Avoid mistakes by not using English at all? + a question on words

Kyle   Wednesday, March 20, 2002, 10:02 GMT
I guess it takes a very long time for a learner to get rid off all the mistakes he tends to make because he's not a native speaker after all. Mistakes is inevitable in the process of second-language acquisition and this applies to the first-language acquisition sometimes. So should we refrain from using what we've learnt because we don't want to make any mistakes?

Producing 'errored'-sentences reinforces one's ability to make more mistakes, but would it help if you don't use the language at all? In my opinion, people should not be afraid of mistakes, they should admit and overcome them. So write what you want to write and speak whenever you want to speak, but make sure you have someone check/proofread the mistakes for you so that you are not going to make the same mistakes again next time. As the proverb goes, Learn from mistakes. And correcting your own mistakes or being corrected is a very good way to learn because it will leave you a very strong impression. So I 'hereby, LOL' propose that the sitemasters should solicit volunteers (preferably both American English speakers and British English Speakers) to help us spot the mistakes.



** this is off-topic but i want to ask how to use the following words

a) implausible
b) fraught with
implausible = impossible? or can i use it this way? it is implausible for students to learn in this enviroment.
is 'fraught with' interchangable with 'filled with' and 'laden with'?
Kyle   Wednesday, March 20, 2002, 10:13 GMT
One more thing: --> If you don't use the language, how can you know what your weaknesses are and how can you know if you made/make/are going to make what kind of mistakes?
Tom   Wednesday, March 20, 2002, 15:01 GMT
<<<<
I guess it takes a very long time for a learner to get rid off all the mistakes he tends to make because he's not a native speaker after all. Mistakes is inevitable in the process of second-language acquisition and this applies to the first-language acquisition sometimes.
>>>>

No, mistakes are not inevitable. Michal has learned a lot of Norwegian without making a single mistake. See also http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2002/12.htm.

<<<<
So should we refrain from using what we've learnt because we don't want to make any mistakes?
>>>>

No, you should just refrain from using what you have NOT learned.

<<<<
In my opinion, people should not be afraid of mistakes, they should admit and overcome them. So write what you want to write and speak whenever you want to speak, but make sure you have someone check/proofread the mistakes for you so that you are not going to make the same mistakes again next time.
>>>>

And in my opinion, people SHOULD be afraid of mistakes.

I don't believe in the power of correction. The fact that you are corrected does not mean that you will not make the same mistake again. On the contrary, you are likely to forget about the corrections, especially if their number is large.

There is one exception: If you append every corrected sentence to your SuperMemo collection, then SuperMemo will ensure that you repeat it. This gives you some sort of guarantee that you will not repeat the mistake.

In other words, corrections may work if you make few mistakes. If you make a mistake in every sentence you write, they're next to useless.

<<<<
implausible = impossible? or can i use it this way? it is implausible for students to learn in this enviroment.
>>>>

NO. Look it up in a dictionary, look for examples on the Web.

I copied this from COBUILD:

If you describe something as implausible, you believe that it is unlikely to be true.
"I had to admit it sounded like a convenient and implausible excuse."
"It seems implausible that the projects would have gone ahead without her backing."

<<<<
is 'fraught with' interchangable with 'filled with' and 'laden with'?
>>>>

Once again, look it up!

If a situation or action is fraught with problems or risks, it is filled with them.
"The earliest operations employing this technique were fraught with dangers."