Using LH/WAYK in self-study

[Anna Van Sant]

Has anyone tried applying LH/WAYK to studying alone? I often lack a fluent fool in Irish so I have to rely a lot on my study materials. Obviously I can't replicate the method perfectly when studying by myself but it seems that I can adapt my study to be more in line with the underlying philosophies. One of my methods, Gaeilge Gan Stró, is set up with mainly a question/answer format which works well, though a lot of the audio exercises involve a lot of fairy killing (question in Irish, prompts for the answer in English, need to give translation). Working alone would necessitate the sacrifice of some fairies but it seems I can move away from using English as early as possible and alter the exercises by creating set ups for myself and editing the English translation prompts out of the audio.

There are huge lists of vocabulary for each unit so I'll need to work out a way to absorb them. I figure using physical objects, working with only a few at a time, is the best way to go whenever possible, otherwise using pictures. Any ideas for that?

Otherwise I'll make more of an effort to work in groups, recruit learners, and hunt down fluent fools.

[Willem Larsen]

Anna,

I think that's a perfect fit. And yes. It helps a lot if you have stuffed animals or dolls (what one of our interns has called "stufties") to stand in for other players and sides of the conversation. 

I don't think this in any way violates the principles of Language Hunting. It's a commons sense application of them, in fact, when you are flying solo.

Our standing rule at Language Hunting games is that you can translate for your own benefit, use texts and dictionaries, but you are banned from doing these between language hunters (other players), and save it for time between pomodoro immersion and play segments.

I think this provides a nice balance.

yrs,

Willem

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[Matt Goff]

For what it's worth, I've been using anki (ankisrs.net) to create study lists (in Tlingit) and pull in lots of vocabulary (nouns, verb phrases, locatives, and more).  It's certainly not ideal, and I definitely wouldn't recommend starting that way.  That said, I found that lack of consistent access to fluent speakers with the energy/interest in working on things was keeping me from making as much progress as I could.  I decided that I could make more use of my limited time with fluent speakers if I had a broader sense of what's possible and utilized the time with them to refine understanding of terms/phrases I had learned via vocabulary study.  As part of this I've tried to utilize imagery in my head (linking the Tlingit to an image that's also easily associated with the English term) rather than just having the words linked directly. 

I guess time will tell whether this is an effective (even if suboptimal) approach, but so far I think it's been working okay.  I've been doing it for about 3-4 months and in that time have probably learned well over 1000 additional words or phrases that I wouldn't have otherwise. I think for me there have been some benefits - I say the words as I review - which has improved my ability to read and speak.  I also feel like I've been able to start internalizing some of the ways words/phrases are put together in a way that will help me pull language more quickly when I do have a chance to interact with fluent speech (written or spoken).  However, I also try to keep in mind the things I'm learning this way are preliminary - when I have the chance with an appropriate context, I try to verify and/or refine my understanding (both of what a word/phrase means, as well as how to use it).  

Matt 

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[Willem Larsen]

Cool Matt!

[Anna Van Sant]

Now I'm brainstorming a town/village prop (like a dollhouse but a whole town) to use for setups. Maybe make a pop-up one out of paper for easy storage/portability (if only Legos weren't so expensive these days). I'm sure you could also make use of The Sims and Sim City for a lot of different content areas without having to construct a prop. Even a game with a very immersive/freeplay environment like Grand Theft Auto can probably be useful for all kinds of setups...

[Willem Larsen]

That's where we seem to be going for Intermediate play. Playmobil has a lot of different vehicles, buildings, etc. 

-willem 

On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 4:40 PM, Anna Van Sant <anna.v...@gmail.com> wrote:

Now I'm brainstorming a town/village prop (like a dollhouse but a whole town) to use for setups. Maybe make a pop-up one out of paper for easy storage/portability (if only Legos weren't so expensive these days). I'm sure you could also make use of The Sims and Sim City for a lot of different content areas without having to construct a prop. Even a game with a very immersive/freeplay environment like Grand Theft Auto can probably be useful for all kinds of setups...

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