Have you ever wondered why after taking years of high school and perhaps even college Spanish courses you can barely string enough words of Spanish together to make sense to a Spanish speaker?
Or have you wondered if it is true or not that the older you get the harder it is to learn a foreign language?
The simple answer to the first question is in the letter written to me a few years ago by Harris Winitz, Ph.D (see below). The second question I asked can be found by clicking here: Am I too Old to Learn a Second Language?
Thank you for your clear and informative letter. The American system of foreign language instruction has not taken advantage of the more than 40 years of modern linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neurolinguistic research on language learning and development. The approach used in most American schools and universities is called the grammar-translation method that has been codified by professional teachers. Only a few instructors in the country have questioned this approach or wondered why other countries succeed in creating second language learners whereas, for the most part, American teachers have failed. Your comments are insightful and correct.
Older learners who have been exposed to a translation system rather than an immersion system are suspicious of an immersion system because it is not widely used. Furthermore, they seek translation that keeps them in the English way of thinking, preventing the second language from developing independently from the first language. Immersion systems have as their goal the elimination of internal translation. Furthermore, immersion systems provide the individual with authentic second language, enabling the person to achieve native-like fluency in the second language. For example, when we say the alarm clock went off (rather than on) we do not challenge the phrase as native speakers. When we say the house is on the river (rather than next to the river) we accept the phrase because we know its meaning.
But persons who translate, for example tocar as to touch become confused with the phrase: "El toca el piano." because they translate it as "He touches the piano." rather than "He plays the piano." Similarly the word bring in English can mean to drive a car when we say, “I’ll bring the car around.” which, of course, would not be used in other languages as a translation of “bring.” Naive language learners would look for the Spanish word for bring and then try to say something equivalent to, "I’ll bring the car around." in Spanish.
American systems concentrate so heavily on memorizing “surface” grammatical rules that they provide only a set of limited vocabulary items. One needs perhaps 20,000 words to begin to sound somewhat native-like, but 100,000 words should be the goal of the second-language learner.
Additionally, classroom conversational instruction should be avoided because the students mostly hear the speech of fellow students that is incorrect and poorly pronounced. In some conversational classes 95% of the input is from fellow students rather than from the native speaker.
Let me say here that the term immersion is also ambiguous because some courses, as you also experienced, claim to be immersion systems, but in fact are grammar-translation courses taught in concentrated periods of time. The term immersion, as it is used in second-language learning, refers to massive amounts of input with meaning, similar to the way we are exposed to and learn our first (native) language.
I would be most pleased to permit reproduction of the material you requested. If possible, please send me a copy of the quotations as they appear in your manuscript.
Sincerely yours,
Harris Winitz, Ph.D.
Language Development, K.C., Mo.
***
Achieve Fluency in the Privacy of Your Own Home
The plain truth is that you can achieve true fluency long before coming to a foreign country as an expatriate or even a tourist. Many will find this too incredible to believe. Check out these articles explain the reason so many have been duped into forking out a fortune for something that by design is not meant to work.
The way in which adult Africans, and I believe many of the adults I've met in the resort areas of Mexico, have developed a high degree of spoken fluency is the same way in which we learned our native tongue as children-Passive Listening. If ever there was a "natural way" to learn a second language, this is it. If ever there was a way that one should use as the primary step to second language acquisition, this is it.
Passive listening would be the direct opposite of how we are taught to approach the learning of math, history, or science. It is not the cramming, drilling, cold memorizing of facts, or mindless repetition of vocabulary words. It is, rather, the silent assimilation and consequent registering of sights, noises, smells, and action pictures within the new language. It is something that goes on even when a conscious effort is not being made to pay attention to things within the language. I know of one language school in the States that uses the Learnables products with children and suggests playing the tapes while the kids play and sleep.
During the period of silence in which children say little in the new language and play a lot, passive listening is happening. There is no classroom in which a teacher is instructing the child in the language. The need to fit into play with the foreign children whose language must sound like gibberish at first is so great that lots of passive listening is happening.
As adults, we have to engage in purposeful activity, one that is designed for massive exposure in the new language (acquisition first, learning second), as well as passive activity. I not only use home study courses that offer me "comprehensible input" in the language, but I watch lots and lots of television in Spanish. This can be done in the States as well as in Mexico where I live. The Simpson's is an ideal program for this. It used to be available on Univision television as well as other Spanish cable networks.
Most folks, when they set out to study a new language, begin by enrolling in Spanish I at their local Junior College. This is not the way to begin. In fact, the formal learning about the language in a course at the JuCo is about 5 years away from where you are at if you've had no experience at acquiring the target language.
You begin by listening. You need this exposure to grow accustomed to the sounds of the language. You need this period of silence in which you listen, not produce, so you can bombard your brain with lots and lots of visual and auditory impressions in the new language you are seeking to understand and speak. You've got to learn "the music" of the language. You've got to experience comprehensible input.
