Frank Smith Quotes

• Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club -the community of speakers of that language.

  Frank Smith

  Learning, Community, Clubs

  35 Copy quote

• You can't see other people's point of view when you have only one language.

  Frank Smith

  Views, People, Language

  53 Copy quote

• We are learning all the time - about the world and about ourselves. We learn without knowing that we are learning and we learn without effort every moment of the day. We learn what is interesting to us... and we learn from what makes sense to us, because there is nothing to learn from what confuses us except that it is confusing.

  Frank Smith

  Knowing, Interesting, Effort

  18 Copy quote

• The best teachers are the best storytellers.

  Frank Smith

  Teacher, Teaching, Storyteller

  Frank Smith (2014). “To Think: In Language, Learning and Education”, p.62, Routledge

  17 Copy quote

• Reading and writing don't inevitably go together. You can read without learning a thing about writing, grammar, or spelling, although, you certainly can't learn anything about writing, grammar, or spelling unless you read.

  Frank Smith

  Education, Reading, Writing

  Frank Smith (2007). “Reading: FAQ”

  17 Copy quote

• Writing is for stories to be read, books to be published, poems to be recited, plays to be acted, songs to be sung, newspapers to be shared, letters to be mailed, jokes to be told, notes to be passed, recipes to be cooked, messages to be exchanged, memos to be circulated, announcements to be posted, bills to be collected, posters to be displayed and diaries to be concealed. Writing is for ideas, action, reflection, and experience. It is not for having your ignorance exposed, your sensitivity destroyed, or your ability assessed.

  Frank Smith

  Song, Book, Writing

  16 Copy quote

• It is infinitely more useful for a child to hear a story told by a person than by computer. Because the greatest part of the learning experience lies not in the particular words of the story but in the involvement with the individual reading it.

  Frank Smith

  Family, Children, Lying

  Frank Smith (1986). “Insult to Intelligence: The Bureaucratic Invasion of Our Classroom”, New York : Arbor House

  12 Copy quote

• Thoughts are created in the act of writing. [It is a myth that] you must have something to say in order to write. Reality: You often need to write in order to have anything to say. Thought comes with writing, and writing may never come if it is postponed until we are satisfied that we have something to say...The assertion of write first, see what you had to say later applies to all manifestations of written language, to letters...as well as to diaries and journals

  Frank Smith

  Writing, Reality, Order

  13 Copy quote

• Two kinds of reading can be distinguished. I call them reading like a reader and reading like a writer ... when you read like a reader, you identify with the characters in the story. The story is what you learn about. When you read like a writer, you identify with the author and learn about writing.

  Frank Smith

  Education, Reading, Character

  20 Copy quote

• Learning is never aversive - usually we are not aware of it at all. It is failure to learn that is frustrating and boring, and so is having to attend to nonsensical activities.

  Frank Smith

  Boring, Nonsensical, Frustrating

  Frank Smith (1986). “Insult to Intelligence: The Bureaucratic Invasion of Our Classrooms”, Heinemann Educational Books

  9 Copy quote

• The teachers who get "burned out" are not the ones who are constantly learning, which can be exhilarating, but those who feel they must stay in control and ahead of the students at all times.

  Frank Smith

  Teacher, Teaching, Students

  Frank Smith (1986). “Insult to Intelligence: The Bureaucratic Invasion of Our Classrooms”, Heinemann Educational Books

  11 Copy quote

• It is a libel to suggest that children need rewards for attending to tasks, apart from intrinsic interest and satisfaction. Children work very hard in their purposeful endeavors in the world, when they have ends they want to accomplish themselves. It is meaningless teaching, not learning, that demands irrelevant incentives.

  Frank Smith

  Children, Teaching, Tasks

  11 Copy quote

• It is difficult to distinguish deduction from what in other circumstances is called problem-solving. And concept learning, inference, and reasoning by analogy are all instances of inductive reasoning. (Detectives typically induce, rather than deduce.) None of these things can be done separately from each other, or from anything else. They are pseudo-categories.

  Frank Smith

  Detectives, Pseudo, Done

  Frank Smith (2014). “To Think: In Language, Learning and Education”, p.25, Routledge

  7 Copy quote

• Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose andpropriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes--as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.

  Frank Smith

  Home, Office, People

  Frank Smith (2014). “To Think: In Language, Learning and Education”, p.108, Routledge

  8 Copy quote

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