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General tips for new learners | ||
Tags: Beginner | Learning Technique/Method | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6800 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 1 of 59 27 December 2010 at 1:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have decided to share some tips that can be applied to any language. I hope this helps!
Most important The most important question you can ask yourself with any language is 'Why do I want to learn this language?'. This will be the key thing that determines your language success. For example, if you want to learn French because you are going to go on a weekend break to Paris, you obviously will not need to study as long or hard as if you want to learn French because you want to be a UN translator in French. By knowing exactly what you want to get from a language, you will really help your studies. Set a total hours target at the start Set yourself a target of total hours. For example, I set myself a target of 200 hours of French. This motivates me to hit the target, it also prevents wanderlust, as it means you have to 'finish' the language first. Read reviews Language materials can be expensive and time consuming. So, read reviews on amazon and equivalent to see how other learners got on. Just a few minutes research can save you lots of money, and help identify courses that are likely to actually help. Second hand is your friend Some language materials are expensive, but you can often make a killing buying second hand. I recently saw a German course with 6 CDs and two books, priced £45 ($69). I searched for the same product second hand, and got it for just £14 ($21), a very significant saving. The overwhelming majority of second hand language books are in good condition, even second hand. With CDs, pay attention to the condition of the CDs. Even if the CDs are not in good condition, buy something to clean/repair CDs to bring them up to standard, which can be a great investment. Try different things then stick with what works Try lots of different techniques you read about. Some will work for you, some won't. However, by trying them all, you will eventually find techniques that work. Some learners make the mistake of reading about one technique and keep doing it, despite the fact it doesn't suit their learning style. Try lots and then stick with the ones that work for you Keep a diary With any long term project, from losing weight to learning a language, it is vital you keep records of your progress. Whenever I start an exercise when learning a language, I look at the time. When my concentration span wanes or I get tired, I look at the clock again and record how long I was working. Over time, this adds up and also helps your morale. You might think you are not getting anywhere in your target language, but your log book will show you've only done 10 hours study in total, it helps put into perspective your skills. It stops you being too hard on yourself. 26 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5206 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English | Message 2 of 59 27 December 2010 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Could you share a picture or something, how your log book looks like in real life! Or you just keep an online log here on this forum? I always wanted to keep a real paper diary for language learning, but never had a clue what exactly to write there! Just the time you have spent with the language or something specific? Edited by arturs on 27 December 2010 at 5:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| skchi Groupie United States Joined 5680 days ago 57 posts - 86 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 3 of 59 27 December 2010 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I especially like your suggestion to ask yourself "Why do I want to learn this language."
I think we've all experienced days (or weeks or months) when we feel like we aren't making any progress and don't know why we're even trying to learn our target languages. I find that it helps to go back to why I wanted to learn my target language (French) in the first place. There are a couple of French singers that I love, and it would be wonderful to understand the lyrics in their songs. So, when I get frustrated and feel like giving up, I listen to a cd by one of my favorite French singers. This is usually enough to inspire me to keep going. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6800 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 4 of 59 27 December 2010 at 7:42pm | IP Logged | ||
I just make pencil notes in the margin of the books I am working from to note the start time of activities and the end time. I then calculate the time. For example, if a grammar exercise book as the notes 16:43 and the end time 17:02, that means I spent 19 minutes on the activity. For listening activities, I don't need to, as I know how long a TV episode in French lasts anyway by looking at the running time on the DVD. I then make a note of all times on my 'master log' which you can see at the link below http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=18143&PN=1&TPN=1#280339 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| slymie Tetraglot Groupie China Joined 5163 days ago 81 posts - 154 votes Speaks: English, Macedonian Studies: French, Mandarin, Greek Studies: Shanghainese, Uyghur, Russian | Message 5 of 59 28 December 2010 at 1:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good idea, here are some tips that might help others (and remind myself as well). Before doing so though I will warn that some will think my methods are not ideal but they work for me.
