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Strategy: Learn 600 words a week.

 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
167 messages over 21 pages: 1 24 5 6 7 ... 3 ... 20 21 Next >>
M. Medialis
Diglot
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Sweden
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Studies: Russian, Japanese, French

 
 Message 17 of 167
04 October 2007 at 3:40pm | IP Logged 
I'd like to try this method, but I don't really know where to find 600 high frequency words and their translations (And if I would succeed, I would have to find 600 new words in a week.)

How do you find all these words? (btw, I wanna try this method on either russian, french or japanese).
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jeff_lindqvist
Diglot
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 Message 18 of 167
04 October 2007 at 5:07pm | IP Logged 
Well, in a recent thread there are a few suggestions on where to find high frequency words (->in news/articles/similar) and how to study them:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=7488
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luke
Diglot
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 Message 19 of 167
04 October 2007 at 6:46pm | IP Logged 
xtremelingo wrote:
I am pretty sure Cardinal Mezzofanti didn't use a computer when he memorized vocabulary by the way.


It sounds like he was internally motivated, gifted, and not particularly enamored with bowing to authority. Do you think it's possible that Mezzofanti sat around a lot of the time searching for answers and discussing religion, theology, philosophy, etc with interesting people from far off lands? If he was dedicated to ministering to the sick and wounded, it seems he'd have a tremendous interest in them as people, and language proficiency would be quite helpful in connecting with them.

Edited by luke on 04 October 2007 at 9:25pm

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lloydkirk
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 Message 20 of 167
04 October 2007 at 8:47pm | IP Logged 
xtremelingo wrote:
LlyodKirk,

Quote:

Honestly, I never understood why people actually dedicate time to vocab learning. It's much easier learning vocab in a context like reading a book, listening to the news,etc...


How can you read a book in a new language that you have zero knowledge/vocabulary of in context? You will pick up ZERO. This is in fact inefficient. Even more difficult if you are studying a language that has a different script, i.e. Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin etc.

I rather learn quickly 600-1000 high frequency words OUT of context, so that when I read I can recognize the flow of these words and how they pattern, sequence together to form meaning. Then pulling words out of context is much simpler.




Rubbish. Books in parallel text format are an excellent source for vocabulary acquisition and many forum members can attest to that. Besides, many words have multiple meanings or can be used in several ways. The only way to truly grasp words like these is to see them in context, either through books, newpapers, tv,etc..The script of language is irrelevant. Once your able to read the script, you can begin to learn vocabulary in the same fashion.
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apparition
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 Message 21 of 167
05 October 2007 at 12:24am | IP Logged 
I only had a half-hour, so I spent it making some flash cards. I'm still rather slow writing in Gujarati script, so I got 20 cards in a half-hour. (By the way, I'm using the out-of-print Teach Yourself Gujarati glossary, which is very good, but chock fill of typos! Luckily the author includes on the .pdf file of the book--downloadable on her site--handwritten corrections. Hey, it's better than nothing).

I can see myself taking the next few weeks writing up the whole glossary (about 1100 words--I figure I can average about 50-60 words an hour when I get up to speed) and studying as I go, also, in my spare moments. I don't really mind doing this right now, because I wanted to practice writing the script anyway.

I'll report back in a few days to let you all know what I think thus far! (As if you really care!)
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xtremelingo
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 Message 22 of 167
05 October 2007 at 2:45am | IP Logged 
Lloydkirk,

Quote:

Honestly, I never understood why people actually dedicate time to vocab learning.


Everyone is doing vocab learning, including you.
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xtremelingo
Trilingual Triglot
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Canada
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 Message 23 of 167
05 October 2007 at 4:20am | IP Logged 
Edwin,

edwin wrote:
Xtremelingo,

Please, not again. Don't tell us to try it first. Many of us already have our own working systems.

Please explain the advantages of your system over the others.



What I find interesting is that, all I am offering is another way to memorize vocabulary. There is actually no right or wrong way to memorize, as long as you are able to memorize and retain. This is what works for me.

Many people have their own systems and like your own system, I too have my own system. The difference is, I share.

What are the advantages? Well my friend, if you read threads completely, you will have noticed this method is for people that PREFER to use paper flash-cards. If you're a computer flashcard nazi, don't bother reading the thread. It isn't meant for you.

Without a computer it is very difficult to develop timed-space repetition that curve-fits the "forgetting curve" for hard-copy flash-cards. Unless you are a human computer and can compute decreasing non-linear functions in your head.

In this case, the forgetting curve follows the pattern of f(x) = ke^-nx for your reference if you wish to use this knowledge to develop your own spaced repetition methods. This is one (of many) method(s) without going into the details of math that utilizes this non-linear function, to fit the forgetting curve for manual spaced repetition. The computer does this automatically for you. However this doesn't mean you can't enjoy the benefits of spaced repetition manually.

I never once said do not use a computer. I use a computer myself too, but not always.

Anyone that claims using paper flash cards is a waste of time, may not understand the value of burst-studying in spare moments. Paper flashcards offer alot of flexibility. No one says you have to drag 10,000 paper cards with you. Sometimes I may at random each day select 500 cards out of that stack, take them with me where I go, play around with them. Put them away, the next day do the same thing, grab another 500 cards and do the same the next day. It also helps pass time very quickly too while you wait -- for just about anything.
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xtremelingo
Trilingual Triglot
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Canada
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 Message 24 of 167
05 October 2007 at 4:27am | IP Logged 
Luke,

luke wrote:
xtremelingo wrote:
I am pretty sure Cardinal Mezzofanti didn't use a computer when he memorized vocabulary by the way.


It sounds like he was internally motivated, gifted, and not particularly enamored with bowing to authority....Do you think it's possible that proficiency would be quite helpful in connecting with them.


Absolutely, but what is more likely than not.

Mezzofanti, used a computer for flash card drilling.

Mezzofanti, used paper flashcards for drilling.

I would bet my money on the paper flashcards.

Edited by xtremelingo on 05 October 2007 at 4:27am



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