On repeat: Last Person-Jenny Owen Youngs
Tell me if you like it. Shut up if you don't.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Lesson #7: How you learn a language
I had an epiphany.
The "people" who paint the picture of what learning a language looks like via immersion straight up LIED. I was lead to believe that you go to a foreign country, you become immersed in whatever language it is you're trying to learn, it swirls around you 24/7 like some linguistic hurricane and you just stand in the rain and soak up the knowledge like a sponge until one day you wake up and realize your pronunciation has improved vastly, your speaking fluidity has leaped bounds, your vocabulary is limitless, and your confidence is through the roof.
LIES I TELL YOU! HUMONGOUS HEAPS ON THE CRAP WAGON IS WHAT THAT IS.
Sorry to be crass and a debbie downer but it is better that you know now, in case you're thinking about learning a language (which despite all my complaining I actually recommend).
The thing is you're not a sponge. You're just not. And neither am I. The vocabulary doesn't seep into your brain the way I was led to believe. I have to look up words now more than I ever did. I have to spend entire social interactions on the fringe jotting down the key words I don't understand so that I can go look them up later and pray that that exact same interaction comes around again so that I can participate the next time.
You know when someone says something rude to you and you're silent in the moment but then you think of a witty comeback 2 hours later? It's like that.
I have to teach myself the language now, just like I had to teach myself the language back in Berkeley. The ONLY difference is now my motivation to actually go and look the words up, or review the verb tense, is born out of greater necessity. In theory if you could mentally conjure up this same sense of urgency right where you are now, you could be well on your way to fluency from the comfort of your own home, or office desk (Ha! I caught you. Get back to work), because actually the work you'll have to do is the same.
To summarize part I of my epiphany: you're not a sponge, you're a mule. And if you wanna make progress, you're going to have to sweat and labor while abroad to cram all that vocabulary in your head the same way you would if you were learning vocabulary in a class in your hometown.
The "people" who paint the picture of what learning a language looks like via immersion straight up LIED. I was lead to believe that you go to a foreign country, you become immersed in whatever language it is you're trying to learn, it swirls around you 24/7 like some linguistic hurricane and you just stand in the rain and soak up the knowledge like a sponge until one day you wake up and realize your pronunciation has improved vastly, your speaking fluidity has leaped bounds, your vocabulary is limitless, and your confidence is through the roof.
LIES I TELL YOU! HUMONGOUS HEAPS ON THE CRAP WAGON IS WHAT THAT IS.
Sorry to be crass and a debbie downer but it is better that you know now, in case you're thinking about learning a language (which despite all my complaining I actually recommend).
The thing is you're not a sponge. You're just not. And neither am I. The vocabulary doesn't seep into your brain the way I was led to believe. I have to look up words now more than I ever did. I have to spend entire social interactions on the fringe jotting down the key words I don't understand so that I can go look them up later and pray that that exact same interaction comes around again so that I can participate the next time.
You know when someone says something rude to you and you're silent in the moment but then you think of a witty comeback 2 hours later? It's like that.
I have to teach myself the language now, just like I had to teach myself the language back in Berkeley. The ONLY difference is now my motivation to actually go and look the words up, or review the verb tense, is born out of greater necessity. In theory if you could mentally conjure up this same sense of urgency right where you are now, you could be well on your way to fluency from the comfort of your own home, or office desk (Ha! I caught you. Get back to work), because actually the work you'll have to do is the same.
To summarize part I of my epiphany: you're not a sponge, you're a mule. And if you wanna make progress, you're going to have to sweat and labor while abroad to cram all that vocabulary in your head the same way you would if you were learning vocabulary in a class in your hometown.
 |
| NOT YOU. |
 |
| YOU. |
Part II
In addition to learning a language not being anything like the process of absorption it's also not a linear process either. I've studied Spanish in school now for 12+ years and up until this trip the learning process has been sort of like climbing a staircase.
