Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I came across a very interesting blog a few days ago.

All Japanese All the Time.com is most definitely worth checking out, even if you are not learning Japanese. Why? Well, it's a practical application of the 10,000 Sentence Method of learning languages, which you can apply to learning any language.

What's the 10,000 Sentence Method you say? It's based on input. If you have lots of input, and good quality input, you will eventually be able to produce good quality output. This is compared to most classroom learning situations which put pressures on the learner to produce output too quickly, thus instilling bad habits.

You spend your initial learning efforts memorizing good, grammatically correct sentences. Hundreds of them, even thousands. In this way, you are consciously (and unconsciously) learning and recognizing the patterns of the language. Without ever producing your own output, you will eventually recognize that "He goed yesterday" is incorrect because you've never seen it before. You just know that "He went yesterday" is correct because you've seen it 100 times and memorized it.

The only disadvantage I can see offhand is that it will be slow going at first. It will take a lot of work and time before it all begins to gel. It may seem (to some) that you are going nowhere fast. Clearly not a method for everybody, but I'd sure like to test it.

There's more to it, of course, but it's a very interesting idea. Do check out the blog. He gives a great explanation of the hows and whys.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Latest Additions

A review of Ultimate Language Secrets by Owen Lee is the newest addition to the site. I like reading books on learning languages because it gives you a different perspective. Everyone has their own system that works for them and it helps to see what works and what doesn't work for others. Eventually, many of the same techniques appear, but occasionally you can see a different technique, or at least a diferent spin on something that might give you some inspiration.

Issue #007 of the newsletter is out, and I am working on the next. Issue#008 should be out before the end of the year.

I've been trending toward shorter newsletters. I'd like to put tons of stuff in each one, but time constraints keep me from doing that. At least with more compact issues I can be more consistent!

One of the new additions to the site is the Share This Site page. If you like the site, or think it would benefit others, please use the suggestions on that page to contribute to or help promote the site. I appreciate every little bit of help to keep the site growing.

Monday, December 03, 2007

The Gift of Language

I know it's hard finding the right gift for someone during the holiday shopping season. Sometimes, finding any gift is hard. Have you ever thought about giving a language course for a holiday gift, or as a gift for any occasion for that matter?

We, as language enthusiasts, of course would love to get an additional course or some supplemental learning materials as a gift. But, have you ever thought about giving that same kind of gift to someone else? For some people this might be an excellent gift. You might even get a learning partner out of it!