I spy with my little i+1

It’s a wee bit mathematical. It’s nifty It’s neat. Some people hate it. Some people love it. I'm talking about the i+1 meme.

It was coined by Stephen Krashen (the font from which so many good things flow).

The idea is to expose yourself to another language in the right manner. Think of it not as a pot of soup in which you are uncomfortably simmering - because of the heat - but as a bath you're happy to soak in. You’ve got to remain in a comfortable language bath for a good while for for the language to ‘get in’, right? That's what  Krashen means by 'exposure'.

If the conditions in that soup are too extreme, then you won’t be able to tolerate it. Not too hot, too salty, to acidic, too noisy (noisy?), not too spicy, not too lumpy, not being stirred around too much, or be left to stick to the bottom.

Personally, I prefer a modified version: i+1/2 

I feel that it is better to have soup whose consistency provides an i+1/2 environment. The language learner needs to be exposed to text that provides a slight and pleasant stretch. That means that  the soup consists mostly of familiar language, but to also contain something slightly unfamiliar. Not something totally new. Just something that the learner is ready to improve their understanding of.

That's what I mean by the ‘half’ part (of the i+1/2 term).

If that extra fraction was completely unknown, it would unduly stress the learner. That wouldn't be optimal. Rather, one needs to be allowed to nicely age/pickle/marinate/mature/cook without rush.

The first thing that I got from Stephen Krashen

From Stephen Krashen I get it all, virtually. Almost every idea. If there were one person whose ideas I had to confine myself to, it would be him.

He's the man. No doubt about it. I grok to 99% of what he says (no, don't try to visualize that!). I could do a series of posts, really and truly. I should. I will!

Very well then, consider this the first of many.

Mr Krashen has insight, humor, and modesty too. He speaks well in front of an audience, and his scientific papers are easy to read. As a bonus,, he is still alive! (as he enjoys pointing out).

The crucial idea that I get from Stephen is that there are TWO ways to gain a language. One is to learn it the way you do at school - i.e. to study it. The second way is to pick it up. 

We're most of us familiar with these methods. The first is what an overwhelming majority of us failed to manage at school. The second is how every person alive on the planet acquired their first language in their first year or two alive (that's why it is referred to as 'the natural approach').

Learning or acquisition - which is it to be? (How much thought does that question really need?)

Stephen Krashen's 5th is 1st (for me)

Hmm, I thought there were 5. But it seems, when I look it up, that there are now 7 hypotheses.

In this post I'd like to declare the importance, to me, of Stephen Krashen's hypotheses.

At the outset I'd like to state for the record that I am extremely biased; I agree with over 99% of what Stephen has to say. Oh, go on! 100%.

I'm doing this to weigh up the importance of his 5th hypothesis: the affective filter hypothesis. Off the top of my head I predict that, again in my case, it is the most significant. But let's see . . .

1. Input hypothesis (i+1) Very important. 4th 
2. Acquisition/learning hypothesis. Extremely important. 3rd
3. Monitor hypothesis. Quite Important. 5th
4. Natural order hypothesis. Important 6th
5. Affective filter hypothesis. Most important 1st
6. Reading hypothesis. Hugely important. 2nd
7. Conduit hypothesis. Not so important for me 7th

Feeling negatively disposed toward a language has delayed my learning it by as much as 45 years. What a waste!

Surf in your new language

Instead of feeling (mildly) guilty about  surfing the Internet without any real aim, take advantage of that inclination. Put it to use. Surf in a new language, remaining at sites just as long as they hold your interest. Read a word or a sentence according to whim.

This is reading! You are reading!

According to no less an authority as Stephen Krashen,  web surfing falls into the pantheon of  useful exposure to language, along with comics, fairy tales, magazines and Harlequin romances (I’m making it up about the romances, but I’m sure he’d agree).

If your computer doesn’t handle the script of the language, cut and paste the odd group of kanji or whatever and see where they lead you. If you turn over enough rocks, you’re gonna find something interesting sooner or later. Google search also for images and videos etc. Use YouTube as a search engine too for your viewing pleasure.

Waste an hour by putting it to good use!

Read a home run book

According to Stephen Krashen, the term 'home run book' was coined by Clifton Fadiman in 1947. It refers to the first book that a child manages to read through in his or her first language. But I believe that it is just as important for anyone learning another language.

That's because it's quite an accomplishment. It gives you a great boost in confidence to complete an entire book in another language. You know that you can do it.

The experience also gives you a great dollop of second language exposure. Read a set of book at the right level (I'm thinking of Mami reading Enid Blyton's Famous Five series, and then C.S. Lewis's Narnian Chronicles) and you are 'in'!

You want something at the right level; something you are interested in; and something that you are familiar with. Illustrations help (there's a good reason why children read picture books first).