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by danielbln 1545 days ago
How does one learn a language without committing it to memory (the meaning of memorizing).
2 comments

One doesn't, but there is a clear distinction between attempting to learn a language by memorizing its words and grammar, and learning it through context.

To actually understand a language in the same way we understand our native language, we cannot learn the language by memorizing the meanings of words and treating each sentence like a logic puzzle to be solved.

Practical knowledge of language is largely tacit.

A native speaker does not need to know what tense a word is in to use them, they do not even need to understand what a verb is. Explicit grammatical understanding can help us reason about a language, but it is not necessary to learn it.

conscious vs unconscious memorization
This seems to focus on the wrong part of the benefit of memorization, I don’t think the method of putting the information in or ‘active’ memorization is what provides the benefit so much so as it is that the information is available for active recall.