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Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#31

Post by wkrause »

For training your ear, I'd recommend finding Colombian shows, which tend to speak slower and are usually easier for new learners to engage with. The boundaries between words are not as clear as we perceive them to be in our native language, and speech segmentation is actually a fascinating process. Training your ear comes down to practice and having a large enough vocabulary for your brain to start the segmentation process. Someone recommended Michel Thomas's courses, and I'd highly recommend you check those courses out as well.

Formalized lessons through something like iTalki might be a good investment too if you can't find a good language partner.

Apps can be a good tool and people tend to be fairly happy with Duolingo and Memrise. If you feel like you're getting to the point where you can get through reading the news and some basic books, I'd recommend giving an app I just released a look, which is called Langliter. In my biased opinion it's one of the best way to build your vocabulary and break past the intermediate plateau a lot of people get stuck at.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#34

Post by monster_group »

I am learning Sanskrit which is much harder to learn than Spanish because getting exposure to Sanskrit in every day life is significantly more difficult. Here's what I do on a daily basis.

1. Watch Sanskrit news and shows on Youtube. 2. Read Sanskrit magazine and newspaper. 3. Write a blog in Sanskrit. 4 Always have a Sanskrit contemporary fiction book that I am reading. 5. Speak to other Sanskrit speakers whatever broken Sanskrit I can speak (I have joined a group). 6. Teach Sanskrit to others using Google Hangouts / conference call etc. 7. Practice writing Sanskrit on a whiteboard that I bought. 8. Refer to grammar books whenever I am in doubt about the correct grammar usage. 9. Constantly look up new words that I don't know the Sanskrit counterparts to (both online and in a physical dictionary). 10. Actively recall verb / noun forms whenever I have free time or I am waiting on something. 11. Take a Sanskrit book with me to work and go to break room and spend 15 minutes reading during lunch / break time. 12. I have three different Sanskrit apps on my phone that I occasionally refer to when in doubt about some concept.

Doing all the above things daily has significantly improved my Sanskrit language skills. My recommendation is you follow similar technique. The key thing is to do it every single day and not feel bad about making mistakes.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#35

Post by buliam »

What I did when I lived in Spain was watch a lot of movies in Spanish with English subtitles. This helped me immensely with my listening comprehension. Without subtitles, it was much more difficult to decipher words.

Also, if you're there for some sort of exchange, try to live with locals if possible and make it a point to speak in Spanish with your fellow exchange students/people, even if it seems awkward at first and would seem easier to just speak in English.

Other than that, there's no substitute for practice and exposure. Talk and actively listen as much as you can.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#36

Post by deathtrader666 »

monster_group wrote: post #34

I am learning Sanskrit which is much harder to learn than Spanish because getting exposure to Sanskrit in every day life is significantly more difficult. Here's what I do on a daily basis. 1. Watch Sanskrit news and shows on Youtube. 2. Read Sanskrit magazine and newspaper. 3. Write a blog in Sanskrit. 4 Always have a Sanskrit contemporary fiction book that I am reading. 5. Speak to other Sanskrit speakers whatever b…

What motivated you to learn Sanskrit?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#37

Post by monster_group »

deathtrader666 wrote: post #36
monster_group wrote: post #34

I am learning Sanskrit which is much harder to learn than Spanish because getting exposure to Sanskrit in every day life is significantly more difficult. Here's what I do on a daily basis. 1. Watch Sanskrit news and shows on Youtube. 2. Read Sanskrit magazine and newspaper. 3. Write a blog in Sanskrit. 4 Always have a Sanskrit contemporary fiction book that I am reading. 5. Speak to other Sanskrit speakers whatever b…

What motivated you to learn Sanskrit?

1. I think it is very cool to know a 2000 year language, read ancient texts in the original and interpret them on your own rather than relying on other people's interpretation which often have religious and cultural biases.

2. It is beautiful because it has very precise rules. You can construct new words for things that didn't exist before (like computer) without violating the rules of the language.

3. You can say things very concisely in Sanskrit.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#38

Post by kra3 »

monster_group wrote: post #37
deathtrader666 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What motivated you to learn Sanskrit?

1. I think it is very cool to know a 2000 year language, read ancient texts in the original and interpret them on your own rather than relying on other people's interpretation which often have religious and cultural biases. 2. It is beautiful because it has very precise rules. You can construct new words for things that didn't exist before (like computer) without violating the rules of the language. 3. You can say th…

What did you come up with for "computer" ?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#39

Post by umbs »

monster_group wrote: post #34

I am learning Sanskrit which is much harder to learn than Spanish because getting exposure to Sanskrit in every day life is significantly more difficult. Here's what I do on a daily basis. 1. Watch Sanskrit news and shows on Youtube. 2. Read Sanskrit magazine and newspaper. 3. Write a blog in Sanskrit. 4 Always have a Sanskrit contemporary fiction book that I am reading. 5. Speak to other Sanskrit speakers whatever b…

This comment is specific to Sanskrit learning.

If you are in Bay Area, Sanskrit Bharati (http://www.samskritabharatiusa.org/) is very active. Their teaching is focused on conversational style. They are world wide organization.

They have a 3 day intro workshop followed by weekly meeting to keep you going on the learning path.

Twice a year, they have a weekend retreats to fully embrace the language.

I just did intro workshop their style is very very effective. I could start conversing basic sentences after 3 sessions. I didn't pursue further (laziness), so above details could be slightly incorrect.

I have no affiliation.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best process to learn a new language?

#40

Post by monster_group »

kra3 wrote: post #38
monster_group wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. I think it is very cool to know a 2000 year language, read ancient texts in the original and interpret them on your own rather than relying on other people's interpretation which often have religious and cultural biases. 2. It is beautiful because it has very precise rules. You can construct new words for things that didn't exist before (like computer) without violating the rules of the language. 3. You can say th…

What did you come up with for "computer" ?

I did not come up with it, others did. सङ्गणक (saṅgaṇaka - IAST transliteration). It is composed of three parts - a prefix, root verb and a suffix -

सम् + गण् + ण्वुल् = सङ्गणक

sam + gaṇ + ṇvul = saṅgaṇaka

The prefix imparts the meaning of doing well. The verb means to calculate. The suffix converts the verb into a noun that performs that action. It literally means an entity that is adept at calculating.

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