Thinking of learning a new language - Any tips?

Shift518 Automotive Shift518 Off Topic
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Sooooo, I’ve been toying with the idea of learning a new language or two. To me watching and hearing people speaking in 1 language and then speaking in another with fluency is amazing.

My main issue is that I am so set in my mother tongue that I try and translate everything back to it. That being said, there isn’t always a direct translation from one to another, and on top of that it makes fluency an issue when you have to stop and think to form a word or sentence. I know there are some tips and tricks that will offer some guidance on how to break this habit or at least figure out how to manage it (because some internal translation may not go away for quite some time).

I know several people who can speak fluently in several languages, but I’ve never had the desire to want to know how until recently. So to all the non-native English speakers here, and some people who have had success, what are your thoughts? I know some of you may say you just do it, but if you stop and think about how you did it, that’s what I’m after.

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date a hot foreign chcik
2 birds 1 stone

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Well, Rosetta Stone’s immersion technique is good at breaking the word-for-word translation shit. I have used the Spanish lessons and it’s excellent. It’s expensive as shit, but you can find it pretty easy on the net (TPB, etc.)

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:lol

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This is what I tried for a couple months before going on a trip this past summer. Problem is that if you don’t try using it outside of Rosetta Stone, it becomes difficult to retain. All in all, if you know someone that knows enough of whatever language to be able to converse with, it’s great reinforcement.

I tried picking up a bit of Italian and a German- well, suffice to say that in Italy, there are some places that people will just plain ignore you - I can’t exactly argue with them - how many times have you been approached by someone in the US that doesn’t speak English? Sucks, but think of it as you appear ignorant coming to a country and not knowing at least a bare minimum of their (native) language.

At least try, and they’ll work with you. Appear to be ignorant and, well, you’ll look ignorant.

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Yeah, not being able to use a language is the worst thing when trying to learn one. I guess if you don’t have contact with it you can certainly lose what you’ve tried to learn.

Yeah, that’s exactly my reasoning for wanting to understand how to break my barrier. To me it does seem ignorant to not at least try and expand my knowledge of another language. I consider us a lucky bunch in the US because we have so much available so close, and hardly any language barriers are present. We don’t need 12 or more languages to pass through an area roughly half the size of the US.

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This goes for anything though. you have to use what you learn or you end up forgetting most of it in time.

My sister used RS for German/Swiss for when she is overseas and the fact that she is imeresed right in the culture is 90% of he ability to speak it fluently. She did say though that it was worth the money spent and helped tremendously in getting her going.

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Pick 3 foreign films (same language) of 3 different genre. Watch it over and over and over and over again with subtitle.

Bam! You just got learned.

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Ill fill my ipod with music in the language I’m learning, watch tons of movies in it… things like that. That’s what I did with German. I also recommend Rosetta Stone, bought that for my girlfriend.

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Nice to hear you want to learn another language.

I’ve studied several languages and can tell you it’s not easy but immersion definitely helps. I minored in German in college and picked up a decent amount of vocabulary but couldn’t speak for jack even after a couple of years (granted class was at 10 AM so I missed a few of those too). But after 2 months (and about 500 pints of Paulaner) in Germany I can say I at least got to a conversational level. Bad part is, I can no longer converse in German, since that was a while ago. I spent a few years in Taiwan growing up and could converse a bit in Mandarin too before thanks to taking classes and having an opportunity to practice. At this point, I remember a few pieces here and there but cannot speak anymore. Lesson learned is that with languages, you use it or lose it eventually.

So consider what you want to learn the language for, and will you be doing it for something long term? This is preferable since there is a higher chance you will retain it if you will use it for a while after learning it. If you have the chance to immerse yourself, even for a short while, by enrolling in studies abroad or just meeting up with those that speak the language, then by all means do that. As others have mentioned, learning by watching TV in that language or listening to radio broadcasts / podcasts will help as well, but of course you need some level of comprehension to benefit from that.

Language study is all about pattern recognition, and of course rote memorization (for vocabulary). Then reinforcement by actually using what you learned (writing it out and practicing speaking to others). If you are studying a language that doesn’t use the Roman alphabet, be sure to get the flash cards out. Buy lots of flash cards. There are a bunch of apps out there to help drill on new vocab and stuff, but I’m from the old school so I used flash cards before (oh yeah and that was back when Apple stock was in the double digits).

Anyways, learning a new language can definitely lead to new opportunities, not least of which is the future possibility of marketing Gearhead “joints” worldwide (sorry I couldn’t help rehashing this old joke).

I cannot reinforce this point more and actually, as I type this I am sitting in a boardroom in Seoul (of all the places to lurk Shift- go ahead and check your IP addys Vlad). Unfortunately, I don’t speak any Korean.

Best of luck.

PS shout out to Vlad, Wayne64SS, Cossey, crappachio, Bennyfizzle, Singh and all the other Shift heads hope all is well. Things are good on my side of the world.

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Archie :number1 Happy New Year!

Man speaks the truth regarding language and immersion. That is the best way to learn but get ready to spend the next year or two inching away at it as it’s a lot to take in. Tenses, sentence structure, nuances, pronunciation, voice variation, increase in speed etc. And that’s all at the start.

The reason for immersion is because you can be the best you can be on paper and know every rule and write long essays but if you get dropped in the middle of that country you will be lost for months until you get used to using it.

Find every APP you can in this regard, start watching shows with subtitles in that language (thanks internet) find a friend or a local group that is learning that language, grab a book and a dictionary.

As soon as you learn one tense and some basic words start talking out loud and commenting to what you’re doing with that language. This will get you used to hearing it and get you to associate objects and actions directly with it. Translation rarely works as most languages don’t work well in direct crossover.

P.S. America still needs Archie! Archie 2013!

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you need a vacation or live with the people. you will pick it up in no time.

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Spanish. Pretty soon were all gonna have to learn it

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Holy crap, good to hear from you! Hope all is well!

I definitely want to get started with a new language, my wife is very good with French because she has been doing it for a really long time since elementary school and spent a few month over there as well. I also hope that we will be able to teach our daughter how to speak as well.

I’m hoping that the more advice I get from bi/multi-lingual friends, the easier it will be for me to at least comprehend how to get over some hurdles in learning. I would like to move on to an additional language as well at some point, but we all have to start somewhere! Only having known pretty much one language my entire life, it’s a mind boggling issue to call something by a different name that isn’t English! It’s really something that took me some time to comprehend. Then on top of that to be able to actually use both (or many) languages on command is a crazy concept as well!

I spoke with one of my friends last night regarding his experience and it seems the translation never really stops, but fades out to only apply when things become more difficult to explain/translate. There’s always a translational gap as you guys have mentioned.

I’ll have to start getting my ass in gear with getting the proper material to learn. It looks like it will be a longer road now because I am most definitely tied down here with everything that is going on in our life now.

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This thread prompted me to get rosetta stone, discreetly. Gonna news around with French because my girlfriend speaks it pretty well.

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That’s awesome! Sounds like you’re about where I am, with the in house tutor and all! I have to scoop a copy of RS too.

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It’s available on the pirate bay if you’re interested in going that route, that’s where i found it!

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Wassup Archie!!! <3

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^true story. TPB FTW

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I DID ONE LESSON AND I’M FLUENT NOW. THANKS GUYS.

Holy fuck though, rosetta stone did teach me some stuff. We’ll see if I remember it later lol.