tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post7286542916731070252..comments2023-04-10T04:17:16.433-04:00Comments on The Transcontinental: Which Language does the Word "Panacea" Come From?Andrew W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00071098030747838202noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post-289498011452628932013-02-20T10:03:23.824-05:002013-02-20T10:03:23.824-05:00It's true - there are too many cultural and ge...It's true - there are too many cultural and gestural cues also involved in learning a language that are that much harder to show clearly online. <br /><br />It's when you reduce language to words and syntax where it gets both easy to test, but stop really resembling actual day to day language use.Andrew W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00071098030747838202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38560481.post-29897396701280775792013-02-20T08:44:30.734-05:002013-02-20T08:44:30.734-05:00I agree completely. The language I've been try...I agree completely. The language I've been trying to learn of late is ASL (sign language), and after a number of (live, in-person) courses, a couple of things are painfully clear:<br><br>1. trying to think in a language other than your own is physically exhausting - if you are doing it right, you're wearing out your brain, and the people using google translate aren't getting that;<br><br>2. doing well in a testing environment is not the same as doing well in the real world. In my most recent course, after a week of immersion in the language, we were given a week to video & send in our final exam. My YouTube video was great. I got great marks for it. But despite doing well in a muc-rehearsed video with many re-takes, I still stumble and am overwhelmed in an actual conversation with a native speaker, because language is about communication, and communication is about meeting face-to-face. Making a video is not a reliable method of learning or testing at all.<br><br>I imagine that most MOOC students will have a bit of a rude awakening if confronted with a real-life situation where they need to use and understnad the language they have "learned."Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00817560468306392289noreply@blogger.com