First you learn the basics: greetings, numbers, present tense verbs and their accompanying pronouns. Step 1.
Then you move onto speaking in the past tense. Step 2.
After that the teach you all the exceptions to the grammar rules that your learned in steps 1 and 2 (bastards). That's step 3. Step 3 is annoying.
Then you learn how to talk about the future and deal with doubt. example: "I would do this, if this happened... or, I might do this." Step 4.
But generally you learn a verb tense or a grammar rule and you can apply that to a broad spectrum of words and situations. Then they give ya another one to throw into your bag of communicative tricks and you make that an option. You escalate the stairs building on the grammar rules you learned before until you know all the grammar rules and have practiced them enough to be able to use them comfortably and correctly "on the fly" and voilá! you're fluent.
I thought that being abroad would be the practicing and fine tuning portion of this linear process.
It ain't.
I've found being here that my fluency is patch-worked together rather than developing steadily in a solid line. I find myself fluent in certain interactions that I do often, like checking out at the grocery store or adding more money to my transit card. I can even get through it unrecognized as a foreigner sometimes! I can do this because I've learned the interaction. It's not that I know every verb tense and every word the cashier at a given supermarket could throw at me...hell! half the time I only understand about a fourth of what they say, but I've learned the progression of the interaction:
1. First they ask you if you have a club savings card.
2. Then they ask you if you wanna donate X# of pesos to X cause
3. Then they ask you if you're paying with cash or credit.
Etc.
So regardless of what specific words the person is using and in what grammar mode I know what happens next. My vocab hasn't improved any. I'm no more of a grammatical whiz than I was before. I just know how the interaction goes. And you know what? That's fluency! It's not the ability to understand any sentence that comes my way by applying the general rules of grammar I learned in my step by step academic acquisition, like I thought it was. NOOoooo! It's much messier and more cobbled together than that. Take solace.
P.S. I would like to amend my earlier statement that suggests you can learn a new language right where you are simply by conjuring up the sense of urgency you would have to learn it if you were in that language's country of origin surrounded by it. You can accomplish the linear portion of the language learning that way, but you'll still have to learn the interactions if you want true fluency. I hear that Rosetta Stone's approach to teaching language is just to teach the interaction rather than the grammar rules. I'm intrigued by this. I bet it works.
Now rest your eyeballs. That was a long post.
In addition to learning a language not being anything like the process of absorption it's also not a linear process either. I've studied Spanish in school now for 12+ years and up until this trip the learning process has been sort of like climbing a staircase.
First you learn the basics: greetings, numbers, present tense verbs and their accompanying pronouns. Step 1.
Then you move onto speaking in the past tense. Step 2.
After that the teach you all the exceptions to the grammar rules that your learned in steps 1 and 2 (bastards). That's step 3. Step 3 is annoying.
Then you learn how to talk about the future and deal with doubt. example: "I would do this, if this happened... or, I might do this." Step 4.
But generally you learn a verb tense or a grammar rule and you can apply that to a broad spectrum of words and situations. Then they give ya another one to throw into your bag of communicative tricks and you make that an option. You escalate the stairs building on the grammar rules you learned before until you know all the grammar rules and have practiced them enough to be able to use them comfortably and correctly "on the fly" and voilá! you're fluent.
I thought that being abroad would be the practicing and fine tuning portion of this linear process.
It ain't.
I've found being here that my fluency is patch-worked together rather than developing steadily in a solid line. I find myself fluent in certain interactions that I do often, like checking out at the grocery store or adding more money to my transit card. I can even get through it unrecognized as a foreigner sometimes! I can do this because I've learned the interaction. It's not that I know every verb tense and every word the cashier at a given supermarket could throw at me...hell! half the time I only understand about a fourth of what they say, but I've learned the progression of the interaction:
1. First they ask you if you have a club savings card.
2. Then they ask you if you wanna donate X# of pesos to X cause
3. Then they ask you if you're paying with cash or credit.
Etc.
