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| Patterns |
Can a language learner acquire another language more successfully by delaying grammar study? That is the question I have been exploring in recent blog posts using examples from various languages. I wish I had a definitive answer for the world!
Traditionalists insist on a heavy dose of the study of structure before a learner begins to communicate in a new language. Innovators insist that grammar is best acquired gradually, as the learner is using the language. And many language educators ride the fence, debating how much grammar study to require and at what stage.
I have been trying to test the theory that calls for less explicit grammar study in my studies using the online language program Duolingo. Grammar explanations are included in the program if you choose to use them. But I have been scrupulously avoiding the explanations, trying instead to formulate and test rules by observing patterns for a new language.
Have I been tempted to sneak a peak at a verb conjugation or an explanation of word order? Of course. I am after all only human! But I have tried to develop what the linguist Stephen Krashen has labeled a "tolerance for ambiguity" and not insist on immediate answers to my grammar problems. Searching for patterns in language has been a big help. Here is what I discovered recently about the Welsh language, which, by the way, I find charming.
Dw i'n hoffi coffi. I like coffee.
Dw i'n hoffi Owen. I like Owen.
Dw i'n yfed cwrw. I drink beer.
Dw i'n hoffi yfed cwrw. I like to drink beer.
Several Welsh grammar points can be hypothesized from these sentences. To talk about oneself, begin the sentence with dw i'n. The verb follows, hoffi (like) and yfed (drink). The direct object completes the sentence, coffi (coffee), Owen (Owen) , and cwrw (beer).
The word order in Welsh, at least for declarative sentences at this point, appears to mirror English with subject first, then verb, then object. (This is a relief from another Gaelic language I have been studying, Irish, which puts the verb first in the sentence.) Any similarity between the new language and one's native language is one less thing to think about.
Once your mind has absorbed these grammar facts, other questions begin to arise. How do you make a sentence negative in case you really don't like something? How can you ask another person if they like something so you can exchange information in a conversation?
Dw i ddim yn hoffi bacwn. I do not like bacon. So the i'n of the affirmative Welsh sentence has been transformed into i ddim yn for a negative.
This discovery calls for a revision to my original hypothesis that to talk about oneself, you begin the sentence with Dw i'n. It appears that in some sentences, just Dw i is used.
I also came upon the sentence, "Ywd, dw i eisiau cath. Yes, I want a cat. Perhaps dw i is used in negative sentences and questions?
Dych chi'n hoffi Owen? Do you like Owen? We have discovered the subject and verb forms for "you" which are dych and chi'n.
The pattern can now be used to ask other questions.
Dych chi eisiau dysgu Cymraeg. Do you want to learn Welsh?
But here is another challenge to our hypothesis! Compare Dych chi'n hoffi Owen? (Do you like Owen?) to Dych chi eisiau dysgu Cymraeg ( Do you want to learn Welsh?). The first sentence uses chi'n and the second uses chi (as is the case with the form for "I"). Why? Is the answer structural or phonetic? Could it be that the added i'n is needed before certain sounds, like the "h" of hoffi or the "y" of "yfed"?
Unfortunately, we don't know yet. Much patience is required at this point! We have to leave that question for the future until we find more examples to clear up the problem. Or if new examples don't give us the definitive answer, there are always grammar explanations to fall back on.
Oh, no, did I really say that?
