Learning a Language - on autopilot
Posted: Monday, January 25, 2010
by Robert Gibson
R&M Tutors
We all know that learning a language is a big time-consuming task. It requires fairly steady exposure to the material - rather than intermittent bouts of study.
Many of us don't have the time or the mental energy to set aside a regular slot for a proper study period or lesson. In other words, we can't commit to (say) an hour a day sitting at a desk with a book or listening to a CD.
That is to say, we don't have the time in regular chunks. But there is a lot of time in the gaps between tasks, the occasional moments of rest, plus the longer leisure periods which we allow ourselves. They all add up to something which, if properly exploited, could provide room for that necessary linguistic exposure. Just imagine all those minutes waiting for computers to boot in, kettles to warm up, phones to connect, queues to move on, or whatever. Plus those longer periods which can't all be pre-arranged or predicted. Periods in which you're in need of something less heavy than regular study, yet more substantial than mindless entertainment. Just imagine if all these moments weren't wasted.
The way I exploit this set of possibilities is as follows:
For the sake of the small gaps in the day, the brief opportunities, I always make sure I have some quiz cards / flash cards / cue cards / whatever you call them in my pocket. Instead of writing them myself, I use folded-over photocopies of texts, mostly second-hand language texts which are often available in bookstores and charity shops. I make my own little paper folders for the cards with scrap paper and cellotape. I have several sets, one for each language, rotating amongst them week by week.
For the larger gaps in the day, the leisure times, I have a very different system. Here the trick is to ensure a daily average without tying myself to a daily commitment.
On squared paper I mark out the average requirement, writing initials for the languages on the squares I allot specifically to them, while leaving the majority of squares blank so that they can be for any language according to how the mood takes me, while at the same time making sure than none are completely neglected. My system happens to be 40 squares per day. I have four day-strips in my shirt pocket every day so that I can get ahead of quota if I want to. Now then: what actually happens is this:
If I read a chapter of a textbook (and I don't insist that I have to read it with close concentration, just skim reading is enough because I know the system encourages repetition), I then count the number of pages I have read. I then take out the strip of squares for that day and tear off a number of the squares equal to the number of pages that I have read. The torn-off bit gets thrown in the waste-paper bin.
If I read some actual text in a book published in the foreign language, I allow myself a larger reward: four squares ripped off and thrown in the bin for every one page of text read.
Believe me, the feel-good factor in all this ripping and discarding is considerable.
You'll feel you're getting somewhere. And there's no pressure because you can see at any time how you're doing; some days you'll be ahead, having already thrown away the entire strip of squares for that day; other days you might be in arrears, but no matter, it'll average out, once you've found out, by experiment, the right squares-strip-size for you.
The whole point of the system is that it rewards little bits of effort. No attention is wasted. And neither is there the tyranny of a set routine.
Many of us don't have the time or the mental energy to set aside a regular slot for a proper study period or lesson. In other words, we can't commit to (say) an hour a day sitting at a desk with a book or listening to a CD.
The way I exploit this set of possibilities is as follows:
For the sake of the small gaps in the day, the brief opportunities, I always make sure I have some quiz cards / flash cards / cue cards / whatever you call them in my pocket. Instead of writing them myself, I use folded-over photocopies of texts, mostly second-hand language texts which are often available in bookstores and charity shops. I make my own little paper folders for the cards with scrap paper and cellotape. I have several sets, one for each language, rotating amongst them week by week.
For the larger gaps in the day, the leisure times, I have a very different system. Here the trick is to ensure a daily average without tying myself to a daily commitment.
On squared paper I mark out the average requirement, writing initials for the languages on the squares I allot specifically to them, while leaving the majority of squares blank so that they can be for any language according to how the mood takes me, while at the same time making sure than none are completely neglected. My system happens to be 40 squares per day. I have four day-strips in my shirt pocket every day so that I can get ahead of quota if I want to. Now then: what actually happens is this:
If I read a chapter of a textbook (and I don't insist that I have to read it with close concentration, just skim reading is enough because I know the system encourages repetition), I then count the number of pages I have read. I then take out the strip of squares for that day and tear off a number of the squares equal to the number of pages that I have read. The torn-off bit gets thrown in the waste-paper bin.
If I read some actual text in a book published in the foreign language, I allow myself a larger reward: four squares ripped off and thrown in the bin for every one page of text read.
Believe me, the feel-good factor in all this ripping and discarding is considerable.
You'll feel you're getting somewhere. And there's no pressure because you can see at any time how you're doing; some days you'll be ahead, having already thrown away the entire strip of squares for that day; other days you might be in arrears, but no matter, it'll average out, once you've found out, by experiment, the right squares-strip-size for you.
The whole point of the system is that it rewards little bits of effort. No attention is wasted. And neither is there the tyranny of a set routine.
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Robert Gibson is caretaker of the Ooranye Project, creating a fictional giant planet which can be explored on http://www.ooranye.com. The project's aim is to meld the subgenres of Future History and Planetary Romance, resulting in over a million years of civilization with its own societies, customs, conflicts, triumphs and disasters, politics, philosophies, flora and fauna, empires both human and non-human, and adventures that range over an area ten times that of the surface of the Earth. Lovers of planetary adventure are invited to view the history, comment on the progress of the project, access the tales and keep in touch with the developing destiny of Ooranye. |
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)My family moved to Germany and had zero knowledge of the language. Turned out that we learned VERY fast - survival German... ordering, general quetions, etc. Our 3 year old learned fluent German in about two months in Kindergarten. Fascinating article.
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