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One Week Challenge | ||
Tags: Time to learn | Beginner | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| allen Newbie United States Joined 5085 days ago 23 posts - 73 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Thai | Message 25 of 70 18 December 2011 at 8:21am | IP Logged | |||||
I think the practical answer is that a week is too short, but I had some fun to think up an answer. I think the answer would to be memorize a handful of phrases and funny stories and mostly dominate the "conversation". You don't need to understand the thing you are saying, maybe work on pronunciation a bit. But you would need to know what would be natural points to pause. Of course the problem is that now the other guy is going to start talking. So just wait for him to finish, and then have a stock of short phrases that would sound natural as a response while not really saying anything so that you can get back to your stories as soon as possible. For example, you should be able to distinguish statements from questions. Any statement will be responded to with various stock phrases which would be the target language equivalent of "Hmmm that's very interesting" or "Yes I can see where you're coming from". Then you would quickly transition into "That reminds me of a story..." and launch into an unrelated pre-memorized story. Learn to identify yes-no questions and just answer yes or no randomly. Then change topics into a funny story. Respond to other kinds of questions by redirecting the question towards the speaker. Something like, "I don't know, what about you?" or "What do you think?" or "Take a guess". Wait for them to finish and transition into a funny story. Smile, be friendly, and interrupt liberally. End with something like "Oops look at the time! It was nice to meet you. Goodbye!" Edited by allen on 18 December 2011 at 8:25am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6260 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese | Message 26 of 70 18 December 2011 at 10:04am | IP Logged | |||||
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The key here is a scripted conversation, as s_allard said. By the way, in his website, Richard van Egdom claims that he can teach Dutch in 5, 7, or 9 days: http://www.learning-dutch.com/ I also have a another course that is claimed to teach you Dutch in a week: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WKON0R8K 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 27 of 70 18 December 2011 at 10:41am | IP Logged | |||||
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How about doing several days work on grammar and vocabulary, then getting a hold of the source code for ELIZA in your target language and trying to copy that strategy...?
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| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 28 of 70 18 December 2011 at 10:49am | IP Logged | |||||
The page actually says you can learn "1 to 2 levels on the 6 level European Dutch Language Proficiency scale in a standard week.". The "proficiency scale" he mentions is the CEFR. He's only claiming to get you to A2 or even only A1 after a week. That won't get you to the stage the OP's looking for.
According to the filename (I'm not going to download the whole thing just to find out what it's called!) it's called Learn_Dutch_in_a_Week_(Tutorial)_Basic_Phrases__Vocabulary_a nd_Grammar. "Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar" again, while "Learn Dutch in a Week" sounds good, it doesn't sound like it's going to teach you to the level the OP is looking for.... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 29 of 70 18 December 2011 at 11:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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I like Cainntear's idea of using the ELIZA approach. One week to reach pseudo-couch-psychologist level in your target language. :)
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| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4930 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 30 of 70 19 December 2011 at 7:04am | IP Logged | |||||
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The more I think about it, can you reach B1 in a week of concentrated effort? That may still be pushing it.
How about A2? This level, I think CAN be reached in a week, with some committment. A2: Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. -- B1: Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. -- 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5131 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 31 of 70 19 December 2011 at 7:31am | IP Logged | |||||
A few days ago there was a thread about someone having tested their CEFR level using the TELC exam. Out of curiosity I took a look at what they offer. If you think even A2 is doable in a week, I would invite you to go to TELC's website and download one of their practice exams for A2 level in a language you don't know. Take a good look at the written exercises and listen to the provided audio parts of the exam. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I know I wouldn't be able to get to an A2 level in a week, no matter how committed I am. Would I be able to handle *some* of what's presented in a typical A2 level exam? Sure. But I don't think I'd come out of it with a pass. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 19 December 2011 at 7:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4930 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 32 of 70 19 December 2011 at 9:36am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ah, not to be silly but could you post a link to the TELC exam site you are referring to? I've seen several for English exams, but if I were to accept the challenge, ideally I'd do it for a language I know nothing about. I wouldn't do a language in the Romance or Chinese family, so I wonder what languages are offered in the practice exam.
http://www.telc.net/en/what-telc-offers/cef-levels/ looks to be a useful site. Edited by zhanglong on 19 December 2011 at 10:03am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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