Dividing the obvious – Sixteenth post

Resources vs Materials

As you know, I have been learning without the aid of a teacher and relying on media and friends here. I realised that as a learner, 2 things are required

1 – Resources: lists of words and phrases (like phrase books) but as you learn more, you require more of a variety of functional language. Things preped for memorisation. This would benefit the learner considerably

2 – Materials: defined as contextualised langauge anywhere you can get it, books, comics, movies, etc. The point here is to see the language you have memorised and consolidate it with natural and authentic contexts.

There is indeed a lack of the former.

With regards to perception of development, I am coming to a point where I need not memorise lists of words or phrases, instead consider this:

The creation of a reference bank of L2 knowledge (that is vocab and grammar of your desired language) needs translation. More accurately, it needs a cognitive link. The word “mug”/”cup” conjures up a mental image. The memorisation of the name in another language is supposed to be linked to the image, not the word the mother tongue. Therefore, the reference bank is comprised of approximately 1000 words (according to what I have done) before a large portion of language input is known.

Now, I find myself creating lists of chunks of language taken from materials. Not needing translation as the phrase is attached (much like the single phrases) to a context/ situation. Word for word translations no longer have value and the phrases which are memorised are natural.

Eg. “cuida tus modales” translates as “be careful of your manners”. However, in English it is much more natural to say “mind your manners”. Needless to say the translation in Spanish doesn't fit. However, the situation is exactly the same, a warning to someone that they are beginning to rub you the wrong way. Memory is the same, expression of the memory differs according to the language.

Although I am at a point where I have memorised (more or less) an approximate amount of items for a reference bank, I still need to continue doing this. Just less than before. As the natural phrases come into play, with no translation needed, I feel that I should attempt to revise and strengthen th existing memories (1000 items). More specifically, the ones which are less frequent and therefore have less cognitive links and more difficult to remember.