Learning Or Assimilating the Language - Act 2

This is the continuation of the previous post, Act 1, in which we talked about the role of conscious learning as far as a language is concerned and how much Grammar-oriented we need to be.

Of course, to be considered educated or street-smart, to fit in well with the society and not to offend people inadvertently we need to understand the social conventions and adjust the language accordingly, this is where the grammar comes in. We can't learn swimming by trying to avoid getting wet first;P 

It's better to have a feel of the language than to just dive in the Grammatical complexity at the very beginning, then stay away from the whole thing after that traumatic experience. Remember grammar classes at school? Yeah, that!!

I think that, languages are meant to be malleable, transformable and an instrument of uninhibited creativity. It just can't be compartmentalised and formalised with a particular set of rules. It's quite obvious that, Grammar traps a particular and transient state of a language influenced by political factors, social traditions, in short they are heavily influenced by Us. 

You think we stay the same all our lives, throughout history? 

Well, yeah we have a lot more vocabulary and concepts now but essentially we are not different from the first Homo Sapiens ( Lucy? ). We are quite the same, the same feelings, the same passions and ambitions; the very same experience throughout History. Languages are as organic as living things, rather than some absolute unchanging aspect of nature.

There is nothing unchangeable as far as any particular language is concerned, Grammar is just like the a photograph of a person, though there is not Growing Up ( in complexity or otherwise) per se, but from the very first photo to the very latest one, it changes and yet it's the same thing. It is organic it is meant to change.

Personally, if I have to really understand grammar I would focus on dead languages or constructed languages which are, for me, an extremely useful tool to improve my understanding of Grammar, much like experiments are for Scientific understanding.

But how can we use it in our language learning ?

I say, enjoy what you do in a language. Find a subject that you wish to explore in the language and it's native culture. For me, the most intriguing parts of the Far Eastern cultures, namely Japanese and Chinese is Buddhism and another one would be the game of Go. If you, like me were always told that Chess is the most intellectually demanding, then try Go. It's as simple as child's play and yet you can be sure that the game that you are playing, the set of moves you make, in all probability, have never ever been made before and might never be made again. In short, no two games of Go are alike!!

Hmm, so, these are the threads through which I wish to explore the eastern cultures and then of course there are many contemporary sources like the awesome movies, dramas, the folk-lore and the brilliant anime and of course the songs. The main that being that you have a passion for something in the language, something that let's you use the languages as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. That's how you learn a language. I think, that the other approach of a language-being-an-end-in-itself is suited for Linguists who do all kinds of wonderful stuff to add to our understanding of this central aspect of human lives.

Have patience, a bit of faith that maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow but soon enough it's gonna make sense to me. I have an absolute belief that our brains wonderful complexity is the way it is so that, it is able to learn and make sense, to figure out all the hidden patterns in the information.

Yes, I do get discouraged sometimes and I think about doing something else but then after a while I again find myself drawn towards it all. Ah, I'll let you in on a secret, when I feel discouraged, I take a step back and look at the big picture. I think about the ponderous sphinx, the pyramids and of all the numerous things that we, as one people, have done so far, have achieved so far. It is pretty awesome!!

Now, all of those amazing deeds weren't not done in a day, it took hard work and the patience of a stone mason to know in one's bones that even if the stone has not shown any difference in it's shape, hasn't cracked for a 1000 hits; it's gonna crack wide open soon. Just like that. I belong to the same people, I believe in our minds and our abilities to overcome anything that we truly put our minds to. Compared to all that, this difficulty is nothing. 

In today's world it's all the more impossible not to learn another language, for we have an abundance of resources available to us now. The thing is not to loose faith and just consistent with our efforts. Learning a language is the most natural thing to do;P