Comments on: Splleing is Not Improtant http://language101.com language101.com Language Learning on the Web Wed, 09 May 2012 05:47:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: thomas http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-1505 thomas Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:06:05 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-1505 Kathy - These are great examples of how fluency and learning are modeled. Cutting off the first letter of every line certainly can pose its challenges. This is partly because, just like the splleing article above, as we gain comprehension of phrases we can start to read the entire phrase as a single object instead of all the words individually. This is a secret of speed reading - stop looking at the individual words and begin looking at the lines or phrases as a whole complete object. As the phrases begin to congeal we can slightly re-arrange the words and have the thought structure make sense. Re-arranging the words in a structure can make sense by congealing the thought into phrases.. Thoughts can be put into phrases and sense can be made within the structure through the congealing of the words. You may notice that these phrases hold slightly different resonances yet for the most part they convey the same message - we can read through the garble and get the message regardless of order so long as the key markers are present. One of the reasons why Language101.com's software works as well as it does is due to the way humans learn conversational language - we begin to repeat the words and phrases we hear and then get praised for doing better and better each time! After we get enough phrases into our minds we can begin to read new ones through the context clues of what we do recognize. It's quite fascinating how the neural network can start making new connections in places we once considered uncorrelated. As an English speaking person we are able to take simple phrases such as 'Hello, how are you?' and translate into another language (in this case, spanish) 'Hola, como estas?' Because the word order is similar it is an easy one to remember and integrate. Thomas Kathy -

These are great examples of how fluency and learning are modeled. Cutting off the first letter of every line certainly can pose its challenges. This is partly because, just like the splleing article above, as we gain comprehension of phrases we can start to read the entire phrase as a single object instead of all the words individually. This is a secret of speed reading – stop looking at the individual words and begin looking at the lines or phrases as a whole complete object.

As the phrases begin to congeal we can slightly re-arrange the words and have the thought structure make sense.
Re-arranging the words in a structure can make sense by congealing the thought into phrases..
Thoughts can be put into phrases and sense can be made within the structure through the congealing of the words.

You may notice that these phrases hold slightly different resonances yet for the most part they convey the same message – we can read through the garble and get the message regardless of order so long as the key markers are present.

One of the reasons why Language101.com’s software works as well as it does is due to the way humans learn conversational language – we begin to repeat the words and phrases we hear and then get praised for doing better and better each time! After we get enough phrases into our minds we can begin to read new ones through the context clues of what we do recognize. It’s quite fascinating how the neural network can start making new connections in places we once considered uncorrelated. As an English speaking person we are able to take simple phrases such as ‘Hello, how are you?’ and translate into another language (in this case, spanish) ‘Hola, como estas?’ Because the word order is similar it is an easy one to remember and integrate.

Thomas

]]> By: Kathy http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-1499 Kathy Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:27:47 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-1499 I learned German as a foreign language starting in college. After about 6 years of study, I was working on my Masters degree in German at Middlebury College summer language school. One day in my advanced language practice course the native speaker professor handed out a photocopy of a text that we were to read for homework. We all took it and left the classroom. That evening all of us nearly went out of our minds trying to decifer the text because she had cut off the FIRST LETTER ONLY of each line of text when she made the photocopy. I later took a text of my native language and cut off the first letter of each line and I was - as you demonstrated above - able to easily read the text, without hesitation. This proved to me that it is the experience speaking and listening to a language that enables us to understand: most of comprehension is expectation based on prior experience. At that point in time I had had very little experience using the target language to talk about anything abstract. Therefore I did not have enough experience to fill in even that one letter! Another experience: I have two children who have grown up bilingual. They both attended German schools. I had decided to let my son get a grip on reading in German, before I would attempt to teach him to read English - I assumed I would have to TEACH him to read English at a later date. I had always read to them in both languages, so we had a lot of English children's books lying around. One day sometime during the first year in school, I caught my son studying an English book. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was reading. I asked him to prove it and sure enough, he read the page of a beginning English reader to me! Evidently, once he got the concept of how to read - even though it was in a different, much more phonetic language - he was able to figure out the text of the other language which he could speak and understand, just by recognizing a few letters in each word. His language experience allowed him to fill in the rest. I never sat and sounded out words with either of my children in English. They were taught to read German in school, and reading English is something that just came as by-product. One of them is a voracious reader - but the other only ever read comic books in either language without being forced! So we have the full range of types of learners covered. Later, it became evident that the comic-book-fanatic read in a completely different way than the voracious-reader. The former sounded out every word afresh, relying heavily on sound-symbol coordination. He often didn't recognize that the same word kept appearing over and over on the same page. The other child read the entire word like a picture, and often mispronounced words in English that he had only read, but never heard said aloud, showing that he had memorized the spelling of the word correctly! Anyway - having children is great for studying the processes of learning! I learned German as a foreign language starting in college. After about 6 years of study, I was working on my Masters degree in German at Middlebury College summer language school. One day in my advanced language practice course the native speaker professor handed out a photocopy of a text that we were to read for homework. We all took it and left the classroom. That evening all of us nearly went out of our minds trying to decifer the text because she had cut off the FIRST LETTER ONLY of each line of text when she made the photocopy. I later took a text of my native language and cut off the first letter of each line and I was – as you demonstrated above – able to easily read the text, without hesitation. This proved to me that it is the experience speaking and listening to a language that enables us to understand: most of comprehension is expectation based on prior experience. At that point in time I had had very little experience using the target language to talk about anything abstract. Therefore I did not have enough experience to fill in even that one letter!
Another experience: I have two children who have grown up bilingual. They both attended German schools. I had decided to let my son get a grip on reading in German, before I would attempt to teach him to read English – I assumed I would have to TEACH him to read English at a later date. I had always read to them in both languages, so we had a lot of English children’s books lying around. One day sometime during the first year in school, I caught my son studying an English book. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was reading. I asked him to prove it and sure enough, he read the page of a beginning English reader to me! Evidently, once he got the concept of how to read – even though it was in a different, much more phonetic language – he was able to figure out the text of the other language which he could speak and understand, just by recognizing a few letters in each word. His language experience allowed him to fill in the rest. I never sat and sounded out words with either of my children in English. They were taught to read German in school, and reading English is something that just came as by-product. One of them is a voracious reader – but the other only ever read comic books in either language without being forced! So we have the full range of types of learners covered. Later, it became evident that the comic-book-fanatic read in a completely different way than the voracious-reader. The former sounded out every word afresh, relying heavily on sound-symbol coordination. He often didn’t recognize that the same word kept appearing over and over on the same page. The other child read the entire word like a picture, and often mispronounced words in English that he had only read, but never heard said aloud, showing that he had memorized the spelling of the word correctly! Anyway – having children is great for studying the processes of learning!

