[NFB-Braille-Discussion] Immersion

Wed Apr 24 18:24:55 UTC 2024

Hi all!
I’m surprised there isn’t a lot of research or conversations about this topic! I am a native English speaker who is also not a native braille reader. I am also a blind language learner so I have an interesting background that’s relevant for this topic. I’m learning Spanish but I like to explore other languages whenever time permits. Because of my background with these kinds of things, I have some good info based on my personal experiences. I  learned old school braille at 8 years old, after I was forced to use large print for 3 years. I emerged in to large print more than once but never mastered it. I also learned advanced Nemeth code through emersion at 19. I got much better at Nemeth, the code than i ever did with math, which I also don’t enjoy math. I also learned UEB in my late 20s and taught myself Spanish braille at 34 while I was taking Spanish class in college. I emerged more in UEB than I did with spanish braille because I can’t get better than partial virtual emersion with anything in spanish because I’m the only language learner in my home in the United States which in of itself favors English. My boyfriend is a monolangual english speaker so he only speaks english but he does have the benefit of knowing a little Spanish, but he doesn’t know enough to get by without having to play sharaids, but for him, that’s his preference so it works well while he’s at work and Whenever he is with his monolangual spanish speaking caleagues in most situations.  By the way, I’m still in the middle of learning the Spanish language for myself. I also enjoy both braille and audio in both English and Spanish. With all of that under my belt, I strongly believe in emersion whenever and wherever possible. I know not everyone can Emerse, but from my experience, once you hit the major plateau midway through, emertion is the most effective way off of that plateau. As for endurence, I find that reading on a braille display shortens the indurance, probably because you’re rubbing your finger on a bunch of small metal pins. I think the human finger is more designed to rub on paper than on metal. The work around is to take breaks when your fingers get tired. Braille works like codes in the brain. The more you practice, the better at it you get. This rule works at any age so long as you don’t have other disabilities that impacts your ability to read braille, or even just to read anything in general. I have never been a native braille reader even in English which happens to be my native language so I can’t tell anyone what it feels like to be a native braille reader. Spanish braille is the easiest major thing in the spanish language. I have a lot more trouble learning spanish grammar, no matter where or when it pops up than I ever did when learning spanish braille. I think braille works like any other code in the brain.  If you

Get started at a young age, you won’t have problems with it as an adult in less you have other disabilities that impact reading braille. If you are an adult, you can learn braille just like you can learn other codes and languages. You will have interlanguage with both, but you can also work through that as well. Also, if you have other disabilities that impact either reading braille, or reading in general, those other disabilities can cause a lot more problems than just the braille by itself. As for audio, I use it too. I like audio books just like most people do. I use audio if I need to read a lot of text in a short period of time because I can move faster with audio than with braille accept when I have to hunt down a date on the callender. I move a lot faster on a braille callender than I ever can on a callender app, so I love braille callenders. I prefer good old school hard copy braille for braille callenders, math and braille pictures. When I’m not using braille callenders, Nemeth code for math or braille pictures, I’m ok with either braille or audio in many situations. I love using both in language learning and for language emersion. I have to use uncontracted braille for seeing how a word is spelled because my spelling in English fosilized when I moved from uncontracted braille to contracted braille too quickly when I was learning the old school braille. Since I did that right before the internet took off, I didn’t use a computer enough at the same time to get as much of the spelling benefits from that as I could have gotten. Speaking of spelling, I spell better in Spanish than in English in less I’m writing in contracted old school braille, but my spelling in English has improved because it’s a side effect of learning Spanish. I like to read uncontracted English braille so I can see how every word is spelled, but I still can read and write in contracted braille, which I do as needed.
Kendra

________________________________
From: NFB-Braille-Discussion <nfb-braille-discussion-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Sanho Steele-Louchart via NFB-Braille-Discussion <nfb-braille-discussion at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 08:30
To: NFB Braille Discussion List <nfb-braille-discussion at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sanho Steele-Louchart <sanho817 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Braille-Discussion] Immersion

Ramona:

Was referring to adult learners, yes. I suspect the brain will adapt more quickly if I ask it to use Braille for nearly all daily literacy tasks. I was simply surprised not to see this approach discussed much in literature or research.

Sanho

> On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:38 AM, Ramona W via NFB-Braille-Discussion <nfb-braille-discussion at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Are you talking about the brand new learner of
> Braille who is an adult?  Very few, if any, kids who learn Braille at a young age will  experience fatigue if they are learning braille with their schoolwork.  If we can get adults to relax hands and full bodies, they will experience much less fatigue, both physical and mental.  Don't know for sure what you mean by immersion.  If I read a lot because a book is very exciting, I might need a break, whether the book is Braille or recorded. I don't think there has been much research on any of this.  If research is done, I hope it will be done well.  Unfortunately, that has not always been the case.
>
> Best,
>
> Ramona
>
>> On 4/23/2024 6:16 PM, Sanho Steele-Louchart via NFB-Braille-Discussion wrote:
>> All:
>>
>> Not seeing any research on this. Have you found better results with braille immersion over speech or do you find that immersion results in diminishing returns given neurological and cognative fatigue?
>>
>> Sanho
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