Language Learning

How is language naturally acquired?

Languages are naturally acquired by people listening to language. The human brain is built to analyze it. You know, there are a lot of places in the world not in America, but in supposedly “backwards” places like West Africa, New Guinea, where it is commonplace to find people who speak half a dozen languages. How do they do that? There are no language schools. So, they do it because it’s part of their lives. They go down to the market, they find people talking in 4 or 5 languages. Due to their exposure to the constant repetition of each language’s words and sounds, their brain begins to absorb these ‘foreign’ words and phases – making sense of them – naturally. Before long the language has become internalised – and they begin to understand and then to speak.

How does this approach mirror this?

The way language is naturally acquired in real-life second language learning situations is by listening to the language itself. And analyzing it yourself. The people who learn second languages most successfully, are not those who go to language schools. If you go to a language school, you tend to go somewhere where they have a special theory about how language should be learned, and they impose that theory upon you. But actually, the human mind is constructed to learn language. That’s one of the basic things. Just as a spider spins its web, so too do people acquire language. It’s just as natural as that. If you try to constrain that process by imposing some regime that you’ve thought, theoretically, that ought to work, it really doesn’t help. Success lies in the ability to mimic natural language acquisition insofar as any teaching method can.

What is the key to language learning?

You have to ask yourself, why is it that so many people try to learn foreign languages and fail abysmally. I think there’s 2 reasons why they fail: they’re not motivated enough and they don’t have sufficient exposure to the real thing. The key to language learning is a combination of these two things. As regards motivation, a lot of that’s got to come from the learner. But given the learner has a reasonable amount of motivation, then the burden lies upon the course to continually present them with material that is relevant to the kinds of things the learner will have to do when he’s using the language. That will keep up the motivation. Now, as for the material, if you have material produced by a native speaker of that language, and a sufficient amount of that material is provided, then language learning takes place. Since we are equipped to learn languages, the brain does the rest of the job for us. All it needs is sufficient motivation and sufficient first-class, first-language speaker material from which to learn.

Please explain the concept behind the courses.

From a linguist’s standpoint, these courses work in a very natural manner. Lots of people try to learn foreign languages it’s rather like people trying to lose weight. Lots of people try to lose weight and very few do. Lots of people try to learn foreign languages, but they get bored, they get discouraged, they find that it’s too hard for them. By presenting the learner with material in the target language, these courses expose the learner from the earliest stage to real-life sounds and words. So, it’s going to keep the learner interested and teach the learner language that can be used immediately. There’s a payoff right away.

Briefly, what are the fundamentals that make up any given language?

Our brain is automatically programmed to take words and put them together. It differs from language to language, but not as much as you’d think. Every language is cut to so close a pattern, that some linguists regard them basically as dialects of one language. So, in other words, you already have in your brain a machine that is ready and waiting for language. What do you have to do? You have to learn the sound system of the language, which may differ from yours. Then, you have to learn the words. That’s all you need to know. You don’t have to be given a lot of elaborate grammatical rules, because your brain’s already equipped to figure them out for you.

How does the brain acquire new information?

When you hear anything at all, it is stored in your short term memory. The short-term memory will hold it, but unless it is repeated and re-emphasized, it is not going to hold on to it. Many things pass, so to speak, through your memory. In order to make long-term memories, the information must be transferred. This occurs through repetition.

Why do you think this approach works?

I think what makes this approach most effective is that it allows anyone to simply listen and learn. To internalise a language – naturally. By concentrating on just 850 key core language words this approach teaches the MOST in the LEAST amount of time. Also our Silent Technology version enables the listener to learn a language through repetition without getting bored. Let’s face it, a lot of foreign language work can be terribly boring. And one of the key elements in language learning is motivation. By removing the boredom of repetition and concentrating on just 850 key words, the goal of absolute essential language acquisition becomes realistic. When you then combine the latest advances in accelerated learning techniques like brainwave entrainment (more here) and baroque music (more here) you have a compelling medium for subliminal induction.

How can this approach be used whilst sleeping?

Whilst sleeping or relaxing studies have shown that the brain is most receptive to new information. The conscious mind is at rest and access is gained to the sub-conscious. This is when accelerated learning takes place.

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