Chapter 204. [Language Learning Starting From Minus 1]

When it comes to this, limiting the number of languages to the bare minimum was a failure.

If they had allowed more flexibility and prepared 61 languages, one language would have been within the margin of error.

However, having exactly 59 or 60 languages makes a significant difference.

Moreover, the timing, approaching the world record tie, adds to the unfavorable situation.

If the substantial final part is a failure, everyone will be left feeling incomplete.

Viewers, and above all, Ah-nee won’t be satisfied!

<<I understand. Let’s proceed with the assumption of resuming. However, please don’t push yourself too hard. Crushing someone as talented as Iroha-san for the sake of a record would be counterproductive.>>

Whether I’m talented or not, I completely agree about not overdoing it.

I can’t afford to suffer a wound here that would prevent me from watching streams for the rest of my life.

It’s not about the world; it’s about the world record.

So, I’ll do it as much as possible.

I bow silently to the certifiers.

I informed Angu Ogu and asked her to leave me alone.

The time limit is only 5 minutes.

I must learn Afrikaans before the restart.

“I don’t have the luxury of thinking leisurely, so let’s take action for now.”

Taking advantage of the absence of people around, I mutter softly.

Verbalizing them is the best way to organize my thoughts.

Now, even during this time, a native speaker was connecting alone.

Their voice is reaching my ears, but merely inputting isn’t enough—relying solely on language cheats won’t get me there.

I need to come up with an active approach.

Understanding grammar alone should make a significant difference, but I need to follow several stages.

The first thing to do is.

“To ‘listen’ to a single sound.”

It might seem like common sense, but it’s challenging.

I have to determine which sounds are necessary for the language and which ones are unnecessary.

The difference in the pronunciation of ‘L’ and ‘R’ is a good example.

In Japanese, there’s no need to distinguish, but in English, there is.

If I can’t discern such sounds. No, if I can’t hear them, it becomes a matter preceding grammar.

“It’s impossible to acquire something ‘nonexistent’.”

This kind of thing happens in foreign language learning.

Especially, the pattern of being able to read but unable to listen.

Still, when I transcribe, suddenly, I can hear it.

If I try to resolve that, I need to listen until I understand and repeat speaking until I get it.

“Ah, I’m starting to feel like a baby again!”

The ability to hear all sounds is something everyone had as a baby.

Even though I discarded it as ‘unnecessary’ at that time, now I’m trying to regain it…

It seems that learning doesn’t necessarily start from 0 or 1.

In the case of language, it seems appropriate to start from ‘minus 1’. Those who find foreign language acquisition difficult might misjudge their abilities and set the bar too high.

First of all, if I become aware that I’m ‘less than a baby’, I might be able to praise myself.

“But, things aren’t going well. In this case, it’s all about the location, isn’t it?”

In such a complex aspect of ‘listening,’ there are cases where implosive sounds, or ‘clicks,’ are incorporated into pronunciation.

Many languages with such characteristics happen to be in the southern part of Africa.

Fortunately, I know about the existence of such pronunciations.

If I didn’t know, it could have been a practically inaudible language.

“No, wait a minute?”

Come to think of it, I got a hint from the comments that it’s derived from the European language.

If that’s the case, it should be okay to exclude implosive sounds.

I can hear occasional sounds similar to clicks.

However, it might get dismissed as mere speaker habits.

So, at this point, let’s call it one stage.

Then next is.

“—Separation into ‘words’.”

I heard the sound.

So now.

It’s the process of dividing sentences into the smallest units with meaning—namely, words.

“For that, I need to identify the boundaries of words.”

That’s a task close to ‘morphological analysis’ in natural language processing.

The knowledge gained during research cooperation is coming in handy here.

By observing and listening carefully, I can notice repetitions in pronunciation and word endings.

Whether it’s a subject like ‘I’, a predicate like ‘is’, or a particle-like ‘on’ is still unclear.

Now, it’s about identifying specific patterns.

In Japanese, for example, after ‘gohan’ (meal), ‘n’ often follows.

From there, judge how far one word goes.

By the way, even babies have this ability from the beginning…

“No, babies are amazing. In fact, what I’m doing now seems like I’m following the footsteps of speech recognition and infant language acquisition.”

But, despite being so talented.

No, because they’re too talented, babies have a weakness.

That’s one-syllable words.

In Japanese, words like ‘te’ (hand) or ‘me’ (eye) can’t be recognized as words.

Babies know that the probability of a one-syllable becoming a word is low. That’s why in baby talk, words like ‘otete’ or ‘omeme’ are used.

There’s a theory about that, but the credibility is unclear.

Because if I’m following this rule, it would turn ‘chi’ (blood) into ‘oninu’ (milk).

“However, now I can separate the words.”

So far so good.

However, from here it gets difficult.

Relying on speech recognition and the method of imitating infants will not be enough, no matter how much time I have.

Therefore, there needs to be a change in perspective.

Wait!?

I slapped my hand to my mouth, realizing something.

The certifier tapped my shoulder just as I was engrossed in thought.

<<Iroha-san, it’s time.>>

<<What, already!?>>

Five minutes really flew by.

But, at this point, I have no choice.

Haha, fine. Let’s do it!

From here on, I’ll somehow manage to pull it off on the spot!