Gary Shannon | Re: [LFN] Use of the infinitive

• Autor: Gary Shannon (“fiziwig”)
• Tema: Re: [LFN] Use of the infinitive
• Data: 2007-12-04 01:13
• Mesaje: 2437 (a supra, presedente, seguente)

--- Paul Bartlett <bartlett@...> wrote:

<snip>
>
>  Generally I think that LFN is a respectable auxiliary
> language, if only its (currently) few users could break out of their
> native language habits and realize that not all the world does things
> the way English does them.
>
> --
> Paul Bartlett
>
I concur. However, habits are formed by repetition, not by memorizing rules. We
all learned our first language by imitating the language patterns of those
around us. Personally, I've always learned languages most quickly and
effectively by example, preferably by repeating loads and loads of simple
sentences until the basic patterns are internalized. I, personally, believe
that something along the lines of the primers and basic story books and nursery
rhymes used in teaching children are ideal for second language acquisition. It
could even be that revisiting the stories of childhood might resonate with the
child-like mind set necessary for ease of language acquisition.

Nothing bogs me down faster than dry exposition of grammatical rules. Natlang
rules, after all, are only approximate characterizations of countless examples
taken from real-life usage. The examples themselves embody the rules much more
effectively, and accurately, than any list of rules, (and enumerations of
"exceptions").

Anyway, that's my humble opinion.

--gary