Language
Nov 3rd, 2008 by Michael Max
In the first Chinese class I attended in Taiwan there was a very intelligent and well spoke Australian, who had was in the process of repeating this most basic entry level course. For the third time.
His habit of an immaculate English vocabulary was an un-vaultable wall which prevented him from learning to crawl in Chinese until he could walk, run, fly. I thought about him the other day when I found myself on the thin ice of a conversation that had suddenly become tangled and complex. There are some words that tickle the ears with meaning, they provide an ephemeral connection to understanding. But, understanding and expression ride different neural pathways; once the conversation returns back to me those stepping stone words have vanished. I can detour around them, but they have not planted in my mind, and so they cannot be formed with tongue and breath. Had I bothered to grasp those words and immediately turn them back in a short reply, they would have had an opportunity to plant in a fertile moment.
By, grasping a few words and repeating them. Like making conversation about a subject you know nothing about. You can keep it going a long time if you toss a few just words back in your reply!
The trick to keep the conversation going at the speed of the tongue, instead of the ears.