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Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

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Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#21

Post by melling »

My feeling is that you need an incredible amount of repetition. I never really learned Spanish well until I took immersion classes in Guatemala then continued on backpacking through South America for several months. A decade later I still struggle to retain what I learned.

I’ve built many language learning Android and iPhone apps over the years. I still don’t have a great formula but I think my latest iPhone apps are simple and focused enough to help get people started.

Hundred Words: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hundred-words/id1469449237

Language Pairs: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/language-pairs/id1438817614?...

Pictures and Words: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pictures-and-words/id1459560...

Word Search: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4labs-word-search/id1311744...

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#22

Post by irishsultan »

timerol wrote: post #17
raverbashing wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replace the Bible with any simple book you know by heart I would actually advise against religious texts as their language is usually more archaic and less common on the day to day

I did this with the first Harry Potter to help me learn German, back when I was re-reading all of the Harry Potter books as each new one came out.

One problem is that with books like Harry Potter the names tend to be "translated" as well, which will often throw you off.

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#23

Post by notyourloops »

I learned how to turn a stream of nonsense (from my perspective) into words by listening to hundreds of hours of Spanish TV that I didn't understand. Spanish audio + Spanish subtitles (to figure out how to parse sound, and to map sound to writing), and then Spanish audio only (prevent reliance on reading). Surprisingly effective. Incomprehensible input appears to be quite valuable.

At some point I'll try applying my methods to learning a different language to see if I can generalize (for me and my ability to pick up a language, at least).

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#24

Post by friedegg »

hwj wrote: post #3

At least for Christians a good way to learn a foreign language is to read the Bible in that language, because (1) they are probably used to read a chapter or two on a daily basis (thus, the routine is already there), (2) and they probably remember some passages in their native tongue (thus, already having a translation of the text). This helped me. YMMV.

When I was a kid in Catholic school, we could get extra credit by going to Spanish language Mass, and I did it a few times as an altar server. Even though I didn't really directly understand much of it, I knew all of my cues, etc, because I'd done it so many times in English.

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#25

Post by chanandler_bong »

"German volunteers learning Dutch who’d drunk enough vodka to achieve a blood alcohol level of 0.04 per cent (approximately equivalent to just under a pint of beer for a 70kg male) were rated by independent Dutch speakers as speaking the language more proficiently during a short-test"

Based on my limited exposure to Dutch, this sounds about right; drunken German.

Edit: "Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegensvlug."

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#26

Post by mattkrause »

irishsultan wrote: post #22
timerol wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this with the first Harry Potter to help me learn German, back when I was re-reading all of the Harry Potter books as each new one came out.

One problem is that with books like Harry Potter the names tend to be "translated" as well, which will often throw you off.

There are also a fair number of invented words.

I tried to read the first book in Spanish, and ended up owning a number of dictionaries because none of the ones I already had contained an entry for "los muggles." (I had not, obviously, read the English version first).

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#27

Post by friedegg »

melling wrote: post #21

My feeling is that you need an incredible amount of repetition. I never really learned Spanish well until I took immersion classes in Guatemala then continued on backpacking through South America for several months. A decade later I still struggle to retain what I learned. I’ve built many language learning Android and iPhone apps over the years. I still don’t have a great formula but I think my latest iPhone apps are…

There is a learning method called Spaced Repetition, which involves repeatedly quizzing yourself, with a decreasing frequency as you learn them. So, if you always know the word for dog, you'll get that one less frequently than the one for cat that you have more trouble remembering.

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#29

Post by meigwilym »

commandlinefan wrote: post #19
mannykannot wrote: post #4

"Don't pay too much attention to grammar." Breaking that rule is one of the ways my high school failed to teach much German to most of its students.

Back in the ‘50s or ‘60s, the U.S. government Foreign Service Institute put together a series of language learning courses that covered most of the popular languages at the time. They’re public domain and if you look hard enough, you can find them on the internet - they’re dated, but they’re still accurate (there are some here http://www.fsi-language-courses.net/ but the hosting sucks). I’ve learned Spanish and Frenc…

This reminds me of The Knowledge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom...

Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language

#30

Post by asdkhadsj »

woodrowbarlow wrote: post #13
klmr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is good advice, but > they are probably used to read a chapter or two on a daily basis This sounds mental. Reading the Bible on a daily basis? I’m pretty sure that this is not the norm for the vast majority of (devout) Christians (at least in Western/Central Europe).

just because it doesn't align with what you've observed doesn't mean it's "mental". that's rude. please be constructive.

I think he means it's mental to imagine Christians actually doing that. I agree.

No judgement in if you do that, good for you. However the point is not that it's too much reading or w/e, but rather that it's far more than the typical christian cares to do. To assume christians actually do that is the mental part, but you choosing to do; if that makes sense.

edit: To the downvote, do you honestly think the majority of christians in America, some self proclaimed 70% of Americans iirc, read several passages a day? Really?

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