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Learning a language by watching TV? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7025 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 33 of 134 09 June 2006 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Haha, well done with that sentence :-)
"Lekker" is indeed just like the German "lecker" but in Dutch it is added sometimes to emphasize something. In this case "lekker makkelijk" means it's very easy and that's a good thing for me. It can also be used for a bit of sarcasm though: "lekker makkelijk" can also mean for instance "you're choosing the easy way out". And you could even say "lekker makkelijk" to point out that it's not easy at all. (But then it has to be very obvious from the context that you can't be serious.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zamenhof Diglot Newbie Israel zamenhof.co.il/engliRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5795 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* | Message 34 of 134 04 January 2009 at 12:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I believe you can learn a lot but complete you'll
Never learn to read or write just by lessoning and without reading You cant really understand any new language... maybe just stutter a bit 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5829 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 35 of 134 04 January 2009 at 4:48am | IP Logged | ||
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There are plenty of Dutch words that are identical or very similar to a Scandinavian word, even when the German word is something completely different.
I have no idea why this is! I travel a lot to Netherlands on business and I get quite a kick out seeing the identical words on signs etc (I am Swedish). I think Dutch language is super cool language and I don't think it would be much trouble for a German, Scandi or English speaker to pick up basic Dutch it if they lived in NL. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5829 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 36 of 134 04 January 2009 at 4:55am | IP Logged | ||
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Lots of people in Europe IMPROVE their language skills by watching TV in other languages with or with out subtitles. But this method is a SUPPLEMENT to other exercises in the language such as lessons in school, self-study or just lots of interaction with speakers of that language. Do not expect to use this method in isolation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| glidefloss Senior Member United States Joined 5959 days ago 138 posts - 154 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 37 of 134 04 January 2009 at 7:07am | IP Logged | ||
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Those who haven't learned a language by TV say it's impossible and those who have say that it's sort-of possible.
There's a guy on this forum who learned Italian only by watching cartoons. What about alljapaneseallthetime.com or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34i9lr94pI I don't buy the idea that the similarity between native language and TV language drastically alters the possibility of learning by TV. In general, it seems as if it's easier to learn a language more similar to your native language than a language less similar, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible for instance for an English speaker to learn Japanese. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6900 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 38 of 134 04 January 2009 at 9:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Didn't we have another TV-thread just a few weeks ago?
Of course TV/DVD/etc helps, but if the language is very different from your native languages (or any other you know), I think that you need MASSIVE input to decipher anything at all, and may very well have to review the same episodes many times. Body language doesn't teach you everything, nor does intonation/pitch. Do I enjoy watching movies in a language I don't understand? Yes. :) If I can get an explanation of a certain grammar pattern faster by consulting a book, I'll do that. If I don't have any idea how this or that word/sentence should be pronounced, and it's featured in a movie - I'll benefit from watching it. There are so many different versions of input and methods that I think it's wise to have an open mind and not be so sure that this or that is detrimental for your learning. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tpark Tetraglot Pro Member Canada Joined 7037 days ago 118 posts - 127 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch, French Personal Language Map | Message 39 of 134 05 January 2009 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | ||
When we were staying at a relative's place in The Netherlands, we used the washing machine there. The machine we have at home is a top loader, so you can open it after the cycle is started, and put more things in there if you desire. The Dutch machine would not let the user open the door once it had started. I can't recall if there was a way to reset the machine though - my wife simply let the cycle run to completion. This machine had limited instructions on it. I suspect that the user manual may have had something, but the manual was nowhere to be found. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6438 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes Studies: German | Message 40 of 134 10 January 2009 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | ||
Lol, I hope I'm not the guy who learned Italian just by watching cartoons. Sounds... embarrassing. I also watched movies, news, COMMERCIALS, documentaries and things like Colpo Grosso. I had a permanent case of computer eyes. Especially from Colpo Grosso. As a kid I met another guy who had also acquired some basic passive Italian this way and memorized an entire song in Japanese. He eventually lost interest. I spent a decade on German as a young adult - occasional watching with long breaks amounting to a substantial number of hours. My brain is "virgin" - I never used it. German that is, haha. It will be interesting to see how fast I progress in the future (I am reviving this language after a long break) and just how "native" I will sound. Don't hold your breath. It's "possible". Should you only watch TV? Sure, if you absolutely don't care about learning the language. Alternatively you might be serious about learning the language but not care about the schedule. I am serious. This is primarily about killing time and watching TV. As simple as that. I was bored and too tired and/or lazy to do something else that would have been more productive. Watching TV in one's mother tongue is a supreme waste of time. You apparently also lose brain cells. Watching TV in a foreign language is very inefficient - but not a total loss. The worst case scenario is that you'll have some fun and sharpen your ear. If you find it boring, stop immediately. Language similarities. It does not "seem" that it's easier to learn a language more similar to one's native language - it simply is so. And it does not even have to be one's mother tongue. Yesterday I took a Spanish test at BBC. I scored 12/12. Some gringo left a comment on livejournal that he scored 9/12 but that he had studied it before and was "fluent, of course". My previous Spanish learning experience consisted of listening through Pimsleur I (sometime in 2007). The test is very easy. I was basically figuring things out through Italian and French. I don't have any illusions that I can "speak" Spanish. Japanese, Arabic or Mandarin, anyone? Russian - I managed to finish Pimsleur I up to lesson 20. Barely. Afterwards I simply watched DVDs, I listened through a few audiobooks and browsed through Internet etc. I read one book. I have basically been screwing around and I have already developed a very decent passive understanding. No listening/reading whatsoever. My mother tongue is Croatian. In another thread someone is raving about "the best method ever". Of course you'll learn a related language faster. On the other hand please don't confuse passive understanding and basic communication with language mastery. Now, if a European language takes a considerable time to do this way, it is not difficult to conclude that Japanese, Mandarin etc. will take much longer. This therefore drastically reduces the likelihood of a successful outcome. Khatzumoto "mined" for sentences through textbooks, grammars etc. and memorized them by heart. He spent 18 mos living and breathing Japanese. He did not spend his time exclusively watching TV and doing nothing else. Ok, so he did not "officially" finish a full course. Did he close his eyes when looking for sentences? Agh! grammar! close your eyes, it burns!!! it burns!!! During WWII people were required to learn Japanese in 6 months flat. They had to sweat blood but many succeeded. They used grammars and everything else at their disposal. Grammars, dictionaries and textbooks did not slow them down. TV is a tremendous supplementary tool. Don't be afraid to watch something you don't understand. It will help - right from the very beginning. Don't burn your grammar books. Don't worship them either. Edited by reineke on 10 January 2009 at 11:35pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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