Fish traps exist to capture fish.
Once you've caught the fish you can forget the trap. Rabbit snares exist to capture rabbits.
Once you've got the rabbit you can forget the snare. Words exist to capture meaning.
Once you've got the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
I'd like to have a word with him! - Zhuangzi, 4th century BC It may seem obvious, but to become a linguist you have to want to communicate in another language. People who succeed in learning another language have a goal in mind: to get to know another people and their culture, not just to learn a new language. It was only when I became motivated to connect with a new culture and people that I was on my way to becoming a linguist.
Not all language learners are motivated to use the language they are learning. I remember clearly one day forty years ago when I was in charge of a language lab at the Agricultural Institute in Paris. One of my students suddenly groaned "Merde, I have been studying English for ten years and I still do not understand a thing!" With that he flung down his headset and stomped out of the room. I can still see him.
I can sympathize with his frustration. He speaks for all the language learners who suffer through years of formal classroom language teaching, memorizing, drilling, answering questions, studying for tests- and yet do not achieve fluency. He was fed up with trying to learn words that were not relevant to him. He did not care about the content of what he was studying. He had no desire to communicate in English. The whole process was meaningless to him.
The linguist knows that to become fluent in a new language requires a commitment that goes beyond attending classes or studying text books. A linguist stretches in order to connect with a new culture, taking every opportunity to confront the new language in real life situations. Without the motivation to communicate in the new language, the learner is left struggling with the technical details of language that are so easily forgotten.
I remember how it was when I studied Latin in school. We had competitions to see who could decline Latin nouns the fastest, out loud. I could decline bellum, in both singular and plural, in a few seconds. It literally sounded like a blur. But I never had any intention of speaking Latin. I just wanted to pass tests. My high school French was similar. My Latin is now long since forgotten and I was unable to speak French properly until after I left high school.
Language is about communicating, not about details of grammar, nor vocabulary lists, nor tests, nor exercises. In the quotation that starts this chapter, Zhuangzi tells us that even the very words of language are artificial creations. It is the heart to heart communication of meaning that is the essential nature of language, and therefore of language learning. All the rest is artificial. Fish traps are only useful for catching fish. Words are only useful if communication takes place. The learner has to want to start communicating.
