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Tips on picking up a new language?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by CharlieHK, Jan 24, 2014.

  1. CharlieHK

    CharlieHK Guest

    Hey. Wanna hear a not very boring story about how the language department at my school sucks butts?

    In the ninth grade, little me decided to take French 1! And it was going great until one little problem occurred. My teacher had Fibromyalgia (spelling?). So about two months into semester 1, she had to take leave because it was getting really bad. But since there isn't a surplus of French teachers chopping at the bit to fill in the part time position, we got the next best thing: A substitute Spanish teacher. He tried his best, but we didn't know enough to help ourselves. So the school decided the other teacher who has 3 French classes and 3 English classes would trade with the sub second semester. So the sub would teach 6 english classes (3 of which he already had) and the french teacher took all the french classes.

    When we got switched in though...she tried putting us in Chapter four...when we hadn't completed chapter 2 even. As a result many of us switched out.

    So tenth grade me said "Okay, French, not happening, how about Spanish? Useful in todays world right?".

    So I took Spanish 1. And about a month in the teacher was fired. Rumors spread like fire as to why. The school said nothing of the incident. But the rumor that was most widely believed, according to the class it happened in was that she has said "Spanish isn't for black kids". And when 54% of the school is African American, complaints were made and she was gone.

    We didn't get a Spanish sub for her though. We got a nice teacher who printed off crossword puzzles in Spanish and gave us two hours to do them. Spanish really didn't work out. For second semester the retired Spanish teacher who was older than old came back to teach us Spanish. We got to chapter 4. (Way behind).

    It was explained to us that our Spanish 2 teacher would be informed of our predicament, and this teacher would take us from their.

    So 11th grade me takes Spanish 2, and in one semester i learn ten vocab words and how to conjugate words i do not know. So I switched out of it for second semester.

    And that's where I am now. This coming monday begins semester two and I've decided to use a free language learning site to teach myself German. And so far so good. If it works out well I might even go back and take my hand at French again.

    I was just wondering, any tips on self learning? I know I should make flashcards.

    Have any crazy stories about picking up a second language?
     
  2. BookDragon

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    The best tip I can give is to not give the slightest damn about accuracy. I recommend this website (better check I can link first!)

    When you get to the stage that you can throw a couple of sentences together, start hurling chunks of text at it and to hell with accuracy. Just make a sentence with the things you think you know and send it off. Someone will correct it, you'll probably kick yourself for making a bunch of incredibly stupid errors but at least you know what you did wrong.

    That's why you get so many people come over with no English and all of a sudden can hold a conversation. They just get on with it or they end up isolated.
     
  3. stocking

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    Text books help a lot and learn your grammar as well as vocab is very important .
    Once you have a hand on your writing I suggest keeping a journal in that language you want to learn . For example I write my journal only in Japanese. Also make friends with people that speak the language or someone who is German and wants to learn English they in return will teach you German . Also having Pen pals are also good you could email back and forth in that language if you don't want to keep a journal or letters whatever you choose .
    Another thing listening to German music also helps it helps you get use to hearing the spoken language and you'll be able to pick it up faster , even if you don't understand anything their saying stick with it it will finally click after a while .
     
    #3 stocking, Jan 24, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2014
  4. Harve

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    Is it Duolingo you're using? Because that's really good.

    Beyond sitting down to learn its grammar, immersion is key to making a foreign language really sink in, and it's up to you to decide what immersion works best for you. Be creative!

    I've been learning French for... ages now, but it took 2-3 years of proper effort for me to get really good at it. That included writing a 4000 word essay in it for IB, finding myself a job in France for summer 2013 + actually doing it. I feel like I'm paraphrasing a cliché, but it's really not the end result of fluency that's important anymore although it's something I'm proud of for sticking at - it's been really fun and taken me to great places along the way!

    I've started German, and it's painful at times but I'm sticking at it.
     
  5. Nick07

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    German was fun to learn and it seemed to me that it was easier than English. But I haven't used it for years and when I need it now my mind is full of English words but no German...

    When you are studying, speak aloud. If you do an exercise or translation, read it for yourself, then look away from the book and say it aloud once or twice. Dubbed movies will be easier to understand than German movies. At least it seemed to me so.
     
  6. CharlieHK

    CharlieHK Guest

    Yes I'm using duolingo. I wasn't sure if i could say the sites name. I've gotten through two lessons in two days and couldn't be happier.

    I used to use buusu, but after a certain point you have to pay.
     
  7. gravechild

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    School has never been my favorite way of learning a language, but it does have several advantages: you have quick and easy access to others who know or are learning the language, it forces you to adopt a schedule, that would otherwise be challenging for someone as disorganized as me, and you have resources that will stay with you long after class ends, to use how you please.

