# Tips on learning another language



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

My resources and life situation is such now that I can't go to some immersion school in Costa Rica or Mexico to learn Spanish. I haven't studied in a while and consequently am really rusty. I run into similar blocks every time I try to study Spanish without any tutoring. Vocab doesn't often correspond literally as things would in a perfect and boring world so I find rummaging through a dictionary fairly useless at this point. It's possible that I just need a tutor and to do some conversational groups. But I don't think my level is even high enough for conversation groups. I wish I had the ability to guide my own studies, but I think I'm stuck. Any tips based on your experience?


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

By far the most challenging/time-consuming thing about learning a language is vocabulary aquisition, and the most efficient way for expanding vocabulary is reading, more or less. Don't worry too much about using the language actively (speaking, writing) unless you are at an advanced level.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> But I don't think my level is even high enough for conversation groups.


There is no such thing as level too low for conversational groups. I delayed my first attempt to participate in one for same reason as you and when I finally went there, it turned out there are total beginners, even people who don't speak the language at all and just came for company. You have big chance to meet some nice people who will guide you to say basic things that normally you try to get from tutorial book, just with real people it will be a thousand times more fun and memorable. Living experience with the language is the best and there is no reason why it shouldn't be your method from the very beginning.

Also, sing this every morning under the shower:


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Aren't conversation groups often "leveled"? So it depends. Definitely if conversation groups motivate you and they are not explicitly "super-advanced" ones, they would be a good way to learn. If you can't think of anything very motivating or interesting to read and you like the idea, it would be probably even better than reading, but I think reading is otherwise more efficient way for aquiring ridiculous amounts of words.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Some tips:

Use post-it notes (if your living situation permits it): put labels on everything around you in the foreign language, and/or stick English words on a wall with the foreign-language equivalent on the back. Replace them with other words as you master them.

Find language exchange partners online: use email and video chat as much as you can.

Download apps: there are lots of good free programs for acquiring vocab.

Listen to foreign-language audiobooks/news etc.

Find a good audio course (like Pimsleur, if you're a beginner).

Read constantly--you might start out with simplified texts (children's books, simplified news sites, etc.)

Translate from English into the foreign language.

Set a minimum amount of time you'll study daily, and keep to the routine.

If you ever _do_ get the chance to travel, look for an intensive course--casual "immersion" seldom does much.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Blancrocher said:


> Download apps: there are lots of good free programs for acquiring vocab.


I have used a pop-up dictionary for Mozilla Firefox for learning Japanese. Very handy. Similar should exist for Spanish, you'd think...


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Youtube is your friend


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Blancrocher said:


> Download apps: there are lots of good free programs for acquiring vocab.


I've been using (free) Duolingo to learn German (picking up where I dropped off in school many years ago).

It's a nice tool, but has its limitations. It works better for vocab than for grammar. You're pretty much on your own to piece together the rules of pronouns endings, for example. I think it helps to write the language as well, rather than just type on screen.

It tests your speech, although it isn't great.

So I'd recommend it or another app, but not as the only tool.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Read, read, read!!!

Borrow a course from the library, or try Duolingo.

If you're near a university, the language departments often have a social room where current and ex students and an occasional prof drop in for a coffee and some chitchat.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

clavichorder said:


> My resources and life situation is such now that I can't go to some immersion school in Costa Rica or Mexico to learn Spanish. I haven't studied in a while and consequently am really rusty. I run into similar blocks every time I try to study Spanish without any tutoring. Vocab doesn't often correspond literally as things would in a perfect and boring world so I find rummaging through a dictionary fairly useless at this point. It's possible that I just need a tutor and to do some conversational groups. But I don't think my level is even high enough for conversation groups. I wish I had the ability to guide my own studies, but I think I'm stuck. Any tips based on your experience?


Go hang out at the local Home Depot's parking lot. There are usually quite a few Hispanic gentlemen sitting around, seemingly having a fantastic time!


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

agree with many tips here especially about "read, read, read"!
one more tip: get a good textbook for your level . if you are a beginner go through it from cover to cover and.....the most important ever !  as soon as you are able to read and comprehend start reading from original sources - newspapers, magazines, literature, poetry of course is the most difficult for every language learner , so sometimes I wonder why so many "teachers" recommend language learning through poems ??? well, I understand musicality and flexibility, etc of poetical language, but not for a beginner....it becomes just a waste of time.

