I agree that starting out with something simple (and familiar...like
Goldilocks) is a very good way to begin learning SW. You know what you are
'supposed' to be reading and it seems to help things slot into place, at
first. We have four adults in our group and - although they laughed when I
first presented them with their colouring books and their children's stories
:) - once we got into it, nobody was laughing any more. Had it been more
difficult I believe it would have been discouraging.
Even though we're adults, we are still starting at the beginning and I,
personally, have found it helpful to just grab one of my young son's
cardboard single word books and see if I could translate it into SW for
practice. It's true we might advance more quickly than children (than
again, we might not, right Stefan??!) but it's still best to begin at the
beginning.
Following the additional lessons at the SW site and through this list really
help as well. Pick a sign or section of one, track it down in the archives
and make sure you've got the explanation clear in your mind before you move
on. Pick a topic and write a note about it, then share that with another
person wanting to learn SW. Can they read it? We used to let our notes (I
put them up on pieces of bristol board for our group) sit around for a week
or so and, usually, somebody would come back to our meeting saying that they
realized this or that must be wrong and we'd all benefit from the
explanation. Honestly, mostly I'd say 'let it cook' a while. You are
thinking of it even when you think you aren't and the pieces of the puzzle
do fit together quite nicely with time.
all the best,
Kathy Akehurst
private tutor
Ontario, Canada
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