听写

Can a language be learnt in six weeks as some courses promise? Learning a language is not an easy task, though the reasons why it’s so difficult cannot be explained without an (1) of how human language is acquired, and unfortunately no one knows exactly how it is done. Linguists have many theories, but it is still a (2) and one that may never be fully solved. Since hard and fast facts about first language acquisition are in short supply, it’s not surprising to find that there are numerous (3) theories on how best to learn a second or third language. One thing is certain though, it doesn’t happen overnight.

One theory that has been promoted for some years now is that of subliminal language learning - taking words into your mind while not (4) aware of them. Play a cassette tape of words and phrases you wish to learn while you are asleep or perhaps while driving a car. It doesn’t matter whether you listen to them or not, or even if the words are within your normal (5) of hearing. Your brain will “hear” the words and store them deep within your mind, ready for easier extraction when you practice certain (6) containing those words and phrases.

The argument goes like this: when you learnt your own language you had been spoken to and were constantly (7) to words in that language from the day you were born and possibly even before you were born. Yes, babies react to words spoken to them inside the mother’s womb. This constant exposure (8) that the words were already planted in your mind before you actually learnt them. The subliminal method, then, is based on similar (9). Even having the TV or radio on all day in another language serves the same purpose. But best results come from playing tapes with specially (10) words and phrases over and over again.