Lesson Four——Listening and Speaking

Even through within the same language, there is a strange phenomenon, some people can speak well but they can't listen, some are just the opposite. Generally speaking, people who mother tong is Cantonese can understand Mandarin, but whenever they have to express themselves they stuttered, some people can participate an English Speech Competition, or sing an English song, but once turn the television or radio to English channel, they often can't make neither head or tail of it.

Many people claimed that diligent is a remedy, remember that when the method doesn't work, no matter how diligent you are, it is futile. Some methods are suitable for learning listening, some method are suitable for learning speaking.

What is the different between learning listening and learning speaking indeed?  I can explain them in three aspect respectively:

1. The Difference of Emphasise - First of all I am going to share an experience, when I learned French, if I say the words "Elevator" in French, I can say it without effort: "Ascenseur", however, when I learn German, the same words are torturing me. Because in German "elevator" have two versions: "Aufzug" and "Fahrstuhl", in textbooks sometimes we found this, sometimes we found that. Every time I think of "elevator", there is a monologue:"It seem to be Auf... something ...... right, it must be" Aufstuhl, wrong! But it seem to be Fahr... something also, it must be "Fahzug", wrong again! Let's give up." Just two synonyms can cause so much trouble, not to mention when there are more? The moral of this story is, do not envy someone who can speak a language fluently, perhaps it is simply because they know fewer words.

In short, when your are learning speaking, memorize as few vocabulary as possible, but holding them tightly in your memory.  Similar with the bones of the human body, when having absorbed the nutrition they will not being thicker, it will only increase its density. Among all words which express the same meaning you recite only one of them, but practice frequently. Like steel, small range, high hardness. Find a short learning materials, practice it repeatedly and frequently.

As for listening,  so smart as you must have guessed, it is on the contrary, like muscle and fat in human body, when absorbed nutrients they will swell, but the density doesn't change. Your study have to cover a wide range of vocabulary, with the same meaning there are a lot of different expression, you have to memorize as much words as possible. Like cement, having a larger range, it's hardness is lower than steel. Find a lot of different learning materials, browsing all kinds of materials roughly, do not repeat too much, that is to say, holding them loosely in your memory. By the way, the above mentioned muscle and fat have there indication, some vocabs which enhance the ability of expression are similar to muscles, some terms which are too specialized are similar to fat.

The reason of the above strategy is very simple, when you're talking, with what words, how to express, completely controlled by yourself, the fewer you can choose, the higher your efficiency, you need to narrow down the range of your vocabulary. In contrast, when you're listening, you are passive, with what words, how to say, everyone is different, each time is different, you are necessary to broaden up the range  of your vocabulary.

Giving  you another metaphor: the training of speaking is equivalent to shot hunting, you should aim at the prey, the target range must be narrowed, your view is focused. Instead, the training of listening is equivalent of fishing with nets, you must cover your prey, target range must be wide, your view is radiated.
 
2. The Different of Procedure - There is a theory in psychology called the conditioned reflex, in the experiment, each time someone ring the bell he will give the dog a piece of meat, as such, repeated several times, afterwards, whenever the bell is ringed,  the dog's mouth will automatically secrete saliva, because the dog had associated the bell with the food. However, if doing it reversely, give the dog meat first, it wouldn't necessarily think of the bell, because process of the conditioned reflex is: The bell first, the food after. Learning a language is also a principle of conditioned reflex, people associate meaning with words or phase. 

There is a dessert called "Sorbet", whenever I wish to taste it, the word sorbet will naturally appear in my mind, and I will inadvertently say it, however, when I don't want to taste anything, and without reason by chance I heard someone say sorbet, often stunned, to think for a long time before I understand what it is. Sometimes, when I heard the word "Soufflé", my mind immediately presents a picture of delicious "milk meringues", but whenever I happened to have seen it, I have difficulty to think out what the hell it called, what a riddle! These are two different types of conditioned reflex, the situation of Sorbet is associating meaning to language, the situation of Soufflé is associating language to meaning.

Every time you mention of honey someone will think of bees, but when you mention bees, they will think of flowers, therefor, may be A will makes you think of B, that does not mean that B will make you think of A. Otherwise, why it is so easy to recite the order from A to Z, but the other way round, count down from Z to A is so difficult? In your experience, each time when A appear, B will followed, A make you associate of B, but B can only make associate of C, therefore you can easily recite the alphabet order. When you reverse the order, you can not apply of this kind of conditioned reflex.

If your purpose is to practice speaking, your exercise should be idea first, words or phase followed. Pay attention to the things around, television and radio you hear, or something passed in your mind, try to be expressed them in a foreign language, if something unable to express, note it down, look it up in dictionary, after a while review it once more. Testing yourselves later, by the same token imagine the concept first, found the appropriated words or phase afterwards. The conditioned reflex you have created is: idea first, language follow.

