Talent Education

An Excerpt from the book, "To Learn With Love" by William and Constance Starr

Suzuki observed the learning habits of children. These observations and his reflections on them gave birth to his idea to apply the mother-tongue method to the teaching of music to small children. As his success tells us, he found that children have enormous potential for learning and that poor teaching, poor environment, and inadequate adult expectations have been the principal causes of limiting that potential.

Suzuki Discovery, The Mother-Tongue Method

“All Japanese children speak Japanese!” exclaimed Suzuki to his friends one day. He had suddenly realized the astonishing fact that every normal child old enough to talk had been successfully educated by the mother-tongue method. “ Children everywhere learn to speak their own tongues fluently which shows that they have a very high level of ability. The most successful example of the learning process is the mother-tongue method. Not only do normal children all over the world learn the basics of their mother-tongue without text, test, or classroom, but they also learn to speak the dialect with its often subtle nuances, and they are able to build an amazing vocabulary before they ever set foot in a school.”

Natural Learning

The characteristics of the mother-tongue method are actually those of the child’s natural learning period in every area, the period in which the child’s intuitive learning ability is at its peak, and the period in which he is in the drivers seat controlling his advancement. It is only when the child learns to walk, to talk and to use his hands for holding, grasping, and manipulating that he determines when he is ready to walk, talk, and use his hands. We should reflect on all of the aspects surrounding the development of these skills. What an exciting period of growth to observe!

            It is obvious that the environment encourages such learning. Adult interest and praise are usually strong, the desire to imitate the adult and other children is powerful, and there are usually good models for observation. The child develops at his own rate, most often with a staggering number of repetitions.

            Suzuki, in his approach, capitalizes on the principal features of the natural learning method. He stresses: 1) A favorable environment, with encouragement, interest, praise, and models of sight and sound to observe (listening to recordings is an important part of that environment); 2) The awakening and growth of a desire to play a musical instrument; 3) Absence of stress, no problem with self –image; 4) A very slow rate of progress at the beginning; 5) Great number of repetitions; 6) Individual rates of progress; 7) Joy of learning; 8) Realization of potential of all.