I don't know about rote or mnemonics learning of a new language. Please tell me what ou'd consider this :
Two years ago, I decided to learn Spanish in order to prepare for a trip. For about three months, I listened to language CDs from Berlitz. The CD's are in Spanish, combining individuals that speak, and background noises to confirm the content of the conversation being held. Except for the first CD, which explains how the program works, there was no other language used on the CDs but Spanish.
The courses start off naively, with a small child (Pedro) counting and arriving in class, being asked to close a door (sound of door closing) and window (sound of traffic being blocked out and window closing) - all the way to the end of the set of CDs where you can understand everything being said in a party and in a store.
They start of speaking very slowly and the last CD is spoken at natural speed.
Well, I found this extremely easy to follow and each concept and word introduced was immediately adopted as a verbal representation of a thing, so when I say zapatos, I know I'm talking of shoes. When speaking I don't translate "shoes" = "zapatos", I automatically think zapatos because I'm thinking in Spanish.
So finally the question. What is that type of learning considered?
