“We acquire when we focus on what is being said, rather than how it is said. We acquire when language is used for communicating real ideas” (p. 19).
Introduction
I would be hard-pressed to tell you how an adult learns a second language. This is a problem seeing that I am an English teacher. For over a decade I’ve crafted fine-tuned lessons and clever shortcuts for students without ever applying my own advice. Even more worrying is that I have failed to learn Japanese. I feel like an imposter truth be told. But Josh, you are finally starting to rectify the problem. And after spending a few months in the weeds you have come to agree with much of what Steven Krashen says about language learning or, more accurately, language acquisition.
I've read some Krashen before, but it was not until I started to focus on acquiring Japanese that his advice burrowed through my dense skull. The Natural Approach is almost 40 years old and out of print but if he’s right, which I believe he is on most accounts, it is a death blow to most language schools and teachers.
Read and listen to comprehensible input for six months, and then speak.
a. Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis: Aim for a feeling
Conscious learning was a mistake, Josh. You tried to muscle grammar rules onto your tongue and it didn’t work. When you learned new vocabulary, you would translate it into English and construct a wooden sentence that inspired head tilts from native speakers.
As a child, when you learned to speak English, you acquired it through exposure to comprehensible input, not conscious learning. “Language acquisition is the “natural” way to develop linguistic ability, and is a subconscious process; children for example are not necessarily aware that they are acquiring language, they are only aware that they are communicating” (p. 26). When you finally start to speak a foreign tongue, it is a feeling based on extensive previous experience, not a discrete memory of a passage in a grammar textbook.
The Acquisition-Learning Distinction (p. 27)
| ACQUISITION | LEARNING |
|---|---|
|
Similar to child first language acquisition |
Formal knowledge of language |
“Picking up” a language |
“Knowing about” a language |
Subconscious |
Conscious |
Implicit knowledge |
Explicit knowledge |
| Formal teaching does not help | Formal teaching helps |
b. The Natural Order Hypothesis: Take your time
My son is four-years-old. He doesn’t talk much about his future. In the middle of breakfast he will ask what we are having for lunch but that is about it. It turns out that children and adults both tend to learn the same grammatical forms around the same time. So, Josh, why did you try to learn how to conjugate every single new verb in eight different tenses? Why would you try to translate a future conditional sentence from English to Japanese in the first month of your studies?
When you start to learn a new language you can not help but make comparisons. This leads to impatience and dissatisfaction. Do not force structures down your throat. Expose yourself to comprehensible input and let your brain absorb. The structures will come in time.
c. The Monitor Hypothesis: Fuck the rules
Teaching kids English would be a great gig if it weren’t for the parents. In class we play games and solve problems. Some words and phrases come out easier than others, but we understand each other. Comprehension expands if they are patient. Once the time comes to perform memorized lines on command in front of an audience of eager adults, their abilities plummet. They had produced the same vocabulary dozens of times in class, but their minds blanked once they had to focus on the specific vocabulary and grammar rather than the gist of the message. The little voice inside their head editing their speech, which Krashen refers to as the Monitor, got in their way.
d. The Input Hypothesis: Understand over 90% of the content
Knowledge can be a curse. It was for me studying Japanese. I knew the “secrets” to learning a new language. I downloaded frequency lists and uploaded isolated words into flashcard apps with spaced repetition algorithms. I would speak Japanese with native speakers from day one. I was in a hurry to prove myself, and succeeded only in displaying my ignorance.
I should have focused on understanding simple messages. That’s it.
これは本です (kore wa hon desu) - This is a book.
I would take a simple message and make it much more complicated. I wanted to know if “book” was important enough to include in my flash cards. I wanted to know if every sentence should be constructed as subject-object-verb. I wanted to know the pitch accent of each word. I wanted to know how to read the sentence in Japanese. I wanted to know if the word 本 had any other meaning besides book. I wanted the stroke order of 本 and how to write it by hand.
Looking back, it sounds like I wanted to make Japanese unbearable.
All I should have done was read the sentence, understand the gist, and move on. Grammar, writing, pronunciation will all come later. Understanding must come first. “This hypothesis (Input Hypothesis) states simply that we acquire (not learn) language by understanding input that is a little beyond our current level of (acquired) competence…listening comprehension and reading are of primary importance in the language program, and that the ability to speak (or write) fluently in a second language will come on its own in time” (p. 32). Don’t get me wrong, I do believe there are limitations to the Input Hypothesis, particularly when you get to the intermediate level of fluency and have to work on building specific skills, but to get to the conversational level, the Input Hypothesis is dead on.
e. The Affective Filter Hypothesis: Learn and chill
Unmotivated students don’t learn. They pass tests, sure, but they only learn enough to get the grade they need. Some teachers think it’s their jobs to inspire students to get engaged in the lesson. There is probably some truth to that, but in my experience, it is really up to the learner to do the work. I have very little to do with their success. What I can control, however, is the mood of the class. I smile easy and hardly ever pressure students to do anything too uncomfortable. Some teachers disagree, but not Krashen. “Performers with certain types of motivation, usually but not always “integrative” and with good self-images do better in second language acquisition. Also, the best situations for language acquisition seem to be those which encourage lower anxiety levels… people who are motivated and who have a positive self-image will seek and obtain more input” (p. 38).
You put too much pressure on yourself, Josh. In the past, you were motivated by your ego. You wanted to find a shortcut and share it with the world. You wanted to prove that you could do it smarter, faster, better; and this hurt you. Progress was slow. Your motivation sunk like a steel anchor. You were in it to prove something, not to live with it. And it stressed you out. You begrudgingly opened your Japanese textbook. You dragged your feet on assignments. And soon after, you quit. And you repeated this cycle for almost seven years. Don’t go back to this mindset. Don’t try to prove anything. Enjoy the process. Stay motivated by your family. The way your kids grow excited when you speak. How your wife enjoys the Japanese TV you watch just a bit more than the English. The way your soul buoys whenever you are out and understand a new kanji character. Focus on those things, and you won’t stop; better still, you will actually enjoy it.
| Caretaker Speech: A Window into Language Acquisition |
|---|
|
Characteristic #1 - Parents use language to communicate (not teach). |
|
Characteristic #2 - Grammar and vocabulary are simplified to ensure understanding. |
|
Characteristic #3 - The most important tense is the simple present, past and future tenses are hardly ever employed. |