How would one improve his native language (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

How would one improve his native language
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

11 messages over 2 pages: 1 2 Next >>

laban
Triglot
Groupie
Israel
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Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian
Studies: Norwegian, German

Message 1 of 11

07 March 2010 at 3:58am | IP Logged

How would one improve/perfect his/her native language skills?

I suppose the methods would be the same for all languages (not sure though)
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Journeyer
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
tristan85.blogspot.c
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Message 2 of 11

07 March 2010 at 4:17am | IP Logged

In what way do you want to improve it?

If you want to increase your vocabulary, reading is a great method. That will also help with spelling and grammar, too, but less effectively than if you study those independently.

Try making notes of words you often misspell and then make drills for yourself.

If you are trying to get rid of an accent, seek out a speech pathologist perhaps, or look for courses on accents (sometimes you can find them for actors, or check to see how news anchors learn a standard accent).
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Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Message 3 of 11

07 March 2010 at 4:57am | IP Logged

Read high-brow literature, like things written by college professors and other very educated people about subjects that interest you. That way, you'll encounter very academic words and long, complicated sentences and you will (hopefully) still be interested.
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Pyx
Diglot
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China
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Message 4 of 11

07 March 2010 at 5:11am | IP Logged

http://globalmaverick.org/archives/222-ben-franklin-and-deli berate-practice !!!

Money quote about how Ben Franklin worked on his written expression:

globalmaverick.com wrote:

   1. Expressiveness: Franklin would take an essay and make notes on the meaning of each of the sentences. He’d then wait a few days until he’d forgotten the original, and try to rewrite it using his own words. He’d then compare the results with the original and see where he’d faltered.
   2. Vocabulary: One of the things he found was that his vocabulary was weak. Realizing that poetry requires a large vocabulary to express ideas in accordance with meter, rhyme, etc., he rewrote essays in verse, and then later take the verse and write it again as prose, again comparing with the original.
   3. Organization: Franklin would make the notes as in #1, but make each note on a separate slip of paper and mix them up, then several days later try to put the essay back together in the proper order and write it himself, finally again comparing with the original.

But there's much more than that in the blog post. Highly recommended!
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tritone
Senior Member
United States
reflectionsinpo
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Message 5 of 11

07 March 2010 at 5:43am | IP Logged

I think one of the best ways, to improve ones fluency in their native language is translation.
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OlafP
Triglot
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Germany
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Message 6 of 11

07 March 2010 at 1:52pm | IP Logged

Pyx wrote:

http://globalmaverick.org/archives/222-ben-franklin-and-deli berate-practice
[...]
But there's much more than that in the blog post. Highly recommended!

Not only in that post. I got stuck in the blog even though I had some plans this morning. This is one of the funniest articles I've seen for some time:

http://globalmaverick.org/archives/75-overcoming-the-fear-of -sucking

Nothing really new, but the way he writes it is hilarious.
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Pyx
Diglot
Senior Member
China
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Message 7 of 11

07 March 2010 at 1:56pm | IP Logged

OlafP wrote:

Pyx wrote:

http://globalmaverick.org/archives/222-ben-franklin-and-deli berate-practice
[...]
But there's much more than that in the blog post. Highly recommended!

I meant the whole blog :) This guy is awesome!

PS: About "nothing really new": His automated, pseudo-SRS automated listening-environment using iTunes smart lists was definitely new (and pretty cool! But then, I'm somewhat geeky, YMMV) for me! :)

Edited by Pyx on 07 March 2010 at 2:02pm
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laban
Triglot
Groupie
Israel
Joined 5824 days ago
87 posts - 96 votes

Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian
Studies: Norwegian, German

Message 8 of 11

07 March 2010 at 3:07pm | IP Logged

ohh..sorry I wasn't specific enough about my question.

- vocabulary is always good to increase and would help in general - I've heard that reading books (as said - high literature) does a great job.

- spelling and accent are not the problem for me - and I guess shouldn't really be a big problem for people in their native languages.

- grammar - well, although I do enjoy learning grammar of other languages, when it comes to my own native language I absolutely hate it. also not sure it could help a lot with the skill I'm looking for.

Basically, I was referring to verbal expression (talking skills), so...re-asked :)

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