Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

The TV method

  Tags: TV
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
12 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>


Keith
Diglot
Moderator
JapanRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6805 days ago

526 posts - 536 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Mandarin
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 1 of 12
26 November 2008 at 12:19pm | IP Logged 
I am now using the TV method to acquire the Chinese language.

I will not look up words.
I will not memorize vocabulary.
I will try not to think about the language.
I will not speak until I can do so naturally.
I will not ask questions.
I will not take notes.

I started with some online TV channels, but I found the display to be small and the quality to be a problem as well as the schedule. So I bought a TV drama on 9 DVD discs. I will buy more. I have written all about what I found on my blog in October. It is based on ALG World and the success of Reineke backs up the idea that it can be done through TV.

So this is what I am doing now. Wish me luck!
1 person has voted this message useful



reineke
Senior Member
United States
https://learnalangua
Joined 6475 days ago

851 posts - 1008 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 2 of 12
26 November 2008 at 3:37pm | IP Logged 
Keith wrote:
I am now using the TV method to acquire the Chinese language.

I will not look up words.
I will not memorize vocabulary.
I will try not to think about the language.
I will not speak until I can do so naturally.
I will not ask questions.
I will not take notes.

I started with some online TV channels, but I found the display to be small and the
quality to be a problem as well as the schedule. So I bought a TV drama on 9 DVD
discs. I will buy more. I have written all about what I found on my blog in October.
It is based on ALG World and the success of Reineke backs up the idea that it can be
done through TV.

So this is what I am doing now. Wish me luck!



Hey Keith

A few observations.

- I was a kid. I was an entertainment-starved kid who discovered Japanese cartoons.
Nothing else competed for my attention.

I remember having a math lesson at 2 PM, Urusei Yatsura (Lamu, la ragazza dello Spazio
for me) would end at 1:55. I believe the name of the channel was Odeon TV. The
distance between my house and where I was taking lessons would normally take 20 mins.
I’d be there in 6-8 minutes, my heart thumping real hard. The guy was an ass
and being 5 minutes late was a very big deal.

I went from basically monolingual Croatian > Italian, a bigger jump than
English>Spanish but nowhere near as ambitious as what you’re trying to do.

I had no rules. I looked up very few words and only when I felt like it. I remember
very vividly asking mom, looking up and memorizing the days of the week and all the
possible ways of telling time – so I wouldn’t miss my favorite shows. I think having
too many strict rules will eventually bum you out.

I took very long breaks, 8 months or so of doing things that were not related to
Italian and necessarily forgetting a good deal of what I had learned the previous
summer. When I “studied” it was likely a 4-5 hour block or longer. I had fun breaks
(swimming and such) and I’d be home early for another 4-5 hour study block.

Once I wrote about my own experience regarding (in)comprehensible input and I
mentioned a very high number of hours it took me to get to a certain level. Later I
looked up the dates when some shows first aired. I have likely overestimated the
number of hours it took me to get to a good passive knowledge of Italian. I cannot
give you a good estimate.

TV screen quality. I started with a 15” black-and-white TV and upgraded later to a big
20” ...black-and-white. I was the last kid in town with a color TV :)
Picture quality. Sometimes terrible, channels would interfere with each other,
sometimes great. Sound quality – mono, generally quite good.

TV vs DVD. You’re missing out on commercials and reruns. Sort of a natural spaced
repetition.

"Three years of elementary school German" refers to reading through three booklets.

Recently I was sort of forced to watch Chinese soaps. A decent number of hours. I
figured out a few things and promptly forgot them. I’ll likely do this with Spanish
and Russian (books + movies) but I’d follow a more traditional approach with a
language like Japanese (while watching TV). Oh, BTW, I am still a victim of this
childhood obsession and one day I will have to exorcise the Japanese Oni.

So, Gambatte! Have fun!






Edited by reineke on 26 November 2008 at 5:56pm

1 person has voted this message useful



lase
Diglot
Newbie
United States
pluble.netRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6114 days ago

31 posts - 31 votes
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Danish, Italian, French

 
 Message 3 of 12
26 November 2008 at 5:05pm | IP Logged 
I just don't quite understand how this even works if you have no foundation in the grammar or the language for that matter :S, care to shed some light on the more philosophical aspects of your method?
1 person has voted this message useful



JohnnyR
Groupie
United Kingdom
how-to-learn-any-lan
Joined 5873 days ago

47 posts - 47 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 4 of 12
26 November 2008 at 10:08pm | IP Logged 
Good luck Keith, i think you might need!
1 person has voted this message useful



unzum
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
soyouwanttolearnalan
Joined 6942 days ago

371 posts - 478 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 5 of 12
26 November 2008 at 10:36pm | IP Logged 
Here's someone else who tried the same thing with Tibetan:
Tibetan by Osmosis.
Also Norsk Experiment, although he used a textbook, albeit in Norwegian only.

I do a similar thing when I'm watching Korean films/drama. I have the English subtitles but I listen hard to the Korean and try to map the words. Kind-of like the L/R thing. The only thing I've learnt so far is that 'Oppa' means big brother and a lot of Korean sentences end in -sumnida.

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how much you can learn.
1 person has voted this message useful





Keith
Diglot
Moderator
JapanRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6805 days ago

526 posts - 536 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Mandarin
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 6 of 12
27 November 2008 at 2:49am | IP Logged 
reineke, thank you. I don't have the feeling that I have a bunch of strict rules. I just stated what I will not be doing. To me, it feels like a very easy, very lazy method.

lase wrote:
I just don't quite understand how this even works if you have no foundation in the grammar or the language for that matter :S, care to shed some light on the more philosophical aspects of your method?


lase, I cannot prove how this works with no foundation in the language. I do have a very basic foundation and know a few words. Though, I only understand one percent of what I am watching now. But ALG has proven that it works, although they use live people and not TV.

JohnnyR, thank you.

unzum, I know I have come across that Tibetan thing before. Probably just last month! But I don't remember what it says. Aah, taking a look now, I see. He only used audio and for only an hour a day. He gave up after 4.5 months.

Even if using TV, an hour a day is not enough, my friends.


1 person has voted this message useful



JohnnyR
Groupie
United Kingdom
how-to-learn-any-lan
Joined 5873 days ago

47 posts - 47 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 7 of 12
27 November 2008 at 10:09am | IP Logged 
What is the motivation for wanting to do it like this? You're interested to see if you can make it work?
1 person has voted this message useful





Keith
Diglot
Moderator
JapanRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6805 days ago

526 posts - 536 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Mandarin
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 8 of 12
28 November 2008 at 2:42am | IP Logged 
Quote:
What is the motivation for wanting to do it like this? You're interested to see if you can make it work?


The motivation is to become like a native speaker and use the language without thinking. To hear words and sentences and to have the meanings register immediately without even the slightest pause to think about it or translate. The motivation is the end results. Maybe I can explain better later. I haven't much time right now.


1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 12 messages over 2 pages: 2  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.7656 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.