Linguistics

[theladyofshalott]

HI. I am incredibly glad to have found this, excited, and hoping to assist in any fashion I am capable in seeing to the success of this project.
I AIM to knock this world off it's feet and prove that traditional schooling isn't for everyone and how valuable freethinkers and self determined and motivated individuals area, and how they can effect a greater change in their pursuit of knowledge than the quiet conformation of all people in society to the ideal that all individuals must specialize and lead lives bound to one subject, one way of thought, one place... It isn't healthy, well, at least not for me, and I am sure the same for several like minded individuals.

To begin with, I propose a course self directed by the students in learning foreign languages. Languages are incredibly important to anyone who may seek to use travel and mathematics to help round their knowledge and experiences. (Mathematics as well, as that part of the brain used to mathematically solve things is also used in linguistics- I recommended this to people/aspiring polymaths who are particularly inclined in the field of grammar, language arts and reading and comprehension- in general, anyone who operates on a more literary mind set as opposed to mathematics. I learned languages besides English and discovered that it helped my abilities with mathematics after a long while.)

I would like to note:
Though all languages are different, and you can't learn them all the same, one must customize their path to fulfilling the learning of a language to their proven way of learning. For instance- I am teaching myself Russian at the moment. I learn the best through repetition- visually and audibly. I sing as well, and selected the song "Я вас люблю" ("Ya Vas Lyublyu" in English phonetics), an aria in Tchaikovsky's "Пиковая дама" ("Pikovaya Dama" otherwise known as the "Queen of Spades") opera to listen to over and over again, posting the Russian Cyrillic lyrics on the wall next to my bed along with a Cyrillic to English character key, and I look at all of it every night before I go to bed, reciting and remembering more and more of the song, slowly learning to think in the Cyrillic up looking to the lyrics.
To begin with, I would say it would be imperative to keep languages where it must be- languages, though a science, is not just a study, it is life, pertaining to living. Therefor, it would be most important to establish a network of people to communicate with in the language one would select. I think finding a pen pal through email is a good way to exercise the language. If one is comfortable, they could use several means to practice several ways, depending on the comfort level of individuals- utilizing skype, one could speak over a microphone, face to face even with those willing to exchange!

These are just forming ideas- are there perhaps more?

[braddart]

When I wear my mathematician cap, I sometimes forget the importance of natural languages. But you're right, learning languages definitely improve mathematical skills. When I occasionally think in French (the only language I know other than English), I realise how differently my thoughts flow in my second language. I believe there is also scientific evidence to back up my feeling that we think differently in different languages. After pursuing philosophy further, I again realised how important language is to how we communicate (and even think of) our ideas.

I often tell myself that I should learn more languages, unfortunately I'm not particularly good at it, so it gets pushed behind skills that comes more naturally. Of course, this is a bad tendency for a polymath to adopt. Thanks for the reminder; I'll get to reading that "Introduction to Dutch" book that I have on my shelf! Cheers.