First Steps in Learning another Language

[english grammar man]

The first step in learning another language is to internalise the code of that language. You will internalise the code in the same way you assimilated your native language, which was through commands. Like most of us, you probably have amnesia for your infancy, but research suggests that many of the utterances directed to you when you were a baby - perhaps half of what you heard - was in the form of commands such as:

- Don't spit up on my blouse!
- Give mummy a big kiss!
- Hold daddy's hand!

For hundreds of hours you were silent except for babbling, but during that time you were deciphering that important code. You were sorting out the patterns that would transform the noise coming from people's faces into information. It was only after many months of decoding that you began to speak, and even then your understanding was far in advance of your speaking skill and it remained that way for years. Well, that's the way you will start learning a second language - through commands.

The teacher will utter a command and act along with you for several times. Then the student will act alone when given the commands. Gradually, the entire code of the new language will be visible to the student, and spontaneously the student's tongue will produce utterances in the new language.

[BrandeX]

Interesting idea, but I am not sure how you would going about telling someone what to do all day like a toddler is.