- There are a lot of unexamined assumptions around language learning, and
- There is a lot of ignorance about implicit learning methods in general
One of the difficulties in a method like ALG is getting people to accept a silent period of 6-12 months before they start speaking in a language. We've been taught it is necessary to focus on production straight away, so classes have been geared to teach explicit rules and provide restricted exercises from the first day so the person feels they are progressing.
While they will gain some ability, it is not a natural progression, and may harm their progress at advanced stages.
The concept of ALG is to produce a methodology as close as possible to how children learn.
Discussions about language have made it clear however that most adults don't know how children learn languages. It seems amazing to me since I assume some of them have had children, and I assume some of those spent enough time noticing their kids learning to speak. These may be dangerous assumptions however.
Many websites such as this one lay out clear linguistic development stages for children. Sometimes they happen sooner or later, but all children go through these stages (except for severe learning disabilities of course).
Let me summarize:
0 to 3 months
Can recognize familiar and unfamiliar voices.
Can use meaningless sounds to convey urgent needs.
4 to 6 months
Can recognize commands with strong emphasis "No!".
Starts practicing with sound production.
7 to 12 months
Begins to recognize simple vocabulary, particularly nouns for objects they can see.
Baby starts producing first words. By this time they usually know between 5 and 20 words or so.
1 to 3 years
Can respond to simple questions ("where's the bunny?") and more detailed commands ("get your socks").
Vocabulary explosion stage. Children pick up words seemingly every day. By the end of this stage they normally know about 1000 words.
3 to 5 years
Fluency stage. By the end of this stage most children are able to understand and express themselves in most language functions about concepts they have learned.
When it comes to language learning, we are often impressed by the speed at which children pick up words at the vocabulary explosion stage, because it's what we see. We fail to acknowledge that for the first year there is virtually no production as the child is exposed to input.
This corresponds remarkably well to the 6-12 month (600-1200 hour) incubation period as experienced in learners of the ALG method.
Of course, babies are processing a lot more information than just language during that time. They have to understand the signals coming from their body, how to use their eyes, to move, to eat, etc. The speed at which they do all this is impressive.
But adults are also far ahead of babies in that regard. They know how to do that stuff already, so they can just focus on the language aspect. They also understand many concepts that are talked about in language already. They don't have to learn them for the first time like a child does. So again they are ahead.
While there is a demonstrated slowdown in neuroplasticity as we age, this research doesn't differentiate between people who have committed to lifelong learning and those who have been neurally sedentary. It also doesn't differentiate between implicit and explicit learning pathways. So the research that is often cited as a reason for why we cannot learn at the same speed as a child is usually not accurate or indicative.
Up to a year of silence may seem to be a large burden for a learner, but considering most people willingly spend 5 or more years learning a second language, the first year of silence is nothing.
All that is required is the faith to try it out, and the persistence to stick it out.
