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Mormons and Language Learning | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| mezron Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6170 days ago 24 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: French | Message 25 of 35 14 June 2007 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can't speak for any improvements or changes that have taken place in the fifteen years since I went through the 'Mormon' program. The two months time I spent in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) was split between language study, doctrine study, and the 'conversion process'. I learned Russian and served in the Ukraine (now LDS missionaries serving in Ukraine learn Ukrainian).
There was not a structured course to work through. We did spend hours with instructors (returned missionaries) and had a set of discussion booklets that we were required to memorize. When I arrived in Kiev, Ukraine after the two months in the MTC, my understanding of spoken Russian was terrible. I didn't understand a single word at first. I wouldn't consider it total immersion either. Frequently your 'companion' speaks your native language, so you do not necessary speak the foreign language 24x7. At about the 10-12 month mark (8-10 in Ukraine) is when I started to feel like I had achieved a very basic level of competency. Even with all the divine help ;), the following were key factors in learning the language:
Earlier this year I spent six weeks in France on a business trip. I had six weeks notice before going and tried to learn as much as I could during that time. I used the Pimsleur program and listened to some really good podcasts. I spent probably 1-2 hours a day studying French before the trip. I felt that I knew French better on day 1 in France than I did on day 1 in Ukraine. From there I noticed a drastic difference. At work, communication was in English. Working during the day on my laptop in France isn't any different than working on it in America. I didn't know enough French to converse with anyone. So I was really limited to interactions with the hotel staff, and the employees of shops and restaurants. This was a minority of the day. During my six weeks in France, my French improved marginally. I was able to handle very basic, repeated situations. At the patisseries I progressed from having to point and repeat multiple times, to being understood the first time without the shopkeeper repeating my request. During my first six weeks in Ukraine, I had many more opportunities to speak and hear Russian. Under much more diverse situations as well. If you don't mind the religious content, the semiannual LDS general conference is translated into many different languages (www.lds.org -> languages -> general conference). The conference is broken up into 'talks' which are quite digestible and the transcript as well as the associated audio is provided. Often you can faintly hear the English speaker which helps me out. It is not all religious content either. The talk describing the current statistics of the LDS church provides a lot of number related vocabulary. One talk included a childhood memory of making pickles. The talk goes into all the details of pickle making. But I digress..... Jim Edited by mezron on 15 June 2007 at 11:03am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6347 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 26 of 35 15 June 2007 at 10:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Very interesting post Jim. In your Russian group, were there any "prodigies"? Just curious.
By boss mentioned that his son's friend is on his mission in Mexico. He is a very bright kid, good student, etc. But he has been in Mexico for 9 months, and really struggles with the Spanish. This is a real contrast with my friend and his incredible Cantonese, but I suppose in a big group there will be extremes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mezron Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6170 days ago 24 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: French | Message 27 of 35 15 June 2007 at 11:18am | IP Logged | ||
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In the group of around twelve that I went through the MTC with, I do not recall any standout speakers.
There was one missionary during my time there who definitely had a gift for speaking Russian. Most struggled to some degree. I would rate myself slightly above average compared to others then. I really struggled with pronouncing the Russian 'R'. Still can't do it very well, but I can fake it enough where I don't sound terrible. In elementary school I went through speech therapy for the English 'R', so I'm not surprised that I find it challenging to pronounce foreign sounds. I tend to be somewhat dense in learning new material (not just languages). Though once it penetrates my thick skull, it sticks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 6943 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 28 of 35 09 July 2007 at 2:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I just received a copy of French For Latter-day Saints by Dr Blair. It has one large book and four ninety-minute cassettes. It follows the Dr Blair Language In No Time technique where you role play as an agent of the government who has to learn a language in days to carry out your assignment.
I haven't had time to properly evaluate the course. It cost me $3.99 plus postage on eBay. The postage was $25 to Australia, but that still makes the course reasonably priced for what you get. He uses the memory techniques he uses in the Language in no Time courses. I will write again to give more information as I play with the method. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JasonChoi Diglot Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6156 days ago 274 posts - 298 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Latin | Message 29 of 35 09 July 2007 at 3:02am | IP Logged | ||
This is very similar to Cardinal Mezzofanti's motivation for learning languages. I remember reading about how his language abilities meant more than a hobby. To him, his work as the 'foreigner's confessor' had a divine purpose. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6662 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 30 of 35 09 July 2007 at 9:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I think the issue with religious people who learn languages for missionary purposes is not that they have superior methods, but they do have superior commitment to learn
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6706 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 32 of 35 11 July 2007 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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Today at work I met a guy - possibly a mormon, or a member of one of the other churches in town (I don't remember). He spoke Swedish (with an American accent), and seemed to understand everything I said. After a few minutes I decided to switch to English (I had this thread in mind and thought he'd be more comfortable in his native language). I asked how long he had spoken/learned Swedish and with which method. He told me he had learned it back home from Americans who themselves had learned Swedish - this took a couple of weeks, and after that they read a lot. Since day 1 he had been exposed to Swedish for about six months. He felt that he could understand most of what he heard in the streets, radio et.c. but the difficult part was (of course) speaking out loud, getting all the sounds right.
Impressive. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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