Chris, The full immersion approach to teaching a language is a good one. Teaching reading and writing first is not.
The best example of this is how you learned your first language. You were able to speak very well and make yourself understood before you even knew there was such thing as a noun, adjective, verb, etc… …Bill! From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ChrisAustinLane Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2010 1:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question My son has just started kindergarten at a full immersion Spanish school, which means that the teachers only speak Spanish. I have been trying to speak some Spanish as a result, and it is truly interesting. My languages in school were all read languages, Latin, Greek, Old English, so my only experience with non-fluent speaking has been brief touring in Italy with my school Latin and an Italian primer. As I get more brave about actually trying to communicate in Spanish, I feel like a totally different person than in English. I don't feel like I have thoughts I have trouble expressing well, I feel stupid. As long as the other person speaks slowly ad doesn't stray too far from the tiny channel I can handle, I am like a happy child, but then boom they roar off and I feel my brain left far behind Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Oct 23, 2010, at 9:03, "ED" <[email protected]> wrote: --- In [email protected], <billsm...@...> wrote: > Ed, > So, my advice is to give Mayka a very large amount of latitude on her > phrasing, Yes, I should avoid responding to all statements, whose intended meaning I am not at least 90% certain I apprehend correctly. > ... and approach all of her posts with a generous and positive attitude. > Otherwise she's liable to put a big case of whoop-ass on you! > …Bill! Definition of 'whoop ass' (new term to me): * A can of whoop ass, sometimes written as whoopass, is a slang figure of speech referring to a "whooping" (whipping or beating) of someone's buttocks. It is used to indicate that aggressive and dominating actions are pending, as in a competition or sporting event. ... There is no avoiding the inexorable Law of Karma: naughty boys do what they do and they get what they get! ;-) --ED __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5558 (20101023) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
