It makes no sense to me at all that when I've learnt a language here at UNSW (so far only Japanese & Korean) that one of the first things they teach you is that languages written characters, often quickly discarding romanisations altogether in favour of that languages writing system.
The reason this doesn't make sense to me is that it seems to me that the best way to learn any new language was the same way you learnt the one you originally spoke - vocabulary & grammar first, then reading & writing as a distant second.
When you try to learn the written characters first, it becomes difficult because your mind doesn't have a concept to relate the "strange symbol" to, making them easier to forget.
If you learn the spoken words first, and thereby the sounds, by the time you've acquired a large enough vocabulary, and started to learn to write the characters, your mind will be like "Ah, so that's what the written form of XYZ looks like," giving your mind something concrete to which it can attach the abstract concept of the written word (and thereby solidifying the learning process of that language's written characters).
Good luck with all of your learning!
- Ian (The guy in the Mario cap) I'll keep you posted. :-)
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Strangers in a photo ...
Haven't you ever wondered who those strangers in the back of your photos are?
Or indeed, wondered in how many photos it is you that is the stranger in the back of another persons photos?
There must be so many.
Wouldn't that make a great movie, though? (If it hasn't already).
I'd like to see that movie ... I'd like to make that movie.
- Ian.
Or indeed, wondered in how many photos it is you that is the stranger in the back of another persons photos?
There must be so many.
Wouldn't that make a great movie, though? (If it hasn't already).
I'd like to see that movie ... I'd like to make that movie.
- Ian.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
How I Learnt English (and how all languages should be taught).
Spoken words first, written words last.
Not that I actually remember the first few things I learnt, but I'm assuming, from observation of how other, younger family members in my social circles were brought up, I dare say the first few things I learnt were something like "Mother, Fater, Sister, Brother, Aunty, Uncle, Cousin, Grandma, Grandpa" (Btw, can you figure out which word from that collection is the odd one out ... and why?) ;-)
Also, by the time I'd started school, where they teach you what words are and how to write them, I was already quite fluent in the speaking of my native tongue - English.
All this makes me wonder why Universities feel the need to shovel everything - vocabulary, writing, social structure, grammar ... everything - down your proverbial throat at a million miles a minute before you've even had time to mentally digest all the information from the previous lesson. Not to mention you've got two or three other subjects that have to be studied.
Humans are full of self-righteous bullshit.
It makes far more sense to teach people any new language the same way they learnt there own - speaking/listening first; reading/writing last.
I've often thought it would make more sense to learn the writing system in second semester, if not second year. The reason being that now your mind has a decent size vocabulary to attach the newly acquired written words too, rather than just having them as meaningless symbol attached to a meaningless letter.
Your thoughts?
Thank you. ^_^
Not that I actually remember the first few things I learnt, but I'm assuming, from observation of how other, younger family members in my social circles were brought up, I dare say the first few things I learnt were something like "Mother, Fater, Sister, Brother, Aunty, Uncle, Cousin, Grandma, Grandpa" (Btw, can you figure out which word from that collection is the odd one out ... and why?) ;-)
Also, by the time I'd started school, where they teach you what words are and how to write them, I was already quite fluent in the speaking of my native tongue - English.
All this makes me wonder why Universities feel the need to shovel everything - vocabulary, writing, social structure, grammar ... everything - down your proverbial throat at a million miles a minute before you've even had time to mentally digest all the information from the previous lesson. Not to mention you've got two or three other subjects that have to be studied.
Humans are full of self-righteous bullshit.
It makes far more sense to teach people any new language the same way they learnt there own - speaking/listening first; reading/writing last.
I've often thought it would make more sense to learn the writing system in second semester, if not second year. The reason being that now your mind has a decent size vocabulary to attach the newly acquired written words too, rather than just having them as meaningless symbol attached to a meaningless letter.
Your thoughts?
Thank you. ^_^
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Flash cards!
are a great way of teaching yourself. :-)
and as for free software flashcards that don't have to make yourself, I recomend: http://www.byki.com/ (byki is short for Before You Know It).
It's not going to sink in over-night, but you'll understand it eventually.
Good luck!
- Ian.
and as for free software flashcards that don't have to make yourself, I recomend: http://www.byki.com/ (byki is short for Before You Know It).
It's not going to sink in over-night, but you'll understand it eventually.
Good luck!
- Ian.
I'm thinking of dropping Linguistics ... so I've got more time for studying Korean.
When I first started at UNSW this year, I was lacking a fourth subject, but because of something the Korean lecturer said in week one, I was able to sign up to Linguistics before the first lecture had begun.
Anyhowz ... in the beginning we had one, rather entertaining person, as our Linguistics lecturer, and another, rather dull person, as our tutor. It has since come to pass that the entertaining person has received a summons from a higher power within the university to do some sort of double checking and signing off on paper work, leaving us with the rather dull tutor, as our rather dull lecturer.
And as much as I'm enjoying the content of the course, I probably didn't do myself any favours by holding off on not only buying most of my text books until I'd found somewhere more permanent (which I now have), thereby putting myself three weeks behind the work schedule.
