Of course, Hebrew was not comprehensible for him right away. His great accomplishment was due to patience, being willing to acquire slowly and gradually with a long silent period (or period of reduced output). With a "natural approach" language class Armando would have had comprehensible input right away and would moved through the beginning stages more quickly, and real conversational Hebrew would have been comprehensible earlier. I predict that a traditional class focusing on grammar would not have had this effect.

Armando's case also shows us that one can do quite well in second language acquisition without living in the country in which the language is spoken and without formal instruction. The crucial variables appear to be comprehensible input and having a good relationship with speakers of the language.

References

Beebe, L. 1985. Input: choosing the right stuff. In Grass, S. and Madden, C. (Ens.) Input in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. pp. 404- 414.

Krashen, S. 1985. The Input Hypothesis. Beverly Hills: Laredo Publishing Company.

Krashen, S. 1999. Language Teaching: The Easy Way. Culver City, CA: Language Education Associates.

Silverstein, S. 1999. Crossing language barriers. Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1999, A1,34,35.

Smith, F. 1988. Joining the Literacy Club. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

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