In preparation for a trip to Japan - a trip we've planned and coveted for years - I've started learning basic Japanese on the Michel Thomas program. But this isn't the learning experience I'm thinking about right now.
For anyone familiar with the Michel Thomas system - it is a wonderful way of developing your own sentences by learning small structures and building from them. No writing, no memorising - you're expected you think things through.
So, for example, if it were English, perhaps you would repeat 'I read' and 'you read' and understand that the verb is the same in both cases and sits after the pronoun. Then you'd learn that the object (e.g. a book) you read come as after the verb. So you then learn to say 'I read a book' and practice it with a variety of reading items, so 'I read a newspaper', 'I read a comic'. Next you replace 'read' with 'see' and discover - to your joy and pure empowerment - that your brain follows through and correctly applies all the words used before in the correct order.
So, can I apply this to Bangla?
Since this is the second language I am learning this way, I realised this could be a way to help Husband and my Daughter (age 8) learn Bangla, the language of my youth, my background and many hours of mirth that they can at times be excluded from. Well, in the past I learnt French and I just couldn't quite see how I could transfer the system to teach him Bangla. But as I now learn the rules for Japanese, there are a few parallels I can draw with learning Bangla. Like adding a small sound to turn a positive statement into a negative one, to name one example.
There's also the magic of going through this early stage of the course myself , the smaller structures, the subtle changes that ad complexity and above all, the feeling of joy when you find you can actually express and idea. It feels like the perfect catalyst for building the course for Husband and my Daughter too.
I'm finding that having the Michel Thomas teacher's voice in my head is invaluable. She uses the same predictable routines and calm way of explaining language rules as simply as possible. It gives me a patient and slightly impersonal persona too - based on use of voice and no face at all (Husband and I have done this sitting side by side and not looking at each other's faces).
So far I've seen lightbulbs go on repeatedly in my Daughter's eyes. She's thrilled to bits to have these sounds she's heard so often actually wielded by her own voicebox! Husband's given it a shot too and hasn't quite realised what a Lightsaber this can be :) And as I explained in the previous paragraph, seeing his eyes was not part of the process. Time, I think, will tell.
The idea of publishing this post gives me the jitters as I think I'll then be held to the task! Well, perhaps it's wise to remember I'm interested in the process of learning and in enabling a sense of empowerment to develop in the people around me. Reading high literature Bangla isn't necessarily the object, or even getting all the jokes while sitting in adda over tea.......
Here goes - I am about to post my commitment.
For anyone familiar with the Michel Thomas system - it is a wonderful way of developing your own sentences by learning small structures and building from them. No writing, no memorising - you're expected you think things through.
So, for example, if it were English, perhaps you would repeat 'I read' and 'you read' and understand that the verb is the same in both cases and sits after the pronoun. Then you'd learn that the object (e.g. a book) you read come as after the verb. So you then learn to say 'I read a book' and practice it with a variety of reading items, so 'I read a newspaper', 'I read a comic'. Next you replace 'read' with 'see' and discover - to your joy and pure empowerment - that your brain follows through and correctly applies all the words used before in the correct order.
Your brain follows through and correctly applies all the words used before, in the correct order.For each new word or structure you learn, there are a bunch of sentences that you translate aloud and then hear two other students say after you. As they are learning as well, it makes it reasonably interesting when they are being corrected. Sometimes you are better than them and that feels good too!
So, can I apply this to Bangla?
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| Bangla movie poster - with a Japanese Wife |
There's also the magic of going through this early stage of the course myself , the smaller structures, the subtle changes that ad complexity and above all, the feeling of joy when you find you can actually express and idea. It feels like the perfect catalyst for building the course for Husband and my Daughter too.
 |
| Sign from San Francisco transport system - May work when working with Husband |
So far I've seen lightbulbs go on repeatedly in my Daughter's eyes. She's thrilled to bits to have these sounds she's heard so often actually wielded by her own voicebox! Husband's given it a shot too and hasn't quite realised what a Lightsaber this can be :) And as I explained in the previous paragraph, seeing his eyes was not part of the process. Time, I think, will tell.
The idea of publishing this post gives me the jitters as I think I'll then be held to the task! Well, perhaps it's wise to remember I'm interested in the process of learning and in enabling a sense of empowerment to develop in the people around me. Reading high literature Bangla isn't necessarily the object, or even getting all the jokes while sitting in adda over tea.......
Here goes - I am about to post my commitment.
