The art of learning languages

The i+1 principle is a concept introduced by linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen as part of his Input Hypothesis in language acquisition theory. Here’s a detailed breakdown: What is i+1? "i" refers to the learner's current language level, or what they already know. "+1" represents a new, slightly more advanced language input that the learner has not yet fully mastered but can understand with some context or support. In essence, i+1 is the idea that learners acquire a new language best when they are exposed to material that is just one step beyond their current level of proficiency. This material should be comprehensible overall but contain some elements that stretch the learner’s understanding and challenge them to grow. Why is i+1 Important? Balance between Challenge and Comprehensibility: If the input is too easy (just "i"), learners won’t be challenged enough to make progress. If the input is too hard (much more than +1), learners may become overwhelmed an...

 Many people try to memorize a large number of words all at once. However, this method is inefficient. Let’s take an example. Nowadays, we have smartphones that allow us to store names and make calls with just one click. But before, with public phones, we had to first remember the phone number from a small notebook (memorization) and then dial it to make a call. However, once the goal of dialing the phone number was achieved, there was no need to keep remembering the number, as the purpose of memorizing it had been fulfilled. As a result, this information stays in memory for a short time and then disappears. This is what we call short-term memory. Now, how would we retain this phone number for longer without needing to refer to the notebook? We might try writing down the number while memorizing it, or we could assign special meaning to it. For example, if the number is '1004,' we might remember it as "angel" in Korean (천사), which helps us convert general information i...