Neocities

tointon updated Matthew Tointon - Mathematician

5 months ago

Matthew Tointon - Mathematician

freedom-and-science-maths updated Joa Weber - Homepage - Mathematics

5 months ago

Joa Weber - Homepage - Mathematics

iwillneverbehappy updated index

5 months ago

17 likes

michaelmas 5 months ago

Categorization & classification is antithetical to authentic writing; try to hold your own against it!

6 likes

daliwali 5 months ago

Joost A.M. Meerloo theorized the dark forest of the web: "he is reduced to the mechanical precision of an insect-like state. He cannot develop any warm friendships, loyalties, or allegiances because they may be too dangerous for him. Today’s friend may be, after all, tomorrows enemy." what draws me here is connecting with interesting people, not NPCs (or bots) on corporate platforms.

4 likes

letslearntogether 5 months ago

So long as you enjoy writing, I will enjoy reading it, whatever the topic may be. As the saying goes, "we are our own worst critics." Likewise, there is no pressure to conform to the expectations of an audience if we see sharing as a dialogue.

3 likes

asgooffeeasme 5 months ago

I wish the reality was gentler.

2 likes

iwillneverbehappy updated index

5 months ago

index

14 likes

projectc190 5 months ago

i just woke up but im reading this immediately

3 likes

letslearntogether 5 months ago

Thank you so much for the interesting observations and resources! I've always wanted to learn Russian and German for scientific purposes. I really ought to pick them back up again. I would imagine that many language learners who persist to fluency do so for reasons similar to that quote attributed to Nelson Mandela. To paraphrase: "If you talk to a person in their language, it goes to their heart."

1 like

letslearntogether 5 months ago

The joys of human connection! Unfortunately, as you've eloquently pointed out, there are two significant obstacles: The most effective way for one to approach their own study of a language often only becomes apparent in hindsight, and a significant core of every langauge is idiomatic and conditioned through use rather than the result of some type of inherent logic.

1 like

letslearntogether 5 months ago

I also agree with much of what suboptimalism mentioned. It often comes down to cultivating a mindset, having a clear intention and a strong motivation. Learning materials that try to shoehorn one language into the structure of another are more of a hinderance than a help, while translation is often an attempt at fitting a square peg into a round hole.

1 like

letslearntogether 5 months ago

Therefore, it becomes a matter of learning a few fundamental pieces thoroughly, and then using them to "bootstrap" the rest of that core by repeatedly relating the language to itself through a steady stream of input and personal experiences. Developing these associations is vital if one wants to avoid my mistake of learning a lot *about* languages versus actually *using them*.

2 likes

iwillneverbehappy 5 months ago

I hope you find it useful, Hui! Your recent remark on Russian is what reminded me I had this file on hand, after all :)

1 like

iwillneverbehappy 5 months ago

Thanks as always for the thoughtful comments, LLT. That Mandela quote is a classic and it endures because it's true. I like your description of "bootstrapping" the language. I've made the same mistake of learning /about/ the language; in fact this mistake is by no means unique to language learning. It reminds me of the comment you left some months ago about the act of /doing/ mathematics and how procedural knowledge

iwillneverbehappy 5 months ago

is often overlooked in favour of declarative knowledge. The gap between them hurts.

letslearntogether 5 months ago

I feel your pain 😩 Haha! Well, at least sharing experiences can shorten the gap between them. Thanks again!

1 like

freedom-and-science-maths updated Joa Weber - Homepage - Mathematics

5 months ago

Joa Weber - Homepage - Mathematics