    Immersion is key: you don't have to move to another country to use it on a daily basis, either. There are plenty of web sites, including chat rooms, that make it possible to practice on a daily basis. The internet makes it a lot more doable than before, and if there are immigrant communities in your area, that's another definite advantage for you.

    Motivation is also important, as is having a way to use the language regularly, but above all else, I say knowing your preferred learning style is crucial to success. It's great to have variety, but most people will prefer one method over another. I'm more visual, so being able to see the words alone is a must for me, though I end up lagging in the listening department.

    Its been a while since I've actively learned something new, but I have text books, dictionaries, stories, movies, contacts, and online lessons saved from the times I did, and I'd suggest anyone else who is serious to be just as prepared. Someone serious about learning a foreign language can cover more ground in six months to a year than your average foreign language student in high school would in two to three years. Set goals, push yourself!
     
  8. kem

    kem
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    Well, a good way to improve your understanding of a language is to watch films and tv shows in that language, or listen to music sung in that language. Spanish is easy to learn in this way because it's a relatively simple language, shares some of its vocabulary with English and French and there are like a million latin soap operas to choose from.
    If you have more time and the resources, you could go to a place where the language is pretty much the only thing you hear. I did it with German and even though I haven't spoken it in 2 1/2 years I can still understand and speak it fairly well. My vocabulary is practically nonexistent but it could be worse.
    I'd like to start learning French and continue my Japanese studies (particularly important because I'm interested in game design).
     
  9. greatwhale

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    I speak 4 languages, it just comes naturally to me, however, one trick I have learned to almost double my vocabulary is when you learn a word, also learn it's opposite (or a reasonable opposite in terms of concept) so: love-hate, hot-cold, here-there, etc.

    If you learn colours, learn the whole spectrum.

    Associate and use all your senses. The word for "Bread" in another language will be easier to remember if you associate the smell, texture and even sound of bread in another language: Brot, pain, pan, lechem
     
  10. FireSmoke

    FireSmoke Guest

    I'm learning english writing and trying to thinking in this language on this website. In fact, reading this forum is very useful because I become more fluent with only replying the threads, chatting with people...

    I'm trying to learn french, too. Italian and french are very similar, and i think it's a pity if I don't try to learn it.

    I used Duolingo, but I don't like it very much.
     
    #10 FireSmoke, Jan 24, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 24, 2014
  11. redskins20

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    I'm not necessarily fluent in Spanish, but I know the language very well. I have a few tips that might help:
    Don't be afraid to speak it. If you get the chance to hold a conversation in whatever language you're learning, don't be scared to mess up. The worst thing that could happen is the person you're talking to will correct you, politely.
    And a good way to pick up a language is watching movies in that language. I recently watched The Lion King in Spanish, and surprisingly, understood a good portion of it. It helps when the movie you're watching, especially when you're starting out, is one you know very well. ¡Buena Suerte!
     
  12. sharkpool

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    thanks for sharing this language learning site!! i'm interested in being a contributor :grin:
     
  13. CharlieHK

    CharlieHK Guest

    The issue there is I go to a school where they don't let us take the textbook out of the classroom. And in Michigan starting with the class of 2016, have to graduate with 2 years of a foreign language. (I'm class 2015). Because of this addition to graduation requirements, teachers are more focused on getting people to pass the course, instead of knowing the language.

    ---------- Post added 24th Jan 2014 at 05:24 PM ----------

    What didn't you like about it? The way it is set up? I haven't found any issue with it yet..
     
  14. Aussie792

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    The most important thing is to practice regularly. I find it useful to study grammar and the "skeleton" of the language, and then build up vocabulary. That's really easy with Spanish, a little harder with French, and basically impossible with languages like English. It's more important to understand how the language is constructed than it is to know the various phrases; I always got ahead of my classmates last year because I knew why the words are constructed in that way, rather than regurgitating phrases.

    Don't shy away with pronunciation. My Spanish teachers used to encourage us to boom out our words no matter how mutilated. We used to sing Spanish songs and practice pronunciation for entire lessons. It's easy to correct your mistakes when they're obvious, and mumbling always mangles words. Our first half-year consisted of perfecting the alphabet and basic phrases; then we ceased to learn any of that (it's so ingrained now) and learnt grammar for the next three years. I can't speak Spanish fluently, but I know how to, if that makes sense.

    There are some really good books (workbook, textbook, and CDs) for Spanish called Dos Mundos which go from the very basic stuff to the more complicated stuff for writing and fluent speech. They're pricey, though.

    And as for the usefulness of French, it's going a massive population boom in Africa and is still one of the world's leading languages. It's not going anywhere soon, so don't write it off as a waste of time. Not to mention the copious amounts of good literature that has come and is coming from the Francophone world. It's best to learn languages of a single family, anyway; Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian are better to learn together than Spanish, Dutch, and Finnish.
     
  15. FireSmoke

    FireSmoke Guest

    What didn't you like about it? The way it is set up? I haven't found any issue with it yet..

