I had a couple of very interesting discussions with Professor Sakai of tadoku.org in Japan.
Tadoku is a method of language learning which stresses reading and listening as a more enjoyable and more effective way of language learning than the traditional approach grammar based approach. This has been a labour of many years. I our interview Professor Sakai discusses his method and his difficulty in persuading both learners and teachers to accept his approach. The more successful he has become, the more resistance he has aroused in the teaching fraternity.
Professor Sakai has made some inroads in Japan, but the traditional way of teaching seems to hold sway.
Professor Sakai has his three rules for his approach to learning through reading and listening.
1) do not look words up in the dictionary
2) if you are stuck, move on, don’t ask questions
3) if you do not like what you are reading, get something else to read.
While tadoku has been mostly been involved with English learning, it is now expanding into other languages. To begin with Japanese, at nihongo-yomu.org with more languages to come.
We discuss this first in Japanese and then in English. I attach the first two files of the Japanese discussion. The final part of the Japanese discussion and the English discussion will follow in the next post.
I await your comments in Japanese or English. Professor Sakai has promised to comment and answer questions here.
2 comments on “Reading and listening, a welcome change to English learning in Japan”
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Thanks for posting this, Steve. Is the link correct for the Japanese learning website? I can’t seem to get to the page.The way English has been traditionally studied in Japan (English to Japanese translation with a heavy emphasis on grammar tests), students are practically guaranteed to never succeed. It’s sad and I’m glad that are signs that some people are rethinking this failed model.
Hey, the website adress is tadoku.org(Japanese web-site). Also, this page is shown at http://tadoku.org/sakai-note/archives/2010/05/05_2012.html#more