MSI Press Blog

  Second language teachers have long revered Stephen Krashen’s “i+1” approach: the idea that learners acquire language best when exposed to input just slightly beyond their current level. It’s digestible, incremental, safe. But also—slow. At best, learners nibble their way through proficiency, one cautious bite at a time. But what if nibbling isn’t enough? 🧠 The Case for i+20 (or More) Let’s imagine a different metaphor: not the spoonful, but the whole garden. Or, better yet—the lake. Language learning as immersion, as transformation. The learner jumps in with an instructor nearby, guiding the strokes but not holding them back. This “sink or swim” model—supported by immersion programs and accelerated curricula—suggests something radical: exposure to complex, unsimplified language from day one builds not just vocabulary, but survival strategies. Learners begin to cope , not just comprehend . 📉 The Time Curve Stepwise acquisition averages 17 years from novice to near-native fl...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -9-   All changes are a risk… but change makes you know that you’re alive. You’re exploring, you’re stumbling- almost certainly stumbling if my past is any indication- but there is a certain exhilaration, too. You can’t wait to see what happens next… What I like most about change is that it’s a synonym for “hope.” If you are taking a risk, what you are really saying is, “I believe in tomorrow, and I will be a part of it.”   Linda Ellerbee   You are alive as you extend yourself on behalf of something new. Advocating for ideas and causes is one type of risk, but the experience of aliveness in risk and change is much broader than that. You are alive as you venture out of your accustomed and comfortable ways of being—we use the modern phrase, comfort zone —to take up something that you haven’t done before that expands a little bit ...