Wednesday 2 January 2019

What I hope to get from Languages Arena


People often say about this, that and the other: "There's got to be another way." Concerning languages, I feel that a better way would involve community engagement.

By this, I don't mean engaging with native speakers of the target language (although that wouldn't hurt). Instead, I suggest interacting with a number - Dunbar's number? - of like-minded members of a tribe, cohort or fraternity who share the same goal. They needn't all be learning the same language. In fact, it might be better that they are working on a mix of languages.

But how to form such a group members? Should I advertise (as in Daniel Quinn's Ishmael?) 

It's not as if there's a dearth of people learning languages. A billion or two around the world are trying to pick up English alone.

The problem is that people have no trust in themselves. The education system, and society in general, has sold us the idea that to learn a language is difficult, and that it requires a teacher, the study of grammar, that expertise is built through learning rules, doing exercises and memorizing lists of words. 

And so people go looking on line for tips and tricks. They end up with . . . well . . . well-meaning tricksters. 

Something like that. I'm just playing with words here ;-)

I want to get away from such a (an?) hierarchical arrangement.  I don't want any commercial transfer of funds. I don't want to be told what to do. I refuse to obey a set of how-to-do-it-my-way strictures. I just want a level playing field in which to play, kick a ball around, shoot the breeze and share the experience. I'm a girl guy who just wants to have fun!

That, in short, is what I hope to get out of Languages Arena.

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