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Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#11

Post by mgreenbe »

idlewords wrote: post #3

The most effective language tuition I've ever had consisted of daily one-on-one lessons with a tutor who would make me talk and correct me on the fly. If I made systematic errors, he would go over the point of grammar and we woudl do some drills. Every night I had to write a one to three page essay, which he would eviscerate the next day. Having studied a number of languages, I've come to believe that being forced to…

I agree heartily. Native speakers who are willing to correct you---and not default to some better, common language---are the best resource possible.

I've been in a few immersion programs, and they're all okay. The best I've seen was ulpan, in Israel. Recent immigrants are thrown together and taught Hebrew; since they don't necessarily have a common language, their medium of communication must be Hebrew. Since you're all learning together, mistakes are less embarrassing.

In all, nothing beats being there: you have to go somewhere the language is spoken and force yourself to be a part of it.

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#12

Post by dotpavan »

"out in the wild" approach- I had native friends who were more than willing to help me, by correcting my mistakes, and ofcourse making fun of it as well.. and referring to a book whose lines I would use in everyday activities, like buying groceries, normal chitchat during commutes, etc..

also, this might sound weird, but I sometimes forced myself to "think" in the language I was learning.. this was a good practice as it made me more articulate by mapping words to mental images

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#14

Post by malvim »

I'm from Brazil, so Portuguese is my native language.

It's common here for middle-class young people to take English courses for several years. I took one for six years, then one more year of a conversation course. That, along with watching movies and TV (and reading and listening to music, and...) took me far enough.

Then, a couple of years back, I went to California to live there for a whole year and I must say that made a whole lot of difference.

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#15

Post by domodomo »

Let me tell you about the best book in the world for learning language:

http://www.amazon.com/Language-Acquisition-Made-Practical-Le...

Language Acquisition Made Practical by Brewster & Brewster

It's from the 70s and way out of print. It's written by these two Christian missionaries who went to many countries where no one could speak their language, and they developed a framework for 'barefoot language learning'. It's excellent way to design your own course. It boils down to find a language partner, and then follow the methods in this book.

I became frustrated with the way a lot of language courses are structured. They are so damn boring and suck the fun of discovery out of the language learning process. From the reading I have done on language acquisition, language classes should more closely mimic how children learn a language naturally. LAMP gets you closer to this model.

Also, this book is an excellent tool: http://www.lexicarry.com/

There's nothing but a bunch of pictures in the book, describing different nouns, verbs, and adjectives...all with NO English. You can use this with a conversation partner to learn many many useful words in a more organic way than memorizing a list of vocabulary with their english translation counterparts.

Also, basically what everyone has said thus far. You need to live in the culture, and more than anything, make friends who will speak the language with you.

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#16

Post by Mankhool »

I studied French in Grade 8, 9, 10, 11 and then had 2 more years of it in Uni. None of that helped me become a French speaker. Some friends own a ruin of a chateau in France and I spent a summer there working on it. That didn't seem to be helping much - until I started speaking with the children of the locals who worked on the chateau or lived nearby and visited everyday. It didn't take long doing that to progress to a conversational ability level that I never thought I would have.

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#17

Post by fuzzbang »

I learned Thai by living with a Thai girl who spoke no English. Took about 6 months to become fluent. My suggestion is get a "long haired dictionary" and you'll pick up the language in no time. :)

The best way to learn is to have no choice but to speak the language. Then don't be afraid to fail. I learned Indonesian by speaking to taxi drivers and any other locals I came in contact with. Same process I used with Javanese.

The trick is to start with a basic vocabulary and set of phrases. Then treat the phrases as templates and swap words in and out. You'll be wrong a lot, but the native speaker might phrase it correctly and repeat it back... just repeat what they said and smile. Repeat this process until you're fluent. :)

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#19

Post by yummyfajitas »

icey wrote: post #6

If you can find a way to swing it, being as immersed as possible is the best way to go. I don't know what part of the country you're in (or even if you're in the US), but if you can find a way to start buying Spanish newspapers and watching Spanish television, you'll be in much better shape than if you just tried structured education.

The only problem with Spanish TV is that it is just as boring as American TV. It has a bit more eye candy, but you can enjoy that without devoting any effort to understanding spanish.

Re: Ask HN: How did you really learn a foreign language?

#20

Post by pavel_lishin »

I moved to America and went to elementary school.

Total immersion is the fastest and best way to learn a language. Arguably, it's the only way you will ever be fluent.

If you want to learn Spanish but can't move to a Spanish speaking country, see if you can find a local Spanish-speaking family to "foster" you - offer to pay them rent to live with them for awhile, on the condition that they only speak Spanish to/around you.

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