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Quantity makes the difference | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6485 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 1 of 122 18 December 2010 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have been here for a long time and reading a lot of discussions and arguments about how to learn languages. It has been very useful for me because it has been a boost to my motivation and I have learned several interesting techniques. However, my conclusion is the same I got two or three years ago: as long as your method has input and output, TIME spent with the language (quantity) is the most important factor.
Several of us want to get native or near native fluency in our target language or languages. We read and write a lot about different methods and best methods, but why native speakers are so superior when it comes to understand and speak their own language? What's their secret? Why are we so good in our native language? I think it is pretty obvious. It all comes down to the QUANTITY of our native language we have been exposed to during our life. If we interact with our native language around 16 hours every day (input plus output), it means we can accumulate 5,840 hours when we are one years old, 17,520 hours when we are three years old, 29,200 when we are five years old, 58,400 when we are ten years old and 116,800 when we are twenty years old. Do you really want to speak like a twenty years old native speaker with only a little fraction of this huge amount of exposure? We can talk endlessly about best or bad methods, but in the long run, the QUANTITY or AMOUNT of target language you are exposed to will determine your overall progress and success. If we think about this and the fact that the main problem with language learning is the average language learner gives up,I have two conclusions: 1-As long as you have INPUT and OUTPUT the most important factor is TIME= QUANTITY of exposure. 2-The best method is the method you don't give up. KEEP doing. Edited by slucido on 18 December 2010 at 3:06pm 25 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5821 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 2 of 122 18 December 2010 at 7:06pm | IP Logged | ||
And I'm still of the same opinion I was every other time you've said this: There is no "most important factor". There are many factors in language learning. Neglect any of them and you will be less successful. 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6485 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 3 of 122 19 December 2010 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | ||
I am very sorry, but... REPETITION is the most important factor. All boils down to this. Please, keep it simple and sweet. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| WANNABEAFREAK Diglot Senior Member Hong Kong cantonese.hk Joined 6637 days ago 144 posts - 185 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, Cantonese Studies: French | Message 4 of 122 19 December 2010 at 3:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not really.... look at that Chinese guy from Belgium called Félix. He studied Italian for 3 months and speaks it super super fluently at advanced level. He couldn't have possibly spent 20 hours per day inputting and outputting to get to this level within 3 months if another factor of familiarity to your native language wasn't also important too.
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| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5821 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 122 19 December 2010 at 3:28pm | IP Logged | ||
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." -- Albert Einstein. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Oasis88 Senior Member Australia Joined 5515 days ago 160 posts - 187 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 6 of 122 19 December 2010 at 3:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I completely agree with the OP. The Japanese all the time guy has written a lot on this
and it just seems to make sense to me and it's part of the reason that I don't believe in "methods". Time on task is the most important thing and with enough of this we'll be wise enough to figure out what we need to do to progress. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6485 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 7 of 122 19 December 2010 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know anything about the technology behind my TV, I guess it should be very complex, but I know that I only need to press a button to watch my TV
I am sure that second language acquisition is much more complex, but I know that repetition is the button I need to press. Maybe some people need to press less time (maybe Felix) and other people more time, but the button is need to be pressed. Keep it simple and sweet. Edited by slucido on 19 December 2010 at 4:40pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5821 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 8 of 122 19 December 2010 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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The second S in KISS stands for "stupid".
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