Move to using only native materials

General discussion about learning languages
User avatar
AML
Orange Belt
Posts: 115
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2016 2:21 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N)
x 133

Move to using only native materials

Postby AML » Wed May 17, 2017 7:40 pm

I've always thought that once a person is a solid B2, then s/he should eliminate their usage of materials meant for learners and move to using only native materials (books, tv, movies, single language dictionaries, etc). Does your experience agree? At what point do you think a language learner should make the switch to using only materials meant for native speakers of the language they're learning?
0 x

User avatar
zenmonkey
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2528
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 7:21 pm
Location: California, Germany and France
Languages: Spanish, English, French trilingual - German (B2/C1) on/off study: Persian, Hebrew, Tibetan, Setswana.
Some knowledge of Italian, Portuguese, Ladino, Yiddish ...
Want to tackle Tzotzil, Nahuatl
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=859
x 7030
Contact:

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby zenmonkey » Wed May 17, 2017 7:47 pm

Depends on the language and availability but there is not reason for not using the tools available. I intend to continue to look at reference material, workbooks, etc as I move to C1. Yes, I certainly focus more on native material but I don't adhere to a rule where I have to only use native material.
9 x
I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar

User avatar
zenmonkey
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2528
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 7:21 pm
Location: California, Germany and France
Languages: Spanish, English, French trilingual - German (B2/C1) on/off study: Persian, Hebrew, Tibetan, Setswana.
Some knowledge of Italian, Portuguese, Ladino, Yiddish ...
Want to tackle Tzotzil, Nahuatl
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=859
x 7030
Contact:

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby zenmonkey » Wed May 17, 2017 8:13 pm

LeCon wrote:I think once you're past the basics - pronunciation, basic grammar like pronouns/gender etc you should dive straight in and never look back. So A1/2 for me.


It's time to throw out all this stuff (and the other bookcases too) !!!

IMG_4224.JPG


:lol:

For me, that's would be like learning to box with two hands tied behind my back. If it works for you, that's great.
I use an electronic dictionary every day.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
8 x
I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar

aaleks
Blue Belt
Posts: 884
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:04 pm
Languages: Russian (N)
x 1910

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby aaleks » Wed May 17, 2017 8:14 pm

AML wrote:I've always thought that once a person is a solid B2, then s/he should eliminate their usage of materials meant for learners and move to using only native materials (books, tv, movies, single language dictionaries, etc). Does your experience agree? At what point do you think a language learner should make the switch to using only materials meant for native speakers of the language they're learning?

In case with dictionaries it is not always so easy to stop use them. If you need to know, for example, the name of some plant, it will be hard to figure out from an explanation in monolingual dictionary.
0 x

User avatar
klvik
Orange Belt
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:40 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (N) Spanish (Intermediate)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3149
x 441

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby klvik » Wed May 17, 2017 9:14 pm

AML wrote:I've always thought that once a person is a solid B2, then s/he should eliminate their usage of materials meant for learners and move to using only native materials (books, tv, movies, single language dictionaries, etc). Does your experience agree? At what point do you think a language learner should make the switch to using only materials meant for native speakers of the language they're learning?


My thinking is that once a person is a solid B2 the vast majority of their input should be native material but material-for-learners may still useful for specific tasks such as shadowing or learning idioms (among others). If the materials-for-learners help you to address a deficiency more efficiently or more easily than the native material, why not? Of course, if you find the use of materials-for-learns demotivating or extremely boring, don't use them!
6 x
January 5, 2020
2020 Output Challenge speaking: 66 / 3000

User avatar
reineke
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3570
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:34 pm
Languages: Fox (C4)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6979
x 6554

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby reineke » Wed May 17, 2017 10:37 pm

I would neither "eliminate" something potentially useful nor wait till I'm ready to "start" using native materials.
14 x

User avatar
Random Review
Green Belt
Posts: 449
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 8:41 pm
Location: UK/Spain/China
Languages: En (N), Es (int), De (pre-int), Pt (pre-int), Zh-CN (beg), El (beg), yid (beg)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 75#p123375
x 919

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby Random Review » Thu May 18, 2017 2:00 am

reineke wrote:I would neither "eliminate" something potentially useful nor wait till I'm ready to "start" using native materials.


Bingo.
3 x
German input 100 hours by 30-06: 4 / 100
Spanish input 200 hours by 30-06: 0 / 200
German study 50 hours by 30-06: 3 / 100
Spanish study 200 hours by 30-06: 0 / 200
Spanish conversation 100 hours by 30-06: 0 / 100

User avatar
Random Review
Green Belt
Posts: 449
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 8:41 pm
Location: UK/Spain/China
Languages: En (N), Es (int), De (pre-int), Pt (pre-int), Zh-CN (beg), El (beg), yid (beg)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 75#p123375
x 919

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby Random Review » Thu May 18, 2017 2:02 am

zenmonkey wrote:
LeCon wrote:I think once you're past the basics - pronunciation, basic grammar like pronouns/gender etc you should dive straight in and never look back. So A1/2 for me.


It's time to throw out all this stuff (and the other bookcases too) !!!

IMG_4224.JPG


:lol:

For me, that's would be like learning to box with two hands tied behind my back. If it works for you, that's great.
I use an electronic dictionary every day.


That is quite beautiful. Even if it were all useless (which obviously is far from the case), it would be worth keeping that just for the aesthetic aspect.
0 x
German input 100 hours by 30-06: 4 / 100
Spanish input 200 hours by 30-06: 0 / 200
German study 50 hours by 30-06: 3 / 100
Spanish study 200 hours by 30-06: 0 / 200
Spanish conversation 100 hours by 30-06: 0 / 100

Jbean
White Belt
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:12 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1), Spanish (B2), Italian (B1)
I can read menus in many languages.
x 85

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby Jbean » Thu May 18, 2017 4:00 am

Grammar books that target common problem areas are very helpful. Some, but not all, of them are written only in the target language and are often aimed at native speakers of a given language.
1 x

User avatar
SophiaMerlin_II
Orange Belt
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed May 25, 2016 6:35 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Portuguese (0)
x 433

Re: Move to using only native materials

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Thu May 18, 2017 4:28 am

I think there's probably always a place for L1 -> L2 or L2 -> L1 resources. I think that the ratio should probably change as one begins to become more and more fluent. But even if someone does have a C2 level doesn't mean using a bilingual resource is bad. In fact, it may be way more useful to you than a monolingual one.

On the other hand, a bilingual resource might give you an answer in your native language that you do not understand either.
1 x
Please ignore my English, elsewise be kind!


Return to “General Language Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: iguanamon and 2 guests