The ULAT
The ULAT (Universal Language Acquisition Tool) is composed of a 3-year Spanish and French program that Mr. Stephen Nesbitt began developping during his 30 years as a classroom Spanish, French and English teacher in the United States and in Europe, and then completed in 2023. The basic thrust of the ULAT is to train students to speak a second language in a manner that replicates the natural means by which they acquired their native language. This means first laying a strong foundation of listening and speaking skills before ever exposing the students to the printed word and doing so without any recourse to the student’s native language in the course of instruction. For a more extensive explanation regarding the principles on which the ULAT is based, please click HERE.
The NewLAT
Mr. Nesbitt’s work on the ULAT actually dates back almost five decades. By contrast, the NewLAT is a comparative newcomer. It is a return to his original vision of designing language curriculum that could rapidly be modified to teach any number of new languages. Whereas most online language programs are produced by teams of language experts, the ULAT is a “one-man show”, created by Mr. Nesbitt on the basis of language learning principles on which he began performing his classroom teaching in the fall of 1980. The ULAT’s English, French and Spanish lessons are derived from his own life experience and studies in the United States, France and Mexico.
All of the other languages (German, Italian and Portuguese) in the NewLAT are ones which he himself is currently learning and, though the lessons are being carefully constructed and checked for accuracy, they are inevitably going to be imperfect. If you are a fluent or near fluent speaker of these additional languages, Mr. Nesbitt welcomes any corrections or suggestions which you are willing to submit. You can reach him at “[email protected]”.
The strength of the ULAT and the NewLAT does not lie in its ability to give students a mere analytical knowledge of a language, providing “head knowledge” as to its grammatical structure. Rather, the uniqueness of the ULAT’s and the NewLAT’s curricular design enables students very quickly to begin actually speaking these languages with thought patterns and pronunciation that are those of native speakers, without the interference of their native language and its phonics system and without the need to perform destructive inner translation from that native language.
The ULAT vs. The NewLAT Practically speaking, the biggest differences between the ULAT program and the NewLAT are as follows:
The ULAT lessons only include options for learning Spanish or French, whereas the NewLAT presently includes English, German, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese lessons.
Most of the ULAT’s Spanish and French lessons begin with a 10 to 25-minute long instructional video in which Mr. Nesbitt presents the grammatical or vocabulary emphasis for each lesson. The NewLAT does not contain instructional videos, but rather attempts to replace some of the value of the instructional videos with the use of GIF’s which add movement, and thus additional context and meaning, to the NewLAT’s images.
The ULAT’s instructional videos aid with pronunciation in that the learner can see the instructor’s mouth and thus have a better idea of how a word should be formed. The NewLAT compensates for this by introducing the written language somewhat earlier than the ULAT, though still only after a strong oral foundation has been laid in the leaner’s mind, and thus gives the learner written clues as to the oral formation of a word that he would otherwise only hear and not see.
The ULAT is obviously far more complete, as the NewLAT’s construction has only just begun. In addition to the ULAT’s three-year programs of study in Spanish and French, it is hoped that an entire first-year program in English, German, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese will be ready for use by September 1, 2025. In the meantime, as they are not password-protected, anyone is free to try out the NewLAT’s English, German, Italian and Portuguese lessons, links to which are found under the “Languages” heading on the ULAT’s homepage. Use of the completed Spanish and French programs requires purchasing a paid subscription to the ULAT.
The absence of the instructional videos in the NewLAT allows the student to progress more rapidly through the curriculum.
The NewLAT uses AI voices that accurately portray authentic pronunciation of the language being studied
The NewLAT benefits from decades of experience acquired while creating the ULAT and therefore is more varied in its learning activities
Final words of advice
If you are a teacher using the ULAT, you are encouraged to read Mr. Nesbitt’s ebook entitled “In Other Words” to gain an understanding as to the ULAT’s philosophical foundation and to consult the pedagogical tips found in the website’s “Teachers” section.
If you are using the ULAT to learn a new language, recognize that the ULAT will oblige you to acquire this new language as does a child learning its native language, which is, of course, the best way to learn a language. Consequently, as does a child, you will need to:
be content to listen before you speak, speak before you read and then read before you begin to write
be patient with a temporary imprecision in your understanding of both the meaning and pronunciation of new vocabulary (Frankly, a child doesn’t care about either, as long as it can accomplish its purposes with its speech. Precision in both areas will come over time.)
- be content with initially expressing your ideas in the simplest manner possibly and not necessarily in the “best” and most eloquent fashion
avoid at all costs using a dictionary or seeking out translations of what is being presented to you, which are the best ways to ruin your ability to think as does a native speaker of the language you are learning. (Thinking rightly as you speak is more important to attaining fluency than is the acquisition of head knowledge concerning the language.)
follow exactly the instructions given in symbolic form (see lesson 1.1) in each section of a lesson as to the activity you are to do in that section.