Reading drama, radio plays, and screenplays as input

Mitch   Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:24 am GMT
Antimoon and others have stressed the great value of reading as input. People suggest short stories, newspaper articles, novels, etc. But much of these are short on typical spoken language--even stories and novels with a lot of dialogue.

So my question is: Hasn't anyone out there successfully used plays, radio plays (e.g., German Hörspiel), or screenplays as substantial reading input? For one, you get mostly dialogue, and--especially for recent screenplays--often contemporary. Secondly, you avoid a lot of formal or stilted language or grammar used in both non-fiction and literary narrative (e.g., French passé simple).

I would think that you'd get the benefit of both worlds: substantial dialogue, but with the time to sit and read carefully.
Guest   Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:11 am GMT
To learn spoken language, use a spoken source. Listen to movies and radio talk shows. Radio talk shows especially, because here they speak normally in an everyday style but don't fall too far into slang and still try to speak clearly etc.

Plays and really any written source will nto be truley corresponding to 'real' spoken speech. There may be some novel out there, but they must be rare and probably are full of rubbish and dribble.
Jack in Maryland   Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:43 pm GMT
I reached the same conclusion -- that the best 'source text' to use to learn everyday language is things like screen plays, plays, etc. Dialogue is the key element here -- it most closely mimics what we experience when two speakers are face-to-face.

A few ideas I've had and developed:

-- Watch 'soap operas', otherwise known as 'daytime serials'. Every language has them -- and although the plots are often stupid (even nauseating), they're still very useful. I've done this successfully for Russian and Spanish.

-- Read modern plays. In Russian, reading Chekhov doesn't help you as quickly as you would think at a Russian cafe in Brooklyn. Try to find **modern** works -- even those written by kids in a high school -- it doesn't matter. As long as the author is trying to potray "everyday people" in everyday situations.

-- Watch talk shows (especially if transcripts are available). Russia has alot of talk shows, for example -- since the language is un-rehearsed, it's more natural. Even better if it has "audience partcipation" or features telephone call-ins with questions for the guests.

-- Read Usenet groups. Here again, everyday people are the ones writing the posts, so the language is more natural (and often very colorful too!). Look for Usenet groups with topics that focus on everyday life or issues --- family, cars, relationships, support groups, etc. A great tool for this is http://groups.google.com -- it's fully searchable.


If you tell me what language you're studying, maybe I can suggest a specific resource.

Jack
Mitch   Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:05 pm GMT
Jack,

Thanks for the excellent advice. (As for soap operas: I tried watching telenovelas when I was studying Spanish--most were SO stupid, that I couldn't keep watching.)

Right now I'm studying German, so anything specific on that language would be appreciated.