139

Tomorrow marks 140 days since I started this project. It’s time to start Phase 2.

In Phase 1, I collected at least as many resources as its number of days. Half that number consists of physical books that I can point to on my shelves. And I have who knows how many resources on my computer and electronic devices.

More than enough to keep me occupied, in other words.

From now on, I shall concentrate on ingesting and enjoying that material. Which languages do I engage in? What resources shall I choose? Which activities shall I do? And when exactly?

138

I visited the Green Island landfill recycling shop the other day. There I came across several interesting language-learning resources for pennies in the pound (to be precise, $1 each).

There was a set of 1000 Spanish vocabulary flash cards, a music book of Spanish songs with lyrics, and, finally, a Linguaphone course. ‘May I help you with your Japanese?’ said the sticker. It came complete with 18 tape cassettes and 3 books. 

The interesting thing about last item it that it the explanations are in Korean. So along with improving my Japanese I could learn Korean at the same time!

137

You don’t immediately think of Adolf Hitler when you are studying German and are looking for someone to model yourself on. Every recording shows the man speaking in strident and hysterical tones. All but one, that is.

Go to YouTube. Search for the only existing recording of Hitler speaking with a normal voice. It dates from 1942, during his meeting with the Finnish military commander, Mannerheim. It is about 12 minutes long. 

I listened to it while reading the subtitles (in English). His voice is surprisingly deep. That was the oddest German lesson I’ve ever ‘enjoyed’. It was absolutely riveting. 

136

I have come across three references to animals learning a language these past few days.

The first—concerning bonobos—is in the book Ape House by Sara Gruen. I haven’t yet read it; I’m next in line after my wife.

The second was when Stephen Krashen mentioned Cosmo the talking parrot in a YouTube video. 

And the third was in the book, Before Adam by Jack London (I’m listening to it in Dutch). In chapter 4 it describes how early humanoids developed language.

The same principles that apply to us apply to other creatures, apparently. And why should they not?

135

Waiting for Sachi to get herself ready for her bedtime story, I picked up a Japanese book. I hadn’t done that for a while. And here’s what I found.

I read differently now. Yes, I recognize more, but that is not the most significant difference. Now I scan the lines more quickly, and am happy to leave alone the words or kanji that I don’t know. Thereby, I read more fluently.

Previously, I read in a linear fashion and often got stuck. I’d need to figure everything out before I was able to continue.

That’s actually poor practice, you know.

134

I fell asleep during language 'class' yesterday, the first time in almost 60 years.

I was listening to a story using earphones, stretched out and flat on my back with my eyes closed. Well, who wouldn’t? In fact, I’m proud of having done so. It shows that I’m on the right track.

This is not to say that I’m trying to sleep-learn another language (I doubt that that works). But you learn best in a state of relaxation, and such a state is more-or-less proved if it leads you into Dreamland.

Still, I’m not going to make it a habit.

133

After 7 weeks of teaching, walking to work, I’m into the habit of listening on foot. My mp3 player is loaded up with bits and pieces. I cycle through them.

So now the question arises: Do I listen to the same chapter repeatedly, or do I move on to new chapters?

It seems to me that, as a general principle, repetition is better. It’s not just new words that you want to encounter; you want to get familiar with them, and with the patterns that they form in context.

And so I’m going to know HP1 Chapter 1 inside out!

132

Language is most definitely a thing of flow.

I had my English book open, the Japanese pdf on screen, and the audio on the go. I was juggling all three, going nicely. But after a spell, I suddenly got the inclination to do a little less ‘glossing’. I wanted to examine the text more closely.

Could I read a sentence in one language, then the other, and finally finish off with a listen?

In theory, that sounded good. But in practice the idea fell down. Breaking the story up into sentences proved to be just too much of an interruption.

131

Especially with Dutch and German—even Japanese—when I do them they seem effortless. And so I feel a little guilty. As if I ought to making heavier weather out of the exercise. As if learning a language ought not to go so well.

That’s what people have been led to expect, I imagine. Unless they feel some resistance in response to their pushing, they feel that they mustn’t be pushing hard enough.

And so I want to do a little extra. I’m keen to apply myself further. That’s good, no? It shows that I haven’t a problem with motivation.

130

Daily, I run into people interested in languages:

• a Dutchman who feels he ought to learn Maori 
• an academic who picked up Spanish in Argentina on an exchange 
• a Philippines administrator wishing to learn Japanese 
• a Polytechnic staff member who had to go to the university to do a little of that same language 
• a Jordanian woman who learned English at the age of nine through reading a series of books for girls. 
• my own sister-in-law needing to pick up Dutch for her new overseas position 
• a new friend, a translator, who has traveled the world

It’s a hot topic!

129

In the rain, in the car, for 35 minutes, I did a bit of German. I listened to the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book while reading along (also in German).

That’s close to 5000 words, or about 250 sentences. 

And what did I learn? Nothing!