]]> By: thomas http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-595 thomas Wed, 18 May 2011 23:46:02 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-595 Lara - As with any difference in learning comprehension each individual must determine what their ideal is and work within that structure. Dyslexia is a challenging mental re-organization to first overcome. Once your mind began sorting out the shapes you were able to more fully integrate what was being presented with what you perceived, correct? Something similar happens with text as exampled above. The first time I read that I had a hard time with it. Each time I look at it I attempt to read each word individually and it hinders my progress to comprehend. When I look at each block of words my mind then sorts out the contextual meaning in addition to the literal word and I can speed right through it with full comprehension. As for learning to read a different language - the same challenge will be presented if the mind is attempting to discern the actual shape being perceived. It is possible, however, that a mind which is dyslexic in the Latin (english) alphabet might actually key right into something very different such as cyrillic characters, japanese kanji or arabic script. We are all vastly different and doing our best to fit everyone into the same conceptual brain model. Maybe the key is to fit ourselves into the model that works best for our individuality. Lara -

As with any difference in learning comprehension each individual must determine what their ideal is and work within that structure. Dyslexia is a challenging mental re-organization to first overcome. Once your mind began sorting out the shapes you were able to more fully integrate what was being presented with what you perceived, correct? Something similar happens with text as exampled above. The first time I read that I had a hard time with it. Each time I look at it I attempt to read each word individually and it hinders my progress to comprehend. When I look at each block of words my mind then sorts out the contextual meaning in addition to the literal word and I can speed right through it with full comprehension.

As for learning to read a different language – the same challenge will be presented if the mind is attempting to discern the actual shape being perceived. It is possible, however, that a mind which is dyslexic in the Latin (english) alphabet might actually key right into something very different such as cyrillic characters, japanese kanji or arabic script.

We are all vastly different and doing our best to fit everyone into the same conceptual brain model. Maybe the key is to fit ourselves into the model that works best for our individuality.

]]> By: Lara Aulie http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-584 Lara Aulie Sun, 15 May 2011 14:33:11 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-584 You say that this professor has claimed that spelling is unimportant , however , that is usually if you have learne to read early in life and not latter. Many people like myself because of things like dyslexia , didnt learn to read untill age 9 or so. The first several sentences you typed were very difficult to puzzle through for this type of individual. I can not speed read , or comprohend multiple words at once. What would you suggest for learning to read a different language for these type of individuals. You say that this professor has claimed that spelling is unimportant , however , that is usually if you have learne to read early in life and not latter. Many people like myself because of things like dyslexia , didnt learn to read untill age 9 or so. The first several sentences you typed were very difficult to puzzle through for this type of individual. I can not speed read , or comprohend multiple words at once. What would you suggest for learning to read a different language for these type of individuals.

]]> By: thomas http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-555 thomas Sat, 07 May 2011 02:05:54 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-555 Luis - We are gathering together the necessary data to get that project underway! It will be great when each language is able to be learned back and forth. Luis -

We are gathering together the necessary data to get that project underway! It will be great when each language is able to be learned back and forth.

]]> By: Luis http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-553 Luis Thu, 05 May 2011 17:16:36 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-553 Hi there, I'm from Mexico and would like to try your method learning english. Do you have a course in English ? Regards, Hi there,
I’m from Mexico and would like to try your method learning english.
Do you have a course in English ?

Regards,

]]> By: thomas http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-502 thomas Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:57:14 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-502 Jill - Yes! It is nearing completion. Please check out the available information at learn-italian.language101.com Thomas Jill -

Yes! It is nearing completion. Please check out the available information at learn-italian.language101.com

Thomas

]]> By: Jill http://language101.com/learn-any-language/spelling-is-optional/comment-page-1/#comment-494 Jill Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:54:32 +0000 http://language101.com/?page_id=50#comment-494 Do you have a course in Italian? Do you have a course in Italian?

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