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Clugston challenges polyglots to debate | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6548 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 98 of 132 03 October 2013 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's pretty mild. I would bust out laughing if I heard those rates. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4620 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 99 of 132 03 October 2013 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Does it really matter whether we acquire a language through an academic approach or a method that is more street-style? Surely people in both camps can learn skills and techniques from each other?
I believe there are parts of Africa and Asia where people commonly speak 3 or 4 languages despite having little in the way of formal education. Do we write off their "non-academic" efforts? Edited by beano on 03 October 2013 at 2:31pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Irish_Goon Senior Member United States Joined 6413 days ago 117 posts - 170 votes Speaks: English* | Message 100 of 132 03 October 2013 at 4:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
I was thinking the same thing... but they are kind of like a train wreck. 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 101 of 132 03 October 2013 at 5:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
Am I to assume that my rates are ridiculously low? What would be the reasonable rate for private tutoring by a university lecturer? When I see what accent reduction specialists charge, starting around $105 per hour, I'm considering bumping up my rates. Pardon my facetiousness and in all seriousness, the cost of these kinds of services should be viewed in terms of value. Why do people flock to Middlebury College and pay $9,000 for six weeks of French when they can borrow a book at the library for free? I like to think that you get what you pay for. As a matter of fact, why even bother with a tutor at all when you can do it yourself? As an example of how useful a tutor or coach can be, one need not look further than the excellent website of that up and coming polyglot Gabriel Wyner. Gabriel's demo in French Gabe leads workshops around the world on language learning, has invented a method and authored a book to be published shortly. Like many Youtube polyglots, he has these videos of him speaking various languages. The French video is basically quite good but there are some major mistakes that are very irritating for a native listener. I dare say that most native French-speakers would burst out laughing. I can't comment about the other videos but I suspect that there may be similar problems. I wish Gabriel well in his business but I certainly would advise that he use the services of a coach or a tutor before showing the whole world that his command of French is, shall we say, a work in progress. I think this is embarrassing. But Gabe doesn't know any better and neither do most viewers who don't speak French. All of these problems could have been fixed in less than an hour and Gabe would never make those mistakes again. Is that worth $100? For some people yes, for some people no. Edited by s_allard on 03 October 2013 at 7:33pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4826 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 102 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's an interestingly optimistic claim. If his command of French is still a work in progress, that seems to suggest that a lot more than one hour's work would fix it, and how could one be sure to have fixed it so permanently?
If it were as effective as you suggest, then of course, it's cheap at the price. But presumably, if he's so less-than-perfect, then further evidence of his output would presumably reveal a whole range of further imperfections, just waiting to be revealed. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4826 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 104 of 132 03 October 2013 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I find it intriguing that Gabriel Wyner only claims C1 in German (and French), and yet
has lived in a German-speaking country for some time, and has even taught there. Perhaps he's just never had the time to take the C2 test, but I'd be slightly more comforted to see C2's there. However, what he is teaching is his method, not actual languages, so I suppose it's OK, if his method is OK. I doubt if people who have been following HTLAL for any length of time really need one of his workshops, but many people might benefit, and they don't seem outrageously expensive. But yes, if his personal language demos were faultless, he would present a slightly better image. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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