An Introduction

Hello and welcome to the Geek's Guide to Learning Langauges! My name is Henry, and I'm a recent grad of the Masters program of Applied Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. I'm currently a professor in the Department of English Literature at Gwangju University in South Korea (광주대학교 영어영문학과). Ever since I finished my degree, I've been kicking around the idea of putting together bits of knowledge and experience I've gathered from my studies, and from teaching English into a reader-friendly format, focused around the concept of language acquisition. I anticipate the audience of this blog to be language learners curious about the best ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts.

This sort of inquisitive learner I've chosen to describe as a "geek", but given the prevalence of this term in pop culture a bit of explanation is probably warranted. My working definition of a "geek" is the sort of person not satisfied by simply using the tools that years of culture and technology have passed down. A geek is someone who likes to take things apart, who likes to see how those parts fit together, their relationship with one another, their motivation for interaction, etc. In the context of language learning, a student might be told in a language class that simply staring at a list of English words and their Korean translation is not the best way to acquire vocabulary, and that student might nod their head in agreement. A geek would want to know what methods are superior, and why. If that describes you, read on.

All that said, I'm excited as to the directions this blog might take. I'm hoping to update a few times a week, mostly prompted by techniques and situations I've encountered in the classrooms, conversations with colleagues, inspiration found from digging through notes from grad school, and new developments I read about in the field. As with the often-haphazard, organic acquisition of language itself, I'd be delighted if this blog enjoys some nutty deviations or some joyously chaotic associations. Time will tell. If you've found something you'd like me to share on the blog, feel free to email me at henry.gerlits@gmail.com.