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Ok, here I go
It is my absolute belief that
Foreign language learning as a separate subject
should not exist.
Let me repeat that:
Foreign language learning
as a separate subject
should not exist.
Language is not teachable
Nobody has ever learned a foreign language
in the classroom
Let me say that one last time
Foreign language learning as a separate subject should not exist
Learn English, learn French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
are hollow concepts
it's the wrong mindset.
Learn English.
People say:
I want to learn English
I want to learn the English language.
What is language?
The vast majority of people say:
Language is a tool for communication
What is a tool for communication?
By a tool for communication most people think: Speaking
Speak the language
Speak English
People say:
I want to speak English well, fluently
Here is one of the biggest mistakes language learners make.
I want to speak English is too broad,
is not clear enough.
instead of:
I want to speak English
You should say:
I want to speak about ... in English
And here you need to be as specific and clear as possible.
Don't say:
I want to speak about my life/country/job in English
No
these topics are too broad, too vague.
Be as specific and clear as you possibly can
For example:
I want speak about
France in the 18th century in English
I want to talk about
my company's product, which is vitamin pills
in English
I want to talk about cryptocurrency in English
You get the point
Make as many examples as you want,
as many as you want
just make sure your examples are clear and specific.
I want to talk about the movie Joker in English
what is the difference between
I want to speak English
I want to speak about France in the 18th century in English?
The big difference is that, the second sentence
clearly shows what you need to do
if you want to be able to talk about 18th century France
in English.
You need to learn about 18th century France.
You need to acquire that piece of knowledge
and you need to acquire it in English
not in your native language.
And if you want to talk about the movie Joker in English
is not enough to have seen the movie
but you also need to know how other people talk about movies
discuss movies.
The language they use to discuss performances,
cinematography, special effects
and so on and so forth.
And you need all that information, in English,
if you want to talk about movies/Joker in English
So once again
What is language?
I strongly believe that Language is Knowledge
Language is Knowledge/Information/Content
Language = Knowledge
And vice versa
Knowledge is Language
Let that sink in for a moment
There is no knowledge without language,
nor there is language without knowledge
Let me repeat that:
Language doesn't exist without Knowledge
Neither does Knowledge without Language
What do I mean?
For instance:
History is Language
History equals Language
Think about it
Does history exist without language?
Does tomorrow exist without language?
The sun will rise tomorrow, with or without language
but my question is:
Does the concept of tomorrow,
the way we homo sapiens understand it
exist without language?
Is there tomorrow for the pen, for the veg, for the monkey?
Physics is language Art is language
Mathematics, medicine is language
Marketing, programming, fashion is all language.
Everything you see around you is language.
Knowledge is Language
Language is Knowledge
Language is fashion,
Language is marketing, Language is medicine,
Language is history
and so on and so forth.
You learn History through Language and Language through History.
You learn Medicine through Language and Language through Medicine
and so on and so forth.
There is a strong correlation between
the size of your vocabulary and
the size of the knowledge you possess
For instance
Listening to a physicist
talk about quantum physics,
or string theory, in your native language,
sounds like listening to a foreign language,
because you lack the knowledge and vocabulary that goes with it.
You learn Physics through Language and Language thought Physics.
You can't cram all those scientific terms,
without understanding the subject.
nor can you learn the subject without the scientific terms.
Knowledge doesn't exist without Language
Knowledge equals Language
Language = Knowledge no Knowledge, no Language
No question about that
So my question is:
What's taking place in the language classroom?
What are people learning in language schools?
What is the language teacher, teaching exactly?
Language?
Language without substance, without the knowledge.
So what we get is:
Language is Language
A complete nonsense, emptiness, nothing.
zero, zilch, nada
Language teachers use language to teach language.
It doesn't make sense.
Teachers use language to teach knowledge,
things like art, philosophy, mathematics, history.
But using language to teach language
makes no sense.
Using one's native language to teach a foreign language,
makes no sense
they cancel each other out.
And even in a monolingual language classroom.
teaching English using English.
Teaching what exactly?
Vocabulary wholesale
10 ways to say Sorry
The 10 most common phrasal verbs
Top 10 business idioms.
No substance, just random words
just fake mini stories, fake situational dialogues,
telephone English, restaurant English, airport English
TOEFL English, TOEIC English
Hollow, empty concepts
no substance, no context
no compelling content.
Any teacher who promises to teach you business English,
or telephone English, or conversational English,
is either delusional or dishonest.
Language is Knowledge, on a certain topic.
You need to know about that very same topic
in order to talk about it.
Knowledge first, Language second
or I should say
Knowledge through Language.
Language is first and foremost
a tool for acquiring knowledge.
Let me repeat that:
language is a tool for acquiring knowledge
So instead of saying:
I want to learn a foreign language
you should say:
I want to learn about
such and such topic