Floriano Lobo: Amilcar Da Costa and Tony De Sa must be able to differentiate between Learning and "being instructed". At Primary School Level, kids are instructed. They start learning at the Secondary level, college level, university leve .... professional level what have you......where they have their entire lifetime to learn.
T d S: LOLs. After being 'instructed' the kids have to LEARN. Learning is a life time process and does not begin in school but rather from the birth of the individual to that individuals death - to put it poetically from 'womb to tomb'. From where have you got this notion that kids start learning at Secondary level onwards? Rather than venture into the field of Education of which you haven't a single qualification so to justify what you speak about, I would rather you stuck to radio waves and cell phone towers wherein you have expertise. FL: Do the Japanese, Chinese, European Countries, South America the world over learn English at the Primary levels? Before you people start talking, you must undertand what is learning and what is "being instructed" Example. Can you instruct a kid who does not know a word of ENGLISH in English the language??? First, you have to teach the kid the language so he understands. Whereas you can teach the kid English, French, Marathi, Urdu, German or whatever. But can you instruct the kid in these languages?? T d S: a) At the Goethe Institutes, for instance, of which there are several in India (Pune, Bangalore, Delhi,...) where they teach German in a residential course, whether you know German or not you are forced to speak Gernan from the time you enter the institute for the course. Yes a kid who does not know a word of ENGLISH can be taught in the English language. You your self are a product of such a system. b) Not having been to Japan, China and other European countries, I do not know what they learn at primary level, but I will point out that you can study in these countries in these languages from KG to Ph. D in whatever discipline you want. Moreover, your prospects of getting employment in your own country are very high. You can do that to a certain extent in Marathi. But in Konkani? At the most a Ph. D in Konkani itself. Then what happens if you want a Ph, D. or Masters Degree or Bachelors Degree in a discipline like nuclear science in Konkani? Does Konkani have the words (vocabulary) for it? c) I do not know how you differentiate between teaching and instruction - to me these are synonymous terms. But you could always explain. d) I thought your field of specialization is Radio communications but suddenly you have become a pedagogue. As such please throw more light on "Before you people start talking, you must undertand what is learning and what is "being instructed" " Is it some new bizarre theory of learning or perhaps a bazaari one? I would like to learn by being instructed by you. e) As a parting shot, I would like to add that learning is about internalizing concepts. Language is merely a vehicle which allows us to internalize concepts. In all this, the child for whom all this is supposed to be done is totally ignored. Children have amazing capabilities to learn. Take an NRG kid in Africa. He speaks English at home, Swahili or Xhosa or Afrikaans on the street, probably speaks Gujerati to his friends, and may be if his parents insist, a bit of Konkani at home. I know, I spoke English (to my parents and Goan friends), Swahili to the world at large on the street and even learnt it at school, Gujerati to my Gujju friends, Hindi (a second language). Just because adults cannot do it doesn't mean that children cannot. Take computers, its the adults who have to struggle with them. Kids take to them like ducks to water. FL: I would appreciate the answers from these two esteemed experts. Please. T d S: Though I am a professional teacher with approximately thirty eight and a half years experience and have learnt my craft at the hands of some very great teachers, have attended countless seminars and refresher courses and having been a Resource Person at some of these my self, I don't consider my self an 'expert' In the teaching profession you are an eternal student. So I am a student and if you have something to teach me, I am prepared to learn, except if it is KRAPP. -- ** "Tony de Sa" < tonydesa at gmail dot com > **
