One article that i have recently came across and i thought its worth sharing to all...... Read it completely and comment...... Pareto’s Principle of 80/20:- ================== Pareto’s Principle of 80/20 dictates that 80% of the results in any endeavor come from 20% of the input, material, or effort. We can adapt this principle and prioritize material based on its recorded likelihood and frequency of usage. To understand 95% of a language and become conversational fluent may require 3 months of applied learning; to reach the 98% threshold could require 10 years. There is a point of diminishing returns where, for most people, it makes more sense to acquire more languages (or other skills) vs. add a 1% improvement per 5 years. To see exactly how I deconstruct the grammar of new languages, I suggest you read“How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour”. Now, on to the meat and potatoes of communication: words. If you were a student of English (though the list can be adapted to most languages), the following words would deliver the greatest ROI per hour invested for the initial 1-3 weeks of study: The 100 Most Common Written Words in English 1. the 2. of 3. and 4. a 5. to 6. in 7. is 8. you 9. that 10. it 11. he 12. was 13. for 14. on 15. are 16. as 17. with 18. his 19. they 20. I 21. at 22. be 23. this 24. have 25. from 26. or 27. one 28. had 29. by 30. word 31. but 32. not 33. what 34. all 35. were 36. we 37. when 38. your 39. can 40. said 41. there 42. use 43. an 44. each 45. which 46. she 47. do 48. how 49. their 50. if 51. will 52. up 53. other 54. about 55. out 56. many 57. then 58. them 59. these 60. so 61. some 62. her 63. would 64. make 65. like 66. him 67. into 68. time 69. has 70. look 71. two 72. more 73. write 74. go 75. see 76. number 77. no 78. way 79. could 80. people 81. my 82. than 83. first 84. water 85. been 86. call 87. who 88. oil 89. its 90. now 91. find 92. long 93. down 94. day 95. did 96. get 97. come 98. made 99. may 100. part The first 25 of the above words make up about 1/3 of all printed material in English. The first 100 comprise 1/2 of all written material, and the first 300 make up about 65% percent of all written material in English. Articles and tense conjugations that can often be omitted in some languages or learned for recognition (understanding) but not recall (production). Most frequency lists are erroneously presented as the “most common words” in English, with no distinction made between written and spoken vocabulary. The 100 most common words as used in speech are considerably different, and this distinction applies to any target language. The 100 Most Common Spoken Words in English 1. a, an 2. after 3. again 4. all 5. almost 6. also 7. always 8. and 9. because 10. before 11. big 12. but 13. (I) can 14. (I) come 15. either/or 16. (I) find 17. first 18. for 19. friend 20. from 21. (I) go 22. good 23. goodbye 24. happy 25. (I) have 26. he 27. hello 28. here 29. how 30. I 31. (I) am 32. if 33. in 34. (I) know 35. last 36. (I) like 37. little 38. (I) love 39. (I) make 40. many 41. one 42. more 43. most 44. much 45. my 46. new 47. no 48. not 49. now 50. of 51. often 52. on 53. one 54. only 55. or 56. other 57. our 58. out 59. over 60. people 61. place 62. please 63. same 64. (I) see 65. she 66. so 67. some 68. sometimes 69. still 70. such 71. (I) tell 72. thank you 73. that 74. the 75. their 76. them 77. then 78. there is 79. they 80. thing 81. (I) think 82. this 83. time 84. to 85. under 86. up 87. us 88. (I) use 89. very 90. we 91. what 92. when 93. where 94. which 95. who 96. why 97. with 98. yes 99. you 100. your Individual word frequency will vary between languages (especially pronouns, articles, and possessives), but differences are generally related to frequency rank, rather than complete omission or replacement with a different term. The above two lists are surprisingly applicable to most popular languages. Content and vocabulary selection beyond the most common 300-500 words should be dictated by subject matter interest. The most pertinent questions will be “What will you spend your time doing with this language?” If necessary, the most closely related rephrasing would be “What do I currently spend my time doing?” It bears repeating: do not read about something that you would not read about in your native language. Use the target language as a vehicle for learning more about a subject, skill, or cultural area of interest. Poor material never produces good language. Feed your language ability foods you like, or you will quit your “diet” and cease study long before you achieve any measurable level of proficiency. As a personal example, I used martial arts instructional manuals to compete effectively in judo while a student in Japan. My primary goal was to learn throws and apply them in tournaments. To avoid pain and embarrassment, I had tremendous motivation to learn the captions of the step-by-step diagrams in each instructional manual. Language development was a far secondary priority. One might assume the crossover of material to other subjects would be minimal, but the grammar is, in fact, identical. The vocabulary may be highly specialized, but I eclipsed the grammatical ability of 4 and 5-year students of Japanese within 2 months of studying and applying sports-specific instruction manuals. The specialization of my vocabulary didn’t present a single problem in communication, it is important to note, as I was spending 80% of my free time training with people who also used judo-speak and other vocabulary unique to sports training and athletic development. Once the framework of grammar has been transferred to long-term memory, acquiring vocabulary is a simple process of proper spaced repetition, which will be the subject of a dedicated future post. In the meantime, don’t let languages scare you off. It’s a checklist and a process of finding material you enjoy with a good frequency ROI.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:57:22 +0000
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