Hello guys,
Have anyone of you actually learned any new language by following this hypothesis? For example, if you are a beginner, first of all, expose yourself to easy stuff then work your way up and finally to the real native level stuff. And, you have the proof in the pudding that this N+1 hypothesis really works. Since I started learning English in my home country Pakistan so I had no direct access to native speakers and was not surrounded by the language 24/7. So I started reading graded readers and then non-fiction books etc and watching movies. I learned the language through these resources and no language lessons with native speakers. I was also not surrounded by the language outside my house.
Now I have been in Germany for 2.5 years. Before coming to Germany I had no formal contact at all with the German language. However, that has changed when arrived in Germany. I have contact with the German language when calling to Bank staff over the phone or ordering something at a bakery or borrowing books at a library.
Some incidents took place in a day to day life that had forced me to think about my previously held language learning beliefs. For example, I was a follower of Stephen Krashenâs n+1 language hypothesis since he was a linguist even though he did not speak many languages. Like first you need to learn basic grammar then read graded stuff and listen to easy stuff/comprehensible inputs etc Do narrow reading.etc
However, during those incidents when German speakers talked to me even though I could reply/answer either in yes or now but my brain had figured them out AUTOMATICALLY. And, these sentences were spoken at a normal native level. I did not even listen to anything or study any grammar or read anything in the German language FORMALLY. My only direct contact with the German language is through these intermittent conversational encounters with native speakers.
How was my brain able to figure out the meaning of those sentences without knowing any grammar(I do not even know how many subjects and objects and pronouns are there and how verbs are conjugated etc). These native level conversational inputs are definitely not N+1 because they are quite advanced in meaning and still I have a hard time following the meaning of basic sentences.
That begs the question also impels me to start this thread to know your views about this phenomenon. "Exposing to TV series/Native level stuff is not the right way to start learning the language right off the bat and only following N+1 hypothesis is the right way to go about it."Where is the solid evidence to support this argument? Another follow up question, without knowing any grammar whatsoever (no knowledge of subjects, pronouns etc). No conscious effort of learning either in the form of looking up words in a dictionary, spaced repetition, grammar rules etc)- Is it possible for your brain to figure out the meaning of sentences by simply relying on the real context that comes only in the form of listening - only children are living proof of this). That being said, sometimes I come across such uncanny situations where I am simply amazed by the ability of my subconscious mind to figure things out in a new language like German.
To supplement this, I am also sharing the video of another language polyglot who learn languages by just watching TV series and letting her brain figure out the meaning itself.
Your feedback please based on your own learning language experience.
Thanks
Asad
I think he said something along the lines of âall polyglots have different ways of making content comprehensible to them, but they do not all use the same method.â This supports his idea, but I think it holds up very well.