Grow Up! You May Be Cute, but You're Not a Bambino Anymore

Today's word is STUBBORN. 

In italiano:  testardo
En español: terco
En  français: têtu

Once again, I think the Italian wins hands down, though têtu does have a spunky ring to it.

The trendy thing in language acquisition now is to lose the textbooks and grammar and immerse oneself in an exclusively audio program.  The argument is that that is how children learn their native language, going for several years mostly just listening.  I mean, why say anything when you can get what you want by crying vociferously and throwing a speechless tantrum?  Now, I would not argue that part of a good language program is daily listening and speaking--that's a given.  But the problem with completely eliminating reading and writing from your daily practice is that it is possible, very likely I'd say, that you simply can't believe your ears.  There are certain subtle tones in the languages that I'm concentrating on that I would either not hear or would mis-hear (Alright, I know there's no such word, but hey, it's my blog).  Research in language acquisition has shown that over time the portion of our brains that govern our ability to recognize new and different sounds begins to decline rapidly as we become adults.  Thus, if I were to try to learn a language that has a preponderance of sounds that are never uttered in English, such as, say, Swedish, I'm almost sure that I would pick up some very bad habits if I relied solely on listening.  Even with the Latin-based languages there are many sounds that take a lot of getting used to (and a lot of mimicking practice).  The worst thing about this is that, at least for me, once I've started mispronouncing a word or phrase, it's hard for me to relearn the correct pronunciation.  Especially if I constantly re-enforce the error by steady repetition.  

Still, I think the language experts are on to something when they condemn the old-style way of learning new languages by focusing exclusively on reading, writing, and grammar.  I know for certain that all those years I spent in college learning French through grammar drills left me unable to carry on even the most basic conversation or to comprehend more than a word or two when listening to a native speak the language.  What works for me is to read a text first, paying special attention to how the word looks on paper as opposed to how it should be pronounced, and then to listen to the same text in an audio version.  As your learning progresses and you gain confidence in recognizing and mimicking difficult sounds, you can begin to de-emphasize  grammar and do some more straight listening.  Now, now.  Don't be têtu.  That's childish.