808. Adults enjoying life / Adults' learning a language





Many people think that for adults it is much more difficult to learn a foreign language – English in our case – than infants. Even they think that adults would never learn a language really, actually, practically, naturalistically. The next text can help you and me to gain some fresh view about this point.


Should you, like a kid, try to pick up language subconsciously? The answer is a qualified yes. As an adult now, you most likely analyze yourself too much. Your tendency is to memorize, focus on grammar rules, translate from one language to the other, and do just about everthing except subconsciously acquire it. You’re probably learning facts about the language at the expense of learning to use it. And one sure way to fail at learning a foreign language is not to use it for genuine communication. (p.21)


The text above is taken from H. D. BROWN (1989) A Practical Guide to Language Learning. A Fifteen-Week Program of Strategies for Success. New York: McGraw-Hill. I wrote a paper about this book. / Photo from: tourismpei com. Fall on Prince Edward Island

Comments

Bellarine Schools said…
Well this is an informative post..learning enough about the process..
Thursday, April 05, 2012
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