | IP Logged |
Cainntear wrote:
"Other skills" I would naturally assume to mean speaking, writing and reading, not just reading and nothing else. This makes your advice misleading.
And I'll say it again, yes, there may be some people who are happy reading/writing only, but the majority are not. Your method is therefore harmful to the majority, but you didn't say that at the beginning |
|
|
No. Listening and speaking are always put together in the same side. I meant by other skill: reading, writing, grammamr, and vocabulary.
Are you sure?
I think most non-native students are more interested in the ability of reading academic books in English than the ability to understand Michael Jackson's songs or the dialogues in Star Trek!
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6260 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese
| Message 20 of 47 02 July 2009 at 2:52am | IP Logged |
JS-1 wrote:
Couldn't you just read parallel
texts? |
|
|
You cannot read in two languages at the same time, but you can listen to a language and read subtitles in the other.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5652 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 21 of 47 02 July 2009 at 6:57am | IP Logged |
I started another thread a couple of weeks ago that showed many people are interested in reading, parallel texts, mixes of audio and text, etc. I was trying to get a handle on how many people are primarily interested in learning to read great books in their chosen languages, and can't say that became much clearer. I am primarily interested in reading, however, and there seem to be some others on the forum. I'm very interested in the look of the writing system, the combinations of characters that make up the words, the calligraphy (if that's a major factor in the language), the feel of the books (which differ so much in their paper, bindings, typefaces, etc.) and, of course, in the original texts themselves, of which translations are generally pale shadows.
Hashemi--you may be interested to know that a friend and I are working on our Arabic (and I'm only beginning; my friend has some experience) by patiently working through a few sentences of Alf Layla wa Layla (1,001 Nights) each day, after we do our Sa'adi in Persian (we've been doing the Persian for over four years). I am thoroughly enchanted by reading even a tiny bit, at this point, in Arabic. It will take awhile, but we'll eventually be reading semi-fluently, and that will be a great base for whatever else I decide to do (including listening and speaking). I'm not trying to sell anyone on this agenda or this approach; it is simply what motivates me, and I don't think anything is more important than motivation.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Rmss Triglot Senior Member Spain spanish-only.coRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6565 days ago 234 posts - 248 votes 3 sounds Speaks: Dutch*, English, Spanish Studies: Portuguese
| Message 22 of 47 02 July 2009 at 8:47am | IP Logged |
Hashimi wrote:
Are you sure?
I think most non-native students are more interested in the ability of reading academic books in English than the ability to understand Michael Jackson's songs or the dialogues in Star Trek!
|
|
|
Oh, how mistaken you are! I've been teaching English to groups of students for a while now, and the school's curriculum requires the use of academic texts to help students learn English. Most students were failing English class until I allowed them to use things they actually like (you know, the 'useless' stuff like Michael Jackson's songs and Star Trek dialogues).
Now, I don't care if a student fails a class; all that matters to me is that he/she learns English in an enjoyable way.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 6031 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch
| Message 23 of 47 02 July 2009 at 8:52am | IP Logged |
I think this would be a great way to learn to read....
Another great tool in the belt.
We are allowed more than one tool in the belt aren't we? :p
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6260 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese
| Message 24 of 47 02 July 2009 at 2:55pm | IP Logged |
Rmss wrote:
Most students were failing English class until I allowed them to use things they actually like (you know, the 'useless' stuff like Michael Jackson's songs and Star Trek dialogues). |
|
|
They are not serious students. The majority of people around the globe are not interested in the Anglo-Saxon culture, except few millions of Anglophiles or Americophiles.
If you look at university students in China for example, you will find that most of them are more interested in understanding English books in their majors and fields than to understand the useless stuff you mentioned. I'm not talking about those who go to English teaching schools and become very happy when they memorize the lyrics of the Beatles songs, or are eager to watch Hollywood movies without subtitles.
1 person has voted this message useful
|