    I don't like it because you have to translate the phases. And Stop. Nothing else.

    I think this can be useful for a person who doesn't know nothing about the language, but for a person who are little fluent with the writing (I, for example, can be understandable when a native speaker reads what I write) Duolingo is a loss of time because everything Duolingo ask you what to doing, you can already able to do.
     
  16. AwkwardTalker

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    I think the best way to learn a language is to learn it as if you were a child learning your first language.
     
  17. An Gentleman

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    -Memorization is the most important.
    -Practice speaking the language with someone more fluent. In this case, reading from a textbook is easier than speaking to another person.
    -Pronunciations. Get them right.
    -For French, I've heard you should probably get the genders of words right. Or something.
     
  18. Rakkaus

    Rakkaus Guest

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    Unfortunately, the way children learn languages and the way adults learn languages are completely different. A child can easily learn a language to native-level fluency just by exposure to it.

    An adult, on the other hand, has to work a lot harder to learn a language, and it is extremely difficult for an adult, even after many years of study and practice, to ever reach native-level fluency with no hint of foreign accent.


    Anyway, I love learning languages, I love studying them on my own, and I love studying languages in school.

    Over the course of high school and college, I studied Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, German, Italian, and Arabic.

    One thing that personally helped me a great deal when it came to cracking each language, was my many years of study of Latin, beginning with self-study about age 11, then with four years of formal study in high school followed by four years of Latin practice in college.

    Latin has great benefits in terms of laying a strong foundation for vocabulary. Obviously this applies most strongly to the languages that directly descended from the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian). But English has many, many words that come from Latin origin, and you'd also find Latin-descended words in languages like German and Russian.

    More importantly, I found that learning all of the grammatical concepts in Latin helped me both to better understand the grammar of my own language (English), but also made it much easier to grasp concepts in other language.

    For example, you might Latin and a modern Slavic language like Russian bear little resemblance to each other. But in fact, structurally, the languages share a lot of similarities. Most of the students in my first-year Russian class were bewildered by the ideas of cases and declensions, and the idea of verbs changing form based on both person and number. But for me, I picked it up immediately, and was easily able to crack the code to understanding how to construct a Russian sentence.

    So my personal suggestion...study Latin first. :grin:

    But otherwise, the most important things to understanding a language, even if you don't have that Latin background, is figuring out conceptually how a language functions on a structural level. Once you master that, it's just a matter of building vocabulary upon that foundation.

    And of course, practice, practice, practice.

    After studying Russian in college, I went to continue my study of Russian in a study abroad program in Moscow. While I did continue classroom study there, just being constantly exposed to and forced to use Russian on a daily basis really helped to re-enforce everything I had learned and pick up on a lot of hints on how the language is actually spoken on the street as opposed to in a textbook. So immersing yourself in an environment where you use the language on a daily basis definitely can help accelerate the language-learning process.

    But yeah you gotta practice...after over a year of not having done anything with Russian or Latin or any other language, I've become rather rusty. You have to keep yourself self-motivated to be an autodidact and do a lot of self-study and self-immersion to force yourself to continue advancing your language-learning process, or else you'll start going backward and forgetting the things you've learned.
     
  19. Commitment is number one in learning a language. You can't keep dropping a language, pick up a completely different one, drop that, choose another completely different language, drop that, and go back to what you've started with. I'm currently in Mandarin 2 right now, and some of my classmates dropped Mandarin and switched to Spanish or French after they took Mandarin 1 because it was too hard. No matter how it is, it's better to stay committed to the language you're learning. Plus, it looks much better on college apps.

    Practice, Practice, PRACTICE. We've all heard the expression "Practice makes perfect" and that applies to learning a new language. Try speaking French to yourself and record yourself. This allows you to listen to what your French sounds like and you could try improving your accent. Also, try speaking French with your classmates that are taking French. Even better, speak French to a native speaker (if you could find one). Whenever I run errands with my mom, I try to speak as much Mandarin as I can to the workers at the supermarket.

    This may not apply to you because I don't think French uses tones very frequently, but listen and sing French songs. This helps you with your pronunciation. I listen to Taiwanese songs to help me with my pronunciation in Mandarin.

    Watch some French tv dramas or variety shows that's subbed in English. This works with the Dutch, Swedes, and Norwegians. Partly because they watch American shows that's subbed in their native language. Watching Japanese anime has actually helped me unknowingly learn Japanese LOL

    I think that's all the advice I could give you and uh... bonne chance in learning French!
     
  20. DesertTortoise

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    French is not so hard to learn to read--but way more difficult to speak and understand for an English speaker. Spanish, not so much. Finding people to learn with--if not native speakers, others really really committed to learn with you, learn together, makes a huge difference. Language is communication, about exchange... those who can learn a language alone are rare birds. If nothing else, hunt for and convince others to learn together.