Ideas worth returning to.
On listening, language, interpreter training, and what the research actually says.
The Science of Chunk-Based Listening
Forty years of converging evidence from cognitive psychology and SLA research point to the same gap. Here is what is known and what it means for how you teach.
Read → METHODWhy the Ear Needs Reps, Not Exposure
Passive listening and structured listening are not the same thing. The difference is what happens in working memory — and why one of them builds fluency and the other does not.
Read → PRACTICEWhat Interpreters Know That Language Teachers Don't
The method that gets interpreter trainees past the wall of native-speed speech has never been built into a language learning tool. Until now.
Read → RESEARCHProsody: The Variable Nobody Teaches
Rhythm, stress, and intonation patterns are not decorative. They are structural. And most learners never get explicit training in how to process them.
Read → SCIENCEWorking Memory and the Language Learner
The bottleneck is not motivation or exposure. It is the cognitive architecture of working memory — and what happens when you exceed its capacity.
Read → METHODThe Passive Listening Myth
Listening to podcasts in the background will not make you fluent. Here is why — and what structured listening practice actually requires.
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