Society & Culture Learning a Language

[thecatattack]

How many of you guys have learned a language or are learning a language?

Right now I'm in the super basic stages of learning Arabic and have only just learned things like one way connectors in their language.

Any helpful tips when learning a language?

Thanks

 

[Smiling Buddha]

A little bit every day goes a long, long way.

Big chunks every now and then and you're always starting again.

 

[radiojake]

If you get a chance, go immerse yourself some place where not much English is being spoken and the language you are learning is predominant.. You wont have much choice but to learn quickly...

A good friend of mine can speak quite a few languages, including Arabic. She heads down to Coburg and cleans up regularly with cheap or free baklava and falafel when she cracks the Arabic out - Shop keepers love it!

 

[Hank Scorpion]

Wow, Arabic would be tough to learn, good luck with it.

Total immersion would is the best way. Travelling to an Arabic-speaking country, watching their news. You may find it beneficial to read children's books in the language of choice. They use basic language and allow you to get use to the structure.

Learning a little bit every day is more effective than doing a chunk of it once a week. Just keep practicing, I believe that the website Duolingo is adding several languages to it's FREE service, so keep an eye out to see if Arabic is added in the coming weeks.

Above all, don't lose faith. Learning a language can be daunting, at times you'll be stagnant and other times you'll feel as though you're going backwards. Seeing it through is much easier when you're passionate about the language & culture, so make sure you're interested.

 

[MrKK]

As a new year's resolution I finally unwrapped a French language CD/book course that I bought in a charity book sale about 10 years ago. I've since discovered Duolingo.com so I'm using that daily to learn French. At the moment I'm about the "Richie Benaud on the 12th Man" level of proficiency but determined to keep going.

 

[MoscowHawk]

Watching TV and movies really helped me get fluent. Not sure about Arabic, but Russian is very grammar-heavy, so I focussed on learning the grammar first, then concentrated on remembering certain words.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Que?

 

[worbod]

Just for the record, Auslan is considered a language in case anyone's interested, but the process of learning it is still quite involved and requires dedication, just like learning any language.

 

[Julius Seizure]

Im using Duolingo to build my german up. I generally only remember to when I get the email reminder at around 10 each night. I studied there while I was in Uni, and got to the point I could hold very basic conversations, but in the time since its all been lost to me. Nothing compares to actually being forced to use the language to get better at it.

 

[ash_1050]

I've since discovered Duolingo.com so I'm using that daily to learn French.

Seconded for duolingo.com, I'm using it currently to learn Spanish. On previous lannguage stints I downloaded a torrent of Rosetta stone and frankly it's the most frustrating over priced piece of s**t I've never paid for.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

Que?

Nani?

 

[TheMightyEagles]

I think its important to know what you are aiming for when learning a language.

Fluency in everyday conversation is surprisingly easy, and can be reached by gaining a basic foundation through self-study and then living in the host country for 3 to 6 months. That's why you run into people who are seemingly able to speak a number of languages at a young age.

To be bilingual, however, takes a serious time commitment. It requires learning complex grammar patterns, reading novels, continuously listening to radio shows and news programs and so on. The 10,000 hour rule comes into play here.

Anyway since you said you are just starting out, here's my recommendations (by the way, I don't speak Arabic and these are just my generic tips):

• Michel Thomas: Awesome primer which only takes 8 hours to complete: http://www.michelthomas.com/learn-arabic.php
• Pimsleur: Great method that uses spaced repetition to burn key sentences and grammar patterns into your memory. It also teaches you how to pick up as the first port of call which is useful: http://www.pimsleur.com/Learn-Arabic-Modern-Standard
• Alphabet: Learn it as quickly as possible. Like right away. It should take you less than a week, and it will make things so much easier going forward.
• Textbook: Find out the beginner's textbook that everybody uses, then go through it yourself. If you can't understand it, find a tutor or online language partner to help explain the concepts to you. It's a bit boring I know, but it's the best way to form a solid foundation IMHO.

Once you have built up a foundation and feel comfortable having basic conversations with people, I'd recommend the following:

• Anki: This is a free flashcard program that uses spaced repetition to help you remember new vocabulary. I've found it by far the most effective way to remember new words long term: http://ankisrs.net/
• Tatoeba: Memorise sentences. It may sound tedious, but its the best way to improve your language skills. Language learning is about imitation. When you try to think about it too much, you'll often find yourself running into trouble (think Chinglish signs). Here's a link to a popular site: http://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show_all_in/ara/none/none
• Immersion: At some time, you will have to bite the bullet and put yourself in an environment where you are forced to use the language day in and day out. Living in the host country is optimal, but alternatives include a) finding a language partner or tutor who you meet with several times a week, b) watching tv and listening to radio/music, c) reading novels, d) podcasts etc. Disclaimer: Meeting a girlfriend who speaks the host language is usually not an effective strategy - I don't recommend it.
• Dictionary: This will make your life much easier. Best to use an iPhone app or electronic dictionary.

