language

Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts

Home » Posts filed under language

2009/02/02

What is wrong with language courses?

   February 02, 2009      

I will tell you one thing – most (if not all) language courses suck big time.

Why it is so difficult to teach the language – actually it is one thing that everybody, who has kids should know!

IMO the biggest problem is that every language course is designed to teach you language, but not how to communicate and how to use it in different situations. I am not talking about those “my dog has shate on the mat” classical examples in text books. How often you need to tell somebody that you see an apple?

Imagine that you move to some country (CZ is good example) and sign up for some course. What you get?

1. Pretty sophisticated grammar rules that you cannot learn in five years even if you are native czech speaker.

2. Learn how to recite ancient history that you do not need nor do you care.

3. Some words to describe that you had vacation in Slovakia by car, even if this doesn’t really describe your vacation.

and other useless stuff for expressing your thoughts, but very useful phrases, sentences that help to explain some grammar points better.

After six months of studying czech two hours per week I am not able to use it in simple situations, such as:

1. Could you pass me the salt please?

2. I have cold and high temperature.

3. I would like to get that red book.

4. I don’t like sugar.

5. Three packages of green Durex.

6. I want fresh meat.

7. Fuck off.

But I am pretty good in explaining position of “jsem” and related words in the sentences I do not understand.

Probably the problem is that these courses are designed to start from easy to difficult, not to start from useful things and go to useless things.

A tip: it would be a wise idea to learn how to count in czech language, so you can order beers.

   / / / /

   1 Comment

at February 02, 2009 1 comments

What is wrong with language courses?

   February 02, 2009      

I will tell you one thing – most (if not all) language courses suck big time.

Why it is so difficult to teach the language – actually it is one thing that everybody, who has kids should know!

IMO the biggest problem is that every language course is designed to teach you language, but not how to communicate and how to use it in different situations. I am not talking about those “my dog has shate on the mat” classical examples in text books. How often you need to tell somebody that you see an apple?

Imagine that you move to some country (CZ is good example) and sign up for some course. What you get?

1. Pretty sophisticated grammar rules that you cannot learn in five years even if you are native czech speaker.

2. Learn how to recite ancient history that you do not need nor do you care.

3. Some words to describe that you had vacation in Slovakia by car, even if this doesn’t really describe your vacation.

and other useless stuff for expressing your thoughts, but very useful phrases, sentences that help to explain some grammar points better.

After six months of studying czech two hours per week I am not able to use it in simple situations, such as:

1. Could you pass me the salt please?

2. I have cold and high temperature.

3. I would like to get that red book.

4. I don’t like sugar.

5. Three packages of green Durex.

6. I want fresh meat.

7. Fuck off.

But I am pretty good in explaining position of “jsem” and related words in the sentences I do not understand.

Probably the problem is that these courses are designed to start from easy to difficult, not to start from useful things and go to useless things.

A tip: it would be a wise idea to learn how to count in czech language, so you can order beers.

   / / / /

   1 Comment

at February 02, 2009 1 comments

2008/10/12

2008/05/18

2008/04/19

Saturday - Sunday

   April 19, 2008      

I have just realized, that for such country as Algeria it is very strange that they speak (at least a bit) English. Of course, I can survive with my french (non-existant) skills (by pointing with finger).

Another strange thing is that they wish bon appetite AFTER eating my food, if they were referring to digesting it.

If you speak in English - you are called "Mister", but if you shake hands with a cook - "My friend". Not sure which is better, from they money point of view "my friend" has to pay 30% more most of the time, but also is usually offered some very sweet tea (I hate sugar) or strong, but very strange, coffee.

It is very strange to see arabic country with women walking freely. French have fucked up here really badly probably. Also it seems that I am lonely foreigner wandering around,  not sure if it is because I am only one white (whitish) or just other foreigners are hiding in the hotel.

City looks like after war (which is not strange). And no one tries to cheat me even if they see, that I don't have a sense of their money yet and always willing to pay ten times more than products are worth.

   / / / /

   3 Comments

at April 19, 2008 3 comments

Saturday - Sunday

   April 19, 2008      

I have just realized, that for such country as Algeria it is very strange that they speak (at least a bit) English. Of course, I can survive with my french (non-existant) skills (by pointing with finger).

Another strange thing is that they wish bon appetite AFTER eating my food, if they were referring to digesting it.

If you speak in English - you are called "Mister", but if you shake hands with a cook - "My friend". Not sure which is better, from they money point of view "my friend" has to pay 30% more most of the time, but also is usually offered some very sweet tea (I hate sugar) or strong, but very strange, coffee.

It is very strange to see arabic country with women walking freely. French have fucked up here really badly probably. Also it seems that I am lonely foreigner wandering around,  not sure if it is because I am only one white (whitish) or just other foreigners are hiding in the hotel.

