On Fluency

Dragon Ash

2009-01-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

Dragon Ash has been around for more than 10 years. This is a great song with a great video, much of it takes place in a very cool house.

Remember constantly surround yourself with the language you wish to acquire. Whether passive or active the content is sinking in. Only choose content you enjoy; pass on the rest. Enjoy.

Fan site

Khatzumoto Speaks

2009-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Khatzumoto of All Japanese All The Time is someone whom I greatly admire. He is an authority on language acquisition. He taught himself to speak Japanese fluently on his own prior to ever stepping foot in Japan. He now lives and works in Japan and is now incidentally working on Cantonese. He has tremendous insight into language acquisition which is not theoretical but based on practical results.

The video is the only interview I know of. Don't let the interviewer distract you. Khatzu is mature and knowledgeable; this video is valuable for language learners.

All Japanese All The Time (or any language)

2009-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Kenyan born Khatzumoto attained Japanese fluency in just 18 months without every stepping foot in Japan, not just spoken fluency but fully literate. His method is a no BS, unconventional approach to language. For one thing he insists that all kanji, Chinese characters used in Japanese (~2,000 in general use), should be learned prior to anything other study, i.e. prior to learning how to say even a basic greeting like "good day" or konnichiwa.

Although Japanese-focused, the site could really be called All _____ All The Time. You fill it in: Chinese, French, Thai, whatever. It is an approach to learning language which departs from the conventional. As you know, I am in the camp that asserts that language classes are an unproductive use of time that doesn't lead to fluency. An hour spent at studying alone with good materials is far more productive than sitting in a classroom with ten other students listening to a teacher.

All Japanese All The Time

Approach to Study

2008-06-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française is an exam that has four components compréhension and production both orale and écrite. So I am putting together a study plan to attack each of those areas.

On the Diplôme d'Etudes en Langue Française B2 exam I scored lowest (11,5) on compréhension orale and highest (22) on production écrite. The other two sections were right in the middle. I have developed a daily study plan where compréhension orale is emphasized:

FSI - 30 minute lesson (production orale, grammaire)
Assimil Using French - 30 minute lesson (compréhension orale, écrite, production orale)
Radio France International, Le fait du jour (compréhension orale)
France 2 news - improve listening (compréhension orale)
Le Monde - read one article and write a synthèse (production écrite)
Anki vocabulary review - 10 minutes
Online Grammar Exercises - 1-2 exercises per day

This is a study plan that I expect will evolve other time. Please don't hesitate to provide advice.

How to Master a New Language in Four Days

2008-06-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

If you've spent any time on the How to Speak Any Language Forum, you've heard mention of the Listening-Reading Method. The author, Phi-Staszek, a Polish polyglot whose been studying foreign languages since the age of eight, advocates an intense approach to language learning. One should learn in a very intense short period, essentially just studying, eating and sleeping from start to finish. Study is based around an audiobook and its content in parallel text form. Parallel text is the original content with a translation next to it.

What are the potential benefits? One is the shorter period of time required to learn the target language. Another is cost, with a little bit of work the study materials can be procured for free. Lastly, you choose to read a book that you love. Phi-Staszek states emphatically over and over again that this is essential; you must love what you are doing or the method won't work.

So how does it work?

Materials:

Audio of a book in a target language you want to learn
A parallel text with the text of the audio in the target language and a translation in your native language parallel to eachother

note: the text should be long, e.g. novel

Here's the method:

Read the translation.
Listen to the audio and read the native text.
Listen to the audio and read the translation in its entirety from beginning to end. This should be done until the text is understood completely (usually three times is required)
Shadow the audio until you are fluent.
Translate the native text into your native language either orally or in writing.

Please provide any feedback or results. This is really an intriguing approach to foreign language.

Learning on Your Own

2008-06-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

I recently came a across a fantastic site, How to Learn Any Language. This is an excellent resource for strategies on how to study a foreign language. The site was established and is run by Francois Micheloud, a multilingual Swiss entrepreneur.

Mr. Micheloud's premise is that group classes are far less effective than solo study and that a new language can be learned in a short period of time, three to six months, especially when one already knows a language that shares "transparency" with the new language. For example, 80% of German/Dutch is transparent, meaning a German speaker should understand 80% of Dutch words without study.

We all know he is right about group classes; how much does one really speak in a group class? If there are 10 students in a 90 minutes class, assuming the students speak 50% of the time, total talk time for one student is less than five minutes. One doesn't really need the teacher to explain the grammar either. That can all be studied on one's own.

The site is fascinating. The What you really need to learn a foreign language page lists the essential materials of Micheloud's approach:

Flash Cards
Language Tapes
Phrasebook
Manual
Good Dictionary

For language tapes, he particularly likes Foreign Language Institute, which are now available free online, and Pimsleur, which are rather expensive.

His message is empowering. You don't need to take classes and can learn on your own. Eventually you will need to find fluent speakers to talk to, whether in the foreign country or not. This of course required whether one studies on their own or in group classes.

Taking DELF B2

2008-06-01T06:35:00.001-07:00

I have a rule that when I set a goal to do something, I follow through. Between December, when I took and passed DELF B1 and May, I didn't study at all. Despite this, I signed up for the DELF B2 because I had commited to do so back in December. I was even late with my registration but they were lenient with me and let me in. So by mid-April I was registered for the exam.

My present goal is ultimately to pass DALF C1. That would be a landmark for me. I will talk more about this in a subsequent post.

I had the best intentions to study in advance of the exam but again I got nothing day. The day of the exam I put aside some time to go through the compréhension orale and production orale sections of Réussir le Delf B2 by Didier. I was trying to understand the structure and timing as in these sections time is a factor. In the other sections, compréhension écrite and production écrite, time is of course a factor but the test taker can manage it more easily. In listening or speaking, you have no time to make up for a misunderstanding of what is required.

I finished the reading/writing part of the exam much more quickly than I expected. I was one of the first to leave. I was nervous, wondering if the other students knew something I didn't. This happened to be the stronger part of the exam for me where I scored at just about 80%, whereas I scored only about 60% for the oral parts.

Last week I received my results:

Écrite - Compréhension : 17,50 / 25
Écrite - Production : 22,00 / 25
Oral - Compréhension : 11,50 / 25
Oral - Production : 18,00 / 25

I was actually worried I had potentially failed the exam. I was concerned I had scored extremely low on the listening portion. A note on this, my score was of course low because I did not practice but...the sound system used was terrible. Imagine a little box blasting for 40 students spread out in a lecture hall.

I have now successful passed DELF B2 despite the lack of preparation. I am now ready to take on the challenge - Passing the DALF!

Taking DELF B1

2008-06-01T06:34:00.001-07:00

In December, 2007, I took the DELF B1 in French. I was pretty confident I would pass the exam. I didn't prepare at all thinking of the experience as a sort of practice exam. I actually found the listening a bit difficult to get through. Practice here in advance would be of great help just to get used the format, timing, etc. Test takers are given a certain amount of time to read the questions in advance and then the recording is played. Understanding exacty how this works is of great advantage to a test taker.

I did get through the exam. For the speaking portion, the test taker chooses an article blindly and then is given a short period of time to take notes. After this period, the test taker speaks with an examiners. I was quite confident in this area but my eventual score was lower than expected.

My total score was around 65/100 with 50/100 needed to pass. The section where I scored the highest was indeed the speaking part where I received 19/25 points. I had actually thought I had earned a higher score but a pass is a pass.