Wednesday August 23, 2006
Learning new skills
Granddaughter Katherine is visiting us this week. (Daughter Sharon came along as parental servant.) At two years and three months, Katherine\’s language skills are growing fast.
Having spent my life working with words, I\’ve found it fascinating to watch how language develops.
First, of course, comes pure sound. The baby babbles for the sheer joy of making happy noises.
Then comes imitation. The baby starts to copy the sounds she hears around her. The sounds are still meaningless, but they\’re intentional.
Then comes identification. Sounds relate to external objects. Katherine learned to say “kit\’n” for our daughter Sharon\’s cats, and “kat\’n” for her own reflection in the mirror. And “but\’n” for every conceivable button, switch, or remote control that could be pushed and have an effect.
Other kinds of meanings
Somewhere along the way comes recognition that words have their own values, without necessarily referring to things. “Cookie” is easy; “cookie, please” adds a word that has no meaning aside from social interaction.
“Thank you” was even harder to grasp. “Please” gets results, most of the time. But expressing thanks has no immediate effect. It aims to lubricate future actions. Two-year-olds rarely think that far ahead.
And then came “Yes” and “No” – abstract concepts of affirmation and negation.
Katherine learned “No!” fairly easily. (She\’s a strong-willed child.) One day she decided to say “No” to almost everything.
“Katherine, it\’s time to go to day care.”
“No go.”
“Don\’t you want to go to Madhu\’s house?”
“No Madhu.”
“But you like playing with Krishna.”
“No Krishna.”
Long pause.
“Katherine, can you say \’Yes\’?”
“No yes.”
She\’s speaking sentences now. Not always fully grammatical sentences, I admit. She tends to leave out non-essential words, like “the” or “on”. Sometimes she omits verbs. And verb tenses can be hit or miss. She\’s still a little confused about personal pronouns, too.
But she\’s quite clear about choosing her words, and putting them in order.
And she did all this without ever formally taking any language training.
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For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to [email protected].
It\’s also worth pursuing Richard Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
Our educational system has brainwashed most of us into thinking that the way to learn is to take a structured learning program. So we have school classes in English and history and mathematics. We require music and art hopefuls to practice scales and exercises. Universities narrow the focus of study – students learn more and more about less and less.
Churches organize confirmation and catechism programs to train young people how to be Christian. Or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever.
But Katherine reminds me that that\’s not how we learn best. No one learns how to walk by taking Walking 101 in night school. No one has to earn a degree before becoming a parent.
And no one learns to be religious by studying texts.
We learn best from others, by imitating them, interacting with them, influencing them.
The crucial element in becoming a Christian – or, for that matter, any occupation that involves dealing with people – is the community you associate with.
Courses teach facts. Communities teach attitudes.
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Copyright © 2006 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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