City looks like after war (which is not strange). And no one tries to cheat me even if they see, that I don't have a sense of their money yet and always willing to pay ten times more than products are worth.

   / / / /

   3 Comments

at April 19, 2008 3 comments

2008/02/22

Why metaphor works?

   February 22, 2008      

The question, which arose was - why metaphor works? Should it not be formed according to our life experiences, religious beliefs, country we live and surrounding environment? The answer is somewhat moody - if you do not have experience and archetypes when creating metaphor - your expression could be not so effective, but in general the topic is about universal things. Metaphor in deeper sense is not some kind of language figure, but it is cognitive process, which starts before we say (get) our words, which is fundamental in every human being. Lakoff and Johnson says, that metaphor is closely related to human perception of space and time and motoric reactions, which are defined by body and brain functions. This implies that (as every human has a body and a brain) conceptual structures and alike in all mankind. When using metaphor one can describe unknown ideas using very simple descriptions, which are very known to a person, due to the fact, that she is familiar with them from within. So metaphor is a description of physical and perceivable state of a person, which could be communicated using words only (visual, verbal means of communication), which create resonance within unconscious mind.

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   No Comments

at February 22, 2008 0 comments

Why metaphor works?

   February 22, 2008      

The question, which arose was - why metaphor works? Should it not be formed according to our life experiences, religious beliefs, country we live and surrounding environment? The answer is somewhat moody - if you do not have experience and archetypes when creating metaphor - your expression could be not so effective, but in general the topic is about universal things. Metaphor in deeper sense is not some kind of language figure, but it is cognitive process, which starts before we say (get) our words, which is fundamental in every human being. Lakoff and Johnson says, that metaphor is closely related to human perception of space and time and motoric reactions, which are defined by body and brain functions. This implies that (as every human has a body and a brain) conceptual structures and alike in all mankind. When using metaphor one can describe unknown ideas using very simple descriptions, which are very known to a person, due to the fact, that she is familiar with them from within. So metaphor is a description of physical and perceivable state of a person, which could be communicated using words only (visual, verbal means of communication), which create resonance within unconscious mind.

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   No Comments

at February 22, 2008 0 comments

2008/02/20

On Metaphor and Advertisement

   February 20, 2008      

..So the start of journey to rhetoric is to understand how unconsciousness works, to go deep to psycholinguistics. As it has been mentioned before - this is related to unique skill of a human - to notice and summarize similarities between different individuals and object classes. It is the same principle which is used in metaphoric processes. The foundation of metaphoric transformation is external description of inner qualities, purpose, functions, sometimes to create emotional impression and assessment.


The guys in Cognitive Linguistics have tried to prove that there is such thing as fundamental conceptual metaphor theory as one of the primary tool for cognition and perception. Conscious or unconscious use of conceptual metaphors in advertisement help to create the atmosphere of subtle details, which could not be shown otherwise. In pursuing the goal to create more effective advertisement one can use metaphors for very specific and exact purpose: I.e. by creating playful tension between metaphoric and natural meaning you can communicate multidimensional perspectives of cognition.
By changing the natural (usual) way of seeing and understanding the world by using metaphors one can open new semantic horizon, which allows to make new, unusual meaning in usual environment.
This expands definition of advertisement: advertisement is multidimensional, cultural business, which is not only creating its own goods, but also seeds social values, specific point of view and ways of consumer behavior (Rubavičius, 2004, p.17).

So research which trends of metaphoric transformation in advertisement, how the prospect of life of language systems is reflected in advertisement is very important not only for the theory of advertisement, but also for practical reasons: it can show which context is more effective and persuasive when influencing the consciousness of a consumer, and creates a framework for  creation of more effective psychological and commercial advertisement.

   / / / / / / /

   No Comments

at February 20, 2008 0 comments

On Metaphor and Advertisement

   February 20, 2008      

..So the start of journey to rhetoric is to understand how unconsciousness works, to go deep to psycholinguistics. As it has been mentioned before - this is related to unique skill of a human - to notice and summarize similarities between different individuals and object classes. It is the same principle which is used in metaphoric processes. The foundation of metaphoric transformation is external description of inner qualities, purpose, functions, sometimes to create emotional impression and assessment.


The guys in Cognitive Linguistics have tried to prove that there is such thing as fundamental conceptual metaphor theory as one of the primary tool for cognition and perception. Conscious or unconscious use of conceptual metaphors in advertisement help to create the atmosphere of subtle details, which could not be shown otherwise. In pursuing the goal to create more effective advertisement one can use metaphors for very specific and exact purpose: I.e. by creating playful tension between metaphoric and natural meaning you can communicate multidimensional perspectives of cognition.
By changing the natural (usual) way of seeing and understanding the world by using metaphors one can open new semantic horizon, which allows to make new, unusual meaning in usual environment.
This expands definition of advertisement: advertisement is multidimensional, cultural business, which is not only creating its own goods, but also seeds social values, specific point of view and ways of consumer behavior (Rubavičius, 2004, p.17).

