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THETHIRDEARCHRISLONSDALEhaslivedandworkedinAsiaforaquarter-century.AfterstudyingpsychologyinNewZealand,wherehespentthefirst20yearsofhislife,hetravelledtoBeijingjustafterChinaopenedtotheWest.AninitialfascinationwithChineselanguageandculturetookhimonanadventurethatincludedtravelsalloverChina,intensivestudyintheChinesemartialarts,physicalinjury,andasubsequentreevaluationoflife’spriorities.FromChinaChrismovedtoHongKong,whichhasbeenhisbaseforthepast20years.Hecurrentlyrunshisownbusinessasaseniorleadershipcoachandorganisationaladvisor.Thisworktakeshimtomanypartsoftheworld,andgiveshimaprivilegedpositiontoobserveandinfluencesomeofthemorecomplexproblemsfacedbypeopleinorganisations.Inthelast25yearsChrishasvisitedplacesasdiverseasthesouthernforestsofIndia,theNorthPole,andsomeoftheworld’smostimportantindustrialandfinancialcentres.ChrisisafluentspeakerofEnglish,MandarinandCantonese,andhasdabbledinanumberofotherlanguages.Heismarried,withonedaughterwhomhesayswas,inmanyways,theinspirationbehindTheThirdEar.THETHIRDEARChrisLonsdaleThirdEarBooksTHETHIRDEARISBN-13:978-988-19845-24©2006ChrisLonsdaleThirdEarPublishingLtd.6/FTungHipCommercialBuilding,244–248DesVoeuxRoad,HongKong@the-third-ear.comCoverdesign:DanielChuiCartoons:StephenRobertsGraphics:AndrewMokTypesetinMinionbyAlanSargentSecondprinting,2007Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyanyelectronicmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquotebriefpassagesinareview.TherightofChrisLonsdaletobeidentifiedastheAuthoroftheWorkhasbeenassertedashavehismoralrightswithrespecttotheWork.ContentsAcknowledgements:1:It’sasdifficultas...breathingSection12:Ghostofanunknownlanguage3:Barrierbusting—re-examining‘commonsense’4:Howdotheydothat?5:Thinkinglikealanguagelearner6:MeettheaudibolSection27:Perceivepatterns,practisedetails8:Inthebeginningwastheword9:Tongue’n’ear10:Tricksofthesoundtrade11:Crackingthecode—scaffoldinginthemindSection312:Activelyusingtheadultadvantage13:Livinginabiggerworld14:Thethirdear15:Fittingin16:SettingyourselfupforsuccessThisbookisdedicatedtoallthosepeoplewhoreallydowanttolearnaforeignlanguage,butwhohavebeenfrustratedintheprocess.Somehavecontinuedtobattleon,sometimessuccessfully,butoftenwithslowresults.Othershavesimplycometobelievethatit’stoodifficultforthem.Thisbookhasbeenwrittentoshowthat,nomatterwhoyouare,youcanmasteranylanguage.Notjustthat.Itcanbeeasyandfun.It’sjustamatterofknowinghow.AcknowledgementsIwouldliketotakethisopportunitytoacknowledgeallthepeoplewhohavecontributedtomakingthisbookareality.Firstly,I’dliketothankKevinJones,AllenDorcas,MichelleTanmizi,DianeWilcoxson,JonathanHarger,RogerBell,RobertAtter,JeremyKidner,ColinJesseandthemanyotherswhogaveinsightsintothelanguagelearningprocess,bothfromtheirownexperience,andfromobservingtheexperienceofothers.Equallyimportantisthecontributionofthecoregroupoftesters,whoworkedwiththeideasinthebook.ManythanksgotoAndrewMok,AugustineTan,MarcMostacci,SteveUdy,JanetBlount,ChristianMasset,PanidaTang-sriwong,ThirawitLeetavorn,MarkMichaud,LarryGaffaney,PhilipJackson,TinaBoe-Hansen,DirkRossey,MichaelBoddington,ElizabethBridgeman,MargaretLeung,LuanXiuju,NaazKazi,JamesRynne,ZoeFitzgerald,LynBrewster,AndreaGutwirth,CarolWong,AngelaSpaxman,UliBurkeandSayedGouda.PaulCoffeydeservesspecialmentionforputtingintoactionalloftheideasinthebook,resultinginhimlearningtospeakMandarininjustafewshortmonths.Manypeoplehelpedinthebook’screation,readingvariousversionsandgivingusefulinputthathelpedtoshapethefinalversion,orsimplyjustgivingencouragement.SpecialthanksgotoMarkTier,MichaelGuss,TonyGiles,WilliamCourtauld,HuayingZhang,ChrisRobinson,LeonJakimic,GrahamEarnshaw,SimonChau,BarryBrewster,DavidBrooks,MaureenMueller,GillesBassi,MarkPowell,MarkMichaud,CathyLee,EdithScott,DanielSpitzer,LeanneWang,SylvainGauthier,RichardFinn,AndyBoerger,SteveAlexander,AndrewMatthews,JeremyBlodgettandManabChakraborty.Severalhundredpeoplecontributedtothedecisionprocessforthetitle,weighinginonvariousoptions.Thankyouallformakingyourthoughtsknown.ThefinalinspirationthatledtothetitleTheThirdEarcamefromTomMastersonandSarahMonks.Thanksguys.Helpcameinmanyotherformsaswell.StephenRobertsdidagreatjobtakingsomeofthekeyideasofthebook,andturningthemintosimple,funcartoons.MagnusBartlettandPeterGordonbothprovidedhelpfulguidanceforthewholepublishingprocess.AlanSargenttookwhatIthoughtwasawell-honedpieceofworkandhoneditevenfurther.Hisdisciplinededitinghas,Ihope,madeadefinitiveimpactonthefinalwork.Importantly,I’dliketothankmydaughterMichelleforgivingmethechancetowatchherasshegrappledwithherfirstlanguage.InmanywaysTheThirdEarcouldnothavebeenwrittenwithoutthoseinsightsfromafirst-timebeginner.Itwasalmostasifherarrivalwasnecessaryforkeypiecestofallintoplace.ThanksMichelle.Andfinally,mydeepestthanksgotomywife,Fengdi,forstandingquietlybymeforthemanyyearsthatittookfrominitialconcepttofinallycompletingthebook.ChrisLonsdaleOctober,20051It’sasdifficultas...b