spiritual learner | experimental | beginner-intermediate
Chain yourself to a public space. Commit to reading a seminal novel from start to finish. Throw yourself to the lions (the locals). Humanity will prevail, they will help you and by the end you will be reading fluently.
WHAT: The language learner chooses an apt novel from the desired language and find a public space where they can read this aloud, where they will be heard by locals, who may potentially help them with pronunciation, or even meanings. This is a duration task. It is daunting but eventually the language learner should break through and find a meditative flow.
HOW: Ideally the language learner works with the IAALL and a local cultural organisation to find the right context and setting to perform this extreme act. The choice of book and setting are extremely important and should be considered carefully. But this can be done ad hoc as well and is essentially just an exercise.
EXAMPLES: In 2017 Venuri Pereira read the Latvian novel Billē at the Gallerija Istaba in Riga, Latvia during the festival Homo Novus. She read for 8 hours a day, for 3 consecutive days. Prior to this event Venuri had zero knowledge of the Latvian language, but managed to develop impressive pronunciation thanks to the guidance of the audience.