Uzbek

[Patricia Chaput]

In response to Greg Thomson:

I, too, stand by my original statement.  The social nature of language
depends on language being a system of patterns--grammatical, lexical,
socio-linguistic, discourse, etc.--and relying on symbolic means to encode
cultural knowledge of many kinds through implicit contracts between
speakers.  To learn language effectively in limited time requires access
to the systems of patterns and to many kinds of cultural knowledge.
Contact with native speakers is extremely important, but I can't agree
that the FIRST thing to do is to look for a native speaker.  In the
absence of a qualified teacher, ideally I would want some knowledge of
materials available before entering into any arrangement with a native
informant.  Native speakers are notoriously unconscious of the patterns of
their own languages (other than what they may remember from their own
native language schooling, which may not be particularly useful to a
beginner). To "begin" with a native speaker seems to me to be both an
exercise in frustration, and also an unnecessarily poor start to building
a foundation for an understanding of how the patterns of an unfamiliar
language and culture convey meaning.

Patricia Chaput
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Harvard University

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