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Scriptorium - when and how?

  Tags: Scriptorium
 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery Post Reply
18 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3  Next >>
Lindley
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Ukraine
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 Message 1 of 18
06 January 2009 at 2:17pm | IP Logged 
Greetings!
I've read about Prof. Arguelles scriptorium method, if I may call it so. Is it only for beginner stages of studying a language, or only for languages with non-standard (like Arabic, Japanese etc) writing system? I'm asking because having an intermediate knowledge of Spanish it seems useless trying to write this way, even though the idea is interesting. I'm guessing that at this point simply freewriting in target language will be more efficient. Please, correct me if I'm wrong; I still need clarification on this topic. With all due respect :)
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Volte
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 Message 2 of 18
06 January 2009 at 2:30pm | IP Logged 
No, and no.

It's a different sort of exercise than free-writing; both are useful. I'd say scriptorium is good for focusing on small details (... like prepositions), as well as structures and words you otherwise would not (yet?) be using.

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Lindley
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Ukraine
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 Message 3 of 18
06 January 2009 at 2:40pm | IP Logged 
Thanks for explanation! Then, what type of text would you recommend to use for scriptorium at intermediate level? And, do I understand it correctly - basically, you pick a sentence, read it aloud, then read each word as you write it, read what you've written and move on to the next sentence? Thanks for your help :)
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Volte
Tetraglot
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Switzerland
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 Message 4 of 18
06 January 2009 at 2:44pm | IP Logged 
I can't give concrete suggestions on what sorts of texts to use; the intermediate level is foreign to me (that is, I really have a poor idea of when beginner ends and intermediate begins, etc - and I don't have any languages I consider intermediate). :-)

Your description sounds reasonable to me, but I rarely use scriptorium, and I could certainly be wrong; Professor Arguelles' posts and videos might be worth consulting.

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Lindley
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Ukraine
Joined 5857 days ago

104 posts - 109 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, Ukrainian*, English
Studies: Spanish, Japanese

 
 Message 5 of 18
06 January 2009 at 2:46pm | IP Logged 
Ok, I'll read through his posts. Thanks anyway :))
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Iversen
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 Message 6 of 18
06 January 2009 at 4:09pm | IP Logged 
I do copy genuine texts to imprint sentence structures, idioms and single words in my memory, and this exercise is even more relevant at the intermediate level than as a novice because you get better at absorbing the things you meet in the text when you already have some knowledge about the language. However above a certain level it only feels relevant to write down particularly striking formulations and idioms that you might want to remember.

In the scriptorium method of ProfArguelles it seems that you don't look up words. I find this is a bit strange because I really want to understand the text, - if necessary I would prefer to repeat the exercise rather than stop looking words and grammatical details up. You can to some extent deal with this problem by using bilingual texts.

The scriptorium method also implies that you read the text aloud, one sentence at a time. It may be more efficient to do it that way, but for me it doesn't feel naturally to read aloud - I prefer working in silence. But the core of the method is the manual copying of the texts, because it forces you to notice all moot points. On the other hand speeding through written and spoken sources is also a valuable exercise because you learn not to stop at every minor problem, but it would be illogical to train this 'bulldozer' skill in a situation specifically designed to slow you down.



Edited by Iversen on 06 January 2009 at 4:25pm

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Juan M.
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Colombia
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 Message 7 of 18
06 January 2009 at 4:53pm | IP Logged 
Lindley wrote:
Thanks for explanation! Then, what type of text would you recommend to use for scriptorium at intermediate level? And, do I understand it correctly - basically, you pick a sentence, read it aloud, then read each word as you write it, read what you've written and move on to the next sentence? Thanks for your help :)


This is the first time I hear of this 'Scriptorium' method, but it is precisely what I do, and it works great for me. I read a short text first, look up *every* word that I do not know, and then proceed to copy it while either reading it out loud or performing the silent equivalent in my mind.

As for the kind of text, I use textbooks that feature incremental grammar and vocabulary, so that new material 'sticks' to what you already know.
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jeff_lindqvist
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 Message 8 of 18
06 January 2009 at 7:17pm | IP Logged 
I have used the method to copy Assimil's "Chinese with ease" vol 1 and 2. The natural progression in the textbooks has been very beneficial, from (the obvious) handwriting and reading skills, to vocabulary, phrases and grammar.

However, I like to combine several methods, e.g. shadowing, grammar analysis, L-R, simple listening or reading, the "bulldozer"...


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