by David Slade
Many people spend thousands of dollars and waste all of their time trying to learn a foreign language only to fail miserably. Nothing seems to stick in their brain! Is there a better way to learn a foreign language? You bet there is!
Who of us just wouldn't love to learn a new language? In fact, every human being is driven to search for meaning. So, What idiot decreed that foreign-language shouldn't begin until high school?
Who of us wouldn't just love to learn a new language? In fact, every human being is driven to search for meaning. Passive observation is just not enough; it is the interactivity that is so essential. "Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Let me do, and I understand," says the ancient Chinese proverb.
It's one thing to show your child a picture of the ocean, and say "ocean," and quite another thing to let her splash in an ocean and say, "The ocean is water."
Research in the area of memory indicates that a person only retains, long-term: 10% of what they read, but 90% of what they do and say! Findings suggest that "the brain develops on a 'use it or lose it' principle." So, the best time to master a skill associated with a system is just when a new system is coming on line in your brain. Language is the perfect example. It's very easy for a 2 year old to learn any new language. So, What idiot decreed that foreign-language shouldn't begin until high school?
For years, many teachers have found that their "Holy Grail" has been attention. But evidence suggests that the brain's ability to stay attentive for extended periods of time is not only rare but difficult. The brain needs downtime! If you don't give it to them they'll just tune out anyway. So, Why don't students remember what they were taught? This usually occurs because the information served no useful purpose in their lives and their brains dropped it. Or probably because they didn't learn in the first place! Where is the best place to learn? Of course, it's from your parents!
David Slade, originally from Canada, currently resides in Taiwan. He is the author of Mandarin English XL, an online Mandarin Chinese course.
Writing systems | Language and languages | Language learning | Pronunciation | Learning vocabulary | Language acquisition | Motivation and reasons to learn languages | Arabic | Basque | Celtic languages | Chinese | English | Esperanto | French | German | Greek | Hebrew | Indonesian | Italian | Japanese | Korean | Latin | Portuguese | Russian | Sign Languages | Spanish | Swedish | Other languages | Minority and endangered languages | Constructed languages (conlangs) | Reviews of language courses and books | Language learning apps | Teaching languages | Languages and careers | Being and becoming bilingual | Language and culture | Language development and disorders | Translation and interpreting | Multilingual websites, databases and coding | History | Travel | Food | Other topics | Spoof articles | How to submit an article
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
[top]