1. Never study a language that doesn't interest you. Learning will be a pain. If you aren't totally crazy about the language look into the culture, movies, food, ect. and find yourself something that interests you about it for inspiration. 2. Study a little bit every day (or a lot of bit every day, just get some done each day). set a goal of maybe 30 mins per day minimum and do that bit no matter how busy you get. Don't study once or twice a week for a long time. 3. Don't sweat the grammar. Some members won't agree, but I rarely study grammar. I think you will pick it up as you go along, as I do, in context and from glancing at the grammar sections in coursebooks. Memorizing rules and grammar before you can even express ideas is useless, IMO. Or just doesn't work for me. Which brings me to.. 4. Find your groove. Find out what works for you. How do you learn? Some of us are visual learners, some are audio learners, and the rest are tactile learners. Personally I'm a audio/visual learner. I have difficulty remembering what I read, but after hearing a new word spoken in context I remember it very easily. Adjust your learning plan to suit. 5. Speak the language as much as possible. Have conversations with yourself in the shower. Talk to your dog in Japanese. Make it a goal to practice with native speakers as soon as you can. DO NOT get 'stuck' thinking "I'm still not good enough, I will practice when I get better." people get stuck in this state for years. Just get out there and use the language. 6. Linguistics is a Science, language is a tool. Your goal is to be able to communicate and understand the language, so why do people spend so much time with their noses buried in books and not trying to use the language to communicate. It might be useful to read instruction manuals but getting your hands dirty is where you really start to learn. 7. Pick good materials that you like, which suit your level, set a goal, stick to the goal and don't leave yourself stuck on a chapter. Move on! Say you are studying x language on chapter 10 of Teach yourself x and you still don't understand a grammar point or the usage of two words from the vocabulary list. Move on! Forget about the part that is troubling you, move on to the next chapter and make a note to yourself to go back and check it later. The book will most likely use the word/phrase whatever again and you will probably understand it much better the second time. Lagging yourself behing will waste time and impair progress. 19 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6800 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 59 29 December 2010 at 5:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another good general tip is to be persistent.
5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5208 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 7 of 59 30 December 2010 at 8:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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1.) Mass input is the key, but what works for a particular learner depends on their preferences and style.
2.) Early speaking is overrated, as is forcing early listening comprehension. 3.) Find a good, concise, language program that will enable you to understand the sound system of the language and the intonation. I use Assimil for this. 4.) Spend a lot of time early on on refining your pronunciation to be as native-like as possible. It helps later on. 5.) Read lots and lots. This will enable you to pick out novel grammatical constructions as well as in-context vocabulary. Better than isolated flashcard words that are easy to forget. 6.) Use texts that you already know well. If you know the New Testament of the Bible practically by heart (not to recite it, but you know all the parables, stories, miracles, etc. and the phrasing in English) then when you read it in, e.g. French, the words will fall into place of the "mental grid" you have from the English and you can rather more easily pick up vocabulary this way than if you are figuring out the story as well. 7.) Once a suitable vocabulary base has been acquired, engage in written conversation via a language exchange program or IM. Do not be afraid to discuss difficult topics, e.g. religion, social values, history, politics. These discussions will excite you and force you to either make up words on the fly based on your sense of cognate mapping between your native language and the target language (e.g. English > Spanish) and/or force you to an online dictionary to find the word you're looking for. If the construction is wrong, your language partner will give you the more natural and valid alternative. 8.) Practice speaking internally (and softly out loud, if alone) throughout the day. These can be disconnected phrases and sentences. Use this to practice idiomatic phrases and sound production. 9.) Continually refine your accent as you learn. 10.) When you've had massive written word input through reading and writing, you're ready to try listening comprehension. Start listening to radio programs or watching movies on a variety of subjects. Perhaps use subtitles at first to ease your way in, then drop them. 11.) Finally, practice speaking. Practice on Skype or over the phone. Aim for correct speech that may be slow at first rather than rattling off quickly while mismatching your noun genders with their respective articles and adjectives or messing up the tense of the verb. If you start slow, this correct speech will internalize and eventually you'll be able to speak quickly and most importantly correctly. 12.) Continue reading extensively to build and reinforce vocabulary and syntactic structures. 11 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lightning Groupie United Kingdom livelanguagelove.bloRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5273 days ago 58 posts - 70 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 8 of 59 01 January 2011 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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Keep a level head, you won't become fluent over night, it will take time but you will eventually see the fruits of your labour.
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