I can speak 5 languages but having a drink didn't help me to learn any of them :-) Quite the contrary.
Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
151–160 of 166 posts
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#152It's great to finally have scientific validation of my hypothesis that the Dutch language is pretty much just drunk German :D
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
This makes sense. The act of recalling it is what cements your 'knowledge' of it, and repeating that recollection makes it easier to draw that connection each time.
It's not really how we learn new things. We see, hear, experience them in context many times, not force ourselves to recall them. Forced repetition is one of the worst most inefficient approaches to language learning.
The idea that scheduling recall repeatedly is a poor and inefficient approach to learning is directly contradicted by all available research on learning and memory.
See [0] for a review of the research on spaced repetition.
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#154>German volunteers learning Dutch who’d drunk enough vodka...were rated by independent Dutch speakers as speaking the language more proficiently during a short-test
I have no horse in this race, but this is brilliant.
(Though they seem to have missed out on an opportunity to determine which alcoholic beverage works best for each language.)
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
> At the beginning pausing video and switching between media player and dictionary proved to be a bit too exhausting, so I also wrote a tiny program that did that with a single hotkey before I really started doing all this. That sounds like a great idea for a service to help learn languages: subtitled videos with links from each word (or idiomatic phrase) in the subtitles to dictionary definitions.
My website, www.captionpop.com, does this with YouTube videos. It allows you to watch videos with multiple subtitles at once, look up individual words, and built interactive flash cards out of video snippets. There are also Chrome extensions that do similar things for Netflix. For example, Subadub. Next to interacting with native speakers, I think consuming a ton of media is the best way to learn a language.
Do you know the names of any of the extensions for Netflix?
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
My website, www.captionpop.com, does this with YouTube videos. It allows you to watch videos with multiple subtitles at once, look up individual words, and built interactive flash cards out of video snippets. There are also Chrome extensions that do similar things for Netflix. For example, Subadub. Next to interacting with native speakers, I think consuming a ton of media is the best way to learn a language.
Do you know the names of any of the extensions for Netflix?
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#157At 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.
Using the bible is... contentious I'd say because there's a lot of differences between even English translations. I mean I guess the gist of it and the stories are roughly the same but it's definitely not a 1:1 translation between languages.
I agree with you not every word being a 1:1 translation, but e.g. the KJV 1611 and Luther 1998 are very alike. That's probably true for most/all Textus Receptus based Bibles.
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#158"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 vli…
We generally say if you shout Dutch it sounds German (especially if you do it in a certain way). So I guess the reverse also holds true somewhat. Though I think in general people who've had a drink or two speak more 'fluently' in foreign languages. Mostly because they don't think too much about what they're trying to say. Also translation: "If flies fly behind flies, flies fly flight speed" (in general the translatio…
As soon as a word has three (or more) meanings you can suddenly create silly long sentences with one word in dutch:
Als in bergen bergen bergen bergen, dan bergen bergen bergen in bergen.
If mountains hide mountains in bergen (a place name) then mountains hide mountains in bergen.
And similarly:
Als zeven zeven zeven zeven, dan zeven zeven zeven zeven
If seven sieves sieve sieves, then seven sieves sieve sieves. (this one works surprisingly well in english too)
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#159Earlier 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).
I'd argue that it definitely is a norm for devout Christians in the US. Bible chapters are a lot shorter than you think (if you're not familiar with the Bible), though. It's a bit of a No True Scotsman, but a lot of people who claim they're devout don't really read the Bible at all, just make public judgments about people. The actually devout people I know usually have a copy of the Bible near the bed, often with an…
> If you have a favorite 1 hour weekly TV show, that's almost the same amount of time committed.
Right, but very few people watch the exact same episode/series over and over, at the exclusion of everything else. And people who do that are generally seen as more than just devoted. It also means that you have one hour less to discover something new. The Bible is a big book, but it’s limited. I’ve read all of it, and I’ve read parts multiple times (it is, after all, a central part in Western culture). But reading it again and again every day means I’d lose time in which I could be reading (and learning!) other things.
A commenter below mentions quiet time. This is a perfectly fine concept but those Christians (both Catholics and Protestants) that I know don’t spend it rereading the same text over and over. They spend it introspecting. Anyway, I don’t want to disparage the concept: All things said and done even if I’d consider this time completely wasted you’re right that it’s fairly short. I just found it hard to believe because, as mentioned, it doesn’t match my experience at all due, presumably, to cultural differences.
Re: Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 o…
Not a downvoter, but you're probably being downvoted because it's clear that "mental" IS being used to mean "crazy", and quite obviously so.
For what it’s worth the comment you’re replying to is completely right about what I meant. I see that my phrasing invites misunderstanding, and the distinction is subtle.