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Clugston challenges polyglots to debate | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| I'm With Stupid Senior Member Vietnam Joined 4171 days ago 165 posts - 349 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Vietnamese | Message 89 of 132 02 October 2013 at 5:59am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I don't agree with this at all. I think the vast majority of internalising the grammar and vocabulary comes from actually using it in meaningful conversation and making mistakes. That's why you have so many students who've studied grammar for years and when you see their writing, it's littered with basic grammatical errors, often times things that you literally learn in the first day of English class (not to mention their speaking). It's like learning to play an instrument that you can only play when you have two people. You can study the notes as much as possible, but unless you have practice playing them, you're not going to make a massive amount of progress. Obviously I'm not suggesting you can't learn some useful things on your own, but I do think sessions with a qualified tutor offers more than you suggest in terms of actually learning the language. What you described seems to be a conversation partner, rather than a tutor. A good tutor should be using conversation to respond to your needs for language. He should react to you struggling to express yourself on a particular issue and tell you some ways that native speakers would make the same point, then give you more practice in that. In that respect, it's far more immediate than waiting for a similar context to appear in a book you're reading. He should also have designed a syllabus that gives you practice in a variety of contexts. One of the big advantages of a private tutor in this respect is that you can actually go to the locations in question and practice using a real context. And of course a tutor doesn't replace the work you do at home. And there are certainly ways to waste a tutor. But if money was no object, then a qualified, private tutor would definitely be top of my list of language learning tools. Edited by I'm With Stupid on 02 October 2013 at 6:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5081 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 90 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:20am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I had never heard of Clugston before reading this thread. I found it very difficult to watch his videos. Sometimes I agree with Benny, Steve, Moses, etc., and sometimes I don't. Fine. But at least they present their opinions as opinions, as what has worked for them. I'm glad most people in the language learning community can agree to disagree and get on politely and civilly. Something I've always liked about this forum is that people sincerely try to help each other. I like that we can have different opinions and experiences regarding language learning, but still get on. As someone once told me, 'We may not always see eye to eye, but we can still walk shoulder to shoulder.' As we pool our knowledge, our differences are an asset.
As for Clugston himself, I'm worried. His erratic spelling, his militaristic dressing-up, his persecution and Messiah complexes (him against the language-learning world as he tries to save the 'purity' of linguistics), and his delusions of grandeur and supremacy, all exhibited in his videos and comments, all suggest that man doesn't need to be debated, he needs to be diagnosed. Seriously. I hope he has family around him to help. As I said, I have always found the community to be generally happy and helpful. It's a pity there are such negative people out there. It's not that he isn't entitled to his own opinions -- he is, as we all are -- it's that he doesn't criticise and share for the sake of helping, instead he does it to bully and browbeat and intimidate. He doesn't want to contribute to the debate, he wants to control it. There is no place for that. His videos left me with a nasty aftertaste, and after today, I don't intend to watch any more of his videos. Why would I, when instead I can watch Steve, Richard, Luca, Benny, Moses...... ? Edited by pfn123 on 03 October 2013 at 8:56am 15 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 91 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:38am | IP Logged | ||||||||
And of course FluentCzech has some of the most pleasant language learning videos. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5081 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 92 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:50am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Agreed! And Khatz, and ... Well there are many good bloggers, vloggers, and polyglot pundits ;) Too many to list. That was why my little list was followed by dot dot dot ... I'm glad there are so many people sharing their experiences and suggestions. We're all the better off because of them. And I agree, Anthony Lauder is definitely up there :D 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 93 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:55am | IP Logged | ||||||||
But he only claims to be a PolyNot. Edited by luke on 03 October 2013 at 6:58am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5081 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 94 of 132 03 October 2013 at 7:12am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Yep, I agree. I wasn't referring to the number of languages he knows. I meant he's 'up there' as one of the most informative (and one of the most entertaining) language learners sharing their experiences and advice online. Edited by pfn123 on 03 October 2013 at 7:18am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 95 of 132 03 October 2013 at 11:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Of course. He has a great sense of humor and is extremely humble as well. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5428 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 96 of 132 03 October 2013 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I think that the debate about this individual whose name I shall no longer pronounce has pretty much run its course.
There seems to be a consensus that this scary person belongs to some lunatic fringe and contributes nothing to the language learning community. I have decided to simply boycott this person's videos and encourage others to do likewise. 8 persons have voted this message useful |
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