That’s right, in terms of declarative knowledge I can’t claim to have learned any isolated fact. All I gained was a degree of procedural knowledge. I got a little better at recognizing many things.

To my mind, that’s better. But these days, Educational institutions generally value declarative know-how over the procedural know-how.

128

After listening to a module on time mastery, it is clear to me that I need to become more deliberate about how and when I spend time on my languages.

Of course, I’ve addressed this before, but it’s important to revisit previous resolutions.

Today, then, I intend to review the current activity that I’m engaged in for every language. And then I’m going to decide where they fit on my overall personal routine.

That represents my version of a curriculum and timetable. I want to get into the swing and groove of doing stuff in an enjoyable and productive manner.

127

Just as soon as—

the bad weather ends and the summer starts

my Japanese book becomes published

Mami and I complete the VBS course

I collect a few more foreign-language books

The holidays end and Sachi goes back to school

my summer school for Syrians ends

I stick to a wheat and sugar free diet

I resume regular running

I gain access to a bicycle on which to commute

we grow an income flow and

properly settle back here in Dunedin

THEN!

I’ll knuckle down and turn my revolutionary right-brain ideas about language UNlearning into a compelling and compulsive program.  

126

I hadn’t listened to Harry Potter in Danish yet but I did so yesterday. (Or was it Swedish or Norwegian?) But then I started to berate myself. Surely I had wasted 30 minutes that I could’ve used to make real progress in a language I was studying.

But no.

I don’t want my learning to just involve numbers, rates, measurement, percent and the like. That’s what I’m trying to transcend. Left-brain thinking is so anal.

And I got a lot out of my Danish: sounds, sound patterns, sound-alike words in related languages. Heck, I could follow along and actually understand!

125

In the same vein, yesterday I practiced more easy listening, but live. Instead of playing a recording I sat at the table in the company of 5 Japanese women having lunch.

I was surplus to requirements. I could concentrate on eating and catching phrases and words. There was no pressure for me to participate. A smile and an occasional comment sufficed.

This is totally different to a 1-on-1 language exchange, or even 2-on-1. It might sound like a lazy way to learn, but isn’t that’s what you do from an early age, listening in on your parents’ get-togethers with friends?

124

Dunedin is a cool place. Internalize that and you can live with the climate.

These days I listen well. It’s easy to wear my mp3 player, and I find it no strain to listen to my lesser-known languages such as French and Spanish.

The reason for this is that my expectations are more modest.

I don’t expect to understand what I’m hearing. I’m happy to just catch words. The whole story then serves as a means of vocabulary review.

This way, I’m able to tune in and out at my whim. Paradoxically, in this way I end up understanding more!

123

Okay, I’ve been thinking on the topic: How, where and when do I run my language class in the future? How will I manage it? What’s the format?

I’ve the good fortune of having worked at an institution for a couple of decades. So I’m thinking of running a trial class there. However, face to face interaction seriously wears me out. Thinking on my feet simply kills me.

Luckily my brain has come up with an answer—prepare. I’ll work out the content and record them as videos. I’ll have them then to play and explain.

Smooth sailing from there.

122

The first tool is a habit. The second tool is a resource. The third tool could be called a trick, a technique, or a secret.

Basically it involves some sort of doubling up, or of coupling.

For example, there’s using two languages in parallel, listening while reading, or using a familiar grammar to ‘grow’ a sense of another. 

It encourages working at speed, pattern recognition, skimming, skipping over, omitting, and ‘imperfect’ learning. It stops you from analyzing the language too much.

It keeps your conscious mind off-balance, and allows the brain to do its job the way it’s meant to. 

121

My brother heads off to Holland tomorrow with his wife (because of her work). My sister hosts the farewell party. I bring my mother to attend it—“I would not have missed this for the world”. There, I learn on the quiet that an aunt is seriously ill. She does not have long to live. When she goes, Mum will be the last member alive of her tribe.

Hers is an interesting family who ended up on the wrong side in WW2. Someone wants to write a book about it. Mum showed me a Dutch newspaper clipping about his plan.

120

As usual, I’m up just after 5AM and typing, creating my language focus. So the habit works well for me.

As I say, it’s the first tool.

The second tool is a resource—the ultimate resource. Quite simply, it’s a book.

Any book will do, I claim. Fiction or non-fiction, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s something in the language you are interested in, written for users of that language, of a decent length, at a decent level, and is of interest to you, then you may safely conscript it.

For me, a book shouldn't stink of the classroom.

119

I have a habit. 

I write 100 words every morning. That sets me up for the day. 

You can’t plan, think or analyze within 100 words. It’s just the right length to express a single idea. There’s no room to show off, or for ego to intrude. In that sense, it’s like a haiku (but not a 140-character tweet).

I write on the topic of learning languages. That’s what I like to do, and help others with too.

Doing this, I suspect that I stimulate my right-brain thinking—a better habit than most, surely!

