In a message dated 1/18/01 3:05:35 AM Pacific Standard Time,
DeepStream@... writes:

<< That makes a page of explanation for each word
alone. >>
When I studied to be a translator, we worked with "word fields": we would
write an English word, for example, and all its meanings around it, grouped
by category, so to speak. Then we would make overlapping circles with German
words. Sometimes two words would share big chunks of their circles,
sometimes only a small fragment. It is very time consuming, but a fun way to
illustrate how a word is used. I think about this concept quite a lot. A
word never has just one meaning. It is easier in related languages (German
and Dutch), because the thought processes have more parallels, as well.

On the matter of pronunciation, according to the latest research it seems
that by about age 6, the mouth is pretty much set in a certain way. Any
sounds that you have not used and produced by that time will be much more
difficult to make later on. Therefore, it is very important to expose
children to other languages at a young age, and have them speak and sing in
the language (nursery rhymes, counting, etc.). I started with English when I
was four, and the "th" was never a problem for me, whereas about 60% of my
class in Germany could not really produce the sound (nor could the teacher,
for that matter, which complicates things!).
Best greetings,
Birgit