Has anyone heard of the "Deconstruction Dozen?"
It was introduced by Tim Ferriss, author of 4 Hour Chef, 4 Hour Body, and other very popular books.
It is simply a list of a dozen sentences that are to be translated into your target language. Then, you take these translated sentences, compare them with the original sentences, and attempt to make sense of the grammar.
I thought this was rather interesting, so I thought I'd give it a shot with Russian. Can anyone translate these sentences? Thanks!
1. The apple is red.
2. It is John's apple.
3. I give John the apple.
4. We give him the apple.
5. He gives it to John.
6. She gives it to him.
7. Is the apple red?
8. The apples are red.
9. I must give it to him.
10. I want to give it to her.
11. I'm going to know tomorrow.
12. I can't eat the apple.
Check out this link for more info on this technique.
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2007/11/07/how-to-learn-but-not-master-any-language-in-1-hour-plus-a-favor/
This is just me having a kind of "stream of consciousness" vent, haha. This subject has been on my mind a lot lately, and I struggle with it daily. I just thought it was an important psychological obstacle to overcome especially in regards to language learning.
Why am I so afraid of making mistakes? Perhaps it has a great deal to do with the way I was raised in an academic environment. You are judged and graded by the number of mistakes you make. The number of mistakes translates to your class average. Your class average translates to your academic worth, or so they say. I know it is problematic to judge my academic worth by a percentage or a GPA, but this value still carries a lot of weight, both socially and psychologically, and this kind of ideology has been embedded in me throughout my life growing up as a student. It is a sad thing indeed, and surely almost everybody knows what I'm talking about. This idea is damaging especially in the field of language acquisition. Learning languages in school has its merits, but trying to teach students a language whilst grading them based on how many mistakes they make can condition them to view mistakes as failures. Mistakes should not hinder you from learning. In fact, they help a great deal with language learning. I know this for a fact, and yet I still struggle with my urge to be a perfectionist and make virtually no mistake when I speak or write in the targeted language. We’ve been conditioned to strive to be infallible with pristine grades from a young age, and that can negatively affect our psychological well-being regarding our attitudes towards learning. Of course we are not perfect beings. We must strive to ameliorate our pathological relationships with mistakes. Mistakes are inevitable and undoubtedly required for growth. I strongly believe students should make as many mistakes as possible. Explore the limits of your language ability and do not let the fear of sounding awkward keep you from reaching that seemingly elusive fluency goal. Mistakes are a reflection of bravery, a kind of fearlessness enabling you to embrace the reality that you cannot be right 100% of the time. And I think that’s remarkable.