Thoughts on "Breaking out of beginner's Spanish"

christian
January 13, 2008, 11:28 AM posted in General Discussion

<a href="http://www.ryangreenberg.com/blog/archives/2008/01/breaking_out_of.php">here</a> is an interesting review of a book for those who know a bit of Spanish but have difficulty acquiring fluency with the language. I know we are not here to learn Spanish but I thought the review provides some interesting insights for language learning in general. 

 

One is the need for a good language teacher to be able to relate to people who are just learning the language, as the reviewer puts it, to know not only the destination but the way as well.

 

Another interesting bit is how the book's author's insights into how verbs are used by native speakers in practice, how certain expressions are used to chain phrases together, and how certain words have meanings which don't translate literally into English are missed by most textbooks but make a world of difference to the language learner who wants his spoken language to sound natural and alive.

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kimiik
January 13, 2008, 11:36 AM

Christian, Did you post on the right forum ?

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AuntySue
January 13, 2008, 02:20 PM

Yes he did. The book is making some good points that apply to learners of Chinese as much as, if not more than, learners of Spanish. It seems like it would apply very much to Chinese learners of English too.

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christian
January 13, 2008, 08:18 PM

What I found interesting is that what seems to make this book stand out is the author's ability to empathise with a learner who doesn't yet internalize the target language. It seems to me this would be the case regardless of language. CPod staff learning Spanish with SpanishSense can only be a good thing :)