Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Wanna learn a language? Just listen to it

This is a bit later than I had originally promised, but anyway, here it is at last:

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about/newspubs/news/ViewNews.aspx?id=2455&newslabel=hn


Dr Sulzberger has found that the best way to learn a language is through frequent exposure to its sound patterns—even if you haven't a clue what it all means.

"However crazy it might sound, just listening to the language, even though you don't understand it, is critical. A lot of language teachers may not accept that," he says.

"Our ability to learn new words is directly related to how often we have been exposed to the particular combinations of the sounds which make up the words. If you want to learn Spanish, for example, frequently listening to a Spanish language radio station on the internet will dramatically boost your ability to pick up the language and learn new words."

Dr Sulzberger's research challenges existing language learning theory. His main hypothesis is that simply listening to a new language sets up the structures in the brain required to learn the words.

"Neural tissue required to learn and understand a new language will develop automatically from simple exposure to the language—which is how babies learn their first language," Dr Sulzberger says.


He was prompted to undertake the research after spending seven years teaching Russian to New Zealand students and observing drop-out patterns.

"I was very conscious of the huge difficulties students have when they tackle another language, especially at the beginning. Many drop out because they feel they are not making progress."

Dr Sulzberger says he was interested in what makes it so difficult to learn foreign words when we are constantly learning new ones in our native language. He found the answer in the way the brain develops neural structures when hearing new combinations of sounds.

"When we are trying to learn new foreign words we are faced with sounds for which we may have absolutely no neural representation. A student trying to learn a foreign language may have few pre-existing neural structures to build on in order to remember the words."

Dr Sulzberger looked for ways people could develop these structures to make the learning process easier. His finding was simple: extensive exposure to the language, something made easier by globalisation and new technology.

"It is easier to learn languages these days because they are so accessible now. You can go home and watch the news in French on the internet."

He says people trying to learn a foreign language in their home country are at a disadvantage compared to those who travel to another country and immerse themselves in its sounds and culture. For the same reason, he says, we need to rethink the way languages are taught.

"Teachers should recognise the importance of extensive aural exposure to a language. One hour a day of studying French text in a classroom is not enough—but an extra hour listening to it on the iPod would make a huge difference," Dr Sulzberger says.

"Language is a skill, it's not like learning a fact. If you want to be a weight lifter, you've got to develop the muscle - you can't learn weightlifting from a book. To learn a language you have to grow the appropriate brain tissue, and you do this by lots of listening—songs and movies are great!"



:)

8 comments:

  1. Very cool stuff, I hope your experiment works. I wonder what you think about subtitled anime and why people don't learn Japanese from it? Maybe it's because they're too focused on reading the subs and the brain just filters out the sounds? I'm not sure. Lately I've been thinking about it because a few of my friends have watched hundreds of hours of anime/dorama yet don't know more than a few words. On the other hand, I've gained huge benefits in the last few months from just listening to hours and hours of raw Japanese a day, so I know it works. Anyway, sorry for the slightly O/T comment, I'll be following this blog with interest.

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  2. "Maybe it's because they're too focused on reading the subs and the brain just filters out the sounds?"

    I think so. Realistically, there's only so much attention a person can pay to any one thing at a given time, so I would think that read the subs would discourage careful listening. At any rate, when I've watched stuff with subs in the past, I would later remember the subs, but not the sounds that I heard.

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  3. This is a really encouraging post. I've always had a gut feeling that listening to the language a TON would allow your brain to become accustomed to it. I just wish I knew how many hours of audio input it would take to know the language to a good level. Hopefully we'll find out from your experiment!

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  6. I have direct experience of this effect, I was finally confident enough to post about it last April : http://tinyurl.com/an5h56
    I contacted Dr Sulzberger and he was kind enough to send me the thesis (I guess he would be interested in your experiences also).

    Interesting blog, I haven't committed to any language other the Mandarin yet although I want to try a more pure listening driven approach with either Cantonese or Japanese eventually

    Apologies I had to delete two comments due to link issues.

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  7. which is how babies learn their first language," Dr Sulzberger says. http://tinyurl.com/csj5me http://tinyurl.com/nhfsku We can only work with a limited amount of serious individuals and businesses - First come basis

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