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How does a child learn to speak?  To comprehend?
 
Of all possible human achievements, what is more difficult than the mastery of language?  A language is full of contradictions.  No formal grammar ever truly describes the actual workings of a language.  Language consists of innumerable complex phrases -- if you do this, then I will do that.
 
And yet a child learns all this.
 
Long before a child begins formal education, the child has already mastered the essence of language.

The child is motivated, has incentive.
 
That incentive may be the chocolate chip cookie it sees in his mother's hand.  It may be its need to get relief from pain.  It could be as simple as getting a hug.
 
Most likely, it is a combination of all of these, and also much more.

And -- unconsciously -- the child perceives the use of language around him, becomes unconsciously aware of the consequences of its own utterances.
 
Its first words are nothing more than the cries and ululations of need, of frustration -- the language provided by nature.
 
And yet, quickly, the child learns to vary these cries; and the parent learns to understand these variations.
 
The parent develops an intuitive understanding so that in the middle of the night, the father can interpret that "my daughter is hungry"; in the middle of the day, Mom can say "my son is lonely"; in the midst of reading book, Grandpa can say "the kid is happy."
 
Thus begins language.

Driven by incentive, reinforced by success, picking up meaning in the same way her parents have been -- intuitively -- the child adds to her repertoire of sounds.
 
And as the child begins to recognize her own sounds, to understand that she is the author of these sounds, the child then begins to match her own sounds with those she recognizes from the adults around her.  The child begins imitating.
 
The child is speaking.

And now begins a linguistic dance with the adult and the child.
 
With gentle corrections spread out over time, the child is guided to correct usage.
 
This correct usage is more than mere grammar.  It includes appropriateness to the setting.
 
"Say 'please'.
 
"Say 'may I please have a cookie.'"
 
And with simple guidance like this, the child learns language.

Without being graded,
    without a textbook,
         without assigned homework, punishment, or being demeaned,
without any formal education, the child learns the most difficult lessons he or she will ever have to master.
 
Without conscious intention, the child has learned to comprehend and use language.
 
This is Intuitive Learning.

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  1. Learning how to learn (anything).
  2. Learning how to teach.
  3. Learning some specific topics in the domains of mathematics and English.

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