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I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

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Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#71

Post by swang »

WildUtah wrote: post #54
mshafrir wrote: post #26

If you need help deciding which language to learn, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_...

That list is misleading. 1. Mandarin Lots of people, but spoken in only two countries (China and Singapore) and essentially nowhere else. 2. Spanish With only half the number of speakers of Mandarin, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world. The people of over twenty countries on three continents prefer it. 3. English Only third in speakers, but the most widely spoken language, number one in bot…

You forgot Taiwan/ROC under Mandarin. Also there are a lot of cities in the US (or at least in California) where you can get by just speaking Mandarin/Cantonese.

Also, how is that list misleading? The title is, "List of languages by number of native speakers" and not, "List of languages by some specific importance"

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#72

Post by eric_bullington »

shuzchen wrote: post #31
eric_bullington wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See my response, but I think it's possible. When I first saw this post, my first instinct as a professional (and nationally-certified) translator and polyglot (fluent in 4 languages at some point of my life) was to brush it off. But I see he places appropriate emphasis on vocabulary acquisition, which many language learners fail to do. It's possible, at the very least. I did this in about 4-5 months at age 17 while l…

I agree with the parents that doubt the veracity of these claims. There is so much more to a language than just vocabulary and grammar that I can't imagine anybody picking up on their own in 4-5 months. For example, in Japanese, there are many levels of formality that affect the vocabulary you select as well as the way you say something. And it's not just a matter of using one level with a particular person, how form…

Japanese is notoriously hard to master. It's probably not very revealing to use your experiences with Japanese as a benchmark when the blog author is talking about his experiences with French, a language very close to English, particularly in vocabulary (for obvious historical reasons).

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#73

Post by acqq »

eric_bullington wrote: post #68
acqq wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're a good counter-example for what you claim. You knew the basics before -- how much was this "basics"? Couldn't it be at least four years of foreign language classes in school? Second, you were 17. Third, you were fully immersed in the country of native speakers, probably spending all the time in language learning. Fourth, you say you were evaluated to be very talented for learning languages, do you know…

What did I claim? I claimed that it was possible for someone to learn a language fluently in 4-5 months, because I did so. To be honest, your demanding tone is a little off-putting, particularly when you're asking personnel questions about my life and schooling. However, in the interest of science, I'll try to answer the questions: 1. The "basic". No, in the US, it's pretty rare to have four years of language trainin…

Let me summarize: you've had two years of French as a foreign language before you came to France, you are a top 1% language learner, you've spent all your five months in France just learning language and you haven't taken any formal exam which would prove that you've actually reached a C1 level and not B1 or B2. In short, you didn't show that it's possible reaching C1 in five months from zero knowledge even for a top 1% person. Thank you.

(As a top 1% language learner you must have reached A2 only "by osmosis" in two years of French as a foreign language, before you came to France, then reaching B2 (again being top 1%) in five months there is fully realistic.)

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#74

Post by personlurking »

why-el wrote: post #69
personlurking wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you on the bombardment method. In terms of fluency, my Portuguese is 95%, my Spanish is 85%, my Italian is 50% and my French is probably 20%. Of course, these percentages would be best if broken down into reading, writing, etc, in order to get a clearer picture. I don't consider myself to be a quick language learner (ie, with a 'gift' for it) but I do believe that being passionate goes a long, long way and t…

I am actually in Brazil right now and I just started learning Portuguese a week ago. I am basically just watching How I Met Your Mother with Portuguese subtitles. Such a beautiful language. My French helps a lot though.

After teaching myself Brazilian-Portuguese at home in California over a good 5 year period, I moved to Brazil to perfect the last stage, speaking. After half a year, I moved back to the States. A few years later, I moved again (to Brazil) for a few months and last year I moved here once more. Now I've been here for almost a year this time around.

So I've climbed this mountain and found myself wondering what is next. Seems I'm going to take another stab at Italian since it's been several years since I first got into it. That's what's great about language learning, if you consider yourself a lifelong learner, you can 'bookmark' your learning process for later.

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#75

Post by acqq »

eric_bullington wrote: post #70
_pferreir_ wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't cost me to believe that (if you are good and dedicate a lot of time to it) you can get to B1 or B2 in 4-5 months. C1 is a completely different story though. I work for an international organization and people around here are naturally predisposed to learn new languages. It's amazing to see how much you can learn from native speakers, however C1 would require many more hours of interaction than 5 months can…

Why don't you ask some of the people you work with who are naturally good at languages if they've ever learned a language to a C1 level in 5 months? I imagine some of them will not only confirm that they learned a language to a level equivalent to C1 in that amount of time, but some may also tell you that they learned a language to C2-level fluency in around that amount of time.

