Content and Process

Swirls

There are two aspects to language learning through the Linguisticator method: content and process.

Content is a funny one because the actual language stays the same — it's only the way you present the language that changes. Knowing what aspects of the language to focus on and how to present them in a systematic way is difficult. When it's done properly, however, the material should seem obvious, and often deceptively so. It's easy to overlook the difficulties in preparing a map of a language once that map has been prepared. It may take you 3 hours to figure something out that can subsequently be communicated in less than 5 minutes.

The second aspect is process. Process is about how to take the content and internalize it. This can also be tricky because the process will be different for each individual. We need to communicate the core principles of process — when to do what, and how much of everything to do — but at the same time allow for the flexibility to accommodate different working schedules, learning styles, and habits.

Thinking about language learning in terms of content and process can be really helpful for the student, though. If you know you are still assembling content and mapping out a language, then you know not to be discouraged that you have not learnt the whole language yet. If you are at the stage where you are applying a systematic process to internalizing the content, then you know that you have already marked the boundaries of what you will need to know in the language and progress in a steady and comprehensive manner.

It's rare that content and process remain completely separate in that you already start learning the content as you assemble it, and you can apply process to content generation. Nonetheless, the framework of distinguishing between content and process can be helpful conceptually.

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