--- Benjamin Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > But children do learn language by listening to adult level language > (although > > not optimally). > > Note that this listening occurs within a perceivable/manipulable > context, shared by the speaker and the listener. Kids don't learn > language by listening to an ungrounded stream of adult yakking! > > That would be a verrrrrrry slow learning process, e.g. think of a > child learning language solely by listening to adult-level talk radio > delivered with little emotion and no sound effects...
Of course listening to speech is not sufficient, but it is a big part of learning language, especially learning phonemes and word segmentation rules before the first 12 months, then later grammar. Of course learning also involves speaking, pairing words with nonverbal stimuli, and so on. By "not optimally" I meant that parents teach their children language faster by using single words and simple phrases rather than adult level sentences. > > And statistical language models do learn a model equivalent > > to that of a young child after training on adult level writing. > > What do you mean by "equivalent to that of a young child"; I don't get > it.... How the heck do you know the internal language model of a > young child???? I find this claim not very credible... I mean that a statistical model such as a trigram model can distinguish between likely and unlikely phrases of up to about 6 words, but not adult level sentences. This is similar to the language level of a small child, but of course it is a rough comparison. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=231415&user_secret=fabd7936
