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Studying beyond the beginner’s level | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| mjf Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5786 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, French, German | Message 1 of 2 17 June 2008 at 3:26pm | IP Logged |
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Dr. Arguelles,
I have a number of questions regarding language study beyond the beginner's level. (I apologize if you've addressed these elsewhere.) If you have time in your busy schedule to answer them, it would be greatly appreciated. 1. Types of material (at different levels) You've reviewed beginners' courses (e.g., Assimil). What about beyond that? Graded readers and the like? Or only "authentic material"--books, newspapers, films, Internet? 2. Dictionaries (again, at different levels) Bilingual or unilingual? 3. Vocabulary review Did you use flash cards (or word lists, or a program like SuperMemo) to review vocabulary, or did you just learn vocabulary through repeated input? 4. Translations Did you ever use translations of books (e.g., dual language texts, interlinear texts, translated books) to help make a text understandable? (Same question for translated subtitles for films.) 5. Production You've emphasized shadowing and scriptorium. Did you actively try anything else to practice speaking or writing after a certain point, or did production continue to "emerge" (as Stephen Krashen thinks) after sufficient input? 6. Memorization Did you ever try to memorize material (dialogues, articles, or sections of texts) as a way to learn? (As Heinrich Schliemann said he did with Homer et al.) 7. Interference from studying more than one language at a time Closely related ones didn't interfere, at least on the production level? Sorry for the many questions, but any additional light you can shed on your learning process would be most helpful. M.J. Frishman Edited by mjf on 18 June 2008 at 12:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7037 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes  | Message 2 of 2 03 July 2008 at 7:01pm | IP Logged |
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Mr. Frishman,
In answer to your questions: 1. Types of material (at different levels) You've reviewed beginners' courses (e.g., Assimil). What about beyond that? Yes, when they exist, graded readers are the next step of choice. 2. Dictionaries (again, at different levels) Small pocket bilingual dictionaries are best for travelling around in the country. Unilingual dictionaries are best overall, but you cannot use them profitably until you are advanced, so a large bilingual desk dictionary is also necessary in order to get there. 3. Vocabulary review No, I never used flash cards, word lists, or a program like SuperMemo. 4. Translations Yes, I make extensive use of translations of books (dual language texts, interlinear texts, translated books) in preference to looking up words in a dictionary at the intermediate level. Watching films has never been a significant part of my repertoire. 5. Production My experience has always been that, if I build a strong enough foundation on my own, then when and if I visit the land where a language is spoken, it comes alive on its own in very short order. 6. Memorization Did you ever try to memorize material (dialogues, articles, or sections of texts) as a way to learn? No. 7. Interference from studying more than one language at a time Closely related ones didn't interfere, at least on the production level? No. Alexander Arguelles 1 person has voted this message useful |
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