Face recognition

How do we recognize faces?

Not by analyzing them, certainly not. We don't make an Excel file of proportions, coloring, distances that we ponder over in our free time, trying to memorize the data.

Instead, we form a gestalt of the overall pattern without being conscious of how we do that.

Humans learn complex things-- faces, chess, dance, sports and so forth--using pattern recognition.

And language falls into this camp too.

When you break a language up into its basics to study them one by one, you destroy any relationship between its elements. You destroy the pattern.

So acquire language in large lumps.

Something happened to me when I was 15

In my 16th year, at school, something happened to my brain. I learned to learn. 

It was only a small change, I admit, but it brought about a huge change. Within a term I leaped effortlessly to the head of the class in those subjects that dealt largely with concepts—Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and to a certain extent Mathematics.

I figured out that all I had to do was listen. I would listen to the teacher with the aim of understanding what he was talking about. I asked questions until I did. And then I sat back, satisfied, and relaxed. That’s all I had to do, and it worked.

I never did anything else. I didn’t memorize information. I didn’t complete the exercises. I hardly did homework. I didn’t study, although if I was interested I might do a little reading around the topic.

Since then, this approach has always succeeded. The only times I’ve ever done poorly with my academic work was when I strayed from those principles and tried to learn via conventional methods. If I treated the subject ‘seriously’ and formally, then it wouldn’t go well. I’d stress out. I’d fail. I’d quit.

Now then, what if I was to use this approach with learning a new language? (At school I’d dropped Latin and French the previous year . . .)

Instead of trying to memorize rules and vocabulary, I would just notice patterns and see how the language worked. I’d expose myself to it in a light, wide and shallow way. I wouldn’t analyze, study or try to learn in any way. I’d just express interest.

Therefore, I wouldn’t feel the slightest strain. I wouldn’t put any pressure on myself.  I’d avoid all stress. It would be fun. It would be easy.

And I'd go to the top of the class again, I’m absolutely certain.

Internal grammar and spelling

Internalize the grammar and the spelling too.

It’s a fallacy to believe that you can learn a language by studying its grammar. And to a great extent the same applies to spelling, despite the fact that schools try to teach you with spelling lists and spelling rules.

The truth of the matter is that you mostly just develop a sense what looks and feels ‘right’. This happens when you see the same forms again and again. You get used to seeing words spelled in a certain way, and words arranged in certain orders. (People who read and grade papers with a lot of mistakes find that they begin to lose that sense!)

The thing then is to get a lot of exposure to the language that you want to learn. Automatically you pick up grammar and spelling along the way. There may be a few gaps left over, but you may learn them as exceptions. It’s not the rule to learn the bulk in this way.

Even if you could learn all of the rules—quite impossible, as no one has ever managed it!—it wouldn’t do you any good, as you wouldn’t be able to retrieve and apply them rapidly enough for even ordinary conversation and texting.

Get used to the basics

Get used to the basics, I say.

Don’t be in such a rush. Don’t overdo it. Language takes time. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.

It’s important for your confidence and motivation not to do too much. Language is all about exposure. You get used to it by exposing yourself to mild doses. Certain words and word patterns come first. You need to get comfortable with them first, and get them right. You need to be able to perform them well, by which I mean automatically.

That’s what is meant by getting used to the basics, in my opinion. Exposure is the key. Not practice, not dills, not exercises, not tests, not lists, not memorization. Exposure to real and authentic language meant for native users of your target language.

So that’s a bit tricky at beginner levels, because not much is written in really basic language that is directed at adults. There’s stuff for children, sure. But it isn’t usually of interest to adults.

Probably, to gain exposure to a lot of basic language, one needs to develop the ability to ignore language at a level that is still too difficult to comprehend or absorb. That’s counter-intuitive.

Reality check

Learning a new language will take time. There's no getting around it. But that shouldn't be a cause for concern. There are plenty of things that you spend a lot of time on, but don't dread doing.

Sports. Hobbies. Music. Food. Travel. Sleep. Movies. Books. Dancing. Yoga. 

A long time does not imply a lot of effort. A long time does not imply boredom. A long time does not imply a lot of expense.

You just need to get used to the sounds and the words and the word patterns of another language. That requires exposure. And for the exposure to be sufficient, it needs to be at a low-enough intensity.

But learning a language is up to you. No one else can do it for you. There's no one else whom you might rightfully blame if the results aren't what you want.