Re: reality?

J. Barefoot wrote:
>
> vardi <vardi@...> wrote:
>
> >This thread seems to me to relate to a kind
> >of linguistic version of deja vu - knowing words before we learn them,
> >and knowing language before we learn it.
> >
>
> Would you care to expound on that?
>
> ______________________________________________________
Always glad to expound:) Just as people often have the feeling that
they've been in a particular place or situation before (deja vu), so I
feel sometimes that there's some inherent or innate aspect of language.
That's why I mentioned about my little son: it often seems to me that he
already knows vastly more language than he's producing (not a
revolutionary idea - the passive command of all learners is greater than
their active command). The way he deals with the language he's given
seems more than repetition or the simple substition of items in
sentences. And as for myself: I grew up in England, basically as a
monolingual child, but with an awareness and some knowledge of Hebrew
from a very early age. Again, I always felt there was more Hebrew
"inside me," and the first time I came here (to Israel) when I was 16 I
was talking fairly fluently within a few weeks. I'm not talking here
about liking languages or being good at them, though I guess that's part
of it, but about a deeper connection to languages. That's what I meant
by linguistic deja vu.

Hope I made some sense.

        Shaul Vardi