What is a Phrazer?
A Phrazer is a way to represent the grammar and syntax of a language non-verbally and visually. Why would we want to do this? For these reasons:
- When you learn a new language and study the grammar and syntax out of a book, you do it in your own language. You are bypassing the new language, and in particular you are bypassing the built-in language-brain functions you used to acquire your own language.
- When you learn a new language, you have to learn the vocabulary of the study of grammar and syntax - something you never had to do when you acquired your first language, and something you may never have done since that time either. 3.You originally acquired grammar and syntax non-verbally: you have the right brain structures to do this. The Phrazer addresses and involves those brain structures directly, so that you can acquire these facets of the new language without even being able to name them.
- A Phrazer is isomorphic with a grammar book - that is, it shows everything a grammar book shows - but without any superfluous bits, without confusion, and without ambiguity. This means that it can be understood far more readily than a formal grammar book, with its rules, lists and tables.
- A Phrazer can be easily and rapidly internalized. A formal grammar book usually can't be internalized, even if it's understood - and that usually takes a long, long time.
Can a Phrazer describe any language?
Certainly. We have Phrazers for languages as different from each other as English, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Korean, Swahili and Chinese. We're working on Phrazers to describe computer languages, and the genetic code - which, our own researchers have discovered, is best described and understood as a language with its own grammar and syntax. And one researcher is even working on a Phrazer for organic chemistry.
Are all Phrazers the same?
No. Phrazers must be tailored for each group of languages - and then show the taxonomy of languages. Within each group, they need to be tailored for individual languages, which is not always a trivial task. Managing the way the language is written sometimes imposes an additional layer of complexity.
What else can a Phrazer do?
It's a wonderful translation tool! For this you need the Phrazers for both languages. Then by following some simple rules, you convert an utterance in one language into a matching utterance in the other. This is completely different from a word-by-word translation, because Phrazers begin with the structures, and then fill in the words, whereas the other kind begins with the words, and then tries to impose the structures.
What's more, a Phrazer can clarify for you the grammar and syntax of your own language. If that's English, this is very important for you. Consider the SAT, LSAT, GMAT and so on. All of them have a language element, and this is the part that many people find difficult. With the English Phrazer, you can improve your scores in the language part, upping your grade from maybe passing to pretty darn good - whatever the scores for that may be! And that means a Phrazer could get you into college, or into law school or med school.
Can you describe a given Phrazer?
Sure. Let's talk about the Spanish Phrazer, because that was my own first major project. It has several components:
- A set of malas. These represent the structure of utterances. Mala is the Sanskrit word for a necklace, and each bead on the mala is a place-holder for a grammatical element.
- A set of cards giving the alternatives allowed for each element.
- A small collection of rules.
- A device for picking the right sound changes and spelling changes - this is peculiar to Spanish. The Spanish Phrazer covers 4 A4 pages, can be mastered in an afternoon, and covers all the material you need to read and understand Spanish newspapers. Trying to master Spanish grammar without the Phrazer is like trying to steer a canoe without a paddle!
So - where can I get a Phrazer?
You can't just pick up a Phrazer and take it away: you have to get it as part of a course given by a teacher near you, or as part of an on-line interactive course with a live instructor. We insist on this for the same reason you can't test-drive a car without a driver's license!
Choose from English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Slovio (what's this?), Swahili, Zulu, Turkish, Korean and Japanese. Or tell us what language you'd like a Phrazer for, and we'll tell you when it will be ready.
Hey, I could do a Phrazer!
If you think you'd like to construct a Phrazer for your own language, please contact us. You will earn money for it - if it's in demand of course. (And no, we're not interested in Phrazers for ASL.)