June 26, 2002
French Lessons
French Lessons
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| The student's friend. 23 Juin. |
Psycholinguists divide the overal linguistic ability into five big sections: phonological processing, morphological processing, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics (the last one is sort of extra-linguistic).
The first one is the sound components of words. So that guttural french R sound or the english liquid R sound ("whateveRRRR!"). That's a big problem, since everything I say makes me sound like a crazy anglophone. Interestingly, the French can't tell (when I am speaking french) whether I am American or British. The second one is how to assemble parts into words. That one you don't really think about as often in language class or in real life. You kind of run morphology and phonology together, actually.
The third thing is the meanings of words, roughly. Now that's the vocabulary problem and I'm attacking it head on. Flashcards and stuff. That you can solve.
Finally, there is syntax. Normal language users really don't think about this at all, yet learning language makes the complexity of the Byzantine rules quite vivid. That's the biggest problem. You learn vocabulary in your own language all the time; learning French vocabulary just involves learning more of it. But the syntax--ouf! When's the last time you thought about indirect object pronouns and whatnot? They just SOUND right. And that's because a sub-conscious congitive system is computing the right answers for you. If only mine would read the French book when the rest of me is sleeping!
Posted by amol at June 26, 2002 07:53 PM