Raffi, Is this being done without sound? Meaning, is the 'dialogue' all written only, no sound? It loots on the surface as if that is the case. Because if one really wants to learn another language, or the one they have been raised in better, it will be necessary to hear the sounds and know the meanings. You have to bathe the brain in meaningful print.
In one of my past work lives, I have been deeply involved in teaching illiterate adults and children how to read as fluently as they talk in their native language. There are about 20% of United States non-immigrant natives who cannot read, or cannot read well enough, to function in this reading culture. Facts from the US Dept. of Education and I'm betting it is much higher. Another 20% are crippled readers who just get by. There are principles about how the brain learns that have to be adhered to or the effort will be significantly less than optimal, if not an outright failure. That is why our highschools are graduating 20% functionally or totally illiterate students, they are not understanding what the brain does when it learns anything you can put the words "How to" in front of. How to read, how to walk, how to drive and chew gum at the same time, not to mention have a conversation, etc. (small joke). Using these principles, we are able to move an illiterate adult one grade level of reading ability in 10 hours of face-to-face tutor time. In children, it takes about 12-14 hours. The US Dept. of Edcn's standard for a 'good' literacy program is one grade level in 100 hours and there is a 60-70% drop out rate. Clearly, they are spitting into the wind. Anyway, discussing this is a very long conversation that is too much to type. I'm saying what I did because I think your idea is commendable but......without sound and meaning, building from the ground up, it will be more than very difficult, I'm afraid. Sincerely, Paul Everett * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
