So, recently I've been toying with the idea of explaining or teachin' some basic linguistics concepts to my loyal fans (since I have so many of them). And, then, my sister randomly asked me if I would like to write up some introductory linguistics 'courses' for her new website. Sounds kinda cool, huh? I told her that it might be a fun project and I'd like to try. So, I'll probably talk about some of it on here and provide links to her website once I have some of my 'courses' up.
If your goal is to learn another language, I'd like to provide you with some key ideas to keep in mind that will hopefully make the process a little easier:
1) Approach another language with humility (respecting the people/culture attached to it), a readiness to listen, and an eagerness to learn and discover cool new words and ideas!
2) A language is a symbol system (distinct sounds are combined into units that represent ideas or perform functions) used to convey meaning (self-expression, creativity, communication).
3) Other languages have and use different sounds than English.
4) Other peoples/cultures use different phrases than English-speakers.
5) Culture and language affect one another.
6) Other languages use different sentence structures (grammar) than English.
7) Other languages have words that either don't exist or have a slightly different meaning in English.
8) When trying to learn another language, learn stuff that will be practical and applicable to everyday life but, to keep things fun, also try to learn words related to something that you enjoy or are interested in.
9) Practice: connect what you are learning/studying with images and real-life experiences.
10) Now, with all of the above in mind, build off of what you already know (you are, after all, already fluent in a language: English) and relate the new language to English (find similarities and overlaps) so that you can remember and understand it better.
Communication is at the heart of a language; a language is meant to encourage, create, and sustain good communication. Good communication comes about through the proper conveyance of and the correct interpretation and understanding of the intended meaning--it's a process of sending and receiving. Remember that a person's worldview affects how they use and interpret language. Also, different cultures will probably have specialized terms that are relevant to their lives (these words may not exist in other languages).
When trying to learn, keep in mind that memory is strongly tied to and enhanced by emotion (so make your learning fun). And a lot of us are hands-on and visual learners (so don't limit yourself to book work). I see language learning as an adventure.
OK, folks, take a look at this IPA chart! It's so cool, right? It's like a secret code! I have a hardcopy sheet (that I got from my linguistics classes) that looks like that. And, when I explain what some of it means, it will be even cooler 'cause you'll feel oh-so-smart! OK, now open this second link. It's easier to read: International Phonetic Alphabet. This alphabet is a standardized symbol system that linguists use to transcribe the sounds of all the world's languages. (It's super helpful if you don't know a particular writing system or if a language doesn't even have a writing system yet. It also helps with sharing and comparing data from different languages.) So, tune in next time if you'd like to have a go at 'cracking the code.'
1 comment:
Nice!
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