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How to "recover" a language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Pugaciov Diglot Newbie Italy Joined 5696 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 13 20 May 2009 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi there.
I've studied both French and German for three years. German in high school and French in middle school, so more than 10 years ago. At the time I didn't really like these languages, especially French. Plus, I didn't have any serious opportunity to speak them. I simply abandoned them. I would like to "recover" them in some way and I was wondering if any of you had suggestions or advices. I should probably still have grammar and exercise books of German, from high school. For what concerning French on the other hand, I have no text whatsoever. By the way, I am currently using Assimil for Russian and I'm quite enjoying it, but I don't know how it would work with a language of which I already have basic\poor knowledge. Thank you. Cheers Edited by Pugaciov on 20 May 2009 at 2:42pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| milele Triglot Newbie Poland Joined 5673 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Polish*, Russian, English Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 13 20 May 2009 at 2:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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If it's "recovering process" start with listening French/German music or watching some movies or reading something what you find quite interesting. It probably gives you a great pleasure and makes you feel relax.I don' t tkink that starting with intensive grammar repetition and making a exercises in your old school books is the best choice. Maybe the typical traditional school methods make you feel bored and it's the reason you' ve abandoned those languages. If I were I would "recover" those languages in that way.
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| Pugaciov Diglot Newbie Italy Joined 5696 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 13 20 May 2009 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | ||
Thank you for the reply, milele. Actually I agree with you that studying on my school books would probably bore the hell out of me. Probablem is, my knowledge is absolutely not good enough for watching movies or reading something. I tried watching "Das Boot" in German with English subtitles and I realized I could understand just a few words\sentences and it was really disappointing. And my French is even worse :( So that's my problem: I just can't enjoy movies, reading or listening and I don't know if starting from scratch (with any self-teaching program like Assimil) would work or not. Edited by Pugaciov on 20 May 2009 at 3:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5703 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes  Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 5 of 13 20 May 2009 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Pugaciov,
With Assimil, a method you already know, it can be a pleasure to restart. No grammar, no vocabulary just phrases in situations with humour and emotions. Why not give it a try. I haven't seen many Italians in this forum yet. Attention please, the forum is addictive! Staf 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| milele Triglot Newbie Poland Joined 5673 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Polish*, Russian, English Studies: Italian | Message 6 of 13 20 May 2009 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, you think that your level is not good enough to cope with movies/ songs/ newspapers ina foreign language etc. But what about watching cartoons and reading magazines or small books for children? I know that it' s not fascinating to watch or read a fairy tales or something like that but your aim is to "recover" a language, isn't it? In my opinion you you' ve started with something what is not appropriate for your level at French/ German. Books/ papers/ programs for children are simplier than things for adults. They contain basic vocabulary and what's more (in particular in tv programms like quis shows) they repeat questions, words. I advise you this way of learning because it really works (at least for me). When I started my "recovering" Italian language I used to watch Olympic Games (yes, this August in Beijing). It was easy to understand because I could guess what they were talking about. The same with game shows and books for kids.And one more thing: I' ve learned Russian vocabulary connected with food and cooking by reading cookery book. That was amazing how easily I could remember words and phrases just because I saw them written next to photos and pictures showing how to prepare a meal.
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| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 7 of 13 20 May 2009 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I guess the problem is that you probably haven't actually achieved a decent fluency in these languages. That's what makes recovery difficult (there's not much to recover, after all) and that's why it's so difficult to watch movies in target languages (did you watch movies / read original materials before?). I would suggest re-learning the language from the scratch, with use of something like Asssimil. For French "French in Action" could be perfect. You'll probably be amazed with the fast progress, and soon you'll be able just to use the language (read books, watch movies etc.). No matter what you decide, don't go back to your grammar and exercise books from high school.
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| GoingGoingGone Newbie United States Joined 5674 days ago 28 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Swedish, Mandarin | Message 8 of 13 20 May 2009 at 6:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I took French, Mandarin, and Latin in middle and high school, many years ago. I have a new found interest in languages now. I thought I had forgotten almost everything I learned in school, but when I started to take a course again I realized a lot of the information was just "buried" back there in my head. Taking the French course on my computer (Fluenz) has really refreshed my memory, and I am having an easier time than someone probably would if they had no background in French at all.
I'm enjoying the course so much that I got the Italian course and will get the Mandarin course within the next month. I was VERY surprised by how much information I retained from school after so long that I didn't know I still had! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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