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From: tsmith@gryphon.CTS.COM (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.ai,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Language Learning (anecdotes)
Message-ID: <2311@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Date: Sun, 15-Nov-87 09:04:35 EST
Article-I.D.: gryphon.2311
Posted: Sun Nov 15 09:04:35 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 16-Nov-87 05:13:10 EST
References: <1966@uwmacc.UUCP> <12400009@iuvax> <1117@uhccux.UUCP>
Reply-To: tsmith@gryphon.CTS.COM (Tim Smith)
Followup-To: sci.lang
Organization: Trailing Edge Technology, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 23
Xref: mnetor comp.ai:1119 sci.lang:1689

In article <1117@uhccux.UUCP> stampe@uhccux.UUCP (David Stampe) writes:
+=====
| Some linguists are envied for their ability to learn new languages
| apparently as fluently as children.  I think of Ken Hale, Paul Garvin,
| Alexis Manaster-Ramer, Stan Starosta, and a few others. ...
+=====
Perhaps these are people who are very childish. Nothing derogatory
intended. I have experienced Ken Hale talk about Navaho, and it was
as evident to me as it was to the native speaker of the language who
was sitting near me that this man was "something different". Kind of
scary, in a way, given the impenetrability of that language.

Most of the good scientists that I have known have a very childish
quality about them. They tend to ask "dumb" questions, often over
and over until they get an answer that satisfies them. Most of us
adults would never be able to behave that way. They tend to wonder
about things that most of us have resolved long time gone, or wouldn't
dare ask about. That's what you need to learn a language as an adult!
-- 
Tim Smith
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