We obviously have different ideas what C1 and C2 are. I'm sorry, I know only what exams look like here in this German speaking country for the purpose of obtaining B2 in order to get the right to study and I know how much harder C1 is (as much that a lot of native speakers not trained to write organized texts wouldn't pass it without targeted preparations), and it matches the specification I've linked, see the top post.

Can you please specify your reference for that what you consider a "C1" level? Also please note that once we relax the starting conditions, allowing two years of preparations and avoiding a formal C1 exam, we can't really call it "C1 in five months."

I believe you that you sounded awesome, I believe you you've received a lot of praise for your ability, we just don't agree if that was a C1 as defined.

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#76

Post by shuzchen »

eric_bullington wrote: post #72
shuzchen wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the parents that doubt the veracity of these claims. There is so much more to a language than just vocabulary and grammar that I can't imagine anybody picking up on their own in 4-5 months. For example, in Japanese, there are many levels of formality that affect the vocabulary you select as well as the way you say something. And it's not just a matter of using one level with a particular person, how form…

Japanese is notoriously hard to master. It's probably not very revealing to use your experiences with Japanese as a benchmark when the blog author is talking about his experiences with French, a language very close to English, particularly in vocabulary (for obvious historical reasons).

You would have a point if the post author didn't also claim to be having the same success with Russian (also rated notoriously hard to master for english speakers). The tone of the article also implies that the same technique can be applied to any language.

That said, I still doubt actual fluency is obtainable for non-mavens even in the romance languages. In my experience, all early learners have a naive view of their own ability, no matter what the target language is.

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#77

Post by [deleted] »

eps wrote: post #66
eric_bullington wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if he was immersed in the language, I could believe it. I got to that level in French at age 17 within about 4 months. Of course, I knew the basics before I went, and I was studying in a French school and living with a French family, which made a huge difference (although I attribute my greatest language learning to watching 21 Jump St. in French every day after school -- fortunately, since I had avoided the sh…

In five months - no way. I went as an exchange student to the US with virtually zero spoken English. I met noone speaking my language for first few months, so it was as immersive as it gets (save getting an English-speaking girlfriend), and yet it took me 3 months to just start conversing. No way in hell one can learn to C1 fluency in 5 month even if it's an 24/7 effort.

[deleted]

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#78

Post by dpark »

polymatter wrote: post #46
pavel_lishin wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, instead of a crazy person, you look like an asshole.

Why do you care what other people think? Seriously, just whisper and accept the stares. That's what I do. People lose interest in you after a while anyway.

I don't know about pavel_lishin, but I care what other people think because I don't want to be an asshole. I don't want to be the guy talking loudly on his phone on a crowded bus, because that's guy's obnoxious.

The guy who's whispering to himself is fine. Weird, but at least not an asshole.

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#79

Post by why-el »

personlurking wrote: post #74
why-el wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am actually in Brazil right now and I just started learning Portuguese a week ago. I am basically just watching How I Met Your Mother with Portuguese subtitles. Such a beautiful language. My French helps a lot though.

After teaching myself Brazilian-Portuguese at home in California over a good 5 year period, I moved to Brazil to perfect the last stage, speaking. After half a year, I moved back to the States. A few years later, I moved again (to Brazil) for a few months and last year I moved here once more. Now I've been here for almost a year this time around. So I've climbed this mountain and found myself wondering what is next.…

I know right? I reserve a fixed time for each one of the languages I speak and find myself learning few more words every day. I dont know about you, but I see a lot of similarity between the human languages I speak and the computer languages I use. They both require life long commitment. Isn't that interesting?

Re: I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here’s How

#80

Post by virtualeyes »

acqq wrote: post #16

I just don't believe his claim: "C1 fluency in French in about 5 months" if he started from 0 unless he didn't do anything but learning the language in the target country. C1 is a damn high fluency: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Re... "Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvi…

5 months without living/breathing the language amongst native speakers, fluency, methinks NOT ;-)

I took 8 years of French growing up (10-18) and I understood nothing, literally nothing when I visited Quebec for the first time (that's a joke, do you get it?)

Anyway, the point is, fluency cannot be gained without living in the culture where the language is spoken. Book learning, reciting phrases, etc. will not give you the auditory queues that conversations with native speakers will. When you mispronounce a word or phrase, a raised eyebrow speaks volumes. Books do not raise eyebrows.

The best way to learn languages is to live abroad, in various places, watch loads of TV (really the more the better) and mingle with the locals.

Finally the absolute best way to learn a language is through your significant other; if he/she speaks the language you are trying to learn, and has no interest in speaking your native tongue, wow, spaceship language learning class of the highest order ;-)

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