Postby NoManches » Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:05 pm
A few weeks I was watching a video by Steve Kaufmann (I forget which video, and I'm not going to attempt to find it right now) , but it had to do with the importance of listening. Steve made a very interesting comment that I've been thinking about a lot lately. He basically said something like this:
The written language has only been around for a relatively short time, whereas the spoken language has been around for thousands of years. He went on to add that listening is so important because it is something we have evolved to do, and he believes that for this reason listening is so important to the language learning process.
I want to clarify that I forget exactly what he said, so I'm probably slipping some of my own thoughts or words into that statement...but you get the picture. I think Steve is right though. Reading is very important but it isn't necessarily the most natural thing for us humans to do. This leads me to something else:
I consider myself to be a good visual learner, but not a good auditory learner. In other words, if I see a new Spanish word written down in context (such as in a book), I am more likely to understand and remember that word. However, if I hear the same word being read in an audiobook (as an example), I feel like I am less likely to remember it, and my ability to understand that word will not always be so great. Another example: I consider myself to have excellent listening comprehension in 1 on 1 conversations, but there are many times (on Skype), where a language partner will use a new word or phrase. Not always, but there are many times when I have to ask them to type it for me. And then if minutes later I want to use the new word I just heard, I'll have to look for it in the chat box because my brain already got rid of it.
I do understand that with the written language, we can take all the time in the world to look up words, re-read sentences, think about grammar structures, look at verb conjugations etc.
But when people say they are better at learning a language from reading rather than listening, it makes me think: is this a trained skill, or is that particular person really just naturally better at visual learning than auditory learning.
Based on what Steve Kaufmann said, it seems like all humans should be better at learning a language through listening rather than through reading.
Either way, the above is just me rambling on about some thoughts I've had recently. For Spanish, I've barely read anything in the last few weeks but I have been doing a ton of listening. Lots and lots and lots of podcasts, and lots of Spanish television. Maybe this is an experiment. Can I make it so my ability to learn the language from listening is better than my ability to learn through reading? I think "yes", but we shall see. I think after so many years of reading, writing, and doing grammar exercises in Spanish class with only a small emphasis on speaking and listening has done some harm to me.
I don't think my days now are different than they were a few months ago. I've always spent a lot of time listening to podcasts. It's not something new for me. It's not like I just realized that I need to start doing a lot of listening (I realized this years ago). What I have been doing though, is listening to a lot of the same podcast. I used to bounce around a lot with different podcasts, but why? With TV I like to watch an entire series and then move on to a new one. After about 5 episodes I get used to the speech, accents, vocabulary, etc. of that show, and my comprehension skyrockets. If I bounced from one show to another I think it would take a lot longer to see improvements in listening comprehension...so why would I do that with podcasts? I think now with better listening skills I am able to listen to more shows that interest me, which before were unavailable because they were too difficult. Also, I'm getting better at figuring out what works for me and what doesn't work for me when it comes to language learning. I realize that really interesting shows with bad audio quality just aren't worth it sometimes. Also, shows with really great audio quality that aren't interesting to me aren't always worth it either. I look for high quality, highly interesting material, period.
Lately I've been listening to a lot of podcasts that interest me, and I've been trying to "binge listen" to particular shows. I've noticed huge gains in my listening skills, which has had a snowball effect.
For television: I've noticed that sometimes it can turn into a passive listening event. This is not good. I try to stay really focused and if I become very distracted, I'll try to stop and listen to a podcast. I'm on episode 42 of 53 of Enemigo Intimo. I'm not feeling too good lately so I think I'll take some time off and try to finish the series. I highly recommend this program.
That's all for now. I've done a little reading here and there, but anytime I read, I could be listening to a podcast....so I tend to go for the listening activity over the reading. I'll let this new habit take its course and I'm sure I'll get back into reading pretty soon. I have a Spanish friend who lives and works in the US. He has an incredible command of the English language. When I asked him about his reading habits, he told me he HATES reading, in both Spanish and English. I don't hate reading, I actually enjoy it, but I am envious of his ability to make great progress in a language from just listening (and lots and lots of conversation practice).
5 x
DOUBLE Super ChallengeSpanish Movies : Spanish Books :
. Much of the humor involes TP mangling Spanish and Sr Juez having to explain things to him. I don't know if the links to the radio show are still active. (I downloaded the whole show several years ago.) At least three of the episodes come with transcripts- but you'll have to dig through the site to find the links.
