Re: Why can't daddy?

"Claudio" == Claudio Grondi <claudio.grondi@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Claudio> I think, that in a standard case (i.e. usual situation)
Claudio> an adult doesn't get enough attention from others and
Claudio> doesn't have the time to percept the language, especially
Claudio> when working hard for living.

Does that guy work in mines? In those working environments, one
doesn't need to talk too much.


OTOH, those work in grocery stores or restaurants (as waiters, not
chefs) can usually pick up the local language in a remarkably short
amount of time -- in the order of months. They can achieve a fluency
much better than those who have been learning the same language abroad
for years.


Claudio> This is in my eyes the main reason why many foreign
Claudio> workers even after twenty, thirty years don't speak the
Claudio> language of their host country very well,

How much time CAN they afford to learn the local language? And how
much time are they WILLING to spend on it?


Claudio> where their children (also these which were 10-12 years
Claudio> old when changed the country of living) do that mostly
Claudio> even without any foreign accent after they learn it at
Claudio> school they have been forced to visit there.

If their parents had to go to school (and totally forget about
working) like these children, I believe they wouldn't do worse than
the children in learning the local language.


Claudio> So the standard case to progress in learning a new
Claudio> language for an adult is to force himself to take the
Claudio> time and get the necessary attention in context of a
Claudio> self-study or a kind of classroom situation.

That's what I did during my stay in Germany.


Claudio> Lucky are these ones who are in deep love with a
Claudio> foreigner and living in his native country for a while -
Claudio> they are getting enough attention from the partner and
Claudio> his friends to pick up the language trough daily living
Claudio> with the loved one and his companions (friends, family,
Claudio> co-worker, etc.).

While traveling in Germany, I meet strangers from time to time who
would chat with me in German for more than 10 minutes (sometimes even
an hour). This happens usually in parks and with elderly people.
(Many retired people spend their time in parks, and are delighted to
find someone to listen to their stories and chat with them. They also
want to talk to an Asian and learn about things in Asia.) Among such
experiences, the most special instance was a young lady in Frankfurt
am Main who stopped me to do a questionnaire. I didn't know why she
chose me, because her questionnaire was in German and I look Asian. I
would expect that she should only look for Germans. Upon finishing
the questionnaire, she said that she was impressed that I know German
so well (at least good enough to have understood the questions in the
questionnaire and to answer them). Maybe, they seldom meet foreigners
in that city who know that much German. :)


--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦 ~{@nJX6X~}

E-mail: danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
.

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