118

To bring about the needed right-brain shift, there are three tools that I'd suggest (to people who wish to acquire a foreign language well). They consist of a resource, a technique and a 100-word habit (no prizes for guessing the nature of the third).

I have experimented with different terms for the three components. I’ve not yet settled on a name for the whole, but I’ve been singing the same song for quite a while now—as in ‘variations on a theme’.

I might call my system Unlearning. And I’m partial to the idea of introducing myself as a Brainwright.

117

I love learning. So I trained as a teacher. Big mistake.

I associated education with the education system. (As one does.) Wrong. On two counts.

First: schools, Science and Western society feed on a diet of left-brain thought. You know—logic, analysis, step-by-step thinking. Junk-food philosophy, IMHO.

Me, I’m a right-brain person. Intuitive. I grok the big-picture. I swallow concepts whole. Therefore, it wasn’t a good idea for me to stay behind after school. 

See, schools are filled with people. And people wear me out. Seriously. There’s likely an Asperger’s thing going on. 

But it’s alright, Ma. I’m highly functional!

116

Along the same lines as yesterday, I chanced upon a useful resource again today during class time. My Syrian students had gone outside to collect some flax. They were being introduced to some aspects of Maori culture by a group of young people who had come to visit.

Meanwhile, I remained in the classroom. I did a search for flax weaving and discovered a 1-hour documentary about a man who has made that his life’s work. As the students spent longer than 10 minutes collecting their materials I could spend longer viewing.  

It is spoken in Maori with English subtitles.

115

Yesterday I happened upon a website that looks very useful. I have begun to explore it. Its full name is Multimedia Educational Resources for Language Online Teaching, or MERLOT for short. It is a huge site. I am particularly interested in its World Languages Community Portal.

I know, it’s a mouthful. Thus far, I’ve only started to explore the resources for Japanese (of which there are 99). 

One useful link led me to a set of cultural interviews with international business executives in their native languages. You can listen to them, as well as read the transcripts and translations below.

114

I’d like to celebrate some success, but not my own. Today belongs to my 88-year-old mother and my 7-year-old daughter.

Yesterday Sachi completed her first home-run book, Astrid Lindgren’s Pipi Longstocking—all 263 pages. And in Japanese, not English. It was her first real ‘no-picture’ book.

And Mum completed Alle Herrlichkeit auf Erden (A Many-Splendoured Thing) by Han Suyin. I gave it her, wondering if she could still read German after more than 70 years.

Sachi is in a rush to learn English. Mum is worried about her mind. I reckon that neither of them has any need for concern.

113

Why do I do this? I don’t mean the language learning. I mean writing these 100-word posts.

The idea stems from habit musicians and the like have of logging their hours of practice. You jot down how much you did—or didn’t—do. It’s a simple tool, but a powerful one. I was reminded of that in David Bolton’s free ebook, The Secrets of Successful Language Learning.

It keeps up my momentum. It acts as a daily reminder. It keeps me focused. 

But it has an even greater potential. I believe in that it could be useful for social learning.

112

I always check the worn books that the library is getting selling off. Today—lo and behold—I discover Harry Potter and the Stone on sale! I’d been searching for over a month.

The sign says two books for 50c. Would they accept 25c for one?

Yes and no. I receive change, but only 20c. Has there been some mistake? No. It’s just that in the 5 years we’ve been out of the country New Zealand has gotten rid of its 5c coins.

Oh well, nothing lasts forever. Even my book has a loose page. But at least it’s hardback!  

111

‘Scribes’ is a second-hand-bookshop. I ducked into it yesterday on the way to the museum with my daughter. Wintry weather in December—that’s Dunedin for you.

On the way out, I caught sight of dictionaries and phrasebooks in foreign languages. The man at the counter saw me looking.

“That’s the reference section. We have books in other languages in the corridor out back. Mostly German, French and Japanese.”

So I took a look. 

Sure enough—a rich source of popular authors translated—Koontz etcetera. Even Sesame Street in Japanese for Sachi. I’ll return with my fine-tooth comb one day soon.

110

My intentions were good. It had been raining, but there was a break in the weather. We had to get out. Some ingredients needed buying, after which I’d be dropped off for some exercise.

So I got ready the mp3 player. I want to do a German blitz. And I took out the HP1 that I'd borrowed.  I would listen-read my way home.

But of course I left them sitting on the table. And instead, we made ourselves dizzy on playground equipment, and walked through wet Woodhaugh woods.

Cockles in wine for tea/dinner/supper, pies, and yin yoga planned for tomorrow!

109

Mum reads Maeve Binchy. I borrowed Evening Class from her. The book concerns the people involved in an Italian language class in Dublin.

It’s an enjoyable read, and Maeve’s style seems to me very suitable for people wanting to learn or improve their English. It is simple, flows, and tells the story in a straightforward manner (but you do need to remember who’s who!).

An excerpt:

She learned Italian from a little book and it became tattered as she went over and over the phrases, asking herself questions and answering them, her soft Irish voice eventually mastering the Italian sounds.