There is a technique called "shadowing" ( I think you can find a detailed description of it on the net), but in short it's about reading out loud any texts without worrying if you understand the meaning or not ( at least at the first stages you shouldn't worry about it), and texts should be original. well, all that about "originality" is a rule of thumb which is ignored by majority. But why is it important? Coz you get immersed into a language, you start feeling it which is the most important thing, you understand real structure , real grammar, etc not the rigid one derived from textbooks ( I don't try to discard textbooks completely) using original sources is even more important for someone who can't for some reasons study abroad, but it's equally important even for those studying abroad as sometimes you see people spent time in language schools abroad and they have troubles reading real texts. For sure it depends on a level of a student, but here we talk about intermediate level so far. the problem is many of students of intermediate level are able to communicate decently but when it comes to reading comprehension of original piece of writing they fail or have problems.....hm....it's a long topic.

Vocabulary acquisition ? it's not a big deal if you can concentrate well and if you are good at associations , find common roots of different words and so on. It's of great help if you ever learned some Latin, because all Roman languages are derived from Latin. And one more thing which can save lots of time ( and again very common mistake in so called "modern" approach to learning foreign languages ) : making lists of words and cards are not of great help. What happens is that such an approach is unrelated to reality: if one doesn't use this word from a list in life, one will sooner or later forget them and I think one will forget them soon 

Despite of all I've written above about original texts still you should do all exercises from your grammar textbooks or on the internet because it'll help you to imprint grammar patterns in your memory. As soon as you've done your grammar exercises start practicing them in real life - the same grammar pattern that you've learned ( with an online or real friends, composing your own sentences, etc).

you say you are stuck....I think you are lacking motivation. It's very important to have it and it's only you who should find it 

I forgot about movies. Especially if you usually like watching them grab a copy of ones that you like and already watched in a language you wish to master and watch it over and over, it's preferable to have subtitles so that you could pick come new words and phrases, etc and write them down. It's time consuming process, but it works nicely.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

For pronunciation, a French professor said to exaggerate the movements of the mouth. She was expert at it :lol: saying each word with grotesque and large movements of her lips and tongue.

This could be combined with helenora's "shadowing" suggestion.

I endorse reading out loud! If you are home alone or have a place for yourself, pick a good book or story or any interesting text and read it aloud.

I would also recommend getting reference books on subjects that interest you in the language you are learning. Eg., if you are interested in gardening, then having some high quality reference works that you will be referring back to again and again is a great way to require use of the language in your day-to-day life.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks for the tips. I'd never heard of Duolingo, but I'm finding it addictive! It says my French is 50% fluent (I don't think it can be yet) which suggests that it doesn't take you to a very advanced level.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Apart from all the read-read-read aloud suggestions that I wholeheartedly support I can advise to marry a woman who speaks that other language you want to learn, even better: a woman with children. The children only know that other language and they will laugh at all your slips of the tongue (which is a great correction method). Even nicer: the children will learn you to speak slang, not the official bookish language that nobody really speaks.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

TxllxT said:


> Apart from all the read-read-read aloud suggestions that I wholeheartedly support I can advise to * marry a woman who speaks that other language you want to learn, even better: a woman with children. *The children only know that other language and they will laugh at all your slips of the tongue (which is a great correction method). Even nicer: the children will learn you to speak slang, not the official bookish language that nobody really speaks.


Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

I can't say for sure what the best strategy would be, but I tried learning Italian about two weeks before going to Italy, and although I didn't become anywhere near fluent, I could already come up with complete sentences and actually say/understand some stuff. (It may have helped that I already knew French pretty well, and a little bit of Spanish, and that Italian comes up a lot in music, but still...)

Basically, the first thing I did was learn the pronouns and some important verbs, and how to conjugate regular verbs, both in the present and past tense. This was surprisingly helpful. Besides that, I went to Youtube to watch learning Italian videos, there are a bunch of them. I think I used Duolingo (or some other app?) a little bit, which was pretty helpful. Also, there are many Sporcle quizzes which I used to help me more with important vocab.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Dim7 said:


> Don't worry too much about using the language actively (speaking, writing) unless you are at an advanced level.


Sorry, Dim7 but this flies in the face of widely-accepted practice in second language acquisition

Conversation is a key element in learning a second language - along with vocab, syntax, grammar etc etc. Mix with native speakers and talk and listen and talk and listen and talk and listen as much as you can. Take a notebook with you and jot down new words and phrases as appropriate, use books and tapes to reinforce learning and to introduce new material, but above all, speak and listen.