I'm sure there is probably some better software or course out there, but you will be on the right track by following the above.

 

[thecatattack]

FWIW I'm learning Arabic at Uni. I do a 2hr lecture (more informative than a normal one) and a 2hr tute. Then I do about 2hrs of work at home just reviewing what we did in our last lesson.

 

[Hatchy1992]

I learnt Khmer a few weeks prior to travelling to Cambodia, that was 2 years ago, haven't remembered any of it since I got back.

Am considering going to Germany in 2015 on a student exchange through a partner university so i'm attempting to learn German at the moment.

 

[Gough]

Am considering going to Germany in 2015 on a student exchange through a partner university so i'm attempting to learn German at the moment.

 

[SuperCats9]

Got taught Indonesian for 8 years in school and I can only remember one thing, and that's how to say "hello how are you".

I reckon learning a different language is very hard, but if you're dedicated and do it everyday then you'll get there eventually.

 

[Hatchy1992]

I'll keep it out of my vocabulary

 

[Roobs321]

It is something you have to keep doing, otherwise the skills can degrade considerably.

I have a Cert IV in Indonesian, it's one of the easier languages to follow. I've done Mandarin which was very different (the 5 different tones), a whole different ballgame. It wasnt too bad and I found the study of that language in particular rather stimulating, but you do need to tune your ear in a little differently, plus the characters make it a little like two languages at once. I found with the characters I practiced regular ones a great deal and didnt bother too much with obscure ones.

Each language has their own easy and difficult elements, but generally it does help to do some sink or swim immersion once you are at a basic conversational level.

 

[BotsMaster]

Am considering going to Germany in 2015 on a student exchange through a partner university so i'm attempting to learn German at the moment.

I learned Deutsch in year 7 and still know a few phrases here and there, example:
Es ist zeit für rache. Wir mussen die juden ausrotten.

 

[4realinmel]

learnt bit of spanish in uni last year.

Can speak in japanese, english now.

Might go for French nextime.

 

[raskolnikov]

I lived in Moscow for four years teaching English. The first year I was there I lived with a Russian family who didn't speak English which meant I had to learn pretty quick. I did speak the language pretty fluently after a couple of years, though it's now over ten years ago, and really haven't used it since then so I have forgotten a lot. I went back for a trip in 2011 and was surprised at how much came back to me.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I learnt French and Latin in high school but not surprisingly, have had little opportunity to speak them, so I've forgotten most of it. Recently I tried to learn Thai but it was just a little too hard. Learning new skills get harder as you get older. I'd love to learn Thai but just haven't got the patience.

 

[carnthemlions]

The most important thing is to keep trying. It can be incredibly frustrating, particularly to start off with. Everyone learns differently when it comes to languages, so don't be discouraged if something isn't working for you.
Immersion if obviously impossible to replicate. If you ever get to the stage of thinking in another language, you'll know you've succeeded. It's pretty cool.

 

[Kummerspeck]

TheMightyEagles post was gold for starting out. Once you have a base, its all about forced usage. I'm lucky enough to have family members who are native German speakers, so that makes practice a bit easier. If you feel confident, change your phone, PS/Xbox / computer system language to your target one, play games in that language, check out conversation boards on reddit, listen to news podcasts in it, and when you get the chance to use it with native speakers, hold out as long as you can before falling back to English, no matter how badly you're struggling. I'd like to do that, but it seems like at some point in the last 10 years there's been a mass migration of people from the inner north of Melbourne to Germany.

 

[Sydneyfan]

I lived in South Korean for seven years and learned enough Korean to get by, could have/should have learned more if I really put my mind to it but would have been low-intermediate and was able to get around, function more or less solo using Korean which was fine for me.

Have a lifelong goal of being fluent in 8 languages though would be content with having passable language skills in several languages and have studied Arabic, Mandarin, French, German, Spanish and Japanese to various degrees over the years. I find the MindSnacks language apps to be fun, addictive and useful in memorising different languages: http://www.mindsnacks.com.



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