So regardless of what specific words the person is using and in what grammar mode I know what happens next. My vocab hasn't improved any. I'm no more of a grammatical whiz than I was before. I just know how the interaction goes. And you know what? That's fluency! It's not the ability to understand any sentence that comes my way by applying the general rules of grammar I learned in my step by step academic acquisition, like I thought it was. NOOoooo! It's much messier and more cobbled together than that. Take solace.
P.S. I would like to amend my earlier statement that suggests you can learn a new language right where you are simply by conjuring up the sense of urgency you would have to learn it if you were in that language's country of origin surrounded by it. You can accomplish the linear portion of the language learning that way, but you'll still have to learn the interactions if you want true fluency. I hear that Rosetta Stone's approach to teaching language is just to teach the interaction rather than the grammar rules. I'm intrigued by this. I bet it works.
Now rest your eyeballs. That was a long post.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Chilean Dictionary
Entry #3: cuático/ cuática
(pron. cwat-tee-ko)
*def. weird, exaggerated, curious, scandalous, shocking, funny
example: FAIL!
If you're wondering how this one word can mean ALL of these things, most of which are far from similar to one another...well, SO. AM. I.
Every time I meet someone new they inevitably ask me two questions: "Why Chile?" and "How are you getting along with Chilean spanish?" My response to the first is always "Well the Spanish immersion program at my school was in Chile, so here I am," and my response to the second is: "I thought I would be OK because I knew how to speak Spanish more or less before I came here, upon I arriving, however, I discovered that you all speak Chilean, which is NOT the same thing as Spanish... so I've had to start over and learn a lot." Then whoever I'm speaking to usually chuckles, nods his/her head a few times, and looks at me like a lost puppy (adorable, entertaining to play with, but you don't really have the time or energy to teach it all the tricks it needs to know). And so I soldier on, trying my hardest to remember to be patient with myself as I teach myself the linguistic tricks. Oy, what a pain in the arse this is at times!
(pron. cwat-tee-ko)
*def. weird, exaggerated, curious, scandalous, shocking, funny
If you're wondering how this one word can mean ALL of these things, most of which are far from similar to one another...well, SO. AM. I.
Every time I meet someone new they inevitably ask me two questions: "Why Chile?" and "How are you getting along with Chilean spanish?" My response to the first is always "Well the Spanish immersion program at my school was in Chile, so here I am," and my response to the second is: "I thought I would be OK because I knew how to speak Spanish more or less before I came here, upon I arriving, however, I discovered that you all speak Chilean, which is NOT the same thing as Spanish... so I've had to start over and learn a lot." Then whoever I'm speaking to usually chuckles, nods his/her head a few times, and looks at me like a lost puppy (adorable, entertaining to play with, but you don't really have the time or energy to teach it all the tricks it needs to know). And so I soldier on, trying my hardest to remember to be patient with myself as I teach myself the linguistic tricks. Oy, what a pain in the arse this is at times!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Pomaire
Let's catch up again, shall we?
A looonng time ago I went to this teeny tiny little village called Pomaire about an hour outside of Santiago. Pomaire is known for its pottery. In fact, pottery throwing is practically the only industry in the town. Everything in Pomaire hinges on this type of mineral clay called greda. Problem is greda is very difficult to extract from the earth because, at its easiest, the stuff lives about a foot down in the soil, usually more. So the story with greda in Pomaire is the same story told about every mineral rich product the earth has to offer, which is to say that people used it like there was a never ending supply and now they're running out and instead of being a practical material now it's been converted into an artisanal one. Either way...the trip was frickin' fun.
into this:
A looonng time ago I went to this teeny tiny little village called Pomaire about an hour outside of Santiago. Pomaire is known for its pottery. In fact, pottery throwing is practically the only industry in the town. Everything in Pomaire hinges on this type of mineral clay called greda. Problem is greda is very difficult to extract from the earth because, at its easiest, the stuff lives about a foot down in the soil, usually more. So the story with greda in Pomaire is the same story told about every mineral rich product the earth has to offer, which is to say that people used it like there was a never ending supply and now they're running out and instead of being a practical material now it's been converted into an artisanal one. Either way...the trip was frickin' fun.
