Stop Thinking With Your Brain

Like most other men, I've been accused of thinking with parts of my body other than my brain but apparently there is some truth in the matter.

There are some fascinating implications for learning languages (what I keep myself busy with these days, both teaching and learning) through usage in real world examples. The article brings up the example of children learning their primary language by linking words to physical examples. This has been at work in various courses of foreign language learning which have students learning how to shop at the same time they learn the abstract idea of communicating their birthday.

The practicality of learning this type of lingual maneuvering early in language acquisition is important for its own sake of course, say if you find yourself in a sushi restaurant and want to impress your date by ordering in fluent Japanese (which could easily fall apart if asked whether you want your coffee before or after your meal...) However, this strategy for second language acquisition could prove to be leagues more effective than rote memorization of conjugation tables and declensions--a secret which is not lost on the more successful language courses.