Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:59 pm Post subject: Learning A Foreign Language: The Psychological Factor
Learning A Foreign Language: The Psychological Factor
By: Gabrielle Guichard
When it comes about learning a foreign language, many people wonder if they will be able to memorize enough vocabulary. But this question never occurs about their mother tongue. And yet, it was a foreign language; nevertheless, among all the questions that new parents ask, no doctor has ever heard: "Will my baby be able to learn my language?" Be honest. Do you know all the words of your mother tongue? The answer is: "no". New words, and new ways of using old words, appear every day. Twenty years ago, who would have been able to understand such a sentence: "Click here to download your digital book"? Nobody. You never stop acquiring new vocabulary and you never know how long you will be needing it. Do you still use "tomagotchi"?
When you don't know the exact name of a thing, you don't hesitate to call it "whatsit". Why do you think foreigners do otherwise? (The French word for whatsit is machin. That's a good start! You already know the word that can virtually replace any other!)
Sometimes, you have the word on the tip of your tongue... and it sticks there! But you do know this phenomenon and don't think that it is due to a bad memory. You should not give this phenomenon more importance in the language you are learning than in your mother tongue.
You need to learn only 2000 or so basic French words to be able to create any paraphrase you need. You can't avoid some work in order to learn these essential words and all the more if you want to learn quickly. Before you contemplate to buy a learn-in-a-breeze method, be sure it is right for you. It is not as wise as it is said to rely on a method based upon mnemotechnics. The first words seem very easy lo learn; so, you buy the method; and you discover quickly, though too late, that a dozen words later, it is all the more difficult to learn a new word that you have also to learn the trick to memorize it.
The next topic will be about lists of words: why they work and why they don't.
My ability with languages is somewhat less than my ability as a brain surgeon. I.E, zero.
The European languages at least have some common words, and some of Latin origins which enables some people (me) to pick up the odd word.
Get into Asia, and I am lost. Totally lost.
Despite all my time in the Philippines, about the only phrase I can manage is to ask if anyone speaks English.
Luckily for m, there is always someone that does. _________________ The Middle Eastern states aren't nations; they're quarrels with borders.- P. J. O'Rourke
My ability with languages is somewhat less than my ability as a brain surgeon. I.E, zero.
The European languages at least have some common words, and some of Latin origins which enables some people (me) to pick up the odd word.
Get into Asia, and I am lost. Totally lost.
Despite all my time in the Philippines, about the only phrase I can manage is to ask if anyone speaks English.
Luckily for m, there is always someone that does.
Don't you love the philippino english? What an accent
And, what wonderful ways they mangle words and phrases. _________________ The Middle Eastern states aren't nations; they're quarrels with borders.- P. J. O'Rourke
One of the first things I learnt in Chinese was "wo ting budong" - "I don't understand".
At times, there are some definite advantages to not being able to speak the local language. Best just to listen in the language. _________________ EXPAT IN CHINA
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:37 pm Post subject: Re: Learning A Foreign Language: The Psychological Factor
Mike wrote:
Learning A Foreign Language: The Psychological Factor
By: Gabrielle Guichard
..............
You need to learn only 2000 or so basic French words to be able to create any paraphrase you need. You can't avoid some work in order to learn these essential words and all the more if you want to learn quickly. Before you contemplate to buy a learn-in-a-breeze method, be sure it is right for you. It is not as wise as it is said to rely on a method based upon mnemotechnics. The first words seem very easy lo learn; so, you buy the method; and you discover quickly, though too late, that a dozen words later, it is all the more difficult to learn a new word that you have also to learn the trick to memorize it.
...............
About the Author: Gabrielle Guichard, a French teacher who can be reached on GabrielleGuichard.com and listened to on FrenchPodcasting.com
Source: www.isnare.com
It's not learning the French words that bothers me, it's learning the damned conjugation And I must say, when it comes to language learning good memory does help
I am not sure what part memory actually plays, or rather, what type of memory is needed.
I have an excellent memory for some subjects. I can tell you technical details from, say, 40 years ago, and can give you chapter & verse on similar things from the past quarter century wihout any trouble.
Ask me to learn a foreign phrase, and I struggle and within a few days it is totally lost.
(I must admit that my memory for people and their names is even worse. Many a time I have walked right past people I have been introduced to the previous day without recognising them.) _________________ The Middle Eastern states aren't nations; they're quarrels with borders.- P. J. O'Rourke
I find that my ability and comprehesion of speaking and understanding a foreign language increases the more drunk I become....
For example, I've been studying Thai on and off for nearly ten years, two years even before I even came to Thailand. Even though I learned texbook Thai in class, I could not read or understand anyone's else's Thai once I actually got into the country. It seemed so much different than what I learned in class. Even today, I feel that I still can't really speak Thai , and in the few times when I do make the attempt, I can't make myself understood.( maybe it would improve if I spent more time in the country... ). But after a couple of drinks or so....Something clicks in my brain somehow, and I suddenly understand, and Thai people can understand me. The same happens to me while I'm drunk when I also attempt to speak or read Spanish, French, and Japanese.
Maybe it's Psychological. _________________ "Experience is Everything"
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And I must say, when it comes to language learning good memory does help 
). But after a couple of drinks or so....Something clicks in my brain somehow, and I suddenly understand, and Thai people can understand me. The same happens to me while I'm drunk when I also attempt to speak or read Spanish, French, and Japanese.
