You probably have heard about so called silent period. The main idea (if I am not mistaken) is that kids don't start speaking properly from day one, they first absorb all the language they hear around them for a certain period of time and only after that they start speaking. And some people believe that in adult language learning it makes sense to have the same silent period - to actively absorb language first (attaining certain level, I guess) and only then start speaking.
I have my own experince here which makes me extremely confused. I am a professional English - Russian translator, but I have never been fluent in speaking English until recently. I started learning English as a child, but not very actively. Then it was school with very rare chances to speak. Then I had a tutor for 1,5 years. She probably made me talk but I know I was not that good. I felt very stressed when I had to talk. Then I had 5 years of university training as a translator where I passed the final speaking exam with an excellent mark but I knew my level was still very low. And we did not really talk much at the university, scattered and very limited experience. After the university until last year , i.e. for 5 years I was never talking really with anyone in English, but I noticed that I was thinking in English sometimes.
All these years (11 at school + 5 at the university + 5 after the university) I have been actively reading, writing and typing in English. Very little listening and speaking. Last year I dared to join voice channel on discrod to talk to my guild members in MMORPG. It took around a month to activate all those 21 years of active absorbtion and written speech. I became fluent in a matter of weeks. And I am VERY confident now, even if I make mistakes, sometimes need time to form a long sentence, I have strong accent, and sometimes I don't understand people with strong accents, I also don't understand movies good enough if I am not in earphones. But other than that I am very happy and surprised.
The question is: is it really necessary to force yourself speaking from day one if you feel uncomfortable? Cannot we really have some time of active absorbtion first? Also, if someone is aware, how long is this period supposed to be? What level should be attained? I understand that 21 years is ridiculous. I am now learning Swedish and I really really want to start speaking it as soon as possible - but I am still very nervous, because I keep comparing it with my English that is so easy and comfortable.
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from Cześć | Languagelearning https://ift.tt/2KdSQDf
via Learn Online English Speaking
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