CASTLETON, VIRGINIA-This week we’re putting two language learners into the same cage and letting them fight to the death. Adult vs. Child Who will win? Place your bets now. We’re about to begin… What We Know So Far Archaeological records show that foreign language teaching began in ancient Sumer 5,000 years ago. Modern memory research began in 1885 in Germany. In the past 135 years, there have been amazing discoveries made on how our brains work and how we learn language. Yet, language schools continue to use the old grammar-translation methods of the past. Now, because you are an adult, for the first time, you can choose your methods; you are in control! (Poor children have no choice — they’re victims of lazy teachers who think they’re still in Sumer.) And now I bring you.. Advantage #3 — Adults Are Strategic Children can’t choose what they learn. They sit down and learn whatever the teacher tells them to learn. The result is they waste hours and years learning things they’ll never need after the test. But adults can be strategic. They can choose to spend their time and energy only on what they need. And the biggest opportunity to be strategic is in the area of vocabulary. The Oxford English Dictionary has 171,476 words. But you started with a text book that asked you to learn “pineapple,” “subway” and “alligator.” Why? If you don’t need the word, if you’ll never use it, learning it is a waste of time and energy. You can’t learn all the words in the English language. You can’t learn half the words, or a quarter of the words, or a fifth of the words. So which words do you focus on? Well, thanks to computer research from Tokyo, Japan, we know the exact 2,144 words you need to understand 89-92% of every conversation. You can get The Tokyo list inside The Vig Store. |
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments