A picture is worth a thousand words. The link below – sent from chill – is worth a million scholarly articles about how we acquire languages. Chill asked us to
…notice the correct use of the plus-que-parfait AND the passé simple!! The natural language of mother and child sent to me by one of my French 3 students….
Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSjRRswSEgE&feature=related
Honestly, this child has absolutely no idea how to spell much of any of what she is saying, and she doesn’t have a clue about the grammar rules of agreement, etc. that she so eloquently uses. Just hearing the language for countless hours has resulted in this. If, indeed, it is pretty clear by now that speaking English about rules and spelling won’t lead to this kind of output, then why are we even talking about it anymore?Pullease! We’ve all heard it before – it’s over! Input based teaching – 90% use of the target language in class – seems to be a no brainer at this point. Hello! This child will certainly learn how to write French, after she has learned correct French grammar via the medium of speech.