Learning a language is life

The so-called "Learning a language is a life" does not mean that you have a different way of life if you know one more language. On the contrary, it should be in order to learn a language, we must start from life. But don't get me wrong, this is not about changing your lifestyle and making time for deliberate language learning, but about growing your language acquisition in your life. After learning other languages, your vision will become wider and you will see things from more angles, but if you just "learn languages" and ignore life, you will still be who you were before, but only because you know other languages. Knowing how to see what others ignore, and making decisions is still the one who hasn't learned the language at the beginning. A person's words, deeds, and thoughts will not be changed because of the language he speaks. You will always be unique.

However, language is deeply influenced by life.

For a while I tried to set some software or games on my phone to Japanese, but over time, I didn't notice that my Japanese vocabulary increased much. Instead I found...  

My character level has increased~ Hehe. This is because when I was playing the game, I was already familiar with the operation mode, and my mind was on how to pass the level. How to set, attribute, skill click, etc. are actually just a series of fixed patterns. Sometimes you can even know by looking at the game icon, but ignore the deliberately converted foreign language text. This is like, if you know how to live, even if you put English labels on all kinds of utensils and utensils in your room, you will not have much growth in your English vocabulary, because you are living, not by memorizing words to live. . In other words, it's like you never remember that there is ON and OFF on the switch, you only know that the action of the appliance is naturally ON, and the opposite is OFF.

The game is based on you. The game screen and text are not as good as the game experience, so it cannot reflect the culture and feelings. It is only based on your feelings. If you have no feelings, how can the words resonate? But life is not, life is with Others have connections to learn the "thickness" of foreign language vocabulary. When you interact with others, after many times, the vocabulary will come to life, and the accuracy will be improved when using this language.

Therefore, at the beginning of learning a foreign language, if you have basic conversation skills, it is the best and fastest way to talk to your opponent directly .

In the early years, when I first learned Japanese honorifics, it was ridiculous. Now I don’t think there is any difference with the spoken language used in animation. I just think it is all Japanese. I even like the spoken Japanese spoken by Japanese animations. Speaking of the blessing of the character, I unconsciously want to imitate its tone and say it several times. It is conceivable that the situations and plots in the animation are the "life" for me to learn Japanese. But gradually getting in touch with Japanese friends, when everyone tells you that the usage of colloquial language in animation, it is better not to use it, it will be better, and the honorific language learned at this time will come alive.

Language itself cannot give you the "thickness" of your vocabulary, but life can.

Many people always talk about staying abroad for a few months, and they will speak the language of the country. If it is forced to survive, it is true. But there is no evidence to the contrary. People who have been abroad for more than 10 years still only speak their native language. Why? Because life has not changed, it's just a different place to live the same life. It's like you are in a different place, but relying on technology to live the same life as before you went abroad. On the contrary, if you have not gone abroad, you can also rely on technology to transform your life and cultivate excellent foreign language skills.

Rather than saying that you learn a language to live, it is better to say that it is because of your life that you create a language.

There are so-called "language acquisition" and "language learning" in learning a language. "Language acquisition" is to naturally acquire the number of words from life, and at the same time learn the thickness of the vocabulary, while "language learning" is similar to traditional learning. Read grammar. The former has a high degree of mastery of the language, while the latter can absorb a large amount of foreign language vocabulary in a short period of time, but it is easy to become a "translator" of the mother tongue (Extended reading: The so-called linguistic concept is more important than learning the language itself. ). Every foreign language vocabulary acquired by language is not only the superficial meaning of the word, but also covers the common life experience of a specific group of people. It is no wonder that the easiest vocabulary to learn in each language is "expletive", because there are too many "life". experience” (laughs). Words derived from life experience are not easy to forget. Each word is supported by a lot of life experience and has memories of the five senses ( Extended Video: Memory Links in Language Learning ). In contrast to language learning, vocabulary comes from recitation, and most of the vocabulary is only knowledge obtained by logical reasoning ( Extended reading: language is a skill, not knowledge learning. ), there is no connection between emotions and situations, and most of them follow their mother tongue. When encountering synonyms and different words, it is always impossible to recognize subtle differences. For example, clever and smart are both smart, but there are subtle differences.

The devil hides in "life"

It is necessary to survive abroad, and life makes language feasible. In China, there is no need for survival, and language becomes a tool. Exams will not teach you the thickness of foreign language vocabulary, but can only help you add a "native language expression". I often heard that when a foreign language was "just a tool", I, who didn't have a clear understanding of linguistics, took it as a guideline. As the time spent learning foreign languages became longer, I was worried that this sentence would deepen the connection between foreign languages and exams. It is easy to be regarded as a tool because of the foreign language, so it is good to just ask for the certificate score. Therefore, many people subconsciously rely on "language learning" to master foreign languages. Foreign languages are gradually considered as something separate from life, just like mathematics: when you got high marks in the past, now there are only additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions in life.

Language without life support is just a transcript of high grades back then, but now it's just "I am fine, thank you."

But! I know, I know, some people will say, "The environment is very important, and I still have to go abroad." Twenty years ago, this sentence would definitely stand, but with the advancement of technology, going abroad can be the best Choice, but it is not a necessary condition for learning a foreign language . Therefore, when there is no need to "survive" in China, it should not be a "tool". What conditions should be used to cultivate excellent foreign language skills? I think it is interest . It sounds really vague, but I know people who are good at foreign languages, but they all have one thing in common.

Their foreign language proficiency is very good, and the grade certificate is only a passing test.

This shows that these people are interested in spending time in foreign languages. Compared with others, they do not find it difficult, and some even find it enjoyable. But I also definitely think that interest does not appear out of thin air , but there are always people who always say: "XXX is good in English because he/she is interested", which is what makes me feel super vague. If someone is interested in a foreign language, so that they can create their excellent foreign language ability, then I start to think about a question:

"Why isn't that person me?" Orz.

The key is still in "life". An interest in a certain language often comes from an opportunity, which may come from not going to study abroad, meeting foreign friends, playing online games, learning new knowledge abroad, traveling, etc. But the turning point of becoming an interest is still the feedback from the people and things around you. For example, if you play games in English, foreign teammates praise the sense of achievement for your well-played games. Or the excitement of acquiring new knowledge in English, or the freshness of foreign language travel. There are also making friends in foreign languages, the fun arising from cultural exchanges, etc. These are opportunities born from life, and then transformed into interests. I used to hear a lot of people saying that going abroad for a short period of time seems to increase their language skills. In fact, for most people, it is really impossible. On the contrary, what is more important is the "interest" brought back from abroad when returning to China. The fire of learning is also a prairie fire that injects learning energy into you.

After all, language is inseparable from life.

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