New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby zenmonkey » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:54 pm

David1917 wrote:New vid on the results of the survey pertaining to gender. This clocks in at almost an hour so, be prepared for some Prof rambling. I have not watched it yet to provide the usual summary, since it might not be till the end of today or tomorrow that I get a full hour in front of youtube.


I listened for a bit and skipped around. What jumps to mind is that he is trying to come to conclusions from non-statistically significant differences and trend data. It's not a particularly robust methodology.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby David1917 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 6:53 pm

Yeah, this video is definitely just "oh that's interesting" but again, just talking himself through the results informally.

If there exists a literature on gender differences in academia and how they relate to socializing or family relations or whatever else, it would be an interesting addition to either confirm existing findings or detract in some way. Of course the problem with most social sciences to me anyway is trying to be empirical in studying the decidedly unstable phenomenon that is human behavior, plus the ever lingering "who cares?"

He ended this video by saying next week he'd move on to different topics for videos (thankfully). Hopefully the next time we hear about the survey is in a more rigorous manner.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby MacGyver » Mon Nov 26, 2018 3:48 am

Chupito wrote:I meant the same scenarios you presented to me You are presenting your ideal candidate - which doesn't differ from mine - not selecting from two options as you asked me to do. As a reminder, the scenarios we discussed were, for teaching English to Korean native speakers and having no qualification in teaching and all else being equal:

- Spanish polyglot with a great command of English and Korean vs English monolingual

- Spanish polyglot with a great command of English and Korean vs Spanish native speaker with a great command of English and no knowledge of Korean (assume same level of English)

- Spanish polyglot with a great command of English and Korean vs Spanish native speaker with a great command of English and Korean (assume same level of English and Korean)

- Spanish polyglot with a great command of English and Korean vs Korean native speaker with a great command of English (assume same level of English)

I picked the polyglot in cases 1 and 2 and said both options were essentially equal in cases 3 and 4, although I would pick the polyglot if forced to pick. Again, I would pick a good qualified and experienced English teacher, with a great command of Korean, above all to teach English in a classroom setting, as I mentioned, but that wasn't an option.


Well it depends on what stage the learner is at, but I would go;

1. Polyglot if learner is a beginner, mono otherwise
2. Um, Polyglot, why even mention this? Why would someone seek out a Spanish speaker to teach them English if they didn't even know their native tongue?
3. Either, doesn't matter.
4. Korean.

I don't know if were are really on the same page here. My point was a polyglot is not the be all and end all of language learning, and in many cases there are far better options. I don't know what these scenarios really prove.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby Chupito » Mon Nov 26, 2018 4:32 am

MacGyver wrote:
Um, Polyglot, why even mention this?

I wouldn't know. You were the one who brought that up.

MacGyver wrote:I don't know if were are really on the same page here. My point was a polyglot is not the be all and end all of language learning, and in many cases there are far better options.

I agree with your point. I made it several times already, starting from my first post in this thread to the post where I said our opinions probably don't differ that much.

Like I said, my own point was that being a native speaker isn't the end-all-be-all of teaching and in many cases, there are far better options. More specifically, many schools are far too eager to employ as teachers monolinguals with no background whatsoever in teaching on the sole basis that they are native.

Polyglots have more to offer to self-learners, for instance on a forum like this one, and monolingual native speakers have more to offer as conversation partners. Both can also make good tutors, for different aspects of language learning.

MacGyver wrote:I don't know if were are really on the same page here. My point was a polyglot is not the be all and end all of language learning, and in many cases there are far better options. I don't know what these scenarios really prove.

I also agree that these scenarios prove nothing. For the most part, you are the one who brought them up, not me. I answered because you asked. As I said, I was never interested in discussing polyglot vs other options scenarios, since my point was about the over-emphasis placed on native speakers.

Edit: But I realize that this discussion of native speakerism is off topic, so I will stop.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby MacGyver » Mon Nov 26, 2018 5:46 am

Chupito wrote:
MacGyver wrote:Um, Polyglot, why even mention this?


I wouldn't know. You were the one who brought that up


Huh? Thats a big nope.

Chupito wrote:I also agree that these scenarios prove nothing. For the most part, you are the one who brought them up, not me. I answered because you asked. As I said, I was never interested in discussing polyglot vs other options scenarios, since my point was about the over-emphasis placed on native speakers.

Edit: But I realize that this discussion of native speakerism is off topic, so I will stop.


????

I just wondered what the difference between a polyglot and someone who speaks the persons native tongue and their target language. I didn't cook up 101 different scenarios.

Anyway I think this discussion has run its course.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby David1917 » Sun Dec 02, 2018 4:32 pm



I was dismayed to wake up yesterday and not see a new vid from Prof A. Luckily, today he did upload something.

This is a talk on the differences between Arabic dialects and the usefulness of MSA. It is fully in Arabic, which includes a 2 minute introduction from Prof in Arabic before turning it over to two of his Arabic speaking students from different countries to discuss the differences. Notably, this is only the second video we have of him actually speaking a language intentionally, the Russian Perfectionnement video being the first. If we want to count the brief impromptu Dutch chat in the rainforest interview, then we can count that as well.

What caught my attention in the intro was the maddening pervasiveness of the post-modern era which says that all opinions are formed by an individual's experience and therefore all equally valid. He says people talk about how MSA is not useful on the ground, etc. but when he tells people that he speaks it every day, therefore that must not be true, people scoff "That's your opinion." I don't know what kind of person thinks they can tell a person who has lived in Lebanon and UAE that MSA is not useful - unless they are perhaps some sort of native Arabic speaking person with nationalist leanings, but he does not indicate that this is the case.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby David1917 » Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:14 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/03/can-you-boost-your-brain-power-by-making-yourself-ambidextrous

I just came across this article on The Guardian discussing making yourself ambidextrous to boost cognitive function. Those who watched the videos on Prof A's findings will note that many polyglots were ambidextrous, so one recommendation he made was for people to try to develop ambidexterity. Definitely interesting.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby Iversen » Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:30 pm

If you want to do something that demands ambidextrous skills then just learn to play a musical instrument.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby David1917 » Sat Dec 08, 2018 4:05 pm



"Polyliteracy is a term that I use to describe becoming a diachronic polyglot for the purpose of reading the world's greatest literary traditions in their original tongues. In this video, I discuss some of the novels of Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz with a professor of Arabic literature."

Another video entirely in Arabic with subtitles. If you do not know anything about Mahfouz (I did not) then this is a great introduction. There is no discussion on language, language learning, polyglottery, etc. in the video, it's strictly about the author and his works and style.
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Re: New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

Postby David1917 » Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:35 pm



Short new one today. People ask him how to maintain languages if they do not have access to conversation partners, and after suggesting reading or other media, he will then suggest simply thinking in the language daily. This goes into a segment on the virtue of thinking and reflection, and its seeming absence in the modern age due to smartphones, etc. You can tell he practices what he preaches re: tech because the video quality on this one looks like it's from 2002 :lol:
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