Some Basic Principles and Thoughts on Language Learning

There are mainly two things to tackle when approaching a new language. One is what I would describe as the physical side: its pronunciation. The second is understanding the language as a system with its ways of expressing meaning. How these two aspects are similar or different to your native language will have an influence on your learning process. In the context here, the native language, the background language or language of instruction is English; at least in the beginning stages before you/we can enter the phase of monolingual conversation. But in the beginning, we will use your knowledge of English to help you along your German journey. 

To a large extent, the language learning process involves memorization; how much this involves consciously learning things by heart has been debated among linguists. When we develop our first languages, this memorization happens without any effort, thus might be better described as naturally/gradually developed internalization. In the beginnings of our lives, we spend all our waking hours exploring the world and realizing the functions and benefits of the sounds that make up the language/s spoken around us day in day out. That’s what childhood is for (or should be in the best of circumstances.)

We know from various research that the linguistic environment of a child is of utmost importance for how much language and knowledge a child acquires in his or her first years. A linguistically (and educationally) impoverished environment will deprive a child of developing to his or her full potential – cognitively and psychologically. The more language a child’s mind has to work with, the more ‘input’ a brain gets, the more material it has to extricate the patterns and meanings expressed by the system.

Some linguists (e.g. Stephen Krashen) argue that this is similar for adults. Though adults are not in the same situation as children as they have already developed language/s, the amount of ‘comprehensible input’ an adult learner of a new language is exposed to matters.

Pattern recognition is what our brains are good at. Patterns are also structures humans (human brains) seem to like to create. We see them in cloud formations and we hear them in music. We try to describe them theoretically – in grammatical terms with language, and theories of harmonies and keys and chords in music – but in the end, the systems we created intuitively are so intricate and complex that no theoretical model will ever be able to capture each and every aspect of them.

Our theories, models and grammars are attempts at pattern description. They are not books of rules we need to follow precisely and meticulously in order to be able to speak ‘correctly’. They are guiding structural descriptions of frameworks that make communication, speaking and telling stories possible. Speakers of a language can only communicate adequately if they agree on how the elements of the system go together to create meaning. They need to agree on what a set of sounds refers to in order to understand each other. There is still room for misunderstanding and need for negotiating of what is being said sometimes. Language systems bear a certain amount of flexibility that allows us to deviate and create new meanings, new words, new combinations of elements – some still comprehensible, some maybe not.

In other words: I believe in the need to recognize and learn patterns (what is commonly called grammar). However, I prefer a ‘bottom up’ to a ‘top down’ approach. What I mean by that is that I am very sceptical when it comes to learning general (grammar) ‘rules’ and trying to apply them, because I believe that to be too difficult for our brains and not the way our mental processing of language works.

What I mean by ‘bottom up’ can perhaps best be described as ‘lexical approach’ (first developed by Michael Lewis in the 90ies, strongly propagated by the British Council). We gradually build up the system by becoming familiar with words and phrases and chunks of the language we hear over and over again. Not just single words, but words in context with their most common collocations. Observe, step by step, how different lexical items, verbs, nouns, adjectives, behave grammatically in the context of their use. Gradually put things together until you have built up the whole system brick by brick, and recognize regularities.

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As said above, an adult can and does approach a new language differently than a child. Adults have already gone through the process of first language development and this experience we can use – one way or the other – for developing a second, or third etc. language. We can sit down and try to memorize words and phrases consciously. Especially if pressed for time, conscious memorization exercises will, might or can (the verdict is still out) support the learning process. However, learning lists of words outside the context of their use has been proven to be pretty useless – a waste of time as many of us will have experienced at some time.

Various methods of memorization have been tried and tested that I will introduce. Learning things by heart can be an essential part of the process, especially in the beginning, e.g. when naming objects using images or referring to the real things. But phrases and collocations that are frequently used need not be consciously memorized. They will fall into place and stick the more we use the language.

Note: As a student, I read Stephen Krashen, and his theories have been of significant influence to me (e.g. the importance of ‘comprehensible input’). Stephen Krashen, who, in the meantime is over 80, is still active in propagating his theories, supporting them with decades of research. I came across a youtube video I recommend watching: Stephen D. Krashen – Language Acquisition. Here, he describes his experiences and observations of the impact comprehensible reading material has on the process of second language acquisition. (He doesn’t seem to set much value in flashcards, but I still believe they can be a valuabe supplement, especially (or maybe more) in the context of EFL and DAF (English and German as a Foreign Language).

If you have an adequate tolerance for listening to things you don’t understand everything of, going into authentic material like TV programms, videos and podcasts on the internet early on, can benefit your ability to generate the sounds of the new language and familiarize your ears with what might sound like gibberish in the beginning. Many people, when starting to learn English, feel that they already know some of the language. They feel familiar with what English sounds like, having already heard so much of it when listening to music. So listen to as much as you can.

In this connection, there is one more thing I would like to add. When children develop their language, they go through a long phase of only listening. They start with first words around the age of one. Sometimes I think that adult learners struggle to speak fluently too early.  They seem to believe that you learn a language by speaking it. Speaking, however, is performing. And you can only perform with what you have already learned or acquired. Speaking is using the language you have learned so far. If this language is sketchy and structurally rudimentary, and you perform with this level too long, sketchy and rudimentary your language skills most likely will stay (we call this process fossilization)

I go with my guitar teacher here who says when you practice a new chord, chord change, scale or song, take it slowly. Start with phrases and short sentences. Don’t go so fast that you make mistakes simply because you are not giving yourself enough cognitive time and space to process. The more often you repeat something incorrectly, the more your brain will think that’s what your going for. If you struggle with correct word order, focus on form for a while and practice saying correct phrases or (short) sentences, even if it feels a little ‘drilly’. If you speak fast too soon and too much, you will be in danger of ‘fossilizing’ on that level. You might be able to communicate certain things, but your accuracy will suffer, and in the long run, communication too.

Allow yourself time for listening to things you can already understand a little. You don’t have to understand everything.

Literature

Baker,Colin, Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Clevedon: 1996

Fandrych, Christian und Maria Thurmair, 2021, Grammatik im Fach Deutsch als Fremd- und Zweitsprache: Grundlagen und Vermittlung, Erich Schmidt Verlag

Rösler, Dietmar, 2012, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, J.B. Metzler

Rösch, Heidi, 2011, Deutsch als Zweit- und Fremdsprache, Akedemie Verlag

Deutsch als Fremdsprache – Wikipedia

Van Patten, Bill, 2004, Processing Instruction: Theory, Research and Commentary, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

For more see: Resources, References and Recommendations | Pat’s Language Cabinet (language-cabinet.de)

And my post on How languages are learned

You might also want to check out Steve Kaufmann – lingosteve – YouTube on language learning. He is a polyglott and shares his language learning experiences in the linguistic tradition of Stephen Krashen.