[steven]

Wow... Nyororin, we have more in common than I thought. I think we see eye to eye on this one.
I teach English here, so I often think about my learning process and how I went about learning Japanese. I spent years trying to learn from books, but eventually just gave it up and tried to make my mind as blank as possible when I went into learning Japanese "for real".

I've done a lot of research about it and I've read books about it. I have a terrible memory so I can't say where I read what off hand, but I have read of this phenomenon. I've heard about it from other people who speak a second language fluently, too. There is a point where something happens-- it's like clarity. One day you find yourself understanding what people are saying to you. It is from that day that you can learn gradually day by day as a native speaker would in their first 10 or so years of life.

Some books talk about it as though it is this mysterious power that only certain people have-- something like 5% or some bullhonky like that. I've read books that say some people have some "inate ability to learn a second language". That "inate ability" exists within everyone. I believe that is how we all learned our first language.

All you have to do is refine your approach. In other words, stop approaching the language as an adult in that you want to learn things "appropriate" to your age, etc, etc. The key is that you have to take everything AS IT IS. Don't try to think about what "this" word or "that" word means. Just let the sounds enter your ears and your brain will do the rest. If you have visual cues and a little bit of common sense, then there's no reason why this should not work other than stubbornness.

I say all this from first hand experience... I was such a terrible language student. I always wanted to "translate" every stupid little nuance that I had in my English into Japanese. You can't simply try to color another language with your native tongue... for they are completely different primary colors. It's like taking yellow and trying to make red out of it.

I've heard adults make all kinds of excuses as to why this can't work... That's all it is, is simply excuses. If you look at it as Nyororin put it, which is how I think I see things... why should you be able to translate portions of books in your 4th or 5th year of your second language learning. That's what they do to Japanese kids in high schools. It's like asking a 4 or 5 year old to read some novel and understand it. It's impossible. Not only that, the amount of exposure to a language is vastly different when you compare someone who is learning a second language in their home country vs someone who has acquired their native language in that language's country. Teachers don't get this concept... therefore students don't get this concept.

I suspect one of the reasons this method is not popular is because of what Nyororin said... it's not something you can explain very well. It's like asking someone to explain how they learned their mother language. It's not and SHOULDN'T be a very concious experience. The problem with all this is... try making a book about this- then try selling it to educators. Good luck with that. There's no money in this. Why not let people struggle with learning a second language. Let them take all the bullshit tests they want-- the test makers get money that way. They make the study books too. I want to get in on that someday! Sound like a good business.

In all seriousness though, I want to propose to the board of education a new method: Instead of having some half baked English lesson by a teacher who couldn't give a rats ass about English-- or who isn't qualified to teach English teach Elementary school kids once a week, why not just have the kids watch an episode (or two, as that would take up 40 minutes) of a TV show once a day... I bet it'd work after 6 years of elementary school.

Here's the problem with that: The cuvetted "cultural identity". There's a certain amount of brainwashing that goes on in ALL schools, and I think some people would be opposed to doing this simply because it goes against the grain a little bit. As it is right now, I believe there are a lot of tax dollars going to waste.

But it's getting late and I digress...