2) The law of massive input.
A direct consequence of the first law is that language learning requires massive input to al ow different elements of the language to click in at their own pace. Input should involve repetition as wel as novelty. This wil stimulate the brain to groove certain connections on the one hand, and create new ones on the other hand. Input can consist of listening and reading, as wel as reviewing vocabulary. The greater the variety of ways that the same material is encountered, the greater the likelihood that some things will stick.
3) The law of pleasure and reward.
Learning wil take place best if the learner experiences pleasure and reward. Pleasure can come from activities where the chal enge is meaningful to the learner and appropriate to his or her skil s, creating a sense of achievement. Enjoyment can also come from hearing pleasant sounds or reading familiar or interesting content. Pleasure increases the production of dopamine in the brain, which in turn improves performance and memory. The study of the language becomes its own reward. Learners remain committed to sustained involvement with the language, for a long period of time.
I enjoy learning languages by starting with a long silent period which can be, as in the case of my Russian studies, over one year long.
When I listen to, or read, content of my choice, of interest to me, and at my level, in the language that I am learning, I am doing things that I can control. I do not depend on finding someone else who might have the patience to listen to me speak poorly in Russian. I listen. I read. I learn words and phrases. I imitate pronunciation. I observe the patterns of the language. I get used to the language. When I need to, I wil speak.
I googled ―silent period and pronunciation." I was curious to find out if there were many studies to show that an initial silent study period helped in developing better pronunciation.
Certainly I favour the silent period approach to language learning for various reasons. It does, however, depend on the situation of the learner. For someone living where the language is widely spoken, the silent period is not an option. On the other hand for someone like me learning Russian in Canada, it works just fine. I enjoy my learning and do not feel any pressure to speak nor any frustration at my inability to speak.
This evening I have to give a short talk in Japanese to about 30 members of the Japan -
Canada Chamber of Commerce. I am a Director of this Chamber, which consists mostly of recent Japanese immigrants to Canada who are involved in their own businesses here. Here is what I intend to say in Japanese.
Language learning is like fal ing in love. In fact you have to be in love to learn a language wel . I mean in love with the language. You have to have a love affair with the language. You do not have to marry the language. You can have an affair and then move on to another language after a period of time. But while you are learning the language you have to be in love with it. And you wil learn faster if you are faithful to the language while you are studying it.
Just as when you are in love, you want to and need to spend as much time as possible with the object of your love. You want to hear its voice and read its thoughts. You want to lear n more about it, the many words and phrases that it uses to express itself. You think of the language wherever you are. You start to observe the object of your love closely. You notice al the little things it does, you become familiar with its peculiar behaviour patterns. You breathe it.
You hear its voice. You feel it. You get to know it better and better, natural y.
Just as in a love affair, there are things about the object of your love that you do not like.
You ignore these. You only think about the things that you love. You do not question the object of your love. You just accept it. You do not ask why. You do not ask why it behaves a certain way. You do not seek to understand the secrets to its structure. You just want to be with it, and even to imitate it, the highest form of appreciation.
Loving a language is a one-sided love affair. You love the language. It does not love you back. But the good thing is that it is not jealous of you, of your other previous love affairs. It real y does not care if you carry on another love affair at the same time. But, as with people, doing so can create problems. The language does not criticize you. You can use it however you want, as long as you enjoy yourself.
You are not jealous of other people who love the language you love. In fact you like to meet people who love the language you love. It is a lot less bothersome to love a language than to love a person, because the love of the language is its own reward. You do not care what the language thinks of you. You are enjoying your affair with the language and do not expect anything in return. As long as you have that relationship, you wil learn and improve in the language.
If you just use a language without loving it, you wil not improve. If the goal is only to get a better job, or to pass a test, you wil not improve. People are the same way. You cannot have a love affair with someone just to get a better job.
This has been my approach. So when I learn a language I spend most of my initial time just listening and reading and building up my words and phrases. I just want to get to know the language, enjoy its personality and get used to it. I do not want anyone to question me, or explain my love to me. I do not want to speak in the language before I hav e real y gotten to know the language, because I know that I wil not do justice to my love. I only speak in the language when I want to, when I am ready.
1. Resonance in language acquisition. The great imponderable.
Stephen Krashen is one of the leading proponents of the importance of input in language acquisition. Much traditional language teaching does not fol ow Krashen's ideas and suffers from a fundamental flaw. Too often teachers try to coax learners to produce the language, and to produce the language correctly, wel before learners have acquired enough vocabulary or familiarity with the language to be successful. This is counterproductive, because it creates a feeling of inadequacy in the learners' minds, and can cause feelings of frustration and resentment towards the language being studied. It is important to have a positive resonance between the language and the learner. Resonance is a positive response in our brains, cognitively and emotionally, to the messages and impulses that the new language is sending our way. There are at least four important ways to achieve positive resonance with a new language.
2. The resonance of interesting content.
If I enjoy the subject matter I am studying, I learn better. I feel immersed in the content, and therefore in the language. I remember words and phrases, as wel as the scenes and characters of what I am reading or listening to. The language comes alive and resonates. I can often remember where I was and what I was doing, when I was reading or listening to particular episodes of high resonance content.
3. The resonance of combining listening and reading.
The resonance of any learning material is greatly enhanced if I can both listen and read. I usual y listen to content before reading it. I sometimes listen while reading and I often listen repeatedly after reading.