Re: Learning languages

    I  more or less agree with what's already been said by everyone.
Of course the best way of learning a lang is to be fully immersed in it 24/7
in a country where it is spoken. But even then, you can't learn to get
around in the language by merely reading books that teach the formal
language.
    When I was learning Hebrew, here in Israel, I became very frustrated
with my Ulpan teachers. I used to buy food and other things at the local
shuk (outdoor market) and I wanted to be able to curse and haggle
like the locals. When I tried out my textbook Hebrew, it came out something
like: "Please, kind sir, could you possibly find it in you to enlighten me
as to the price of this fresh produce". Needless to say, the price
immediately
was increased by quite a bit! No, in this situation, I needed the rough
words and the slang to joke around with the sellers and get them down to a
reasonable price! But the nice people in the nice Ulpan didn't teach that
kind of language!
    This is just an example, but IMHO, it holds true for quite a bit of lang
_use_.
The books, tapes, etc. usually just give you a basic handle on the lang.
For actual use, you need to investigate areas of lang that usually don't
show up in formally prepared materials. For example,
when learning Hebrew, in order to get a wide vocabulary,
I read things that, today, I won't allow into my house!
You may not choose to use that type of language, (but then again, you never
know when you _will_ need it) but when others do, it may be
important to know what they are saying.


Dan Sulani
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likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.