The definition of language input

When I first started learning Turkish, I struggled to find a way to get that vital “information”. I would define “input” simply as “correct sentences and sentences in native language”. This distinction, while simple, has two key parts:

The first part is that the entry must be “correct”. People learn languages ​​by building what could practically be considered a database of correct words and phrases. If you want to speak to someone in that language, access this phrase library. When you hear or read something in the language, you are unconsciously comparing it with the current repository; if it matches something you’ve heard before, it sounds “correct.” If it doesn’t go with something you’ve heard before, it may sound “wrong.” Every now and then, you can’t even say precisely why something sounds completely wrong or right. The truth is, in your native language, you most likely can’t trace it back to that exact grammar rule. Even if you can’t, you will still have a strong opinion about whether what you just heard or read is right or wrong.

The second part is that the language must be sentences and complete sentences. An initial strategy I took when trying to learn languages ​​was to memorize the meanings of individual terms. While this got me in a good place, it never got me fluent. That’s because people don’t speak in individual words. They communicate in sentences and sentences. If you can’t begin to see the most common ways words are used with each other, how they are normally conjugated, which words go together, it will be difficult to understand the language and even more difficult to produce phrases that will sound good to native speakers.

The final part is that it must be in the native language. Now, it becomes an important distinction. I spent years learning to speak Spanish in a classroom in the United States. Although this helped me go far, if I were to find your everyday native speaker, I would have a hard time understanding it. Why? Because I had gotten used to the accent of my gringo educators. I had gotten used to his choice of words. I had become familiar with his gestures. I had become familiar with all the things that were absolutely separate from what a native would have done. This is why, whenever possible, you should ensure that the information you receive is from a native source, rather than a non-native one.

Let me describe in future articles the best ways to obtain information that satisfies these three considerations.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *