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What to do in a language as a beginner | ||
Tags: Activating a Language | Beginner | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Henkkles Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4064 days ago 544 posts - 1141 votes  Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: Russian | Message 9 of 15 16 August 2013 at 7:20am | IP Logged | ||
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If it's not too late you should totally listen to some Tenhi, I guarantee it's of higher artistic quality than probably anything you picked up elsewhere >_>
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| Tahl Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4099 days ago 26 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English*, Welsh Studies: Spanish, Finnish | Message 10 of 15 16 August 2013 at 2:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've been enjoying Pimsleur Finnish. There's a lot of material in it, and I'm so far
finding it not boring at all (unlike Pimsleur Spanish). I'm learning what Finnish I can in the month I've got before a trip there. So far reviewing one (30 minute) lesson and doing one new lesson each day is working well for me. I follow up by talking to myself around the house. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4518 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 11 of 15 16 August 2013 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I usually log so many hours on things that are not textbook that it doesn't matter.
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| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4255 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 12 of 15 16 August 2013 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Learning a language is like learning to play a piano. In the beginning you'd spend more time until you
build a strong foundation, then you can go at a leisurely pace. Even if you intend to do X hours a day, it is a stop and go approach or as much as your brain can handle. You are building basic vocabulary like days of the week, time, etc. and basic grammar. Learning isn't restricted to textbooks. There are many online videos, many with subtitles. In the beginning TV programs for children and then radio programs, news broadcasts and other TV programs and movies. Even being proficient in Chinese, I have an online dictionary available to look up words and phrases even on a mobile phone. There are always unfamiliar expressions that came up like "social networking" or "blog" in Chinese. The other day I watched a documentary in Chinese with English subtitles. The text doesn't match up with the dialog 100%. You are basically going by the context of what was said. Somewhere in the documentary a speaker used an unfamiliar Chinese expression. Looked up individual Chinese characters what I thought was being said. And then did a Google search and eventually the expression came up in an online encyclopedia. Being practical you can't always be with people speaking a language but you have access to radio & TV programs online. In the beginning you are not going to pick up everything. Just have to train your ears to the sounds of a language. Edited by shk00design on 16 August 2013 at 5:55pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| I'm With Stupid Senior Member Vietnam Joined 3984 days ago 165 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Vietnamese | Message 13 of 15 16 August 2013 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Personally, I don't usually have time to do more than a single lesson on Pimsleur a day. But when I do, I'd rather switch my attention to another program/website/graded reader/podcast of the same level, than attempt to blitz through Pimsleur. That way, you have more chance of hearing the things you've learned in Pimsleur in different contexts that might aid retention. Obviously certain languages have a greater variety of (free) resources than others. Edited by I'm With Stupid on 16 August 2013 at 7:38pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Emily96 Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4239 days ago 270 posts - 342 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Finnish, Latin | Message 14 of 15 21 August 2013 at 1:01am | IP Logged | ||
That's a good point. And thanks for the recommendation Henkkles! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JC_Identity Triglot Groupie Sweden thelawofidentity.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3932 days ago 53 posts - 108 votes Speaks: Swedish, Serbo-Croatian*, English | Message 15 of 15 21 August 2013 at 1:23am | IP Logged | ||
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I actually start out by using native material, as long as the language has a roman alphabet that I can relate to.
What I do is to start by reading books in the target language. Of course I get the same book in a language I understand. I tend also to use an audio book and the text book in the foreign language. For example with French I started by reading Roald Dal's Witches. I had the French audio book and text as well as the English text. So what I did was to read a paragraph in English and then listen to the same paragraph in French. This is much more fun than using a flash cards or language courses. It works great also, even when you are complete beginner, if you just take it easy and make sure that you get comprehensive input, i.e. have the English text. I have also made things much more convenient for myself now, as I have created an iPad app that I use for this. The app lets me input the texts and the audio and gives me some useful features for translating single words, slowing down the audio, and repeating the audio quickly by setting markers in the audio. If you are interested in how it all looks for me when I learn languages on a daily basis check out the screenshots on my apps page, to get an idea: http://www.thelawofidentity.com/capish Hope you find a way that you enjoy and that works for you! Edited by JC_Identity on 21 August 2013 at 1:29am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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