Through new ears...

[khiemtran]

One of the first things I did with the new ipod was download some language-learning podcasts. In the past, I've done most of my language-learning either from books or via face-to-face interaction, but almost always with some form of notetaking involved.

Listening to the podcasts, I had to rely on my ears alone, and I was surprised at how much I came to appreciate it when the various speakers slowed right down to ludicrously slow levels. In the past, if I was listening to a tape, I might play and rewind the same phrase over and over until I was sure of what I'd heard. If I was talking to a friend, I could get them to repeat what they said or correct me when I got the consonants wrong. Here I found, I really had to rely on very slow delivery, even down to the syllable by syllable level, to make sure my ears tuned in.

This has changed the way I go about talking to Liem. I've been using slower, clearer sentences to him all day, and he seems to love it. His own sentence-making seems to be quickly improving too.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I've transferred the CD for the Welsh course I'm doing onto iPod. I've also found that it is difficult to catch exactly what's being said at times, but there is a book and also face-to-face classes, so the listening is reinforcement and it does get clearer with repeated hearings.

Re talking to Liem, I think that's why we slip into exaggerated baby talk with small children. Women seem to do this more naturally -- though possibly that's just because we get more exposure to it. I suspect also that men tend to feel silly doing it and this is one situation where a lower, louder voice isn't an advantage.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Oh, baby talk, I understand. But we're trying to get Liem onto better sentences now, and previously I'd always thought of really exaggeratedly slow speaking as being annoying and patronising. I was quite surprised then, when I heard it on the podcasts and found it was actually quite welcome.