Babel No More: Unraveling the Secrets of Superhuman Language-Learners | Brain Pickings: - Sent using Google Toolbar
I just started reading this. And I am struck by the second sentence:
Hungarian hyperpolyglot Lomb Kató, who taught herself Russian by reading Russian romance novels, insisted that “one learns grammar from language, not language from grammar.”
I know this is true. I have, all my life, felt that I had little or no facility for language. I studied French and Spanish is school, but don't speak fluently. Although, I can follow along if people don't talk too fast or use fancy words :-) I have always sort of felt like a failure for not developing fluency. I would have loved to. But I thought I couldn't. I have felt this way my entire life.
Anyway... Now I am trying to learn Urdu. I have listened to Zeus speak it for more than 20 years. Well, the learning is actually going really well. Having listened to it for so long, I naturally get the grammar. And with the help of Mango Languages, which I use through my local public library, I am having fun and learning. I may actually become fluent! At least I hope so.
Language is truly fascinating.
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