So research which trends of metaphoric transformation in advertisement, how the prospect of life of language systems is reflected in advertisement is very important not only for the theory of advertisement, but also for practical reasons: it can show which context is more effective and persuasive when influencing the consciousness of a consumer, and creates a framework for  creation of more effective psychological and commercial advertisement.

   / / / / / / /

   No Comments

at February 20, 2008 0 comments

2008/02/18

Rhetoric and Art of War

   February 18, 2008      

Yesterday I have received an article and a book about rhetoric, specifically about inventio. It has ruined everything I thought I knew about it and made be interested in the stuff. For example I have thought about rhetoric as an art to put your ideas in a nice way, but after 1/3 of the book I have another perception - rhetoric is a weapon to influence people decisions (or even the way they think about ideologies).

Classical (western) rhetoric consists of several parts: inovatio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, actio.

Inovatio is concerned about system or methodology of discovery of proper arguments (like basic framework), which resembles Laying Plans, Waging War and THE USE OF SPIES in SunTzu Art of War.

Dispositio talks about  organization of arguments or strategy. In SunTzu you can find about it in ATTACK BY STRATAGEM, TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS, WEAK POINTS AND STRONG.

Elocution's primary idea is to lay out concepts and ideas into sentences or - MANEUVERING, THE ARMY ON THE MARCH.

Memoria and Actio related to oral exercises, like speech, gestures and so on, so it is irrelevant in writing.

If you carefully study ideas in both Classical rhetoric and SunTzu Art of War - you will get a feeling that they are laid out according to some universal principles, which could be interpreted to come to life because of physical, biological and chemical structure of human brain.

The only big difference between rhetoric and art of war is this:

While "receiver" of rhetoric attack must understand at least half of what is being said to be intimidated or manipulated, when going to war you can just drop few bombs and arguments will be very clear. Which is the reason probably why you want to kill stupid people, when you see that your arguments are not working on them ;)

   / / / /

   4 Comments

at February 18, 2008 4 comments

Rhetoric and Art of War

   February 18, 2008      

Yesterday I have received an article and a book about rhetoric, specifically about inventio. It has ruined everything I thought I knew about it and made be interested in the stuff. For example I have thought about rhetoric as an art to put your ideas in a nice way, but after 1/3 of the book I have another perception - rhetoric is a weapon to influence people decisions (or even the way they think about ideologies).

Classical (western) rhetoric consists of several parts: inovatio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, actio.

Inovatio is concerned about system or methodology of discovery of proper arguments (like basic framework), which resembles Laying Plans, Waging War and THE USE OF SPIES in SunTzu Art of War.

Dispositio talks about  organization of arguments or strategy. In SunTzu you can find about it in ATTACK BY STRATAGEM, TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS, WEAK POINTS AND STRONG.

Elocution's primary idea is to lay out concepts and ideas into sentences or - MANEUVERING, THE ARMY ON THE MARCH.

Memoria and Actio related to oral exercises, like speech, gestures and so on, so it is irrelevant in writing.

If you carefully study ideas in both Classical rhetoric and SunTzu Art of War - you will get a feeling that they are laid out according to some universal principles, which could be interpreted to come to life because of physical, biological and chemical structure of human brain.

The only big difference between rhetoric and art of war is this:

While "receiver" of rhetoric attack must understand at least half of what is being said to be intimidated or manipulated, when going to war you can just drop few bombs and arguments will be very clear. Which is the reason probably why you want to kill stupid people, when you see that your arguments are not working on them ;)

   / / / /

   4 Comments

at February 18, 2008 4 comments

2007/09/10

Sofa matters

   September 10, 2007      

Repairing sofa in Brno is like a computer game, a quest:

  1. first you need to learn Czech language to find Ikea service centre.
  2. second you need to call them and they will tell you, that they speak English if you prefer it that way.
  3. third you need to persuade them, that it is worth to fix a sofa instead of buying one.
  4. fourth you need just to wait.

   / / /

   No Comments

at September 10, 2007 0 comments

Sofa matters

   September 10, 2007      

Repairing sofa in Brno is like a computer game, a quest:

  1. first you need to learn Czech language to find Ikea service centre.
  2. second you need to call them and they will tell you, that they speak English if you prefer it that way.
  3. third you need to persuade them, that it is worth to fix a sofa instead of buying one.
  4. fourth you need just to wait.

   / / /

   No Comments

at September 10, 2007 0 comments
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