Learning through imitation: A comment worthy of a post

Yesterday, my friend, Eric, left this comment on my post about listening to other preachers. It reminded me of something Augustine wrote, "The fact is, given a bright and eager disposition, eloquence will come more readily to those who read and listen to eloquent speakers than to those who pore over the rules of eloquence." I liked Eric's comment so much I wanted to give it its own post so that it might get the attention it deserves. I'm going to give this a try very soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

"Research a friend of mine has done shows that repetitive listening to good sermons can enhance the listener's ability to understand and imitate vocal inflection and delivery pace, among other things. He requires his seminary students to choose a sermon (from a provided list) and listen to it over a period of three weeks. Week 1: 3 times consecutively three days in a row. Week 2: 2 times consecutively three days in a row. Week 3: 1 time three days in a row. This is based on the Suzuki music method."