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Living in countries to learn languages | ||
Tags: Living abroad | Immersion | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| hribecek Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5378 days ago 1243 posts - 1458 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian | Message 9 of 11 07 February 2012 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've done it with Spanish and Czech. If you're a language geek and prepared to put the hours in to both study and immersion, then you will definitely feel the full benefit of it.
As the guy from South Korea (who's name I can't type!) said, moving to the country only gives you more opportunity, you have to be the one to take that opportunity. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5051 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 10 of 11 08 February 2012 at 12:13am | IP Logged | |||||
Yes I did, but unless Im missing something, it didnt tell me anything about what you actually do with your study time abroad. Edited by dbag on 08 February 2012 at 12:17am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 이희선 Groupie Australia Joined 4998 days ago 56 posts - 97 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 11 of 11 08 February 2012 at 7:11am | IP Logged | |||||
Actually I'm a woman (*^.^*) but thanks for agreeing with me :)
Ok, I'm not going to say what I did in my experience because it wasn't really planned out on my part due to it being triggered by work. But what I would do in the future, based on what I went through so far is the following: I wouldn't go to the country as an utter beginner, especially if I didn't know anyone there, if I wanted to maximise my time. Sorry, but not many people want to talk to you if all you know is the poorly pronounced, haltingly spoken equivalent of "Hello, my name is John Doe, I like pizza. England is fun. I like chocolate. This is a cat." It more effective, time-wise, to be able to start jumping into sentences and daily situations where you can actually use what you have instead of trying to pick it all up from the beginning. (of course if one wants to start from the beginning, fine - I did it, but we're talking about maximising the experience) An electronic dictionary is essential - these days you can usually get one for a phone or an iPod so that works too. Its much less awkward to look like you're fiddling with a gadget than flipping through a big dictionary in public. I constantly used my smart phone dictionary in the beginning! (Note: depending on the country you go to, you may or may not be able to use your phone or buy/rent a phone there so check into it first. Otherwise, an iPod is great). The next suggestions are ways I took advantage of being around so much native material: A notebook or note program for your phone/iPod. I wrote down loads of phrases or words that I heard. A little voice recorder. I used it to record other things I heard, to record myself, etc. I would record things I heard, like a situation where I was shopping for example, and then later play it back slower or ask someone else if I couldn't understand, had my tutor read things for me. Good for getting a grasp of natural language, accents, prosody, etc. I got a library membership (May not be possible for visitors in every country - another thing to check out) and peruse a lot of books, hang out in bookstores, buy magazines, watch that country's tv/movies. Also, at least in Korea, there is a bigger variety of Korean-language learning material for 2nd language learners available in one place, so make sure to check out the bookstores in your destination country to see if they have anything unique. On to people and activities: Realize that in your current life, you probably do most of your talking with friends, co-workers, family. If you're in another country to learn a language, well, you might not have many as people to talk to in your native language or second language. You'll have to put in some effort to find people who will speak to you in your target language on a regular basis. It can be really good to join a class to learn the second language in that country, even if you dislike classroom learning, because you will meet other people who are also motivated to learn that language and will be willing to speak it with you. I know some people do homestays and if they are good homestays, they learn a lot of language. But a homestay can go wrong, like one of my friends whose homestay family pretty much didn't talk to him much and used him as cheap labor to do farm work in the sweltering sun. So research well if you decide on that. A tutor or language exchange partner can be great - caveats include working to make sure one language doesn't dominate the time over another. (easier to do if you are at a more equal language knowledge level) and making sure they can explain things sufficiently and/or patiently so you can understand. Just because they are a native speaker doesn't mean they have all the answers or can communicate what they do know to you. And also, you should be able to contribute to their experience (if doing an exchange) so they get out of it what they want too. Join a club or group - even if you can only find international clubs or clubs in your first language, you'll probably meet people who are also into learning that language or have native speaker friends. Hang out a lot and go around the city a lot, even if its just to the park or even to a touristy place. Just get out of the house and don't hole up in your room. And then, go out in the country too - might make you have to rely on your 2nd language more, and its good to hear different accents and different speakers. Careful who you hang out with and what you do - its easy to get caught up with hanging out with people who speak your first language and then never use the language you're trying to learn and its also easy to just stay home or to hang out in an expat enclave. I have met many people in many countries who never bother to learn the local language, despite living there for years, because its easy enough for them to get by in English. If you are in a country to learn a language, you should not be satisfied with just "getting by". Make it clear to everyone you spend time with that learning that language is a priority, and you're going to use it a lot. Don't let them hinder your goals. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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