Follow the greda brick road to Pomaire!
We arrived there at about 10 in the morning and this guy:
had already done this:
Greda is a really great material for making bricks because it bakes at a fairly low temperature. These bricks are allowed to sun dry for 24 hours. Then they get piled by this guy:
into this:
(note: no colors were altered in these pictures, how crazy is that blue and gold background?!)
They stack the bricks in a pyramid with charcoal bits in between each layer, cover it with mud, and light a fire under it. No special kiln required! The fire burns for 48 hours and when all is said and done you have some fine fully cooked bricks ready to build with. Nifty, huh?
My group was lucky enough to be fed breakfast (homemade bread, jam, tea, and milk straight from the cow!) (I want a cow!) and take a pottery class with a family in Pomaire that has been in the biz for more than 50 years.
Then we had time to shop around the town a bit and see the pottery available for purchase. I found everything from the practical:
to the frivolous:
(standing casserole dish)
Including these mildly offensive figurines!
Ah, well! Not everyone can be as racially evolved as the U.S. pretends to be. Speaking of the United States' lack of racial progress, check this out:
Did you watch it? Stop reading if you didn't watch it. You're no longer welcome here until you've watched it.
Alright anyways, I digress. I wasn't intending to turn this into a rant, so back to Pomaire...
There is incredible fresh food there because it's in the countryside. These eggs were laid by chickens the same day that I photographed them, sigh.
This is an empanada. It's big enough to easily fit a 1 year old infant inside. That is not what's in there (I'm positive), but you get the idea. It's large.
Chicha is part beer + part wine + part ? and 100% delicious. This stuff was handmade in small batches like everything else in Pomaire.
The gang.
It was a great time overall. Pomaire has no shortage of charm. Hopefully I'll get to go back before my time in Chile is up.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Chilean Dictionary
It's time for another round of chilean dictionary!
Entry #2: salirse salado
(pron. sal-eer-say sal-ado)
*def. to be expensive, to cost a lot
example: "Mi computadora Mac me salió super salado."
Translation: "Salado" in spanish normally means salty. I'm guessing this phrase comes from a time when salt was very valuable and used like currency. Literally you're saying something along the lines of "My computer took all my salt," except in Spanish the subject is never responsible so it's actually more like "My computer caused all my salt to leave me."
I'm entertained by this. Don't ask me why.
P.S. Let's talk about this phenomenon of the subject never being responsible for a second...It's awesome. If you lose your keys in spanish, you say "Me olvidó mis llaves." So congratulations because you didn't really lose your keys! You're keys lost you! Hahaha! Brilliant!
Bye
Entry #2: salirse salado
(pron. sal-eer-say sal-ado)
*def. to be expensive, to cost a lot
example: "Mi computadora Mac me salió super salado."
Translation: "Salado" in spanish normally means salty. I'm guessing this phrase comes from a time when salt was very valuable and used like currency. Literally you're saying something along the lines of "My computer took all my salt," except in Spanish the subject is never responsible so it's actually more like "My computer caused all my salt to leave me."
I'm entertained by this. Don't ask me why.
P.S. Let's talk about this phenomenon of the subject never being responsible for a second...It's awesome. If you lose your keys in spanish, you say "Me olvidó mis llaves." So congratulations because you didn't really lose your keys! You're keys lost you! Hahaha! Brilliant!
Bye
What I Eat...
Arroz con leche
Marinated grilled chicken salad w/ lemon vinaigrette. Homemade french fries.
I promise to talk about something more Chile specific that you might actually care about soon.
Sincerely,
your flaky amateur blogger friend
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