The Informed English Student #2 - First things first

[Warren]

Last week, I wrote that most of our fluency (ability) comes from
language that we acquire subconsciously, not from language that we
consciously study. If you haven't read part one, I encourage you to
read it now, before you read part two.

The second thing that an informed English student should know is that
some parts of a language are acquired before other parts. There is a
natural order, with some parts acquired early and other parts late.
For example, the progressive - he is reading - is acquired early while
the third-person singular - he eats - is acquired very late. And we
cannot change this natural order by studying.

Why is it helpful to know this? It's helpful, first, because it might
help students understand why they get frustrated when they keeping
having trouble with the same part of the English language, like the
third-person singular. Maybe it is just too early to acquire that
part.

So what should English students do? I think they should use the same
approach (method of doing something) they do when they eat! We all
know that our bodies need certain vitamins and other nutrients
(specific foods needed to live and grow). But we don't eat only
Vitamin A for one week, then Vitamin B the next week, do we? No, we
feed our bodies a healthy diet that contains all the nutrients, and
trust it to use the nutrients it needs. We should treat ourselves to a
good, balanced diet of English and trust our minds to acquire the
parts of the English language that it needs when it is ready for them.

There is a second reason why this information is helpful. Many English
students worry too much about their mistakes. For example, I recently
received an e-mail from a student who apologized (said he was sorry)
for his English. He wrote, "...from this e-mail you may know that I use
'broken' English." What he meant is that he thought there a lot of
mistakes in his e-mail. I hadn't noticed!

While we are acquiring a new language, we develop an "in-between"
language. Language teachers call this inter-language. Inter-language
includes (1) the new language we have already acquired, (2) guesses
about the new language, and (3) influences from our first language.
Some of my Spanish-speaking students even have a name for their inter-
language. They call it Spanglish!

Inter-language, our in-between language, constantly changes while we
are acquiring the new language. If English students continue to read
and listen to easy-to-understand English, their inter-language will
continue to become more and more like the English they want to speak
and write.

Do you know what was important about that e-mail I received? It was
easy to understand. It was effective communication, even if it wasn't
perfect English.

Inter-language. It isn't broken! It's just different. It shows that
you are somewhere in between where you started and where you are
going. And it will keep changing as you move closer and closer to your
destination (the place you are going): fluent English.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Warren

(The Informed English Student is a series of short essays to help
English learners understand how language is acquired. The first five
essays are based on the writings of Dr. Stephen Krashen.)

[Eduardo G.]

Hello Mr. Warren,

The metaphoric between English study and food was cool.
I bet het tips was very useful.  Like Spanglish, we also have
a word for that situation. We called of Portunhol when a people mix Portugues with Spanish(Espanhol).

For who still don't read the first part, can read here:
The Informed English Student: It's the verb!

Take Care

Eduardo G. (edgnets)

[Warren]

Correction: I typed too fast and made an error (maybe more than one!).

In paragraph 3, the word "keeping" should be "keep" - "...when they
keep having trouble...."

See, teacher's do it, too! :))

Warren