Language Learning Tips: Be like a kid 03/31/2010
 Well today is my son Malachi’s 6th birthday so I will borrow a bit of a lesson from my observations of his learning of Turkish. He has done quite well and amazes me with his ability to take in the language, process it and use it effectively. We are no longer constantly amazed, but one observation that I notice and knew would be the case for all kids, is his ability to approach language learning without shame or fear or the thought of embarrassment. It is this reckless abandon that I think we must all strive to step into as we learn language. Linguists talk about something called the affective filter. This encompasses all those things listed above and the “higher” the filter is, the bigger a barrier it is to effective language acquisition. Children tend to have very low affective filters. So, the tip of the bi-week is to become like a child. Leave the pride behind. Come to grips with the fact that we as language learners will be the town clown – for a while. Good luck on the journey and remember, don’t take yourself – or your mistakes, gringo accent, or cultural faux pas - too seriously. CommentsLeave a Reply |    
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