no wonder adults don't learn languages

[chhotii]

OK, I just have to rant.

Over the past 2 years I've watched with amazement as Sophia has learned English. Her command of the English language is not yet perfect, but it's pretty impressive.

A lot of her learning has come from books. She loves age-appropriate books. They are full of animals, monsters, colorful pictures, rhymes, repetition, and general silliness. And they concentrate on really basic, concrete concepts: colors; animals, animal sounds, where animals live and what they eat; everyday activities like eating, drinking, riding in the car; tall vs. short, quiet vs. loud, up vs. down; teeth, hair, clothes, belly buttons. She has a lot of really good books. It's really cute, how eagerly she studies Monster Munchies or The Foot Book.

But contrast:

So, I'm trying to beat a bit of Spanish into my brain before our trip to Spain. I bought Rick Steve's phase book, and the Berlitz software (for Mac, PC, and Palm, plus audio CDs). Trying to study these as I relax just before bed. But they are so boring!!!!!!! The Berlitz package recommends starting out by getting a feel for Spanish by watching their little videos of "real-life" Spanish conversation. You watch as native Spanish speakers act out stupid little scenarios-- like, some travel agent visiting Madrid is picked up at the airport by his aunt and uncle, and they talk about the weather-- at, probably, nearly full speed. (Spanish is spoken very fast.) It's not entertaining or appealing in the least. You have to be in the "I am seriously trying to study" frame of mind to watch these. My natural reaction to the Berlitz videos is the same as my reaction to a news broadcast in a foreign language-- it's white noise, totally ignorable.

I wonder, what if someone read to me simple, fun, repetitive stories in Spanish about animals and monsters, with lots of illustrations? I'll bet I would learn a lot more Spanish, a lot faster. I can imagine even enjoying the process.

Let's contrast, here are some of the first words Sophia learned to speak: hat, drop; banana, cheese, apple; moo, baa, duck; light, dvd. Here are the first words grown-ups are always taught in foreign language class: hello, good morning, how are you, thank you; I am, you are, he is; airport, train station. What a difference! The second set is dry, boring, and abstract. Most importantly-- If I knew how to say hat, drop, banana, cheese, apple, duck, light, and dvd in Spanish, I would feel like I was making progress towards being able to communicate something. I still wouldn't be able to construct a syntactically correct sentence-- and producing syntactically correct sentences is important if you want to be a translator, and requires a very long learning curve-- but I'm not aspiring to be a translator, just a slightly less flummoxed tourist.

I might be accused of being a child of the Sesame Street age, one who has been conditioned to expect education to be entertainment. That's not true, generally. I don't have these criticisms of our differential equations and linear algebra and C++ and Perl textbooks. They are exactly as entertaining as they need to be: dry at first glance, but their pleasures are complex and subtle, like a good wine. I think the difference is that if you're learning another language, you are at a child's level, and need to be the child mind all over again.

I want Spanish-teaching software as colorful and sugar-coated as Froot Loops.

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

You want Muzzy (http://www.early-advantage.com/).

[bridgetminerva.livejournal.com]

The Baby Einstien Videos have Spanish, German, Frcnh and another I can't remember. I used to run them in Spanish to see if I was doing well in retention when Aileen was the right age from them. I learned basic German then too.

Want to barrow them? The girls are too young for tem right now.

[skreeky]

Hmm. Well, if such children's books are available in Spanish, which I suppose they must be, you could do storytime sometimes in Spanish...

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

I really liked Japanese children's television cartoons when I was in Japan.
There's a woman in the Lawrence area who teaches immersion Spanish by taking you around Spanish-speaking venues for a certain number of hours a week- tutoring plus immersion. It sounds like a great way to learn.

[istemi.livejournal.com]

I briefly tried to learn Spanish by reading a Goosebumps book. The title was soemthing like The Museum of Horrors. I learned the phrase:

"Los manos de Papa estaban cubierto in sangra falsa."

I don't know when this will come in handy. "No, no, Officer! Mi manos estan cubierto in sangra FALSA! Soy innocente!" Or "Me gusta mucha bebido sangra, yo soy una vampira. Quantos es este sangra? La sangra esta rojo. La sangra de Senor Spock esta verde."

[tb]

I think you're on to something. I hated the endlessly inane "basic dialogs" that were a part of every language class I ever took; who talks like that? I loved Asterix comic books when I was learning French. Teachers and other adults were horrified that I was learning colloquialisms instead of formal speech. Gosh, which turned out to be more useful when I actually went to France? Too bad I've forgotten most of it.

I've been thinking about learning Spanish for a while, mainly because it would open up a whole new world of food. Hmm, one way to help prepare for your trip might be to visit Spanish-speaking culture's restaurants. That would get you a basic food vocabulary and practical things like how to ask for the washroom.

If you do find some fun ways to learn Spanish, let me know.