If you purpose is to practice listening, you have to reverse the procedure. Find some recording with text, around five to ten minutes, depend on your level. Firstly play the recording, but do not see the text, depending on your hearing to determine what the content is, forming the image in your mind, when the listening finished check the text, I mean the text with the whole content of the recording, to find out the part you don't understand, leaving a mark there, then replay the recording, what you already understand you can just passing by, pay attention to what you have marked, having a focusing review, then you will have a obvious progress. The conditioned reflex you have created is: language first, idea follow.

Somethings have to be notice, if the selected materials are used to practice speaking, please follow the above mentioned emphases of learning speaking in the upper part of this article: "The Difference of Emphasise" as a principle. On the country, if the selected material are used to training listening, pleas follow the emphases of learning listening in the same part of this article as a principle.

3, The Different of Development - The process of the growth of a tree is begun by germinate, gradually grow its trunk, then the branches, and then its twig, and then pulling out its smaller twigs, that means everything appear form its existing basics, nothing will ever extend a twig in the voided place. This process is also similar to the learning process, the absorption of new things is base on the existing knowledge. Such as language learning, new vocabulary connected to which you have learned before, the new one can absorb the nutrients form the old one.

About how the known information connect to new knowledge, in my former article "How to Mastering Vocabulary", within the parts of "2. The Method of Chaining" and "2. Primary" you will find the explanation in detail. It is not necessary to repeat them here. To enrich your vocabulary, obviously it is better increase your knowledge of synonyms and antonyms.

To memorize synonyms and antonyms can also use the method of chaining, but there are some supplementary explanation, at first, about the synonymous. The word "Salary" in German can be "Lohn", "Gehalt", "Gage", "Honorar" and "Sold". Lohn sound like English "Long", Gehalt sound like "Key-holder", "Gage" as "mortgage" but without "mort", "Honorar" as English"honor", "Sold" as English "Sold"(different meaning). To link up each words we have: "Long key-holder to mortgage is an honor, it had been sold." This method is called "Method of Homo-phonic Chaining". If you have learned one of those words in this example before, let say "Lohn", according to this linked up sentences, you know it immediately that all the others are the synonymous of salary.

Now we talk about antonyms. In German "good" is a "gut", "bad" is "schlecht", two words put together, we have "Gut-Schlecht", then you can say it repeatedly: "Gut-Schlecht", "Gut-Schlecht"......, every time you think of gut you will associate "Gut-Schlecht". If you have learned the word "gut" before, whenever you say gut-schlecht, you will instantly know that schlecht is the opposite of good.

In this moment, we have to return to the topic of listening and speaking, According to the former part of this article: "1. The Difference of Emphasise ", in the part of learning to speak it is preferable to learn as few words as possible, I have mentioned the word "elevator" in German: "Aufzug" and "Fahrstuhl" have given me much trouble, it is easy to understand that in the learning of speaking it is advised to avoid to learn synonyms. But it is extremely encouraged to memorize antonyms. Why? Try to imagine, every time we say: " I'm afraid of being fat", what would be followed? It come usually "How can I be thin?" Every time we say: "It is hot outside", usually the next sentence will be "inside is cooler." Every time we say: "It is expensive to buy here", most often the next sentence will be  "where is cheaper?" One word often go hand in hand with its antonyms. When you learn a word, learn its antonyms simultaneously, your efficiency of learning would be multiplied!

However, when the purpose is to listen, the words you have to learn is different, I have said that earlier in this article, better acquire more vocabulary, usually a words has many synonyms, if you every time learn a word together with its synonyms your word power would be abundant. However, antonyms in this case should not be learn at the same time. Be patient, I explain it immediately. Mainly for two reasons:

i. Antonyms is not clearly defined. If you ask, What is the opposite of "high"? Someone might say that it is "Low", others will say is "Deep", even someone will say "Wide". If we link up low, deep and wide, when we recall the meaning of the words which linked together, we will be wondering: "Which one means low, which one means deep, and which one means wide indeed?"

ii. One word has more than one meaning, the various meaning also has each antonyms. The German word "Teuer" can be translated as 'High", but can be as "Expensive" also, when being regarded as high, its antonym can be "Niedrig"(low), when being understand as expensive, it antonym can be "Billig"(cheap). The concept of antonyms is really confusing.

Synonyms is different, among a set of synonyms as long as you know the

meaning of one of them, immediately you are certain that other words have the same meaning, there is no other possibility, is very clear. You may ask that a word has more than one meaning, each meaning have their own synonyms, what can we do? Then the economic principles should be applied, to select only the meaning which has the most synonymous, in order to obtain the maximum benefit.

To summarize the three aspects: The Difference of Emphasise is to emphasis on one side with narrow range and holding tightly, the other side with wide range and holding loosely; The Different of Procedure require that one side we have to think of the idea first, the language follow, the other side the language first, the idea follow; The Different of Development is that on one side we only learn antonyms, the other side we only learn synonym. The requirements of both side are opposite, just like tai chi, including yin and yang, balancing each other.