The Smart Ass phase is where we start getting cocky about our language skills, thinking that our knowledge will impress people, even when it’s limited to stuff like ‘I like turtles’. This happens because many instructional books and classes coddle their students and stick to a less harsh learning environment. Why would this be preferred when these skills will be subjected to the fast pace of reality?
Well, let’s face facts: No one is expected to get it right the first time in anything, including how we speak a language; doing so will only lead to finely crushed aspirations. As kids we got encouraged to keep at it by being rewarded or praised for each little thing we did right building towards the end goal, like if someone wanted their kid to pack their own lunch, they’d reward the initiative, then packing good ingredients, then crafting, wrapping and arranging the meal in a bag or lunch pail, then when they consecutively repeat the act on their own.
This is known as Shaping, a process that builds us up to seek out skills and knowledge in anticipation of showing it off and getting this kind of validation; this carries over into our language studies the more we find out about cultural nuances, word puns and so on-for example, that the word 絶倫(ぜつりん) is much like the English word Professional, which can refer to both someone proficient at what they do and someone proficient in the sack.
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