how to learn any language-第22章
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Write！ Conquer and consolidate by writing。 The ability to understand a word when
it’s spoken or written； to use that word correctly with good pronunciation； and to write it
correctly makes you the battlefield commander of that word。
Knowing
Jack Benny was one comic who remained beloved； even by his peers； despite his well
known inability to come up with original material。
Once at a Hollywood roast when another comic laced into him with a devastating
salvo that demanded a retort in kind； Benny won the moment by pausing and then saying；
“You’d never get away with that if my writers were here。”
Cute for Jack Benny at a roast； but not really anything we can borrow。 When you’re
in language action and you stumble and lapse into uhs and ahs while the native speaker is
patiently hoping you’ll come through； it doesn’t do to say； “I’d never be in this fix if I
had my dictionary and phrase book with me。”
Everybody who’s ever tried to master a foreign language knows the frustration of
needing the right word or phrase； knowing that you know it； but being utterly unable to
come up with it at the moment。 Just as golfers sometimes break their clubs in frustration；
at some point you’ll want to smash your cassette player and throw your books into a
shredder。 You’ve mastered a neat set of phrases； they flow glibly off your tongue； you
sing them in the shower； repeat them as you dress； review them as you put on your coat –
and suddenly all recollection vanishes in a poof when you run into a friend five minutes
later who happens to be with a native speaker of the language you’re learning and you try
to remember how to say “Pleased to meet you。”
Having the revolver is one thing。 Drawing it quickly is quite another。 To take set
piece knowledge you’ve acquired and have it pop up automatically as instinct under real
game conditions calls for a whole separate discipline。
Coaches stage scrimmages that simulate real game conditions as closely as possible。
Pilots can now train in complex simulators that use some elements of computer games to
achieve the effect of genuine flight。 You； the language learner； can play little discipline
games that will make your knowledge more readily retrievable in live language action。
First of all； why wait for the real life foreign language encounter to spring into
retrieval practice？ As you go through the motions of daily life； ask yourself； “What
would I be saying here in the language I’m studying？” How would you greet the person
headed toward you？ What would you say to the friend she introduces you to？ How would
you thank her？ How would you tell her “You’re welcome” or not to bother or would she
please hand you the fork？ It’s fun and helpful to dub everyday situations in the language
you’re learning。
If you come up short in your practice with words and phrases you’ve already
learned； jot them down on a pad and look them up when you get back to your books。
As you review your cassettes； try to come up with the foreign word during the
pause before the next piece of English。 Put artificial pressure on yourself： “Can I come up
with the expression before I hear the next word on the cassette？” Or if you’re listening as
you’re walking； “Can I come up with it before I get to that sign； that lamppost； the
corner； the curb？” Victory is being able to take an entire cassette of what were recently
nonsense syllables to you and throw back the foreign equivalents without hesitation。
You’ll be glad you didn’t smash your tools when your friend approaches you by
surprise to introduce you to her friend from a country that speaks the language you’re
learning and you respond with a crisp； correct “Pleased to meet you” in that language！
Commit Language Larceny
There are interesting lessons coiled up inside ordinary greetings in different languages。
The Estonian greeting Kuidas （k。si k。ib） literally means “How does your hand
walk？” An old Chinese greeting is Chr bao le； mei lo？ which means； “Have you had food
yet？” – no small achievement in the China of some periods。 A charming greeting in
Yiddish is “Zug mir a shtikel Toireh；” which means “Teach me a piece of Torah；” the
Torah being the five books of Moses and the holiest document in the Jewish religion。
Language learners can use the spirit of that last one to good advantage。
When you encounter a native speaker of your target language； and when you start a
conversation in that language； three things are certain。 You will be stuck for words you
need but don’t know。 He will use words you don’t understand。 And you will make
mistakes。 Get into the habit of exploiting those moments to the hilt！
When you don’t know a word； ask him for it。 When you don’t understand a word he
uses； ask him what it means。 Ask him to do you the favour of correcting your mistakes。
You may not have much luck with that latter request； he may be too polite or too
impressed that you’re making an effort in his language to criticise you。 If you feel he’s
letting your mistakes slide by； pick a fairly long sentence and ask him to help you
hammer out your mistakes in just that one sentence。 Write that sentence down on one of
your blank flash cards。 Ask him to check it again。 Milk the moment。 As the Latin goes；
Carpe diem！
Don’t ever enter into anything as precious as a conversation in your target language
with a native speaker and leave knowing no more than when you started。 You’ve got a
repertoire in that language。 He has a larger one。 Reach in and help yourself。
At No Extra Cost
You may think you have a good idea precisely how your life will improve once you’ve
mastered your target language。 You’re wrong。 It will be much better than you think。
Unexpected good things happen to you when you learn even a little of the other
guy’s language。 A chapter detailing some of those things may seem like preaching to the
choir； when you consider that anybody likely to be reading this has already decided he
wants to learn。 So what？ Who more than the members of the choir deserve the
inspiration？
All the case histories that follow were culled and corroborated by members of the
Language Club who were asked to be alert to all the nice little extras that come your way
when you speak another language。 Many of them happened to me personally and
continue to happen almost daily。
In New York and some other major cities a huge percentage of the cab drivers are
from Haiti。 Try this； just to get a taste of the power of another language。 If your driver is
Haitian； lean forward and say （phonetically）； “Sa （rhymes with “ma”） pass （“pasta”
without the “ta”） SAY （as in the English “say”）； pa…PA （“papa；” but accented on the last
syllable）。 Sort those sounds out and try it。 “Sa paSAY paPA？” It means something like the
French Comment 。a va？ （“How are you？”）； but it’s not French。 It’s his native Haitian
Creole slang and he may never before have heard that utterance from the lips of a non…
Haitian。
That one line is guaranteed to get you reactions ranging from a long； slow smile to a
cheery “Where did you learn that？” to loud and joyous laughter to the exclamation； “You
must know Haiti well！”
Don’t get the idea that Haitians are the only ones susceptible to the charm of
hearing a few words of their language。 They just may be more demonstrative than most
in showing it。 Romanian cab drivers have turned off the metre and given me a free ride in
return for my “Good morning” in Romanian。 A Soviet Georgian cab driver refused to
take my money and invited me to Sunday dinner at his home； one of the tastiest treats and
most interesting evenings I’ve ever enjoyed。 An Indonesian cab driver screamed – that’s
all； just screamed – upon hearing “Thank you” in his language。
I’ve long suspected there’s a memo posted in the kitchen of every Chinese
restaurant in America instructing all personnel not to let any Ame