Next tip - think about how you learn best. I lean new vocabulary by sight - so I use flash cards with the english on one side in one colour, and the ta5rget language on the other side in a different colour. I use lots of memory games to remember, test, and reinforce my new vocab learning. But others can pick things up in different ways. I also like the grammar and syntax - so I use lots of grammar exercises too and write (and read aloud) as I do them and then mark them and give myself a pat on the back ... or set the activity aside for repetition at a later time.

Finally, I wish I had learnt this earlier - watch your favourite TV programmes on You-Tube in the target language. Kids programmes, sport, films, documentaries .... whatever it is, watch and listen and you pick up lodas about intonation, pronunciation, vocab etc etc.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Headphone Hermit said:


> Sorry, Dim7 but this flies in the face of widely-accepted practice in second language acquisition.


Well, would you say that it is important from early on to have conversations in the target language?


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> Read, read, read!!!
> 
> Borrow a course from the library, or try Duolingo.


I'll second this. Also, you can try thinking in your target language. Just translate whatever is going on in your head at the moment.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

TxllxT said:


> Apart from all the read-read-read aloud suggestions that I wholeheartedly support I can advise to marry a woman who speaks that other language you want to learn, even better: a woman with children. The children only know that other language and they will laugh at all your slips of the tongue (which is a great correction method). Even nicer: the children will learn you to speak slang, not the official bookish language that nobody really speaks.


Great advice. The lady (or the man if you're female) will provide a mighty good motivation too.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Also, you can try thinking in your target language. Just translate whatever is going on in your head at the moment.


Definitely. I like having imaginary conversations in my head in the target language. Though it's probably better to at some point start thinking straight in the target language without "translating".


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Dim7 said:


> Well, would you say that it is important from early on to have conversations in the target language?


yes. absolutely.

Meaningful interactions on the target language are an important and helpful way of developing language competence


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Fifth place - not bad for such a tiny country:

http://www.atlasandboots.com/hardest-languages-to-learn/


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I am trying my hand at writing a short piece of German-language "adult fiction" right now. Now that is a fun way to learn foreign languages - writing naughty stories


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2015)

SiegendesLicht said:


> I am trying my hand at writing a short piece of German-language "adult fiction" right now. Now that is a fun way to learn foreign languages - writing naughty stories


_* Pillow talk*_ with the opposite sex. Probably the most ancient and effective way of learning a foreign language. Now if you will excuse me, Josephine has something to tell me ...


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Well guess how I learnt Japanese... not that it is in any way related to previous posts.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> Well guess how I learnt Japanese...


Whilst suckling at the breast?


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I've started learning Spanish and I'm looking for good podcasts. Does anyone have any suggestions? What I'm looking for in particular is a good news program that updates regularly--like every half hour or hour or so. A good Youtube channel like this would also be useful. 

Tips very much appreciated.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Man musicom...I have been in Spain for nearly two weeks now and school for a week and a half. There are many many things I still cannot even communicate. Granted, I have done little studying. I have often felt too tired to study. But I simply do not have much vocabulary and I was hoping more sophisticated than present tense grammar would happen by immersion intuition, but it is really slow going, so I probably need to study more.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Tips on learning another language: *DON'T!*

Gracias,
Morimur


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

clavichorder said:


> Man musicom...I have been in Spain for nearly two weeks now and school for a week and a half. There are many many things I still cannot even communicate. Granted, I have done little studying. I have often felt too tired to study. But I simply do not have much vocabulary and I was hoping more sophisticated than present tense grammar would happen by immersion intuition, but it is really slow going, so I probably need to study more.


That's pretty similar to where I was with French at Christmas. Immersion by itself didn't work much magic (as of course I already knew from previous trips, I was just being lazy really) but when I started staying up to read "French in three months" by torchlight, improvement quickly followed. Immersion plus study is the best and fastest way to learn, though of course it can be tough to find the time if you are tired out from travelling or have other commitments.


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Listening, reading, watching movies...


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

clavichorder said:


> Man musicom...I have been in Spain for nearly two weeks now and school for a week and a half. There are many many things I still cannot even communicate. Granted, I have done little studying. I have often felt too tired to study. But I simply do not have much vocabulary and I was hoping more sophisticated than present tense grammar would happen by immersion intuition, but it is really slow going, so I probably need to study more.


¡clavichorder, tu Español es horrible!

