The eighth week, quota met – fourteenth post

Another productive week.

Apart from all the memorization, this week also saw me getting to a point where I created confidence.

Last week, I mentioned how strongly dependent language is on culture. Last week I asked a native speaker to say a few things naturally, things like usually everyday language like “como fue tu dia?” or “tuve un dia pesada” (how was your day/ I had a heavy day). It started me thinking.

Just like a toddler, I need to rely on native speakers to walk me through the language and I should direct much of my curiosity at them, asking how they would express an idea (of course getting at least 3 options from them).

A result of this input, I am speaking more naturally, more confidently and just simply more often. Even to my English speaking friends. I think this is where I need to take my studies.

As testament to progress, I have added up all the words in my language notes too see how many words I have in my memory. Please take into account that it is difficult to get an accurate number as by the third week I was memorizing entire phrases, also not everything that I have memorized is noted down in my book.

Ok, now the disclaimer is finished, please remember that in my first post I pointed out that toddlers had a 'vocabulary explosion' at 18 months old. This levelled out at an approximate number of 400 lexical items. Although, now that I'm looking for it I'm finding different number (much lower) http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml

and my original link to the chart isn't working any more. Bummer. 

Anyway, I have added up my lexical items and after 8 weeks of study, the number is between 850 – 1000 words. Its hard to say as there is a discrepancy between words one can identify passively and actively produced words. Just the act of me counting reminds me about the words. Putting the count at a definite minimum but with a cautious maximum.

This meets my expectations of language acquisition. 

Step 1 - memorising vocabulary to establish a strong enough 'reference bank' (list of vocabulary with which to compare all linguistic input against)

Time needed: Approximately 2 months (vocabulary of 800 plus lexical items)

Step 2 – familiarisation of general language functions so as to be functional on a general level (that is agreeing/ disagreeing/ giving opinions/ etc. and basic expression of time and tense)

Time needed: Approximately 4 months

At this point, the learner is able to function in almost all environments with a high level of accuracy.

 

Step 3 – more intensive study than previous required to be able to reproduce long pieces of native language effortlessly. Although 90 percent is understood, the production of the language is not as natural/ native as it needs to be.

Time needed: Approximately 6 months

These are not only my predictions but also my goals. To be native by the end of a year is a tall order...lets see how it goes.

The next week?

As per regular studies, introduction of another +/- 60 words into the memory, now that there are many words, its time to start revising too. Also I need to write lists of language to people how it is said here. This list will focus on the situation (contextualising the answer, I'm not looking for a grammatical translation) and how to express various ideas in more than one way.

We'll see how it goes. So far so good. The first check point has come and been met with success.