I found the author's in-depth analysis as to what actually constitutes language fascinating. I've definitely contemplated as to whether or not animal communication could be considered language. Also, to what extent body language could be considered "language." I think that Crystal makes a legitimate point in saying, "human language is productive. Productivity is the capacity to express and understand a potentially infinite number utterances, made by combining sentence elements in new ways and introducing fresh combinations of words...new words are being invented everyday." However, to completely remove body language (or body communication as he puts it) and facial expressions from the realm of language would be incorrect.
I found the section on paralanguage to also be very interesting. Most things that Crystal defines as paralanguages are gestures and sounds that we don't even notice but can have a great influence how proper language is expressed. Hearing someone giggle or whisper automatically changes the way we interpret what it being said. By themselves these paralanguages don't constitute much but when paired with proper language they become powerful tools.
The rest of the sections were somewhat dry but nevertheless interesting. The complexity involved in speech and hearing is unreal to me. Yet, most people (people not affected by speech or hearing disabilities) carry out these functions everyday without the slightest idea of these complexities.
For me, learning new words is all abou repetition. Whether I see a picture of the word in Turkish or simply see the word listed next to the English translation ie. Çilek=Strawberry, doesn't matter very much. As soon as I see the translation I simply begin repeating it in my head. This way, I can learn anywhere at anytime because I don't necessarily need much to learn. Things like Rosetta Stone definitely help but, again, if I'm given a table with a list of conjugations I will sit down and memorize it and then try and use what I memorized in a conversation. I would say that my progress up to this point has been pretty good but I could easily digest more vocabulary and will try to do so.
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