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Moses McCormick’s admirable achievement | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| IndhuRen Diglot Newbie India Joined 5569 days ago 2 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Tamil*, English | Message 105 of 221 07 March 2010 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I really hope to see a video of Moses holding a conversation in languages like Mandarin,
Korean, German or Japanese with native speakers..... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| spanishlearner Groupie France Joined 5236 days ago 51 posts - 81 votes  Speaks: Spanish* | Message 106 of 221 08 March 2010 at 4:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I saw Mr. McCormick's video speaking Spanish, and have two observations:
* His Spanish is quite poor. * If all the languages he used to list here (about 50) are at the same level though, I would be mesmerized and he could rightly be proud of what he has achieved. About the controversy at hand, he shouldn't be so sensitive to criticism. 12 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| IndhuRen Diglot Newbie India Joined 5569 days ago 2 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Tamil*, English | Message 107 of 221 08 March 2010 at 11:47am | IP Logged | ||
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BTW, I am a native Tamil speaker. I looked at some of the videos of Moses teaching Tamil.
There are spelling mistakes in the Tamil words he has written on the board. I am not saying this to pick on him, I am very happy that an American is learning Tamil. However, I feel that Moses should be more careful about what he is teaching, especially when so many people hold him in high regard.... 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sayumi Groupie Japan Joined 5200 days ago 51 posts - 75 votes Speaks: Japanese | Message 108 of 221 08 March 2010 at 12:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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His achievement resides in the breadth of his linguistic studies and the fact he has taken the time to learn less well-know, "exotic", languages like, well, Tamil, for one.
His method doesn't really comport with my style of learning, but I suppose different people have different goals and ambitions. Should he be teaching any of his languages, though? No, I don't think so, as he isn't particularly skilled in any of them. His use of the highly informal, dialectical version of "really" (ホンマ) coupled with the overly formal でございます endings is something you wouldn't expect from anyone who had even an inkling of a clue as to how the language works. Other blunders include "直してくれるができます” and so on. Edited by Sayumi on 08 March 2010 at 12:31pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| laoshu505000 Senior Member United States Joined 5598 days ago 121 posts - 232 votes Speaks: English* | Message 109 of 221 08 March 2010 at 4:15pm | IP Logged | ||
Hey there, Yes, I agree with you. I do have a lot of work to put into my Spanish. Thanks for the kind comment. Moses McCormick 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| laoshu505000 Senior Member United States Joined 5598 days ago 121 posts - 232 votes Speaks: English* | Message 110 of 221 08 March 2010 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | ||
Hey, Thanks for the comment. I will take on your advice. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6320 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 111 of 221 09 March 2010 at 7:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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I totally agree that attempting to teach a foreign language is a great way to learn a foreign language. This is why
nearly every subject in university requires comprehensive papers, making the student prove he or she knows the material. The thing is that these papers are eventually graded and gleaned over for errors. Therefore, I think that any videos or websites for language teaching must meet one of two things: 1. Native speaker or near native speaker. Formal certification(or formal academic work/business work) if the language learnt was done through self-study. 2. Obviously, most of us fall in into a category of not being a native speaker. If you don't have native fluency capabilities, then following standards is the fair thing to do...for youself and for others. If the language learning material is taken from grammar manuals or programs, then use proper citation if you take languages seriously in an academic setting. If it's done on an informal basis, then at least informally cite your source by mentioning a few names and books. If the exercises and grammar points are straight out of a book, then having a native speaker on hand isn't necessary. If you are paraphrasing and venturing into uncharted waters, then having a native speaker check for corrections is necessary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| adrian_r Tetraglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5506 days ago 2 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English*, Swedish, German, French Studies: Russian, Turkish, Mandarin, Japanese, Finnish | Message 112 of 221 12 March 2010 at 9:16am | IP Logged | ||
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There are no rules for who should or shouldn't upload videos of themselves teaching or speaking languages. It is, rather, up to the viewer/learner to evaluate the resources available before wholeheartedly accepting certain things as eternal truths. This is why any feedback on Moses' language abilities can be very helpful. Knowing his techniques, how he allocates his time, how long he studies a language AND the results he achieves allows us to decide whether or not his methods will help us achieve our goals.
Anyone publishing videos of themselves on a public forum such as you tube should, however, surely accept the fact that they are exposing themselves both to potential praise and potential criticism... 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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