And as much as I love Korean, it just isn't. Sinking. In! ... so I'm really going to try and put as much of my efforts as possible into learning that, as it's a subject I want to do really well at ... or at the very least, pass.
As good as the prescribed text book and accompanying exercize book are for the subject, I've been thinking about going that extra mile and purchasing a book from the on-campus book store called something like "Korean in Easy Steps" ... which I was going to link you to using my Amazon Associates account, but as I can't seem to find the book on Amazon right now (which may have something to do with not remembering its exact title) but as that is not currently not a possibility, you'll just have to wait ... because I really don't wanna have to go all the down to the bookshop just so I can find out the name of it, so I can look it up on Amazon, and then post the link here.
I'll just remember what it's called next time - heck, I might even buy it next time.
Anyhowz ... in the beginning we had one, rather entertaining person, as our Linguistics lecturer, and another, rather dull person, as our tutor. It has since come to pass that the entertaining person has received a summons from a higher power within the university to do some sort of double checking and signing off on paper work, leaving us with the rather dull tutor, as our rather dull lecturer.
And as much as I'm enjoying the content of the course, I probably didn't do myself any favours by holding off on not only buying most of my text books until I'd found somewhere more permanent (which I now have), thereby putting myself three weeks behind the work schedule.
And as much as I love Korean, it just isn't. Sinking. In! ... so I'm really going to try and put as much of my efforts as possible into learning that, as it's a subject I want to do really well at ... or at the very least, pass.
As good as the prescribed text book and accompanying exercize book are for the subject, I've been thinking about going that extra mile and purchasing a book from the on-campus book store called something like "Korean in Easy Steps" ... which I was going to link you to using my Amazon Associates account, but as I can't seem to find the book on Amazon right now (which may have something to do with not remembering its exact title) but as that is not currently not a possibility, you'll just have to wait ... because I really don't wanna have to go all the down to the bookshop just so I can find out the name of it, so I can look it up on Amazon, and then post the link here.
I'll just remember what it's called next time - heck, I might even buy it next time.
Monday, 22 March 2010
The Computer Fair! (Which was at the Roundhouse here at UNSW on March 21)
Yes, that's a Sunday!
I was after an extra gigabyte of ram for my netbook, so I asked one of the vendors there, and he didn't know, so I asked another one and he got me to open it up first, to check what sort of RAM it needed. After opening it, he noted it only had one slot, and that I would have to buy a 2GB stick of RAM to increase it to 2GB, which didn't bother me. He asked me to turn my computer on to see if it worked, and it did, with a marginal, but noticeable speed increase.
I gave him the $60, he closed up the computer, gave me a receipt and I went on my way.
Between arriving at the fair, and getting my RAM I saw someone I thought looked familiar, so I went out to check if it was them or not - it was. She hadn't gone into the fair, for not realising that students get free entry and leaving her student card at home. And she rather waited for her friend to go and do what he needed to do rather than pay the rather minimal entry fee ... was it $5 or less?
- Ian (the guy in the Mario hat)
p.s. Okay, so this blog is hardly written in chronological order of the events of the day, but ... meh! :P XD
(If you want me to write more coherently, please say so).
I was after an extra gigabyte of ram for my netbook, so I asked one of the vendors there, and he didn't know, so I asked another one and he got me to open it up first, to check what sort of RAM it needed. After opening it, he noted it only had one slot, and that I would have to buy a 2GB stick of RAM to increase it to 2GB, which didn't bother me. He asked me to turn my computer on to see if it worked, and it did, with a marginal, but noticeable speed increase.
I gave him the $60, he closed up the computer, gave me a receipt and I went on my way.
Between arriving at the fair, and getting my RAM I saw someone I thought looked familiar, so I went out to check if it was them or not - it was. She hadn't gone into the fair, for not realising that students get free entry and leaving her student card at home. And she rather waited for her friend to go and do what he needed to do rather than pay the rather minimal entry fee ... was it $5 or less?
- Ian (the guy in the Mario hat)
p.s. Okay, so this blog is hardly written in chronological order of the events of the day, but ... meh! :P XD
(If you want me to write more coherently, please say so).
First assignment of the year!
The first assignment of the year this year was the Korean one, which was a take-home, open book test, designed to encourage the student to study. Admitedly, I did use Google Translate to get some of the answers, but the imporant thing is, even if I didn' get 100% of the answers correct, that it was 100% of the questions that I answered. (This assignment accounts for 10% of the total grade).
Tomorrow (23rd March, 2010) I have another test, and this one is a vocabulary test, which I must once again study the text book for (but I only have to study "Unit 4").
I hope I do well.
Wish me luck! XD
- Ian (the guy in the Mario hat)
Tomorrow (23rd March, 2010) I have another test, and this one is a vocabulary test, which I must once again study the text book for (but I only have to study "Unit 4").
I hope I do well.
Wish me luck! XD
- Ian (the guy in the Mario hat)
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