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My 20 Suggestions for Learning a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7137 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 1 of 22 04 July 2009 at 5:42am | IP Logged | ||
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Here is an excerpt from an interview at http://www.helpwithstudy.com/bill-handley-interview.html.
My suggestions for learning languages are: 1. Use more than one textbook. Use them simultaneously. 2. Have at least one audio course for the correct pronunciation and for aural understanding. 3. Learn the words that hold the language together. Learn the most frequent words and the most strategic words. "I would like," I am, I have, I am going, I need, I want, can you help me? Where is? 4. Read material you enjoy. Read magazines that interest you, visit web sites in the language. Read comics and joke books. Read novels you enjoy or biographies when you are able. 5. Join a club or organization where the language is spoken. 6. Speak with colleagues on the job if anyone speaks the language you are learning. Conduct your business in the language if possible. 7. Keep a journal or diary in the language. 8. Speak to yourself in the language. Hold imaginary conversations with yourself. 9. Do a little every day. 10. Reward yourself for each new achievement. 11. Don’t get discouraged if you lapse in your study. You can always make a comeback and it is always easier the second time around. 12. Don’t get discouraged if you simply cannot understand some point of grammar or you simply have some block in your learning. Just keep going. Your problem will sort itself out. 13. Write emails to people or organizations in your new language. It is fun. You will probably never meet the person you are writing to so who cares if you make a mistake. 14. I prefer audio courses that are recorded entirely in the language I am learning so I am encouraged to think in the language. 15. Work your way through the course as fast as you can and leave the technicalities of grammar, exercises and explanations for later, and then go back to the beginning and learn the lessons in greater depth and complete any exercises. Keep forging ahead while you do this. 16. Carry a small pocket dictionary with you so you can look up any words immediately that you need or don’t understand. Make sure it is a two-way dictionary. 17. I like to learn language in context. I don’t like word lists and I don’t use flash cards. I don’t say others shouldn’t use them – I just don’t like them. I do teach a fun method for learning word lists and vocabulary but I still prefer to learn new words in context. 18. Watch foreign movies. This is easy with DVDs where you can change the soundtrack to the language you want. Watch with subtitles until you are reasonably familiar with the language. 19. I make mini-immersion days where I just live in the language. I talk to myself in the language, I listen to music, read books, study some lessons, review old lessons, watch a movie, eat food associated with the language and country, and generally spend the day only thinking in my target language. I save things I enjoy for the day, like reading comics and joke books, short stories I enjoy and playing my favourite music. My Internet activity will be all in the language as well. 20. I try to enjoy learning the language. I treat it as an adventure. I don’t treat it as something I have to do. I don’t treat it as work. I don’t take it seriously—it is all fun and games. I play at learning. Maybe members would like to add their own. Why stop at 30 suggestions? Edited by fanatic on 04 July 2009 at 5:42am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Toufik18 Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Algeria Joined 5735 days ago 188 posts - 202 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)*, Arabic (classical)*, French, English | Message 2 of 22 04 July 2009 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanx, great advices from a great person. I like specifically the idea of keeping a diary in the language, helps you practice and keep it private :)
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| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6119 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 3 of 22 04 July 2009 at 5:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm actually following all this advice already. This is good stuff dude, I think a lot of people will benefit from that!
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| JS-1 Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5974 days ago 144 posts - 166 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), German, Japanese, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 22 04 July 2009 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | ||
What method do you use? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fsc Senior Member United States Joined 6320 days ago 100 posts - 117 votes Studies: French | Message 5 of 22 05 July 2009 at 2:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I like this part of his interview the best as it is how I feel.
"I am not competing with anyone else. I learn the languages for fun. I enjoy learning languages. To me it is like making new friends. I don’t work at learning languages – I play at learning them. I enjoy learning them. So, listen to advice, but don’t feel bound by it." 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| icing_death Senior Member United States Joined 5852 days ago 296 posts - 302 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 22 05 July 2009 at 3:03am | IP Logged | ||
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21. Date a native speaker of your target language.
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| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6041 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 7 of 22 05 July 2009 at 6:19am | IP Logged | ||
WIN 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| goosefrabbas Triglot Pro Member United States Joined 6359 days ago 393 posts - 475 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German, Italian Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 22 05 July 2009 at 6:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Is it considered polygamy if you have multiple target languages? :D
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