It is relatively easy in today's technology to immerse yourself in languages through television. Those seeking to acquire spoken fluency in Spanish have it made in the shade while living in the States. You not only can find multiple radio and cable TV stations that are 100% Spanish, you will most likely find an American-Hispanic community living in a neighborhood near you. You can listen to Spanish almost anywhere in America now. And, if your goal is to develop spoken fluency, you will need to listen and listen and listen.
There are some pretty terrific home study courses that have risen to the challenge of providing "comprehensible input" from a very beginner's level to a high intermediate level. Some even will guide you through to advanced levels. While using these courses, you've got to continue listening to lots of Spanish even when it sounds like gibberish to you. Together with the home study courses, your ear will slowly break down what sounds like one long word into separate components and allow you to understand even the fast talkers. Children, by the way, are the best teachers. They are slow speakers and seem, more often than not, to speak with crystal clarity.
When you reach the point of actually producing speech in the language, and are using a home study course, make sure the environment is as relaxing and free of anxiety as possible. Anxiety is one of the most profound reasons adults do so poorly in classes. In a classroom language learning circumstance, students are constantly put on the spot to perform. You will be asked to produce speech in the class in front of other adult (and sometimes college-age) learners. You may not be ready at that point to produce anything in the language. You may personally need more time to listen. However, in a class, you are put on the spot to produce in the language. The fear of screwing up and looking stupid will be a huge hindrance.
It takes time. It takes time to reach that point at which you are ready to begin showing off your new linguistic skills in a pressured situation. I interviewed multiple people who have an impressive proficiency in Spanish as their second language. All of them said it took 6-10 years to reach the point they were currently at in their Spanish proficiency. And when I say that, I mean not only speaking but also reading and writing. Language acquisition and language learning take time. It isn't going to come after a year of studying Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country.
If it took a Mexican child 6-7 years of non-stop bombardment in Spanish to reach his or her first grade level of spoken fluency, then just how long can it take an adult whose first language is not Spanish? It is not an overnight thing. You've got to curb the expectation that after you've shelled out a few hundred dollars (or more) for classes, you are going to have bought yourself fluency.
Suggested Curriculum To Achieving Fluency in the Target Language:
What I am going to recommend to you I have not only done myself but owe my fluency in Spanish to this curriculum. My suggestion is that you use these courses EXACTLY as prescribed in the course's instruction. To try to speak in the language before you've sufficiently trained your ear will result in short circuiting the language acquisition process. To transcribe an entirely auditory course, when the course instructions says not to, will also prevent you from achieving language acquisition.
Follow these courses in the order I am giving them to achieve the greatest success. I did them this way and it is working. I say working because as a non-native speaker of Spanish (my target language)learning Spanish is a work in progress.
The Learnables - This course will offer you a "listening only" introduction to Spanish, and other languages, that will build a speech center in your brain for your targeted language. You need this "period of silence" of training your ear to the sounds or music of the language.
Spanish I and Spanish II Fluency Fast Classes (16 DVD set) - Based on the more than 40 years of neuro-linguistic science of second language acquisition. These are actually recorded workshops that you can view in the privacy of your own home.
Pimsleur Instruction – This begins the second stage of acquiring spoken fluency. First, you engaged in INPUT with The Learnables. Second, you begin your OUTPUT stage with The Pimsleur system. This is your first attempt at speaking the language. You will develop much vocabulary and learn how to speak the language.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy – This course is in the same style and approach as The Pimsleur products. This company uses the same method as Pimsleur. You will learn a tremendous amount of vocabulary as well as get massive exposure to how the language is spoken in Latin America. Pimsleur is excellent in giving you exposure to how educated speaking people converse. However, when you are on the streets of Latin America, you will hear many differences in what you learned with Pimsleur and what you will learn with LSLC. My suggestion is that you need both. The reality is if you only learned what is spoken on the streets of Latin America, then tried to interact with educated Latin Americans in a formal setting, you will sound like a rube. The reality is there is street idioms and expressions and there is formal speech. You have to know both and be able to switch back and forth.
Immersion Plus Spanish – One of the most misunderstood parts of becoming fluent in any language is the need of training your ear in the target language. What I mean is, if you cannot hear the euphony or music of the language, you will rarely, if ever, be able to understand what someone is saying to you in the target language. I live in Mexico. I can tell you though I went through massive preparation before coming to Mexico, I did not count on the speed at which the locals speak. It is remarkably fast! This course, by design, will help you with this problem. It addresses this common issue.
SMART SPANISH – This will help further train your ear in the music of the language. It is a great program because it records live interviews with Spanish speakers from Colombians to Spaniards. It dissects the interviews for grammar and vocabulary. Then, the speakers speak at different speeds so you can follow with or without a transcript.
