Read read read read. And then do some more reading.
Yes, but don't forget pronunciation.
Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
11–20 of 115 posts
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#12Read read read read. And then do some more reading.
Talking, talking, talking. I'm a book study type of guy, but that really didn't cut it for me for getting fluent. I had a tough time "just talking", so I had to get thrown into situations where I needed to use the language in order to really practice.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#13FWIW Arabic is apparently ridiculously hard to become fluent in. This is according to one of my friends that speaks English, Hebrew, and Spanish and whose dad speaks Arabic (and English, and Hebrew, and French).
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#14When I was in Spain, I talked with a number of adult immigrants about how long it took to become fluent in Spanish. They all said three years and that the first year (of complete immersion) was the hardest. Because they struggled with daily tasks. Watching movies with subtitles helped.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#15This is how I've learned English and French: * Step 1: Learn the grammar and the few thousand most important words. This is the hardest and least fun part. * Step 2: Read a lot in order to obtain a large vocabulary. A lot. * Step 3: Listen to the language. TV, Radio, Movies, etc. * Step 4: Talk to native speakers. A lot.
Having taken a Masters in Linguistics, and learned 3 languages besides my native one, I'd say that 1, 3 + 4 are basically the key to learning any language. It really is "Use it or lose it" when it comes to learning a new language.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#16Rosetta Stone sucks, don't go anywhere near it. Pimsleur & Michel Thomas are nice, particularly if the length of one lesson is equal to one half of your daily commute.
AJATT's a great website for learning Japanese - you might be able to adapt it to Arabic: http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/
At the core of AJATT are the following principles:
1. Total immersion
2. Use of an SRS (Anki is free, cross-platform, & open source) to learn vocabulary IN CONTEXT
3. Language exchange with a Skype buddy to work on pronunciation
I don't know if #3 would be adequate for mastering Arabic pronunciation though. Japanese pronunciation is relatively easy for native English speakers so it's not an issue, but you might have to find somebody IRL to help you out.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#17I speak 4 languages. Russian is my native; I then learned English, Spanish and Portuguese.
There's only so much you can learn from books and taking lessons. My skills really took off to fluency level when I moved to the particular country (US, Mexico, Brazil, respectively) for at least few months (I would say at least 6 months) and practiced with native speakers.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#18By moving to central america.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#19I didn't personally like Rosetta Stone for Japanese, but everyone else I've talked to really likes it. How about that in combination with a little bit of full immersion on the web? Instead of CNN, try reading Al Jazeera or something. You can see the language as it's used in practice today while catching up on things that interest you.
Re: Ask HN: How have you learned a speaking language?
#20I've been using software from Fluenz, which works really well for me for Spanish. I'm also lucky to live with a native speaker, and we watch movies with the sound or subtitles swapped.