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A few beginner observations | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| jago25_98 Newbie United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5185 days ago 14 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 9 23 June 2012 at 5:00pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Trying to understand some Spanish here and I just wanted to share some oberservations and also ask for some opinions. - I understand a lot more of what my girlfriend is saying when I have some sort of link of touch. It's like I can pick up more micro expressions or something. - L2 interference is a pain in the butt. Self talk is a major problem so eliminating that is a great help. When I first started learning in an immersive environment in South America I was in a surf hostel with no English and no worries in the world. At that point I could feel my head working, even though I could understand nothing at the time. Now I consciously understand a lot more but this level of processing is too slow. I find myself translating meaning consciously in my head from time to time and this interferes and slows my understanding. Not sure how to stop this habit. Meditation and help the self talk. In turn, biurnal beats can help that. I had a big help up from Rosetta Stone. Had it not been for this or something like this I wouldn't have felt I could have got this far. I know it's basic and I speak like an Indian barking without linking rammer correctly but I'm still elated I can do anything at all. I've gone back to traditional tutoring and learn almost nothing. One thing also I have learnt that should be communicated to people trying to learn who are dyslexic or with learning difficulties is that as a dyslexic I have found that the disadvantages in acquisition are a little weighed out by the advantages. What words I do have I have greater command over than others. I can invent new words and phrases to find another way of expressing myself more efficiently. It's not language learning but it's a way to survive. I'm wondering what I'll go to try next after Rosetta level 5. Planning to move to a Spanish native speaking country of course but I'll definitely have a look around here to hopefully find something as inspiring, and hopefuly even better. One thing I've learnt is that hearing English messes me right up. I've heard that's the case and it's confirmed to me. So all those linguaphone courses carry next to no value to me. Same for many other single input listening courses without the background communication working on a non linguistic level and thus not giving me L2 English interference (i.e. I need those Rosetta Stone pictures or at least something else to help communicate the meaning not in English or Spanish). I was kind of hoping the internet would be more of a resource than it has. It's hard work. There should be more to help navigate foreign language sites without using your native language, like images that overlay to help you from time to time, or more sounds and of course those no textures. One thing that was fantastic was listening to Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven in Spanish. Because I know the Poem so well in English it was a beautiful thing to hear it in Spanish... much to my suprise it works! The rhythm is there! Much recommended. One thing I notice I'm lacking is emotional language. I can see why people bash RosettaStone. So I need to plan a way to learn those words now. So my tips to summerise: - check out poetry - touch - meditate And questions fishing for pointers on next stage: - tips for www? - beyond RosettaStone? - next steps? Are there specific courses on emotional words? Perhaps I could/should learn specialist courses next, like Business and contractual law Spanish, something like that 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4505 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes  Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 2 of 9 23 June 2012 at 9:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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You posted on Rosetta Stone Hater Central. Almost nobody will give constructive advice on that. Some have a too elitist attitude, others lack the balls to admit they used it at some point, else you'd have gotten some replies already.
Well. How about listening to some kid's songs in your target language? Maybe some of those you knew yourself as a kid. Children songs are often emotional, too, or funny, and while they may contain sometimes made-up vocab as well, they usually have a bunch of stuff worth learning. At some point, pick a topic of interest and read forums or listen to podcasts in your target language. That's pretty helpful, too. If you manage to, find friends online and chat in your TL. Edited by atama warui on 23 June 2012 at 9:47pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5336 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 9 23 June 2012 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
Hey, I'm delighted to hear nice things about Rosetta Stone from an account that wasn't created a few weeks ago, and which isn't one of several accounts (under various names) that all belong to a single user. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4505 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 4 of 9 23 June 2012 at 10:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, I torrented it when I started learning Japanese and found it pretty helpful. Demonstrated how the language works, gave me some vocab to go and felt a bit like a game... until I eventually switched to something else out of boredom.
If you can get it for free, whether it be your library or Pirate Bay, it's a whole lot better than 90% of the other language learning software out there, which may cost less - but are also a lot cheaper. I doubt, however, that RS will take you beyond a shaky A2, but that's also not too bad, from a zero-knowledge-POV. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6401 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 5 of 9 23 June 2012 at 11:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6241 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 6 of 9 27 June 2012 at 7:54am | IP Logged | |||||
Can you elaborate on this a little? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| eggcluck Senior Member China Joined 4505 days ago 168 posts - 278 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Japanese | Message 7 of 9 27 June 2012 at 9:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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I tried biurnal beats for two months.
I noticed so improvements of and kind, it is no more effective than playing something like Bach, and the latter is far more pleasant to the ear. I have found real meditation to be effective between study sessions however. It clears the head of all the jumble and gets you nice and relaxed ready for the next 2 hour slog. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6401 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 8 of 9 27 June 2012 at 1:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I can't live without meditation. The files I use have nature sounds, though I also use the more plain files from here. It's important to follow the instructions, as in many cases you can only use earphones/headphones, to create a "beating" effect.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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