:lol::lol::lol:


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Morimur said:


> ¡clavichorder, tu Español es horrible!
> 
> :lol::lol::lol:


Si usted piensa esto es un ejemplo de mi Español, creo que no puede hablar o entender mucho en Español tampoco.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

clavichorder said:


> Si usted piensa esto es un ejemplo de mi Español, creo que no puedo hablar o entender mucho en Españpl tampoco.


Muy impresionante, señor clavichorder. Parece que lo subestimé. :tiphat:


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Explains pretty well children vs. adult language learning differences and how the difference is exaggerated.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

There are a few series out there for basic communication.

ex. the 'Friends like' [email protected] in English, French, German, and Spanish.


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

I wouldn't care too much for pronunciation or vocabulary at first. The key is, I believe, to become familiar with the language you are targetting. We Spanish speakers have quite an ambiguous grammatical system that takes some time getting used to, and since you can't learn by heart the gender of every single sustantive in our language or how to conjugate every verb in each one of the dozen of tenses we have, you'll have to try to use your ear first and your intuition later. Getting to know the basic patterns that rule everything (with exceptions, of course) will help you to apply them in the creation and organization of your speech. Of course, I can't stress enough how important is to start producing the language as soon as possible and not becoming a "passive participant of the language", since it will absolutely cripple your capability of structuring the language in your head.

If you don't feel confident to engage in conversations you could write little stories in Spanish in a Word file every day (about how was your day, what things you like or small things like that) trying to let the words come out as naturally as possible and not overthinking the language as you use it. Then, ten minutes later, re-read what you wrote and try to identify your mistakes and correct them thinking very how can you express yourself in the best possible way with what you already know of the language. This way your capability for language production will slowly but steadily increase.

Finally, you'll have to study, of course :lol: Verbs and gender will probably the hardest parts at first, but you'll realize that it is all about finding the patterns

If you need anything, I am a native Spanish speaker so _NO DUDES EN PREGUNTAR!_


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Bayreuth said:


> Of course, I can't stress enough how important is to start producing the language as soon as possible and not becoming a "passive participant of the language", since it will absolutely cripple your capability of structuring the language in your head.


I disagree. I didn't use English and Japanese very much actively at first, but after I had aquired a large passive vocabulary, good listening skills etc. I didn't find all that difficult to convert that to active language skills. Trying to have a conversation early on can be an awkward and discouraging experience.

The most time consuming thing is simply to aquire the massive vocabulary you need to understand most text and speech you are going to encounter. Active vocabulary will and can be much much smaller, as being able to say the same thing one way is enough, but being only able to understand one way of saying the same thing is NOT enough. Of course, to eventually be able to express yourself fluently some active usage of language is needed, but this needn't be early on. Though there's certainly no harm in trying to think in the language in your head as soon as possible. Or any kind of active usage of course - however as I said many find that awkward.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Thanks Bayreuth. For me the difficult parts right now that I have become aware of(there will be difficulties that I am not aware of at the moment, as my level increases), are pronouns(I finally am starting to use them functionally, and differentiating between appropriate uses of past and future. I am usually being understood these days, and when people speak directly to me or to a class, I understand well enough usually. And of course, I consistently make mistakes with gender.

I like your story idea. I have reached a level where I am feeling better able to comprehend straightforward texts.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

A Finnish student of mine once told me that he would begin to learn a new language by just listening to it, to learn what he called 'the music' of the language. Once he had that (I guess he meant accent, meter), he would pick up the vocabulary, and then the grammar. I like to think that I am fairly good at recognising other languages from their 'music', even though I don't speak them. It's a more or less useless skill, but passes the time in airports.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

If the teacher really helped me gain some fluency, then 20% would be a good tip.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

You might check out the Foreign Service Institute's courses on Spanish. From what I understand, they are still basically the best free language courses out there, despite being about 60 years old. I've never actually used one, I'm afraid, though I've often thought of trying it. They appear to require a lot of patience. I've heard it should be used in conjunction with other means of study.


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## arkiv1111 (Oct 1, 2021)

Grammar websites are solid


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

... This is a 3S language. It can be learned quickly. Each symbol is a word and every combination of symbols is also a word. Symbol=sound=sense


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## Bumblehorse (Sep 3, 2021)

I absolutely love this video.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

A 3S language is like native-American sign language. The sign for Home is universal, as is for Time, Feeling, Relation, Power, etc.
The tribes can speak one to another in elemental language. This is a root of communication. It may be applied. All languages have a word for home (which has connotations). Spirit is word with connotation one of which is Intelligence.


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