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Learning one language through another | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| kizza Triglot Newbie United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6067 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Studies: Hindi, English*, German, French Studies: Russian, Mandarin | Message 1 of 15 30 June 2009 at 3:33am | IP Logged | ||
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Hey there,
I recently talked to an English friend who learnt French whilst in Spain - therefore being taught French in Spanish. It seemed like quite an interesting idea, so I got myself a copy of Assimil in French to learn another language. I've been learning French in high school for about 7 years now and as you would expect from high school French, I'm not fluent, but I like to think I'm at least conversational and could easily get by in France. Anyway, my question is, have any of you had any experience learning a new language through a language you already know quite well (but isn't your native language)? And do you think it is a good way to focus on two languages at a time? Thanks, Kizza 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Le dacquois Diglot Groupie France Joined 5638 days ago 54 posts - 69 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, German | Message 2 of 15 30 June 2009 at 10:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I think it's a good idea if you've already progressed to a sufficient enough level to pull it off. I do this with Spanish and German through French. Unless I'm on the Internet I have no access to English written material, not language learning courses anyway, so I just grab whatever I can in French. It's very useful for learning specific jargon and turns of phrase that you wouldn't see otherwise, aside from actually learning another language on top of that.
Your mind even starts to melt the languages together, to such an extent that you begin to become unaware that these are different languages. When you see two foreign languages side by side, translated more or less word for word, I think your brain makes connections on the fly. You don't just understand the differences and similarities between your native tongue and the primary target language, but you understand all of that and everything in BETWEEN all the languages you know. I think it reinforces gaps. I'm not sure if I'm making much sense here, I'm not a scientist, but what I mean is that I find myself reading the "Teach Yourself Spanish" book in French and in my head I hear both languages running in parallel simultaneously. I often hear English going along with it at the same time. I think during that process your mind is noticing things and taking notes subconsciously even if you yourself are not. However, I often notice things at a conscious level with it too. I started doing that because I had no choice. There aren't many written English resources in France. Nowadays though, it makes no difference to me and learning German or Spanish through French is just the same as it is through English. If I had a much lower level of French though I think it might have been an initial hinderance. I say go for it if you understand most of the language required to understand the other. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5688 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 3 of 15 30 June 2009 at 10:14am | IP Logged | ||
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I actually do so. I have the latest Assimil "L'italien". The book exists only in French to learn Italian. You are
learning to languages at the same time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Drabant Diglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5625 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Japanese Studies: Latin | Message 4 of 15 30 June 2009 at 4:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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You pretty much have to, when your native language is not a big one, and the language you want to learn is somewhat exotic.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6263 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 5 of 15 30 June 2009 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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When I was curious about Kurdish grammar, the only book I could find was a Turkish-language one. With the rarer languages, you may not find explanations or textbooks in English, at least not readily.
As for Turkish, the best dictionaries are Turkish-German, not Turkish-English, in my view. Some books deliberately approach less-studied languages through related, more familiar ones. I remember a book entitled Czech Through Russian, published by Slavica. It assumed the reader had studied Russian and sought to draw out the similarities to Czech. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6856 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 15 30 June 2009 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did this in Belgium. I bought Assimil French with Dutch as the language of instruction, and Assimil Dutch with French as the language of instruction.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| AntoniusBlock Diglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5914 days ago 31 posts - 36 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: French, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 7 of 15 30 June 2009 at 8:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is an interesting thread here on "sequential reinforcement".
I have mostly used English based materials so far, and I'm currently moving more towards German and French based materials. There are truckloads of good learning materials available in German and French. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| RBenham Triglot Groupie IndonesiaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5634 days ago 60 posts - 62 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Indonesian | Message 8 of 15 02 July 2009 at 9:05am | IP Logged | ||
I don't think this necessity is confined to "small" native languages. While in Madagascar (albeit only for a holiday), I considered learning Malagasy, and the only material available assumed your native language was French (mine being English). Not a problem, given that French is my second-best language, but my relationship with the Malagasy girl came to an abrupt end, and with it my motivation. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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