[quote=“Acute”]Basically thats what it is. The gist of it all, I suppose, is the learning of sentences via a flashcard program and the blasting of input gradually consolidating what you learn and getting you used to the language. I spend about 2 hours a day on my Anki reps and 4-6 hours a day listening.
When you say you just learned from having a good memory, do you mean you took up classes and just remembered most of what you were taught?[/quote]
I did 18 months at Shida and lived in Taiwan for seven years. I made Flashcards (paper!) for Book 1 and 2 of PAV Chinese, but I never reviewed them; I just remember by writing em. I have to say, though, I have forgotten a lot of characters now I left Taiwan and don’t ever look at Chinese any more. NOT ‘fluent’, by any stretch of the imagination.
I had a lot of private classes which meant I had a lot of very focussed input. I also watched a lot of films and TV series.
I studied linguistics at uni and I used to be a language teacher and know a few languages (at, erm, varying levels of competence …) so I know how languages work. Not saying I have privileged info, but learning your xth is not as hard as learning your first. Maybe like learning the banjo after learning the guitar.
Like the guy on this website says; don’t flog a dead horse by forcing yourself to study a load of boring crap. You should be learning what you want, not what other people think you should be learning. I can read articles and books about Taiwanese religion and temple architecture and politics, but nothing about business or sport or stuff I have no interest in, so unfortunately, my language is not particularly versatile although I don’t care at all (I’m learning another language now). Although I can chat about what I want, I can’t read about anything I want and would have problems operating on the same footing as a ‘literate’ local. I don’t flip through magazines or websites effortlessly. In English terms, I’m probably just below ‘B2’ level, although I used to be better.
Why does he succeed? Well, despite his protestations, he is smarter than average. He’s a computer science degree guy who has a very focused brain/personality. You can train yourself to focus, but it doesn’t come naturally for most people. I like that he argues that the main thing is huge persistence, though, and I absolutely agree.
A good Taiwanese friend of mine with slightly above average for a Chinese native speaker, but not exceptional English, decided she wanted to come in the top three for a test for a prestigious overseas study program. Maths, English, Chinese, ‘IQ’. IQ and Chinese; no problem. Advanced Taiwan stylee maths and a near perfect TOEFL score were less attainable. She had no money for classes. She cleared her schedule completely, leaving only a couple of hours’ work a week so she could buy basics. She studied English and maths 24-7. She went the same route; immense notebooks of sentences, dictionaries, hardcore news listening and reading. She got an amazing TOEFL score and apparently did well on the maths stuff too (sadly, she came 4th, so missed the scholarship, but… she’s happy learning something else much more insanely difficult, now, overseas). She only asked me for help a couple of times and that was on the kind of grammar that makes a girl like me (linguistics background) think twice. She instinctively new that 'learning English was a waste of time and ineffective.
Classes are generally a monumental waste of time, although for me as a beginner, the pronunciation drills were great. Chinese is different from Japanese because it’s tonal and the initial consonants are tricky. You are one of many, so don’t get to focus on your needs. The class is always too difficult or too easy, never ‘just right’. They aren’t completely valueless, but if you have goals and motivation, they are not always the best way from A to B.
Not sure about the focus on incomprehensible input. Research doesn’t really back that up. However, another anecdotal aside, when I started Chinese, I used to repeat TV ads in Chinese. Teaches you a lot about pron and intonation.
It sounds like a great experiment, and I’ve spent a bit of time flipping through his pages. Initially I rejected what he had to say because I have too many goals and couldn’t focus on one thing like that. But then, most of my goals have progressed only minimally in the past week. If I dumped all the juggling and ‘motivating’ myself to work on goals that aren’t true, internalised priorities, then perhaps I would have done more, instead of whiling away my time talking to internet people.
So maybe I just need a phone with internet access and a more focussed outlook?
In the final analysis, it’s not a ‘method’, he just compressed what most do naturally in 5-10 years into a short time. I’m guessing he didn’t have babies or a particularly complex job, at the time he did it. Anyone here who speaks Chinese to a high level will attest that time and persistence are the key. And although he plays down his intelligence and multi-lingualism, that makes a difference.
