Good ways to learn a Language?

[veade]

I use Duolingo and Babbel to learn Turkish

 

[Gwylan]

How are you getting on with German?

Dabbling, I found the verb rules (and non rules), and the logic of sentence construction often being the opposite of English, the main challenges.

There are two types of people who learn German: those who have done Latin at school and those who haven't. If you're the former, you'll find German grammar pretty straightforward; if you're the latter, German is going to be tough.

As I said, I went from beginner to fluent in about five years but I know people who couldn't get to grips with the grammar and struggled for a long time.

 

[Blackadder]

I'm in a similar boat. My spoken German is well behind my level of writing and reading. I wouldn't say I panic when someone speaks to me...but I do give up quickly and easily. The wife found a "tandem partner" to practice spoken German with. A tandem is someone wanting to practice the reverse ie a German wanting to practice English. They would meet for 30 mins and spend half he time speaking English and half Deutsch. It took some time to find a suitable partner...both in language levels (you don't neccessary have to be at the same level) and also getting on with each other. She feels this has helped a lot and really progressed her spoken language. This will be my next step. Maybe you could find a Spaniard in Brighton to help you and vice versa?



Good luck.

That's interesting HT. I always assumed that your spoken Deutsch would be "sehr gut"

 

[BNthree]

http://www.michelthomas.com/learn-spanish.php

Really helped me when I started from scratch. Couple of years later with alot of study I was pretty much fluent.

Michel Thomas is a great way to get started. Doesn't concentrate on grammar or the like but helps build vocabulary and confidence.

 

[Half Time Pies]

Check out Duolingo. Multiple courses available through a web browser and apps for iOS / Android. They also do a flashcard app that might help as well.

Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't heard of Duolingo and I can see that its free which also helps! I like the idea of committing to do a set time each day.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

That's interesting HT. I always assumed that your spoken Deutsch would be "sehr gut"

I'm learning but it's far from sehr gut.

 

[Steve in Japan]

I've struggled with Japanese for 20 years, most of that time living in the country. Net result so far is I can order drinks, food, chat about the weather, sing a J. song in Karaoke and get home. It's not much to shout about.

I've had one to one tuition, done numerous courses and taken a few exams. And I'm still struggling. I come to the conclusion that I've probably got as far as I'm going to.

My conclusion, FWIW, is start very young.

 

[moggy]

I've been learning Spanish for last 18 months since buying a villa over here (here at the moment)
Did a term at portslade CC evening course just to learn basics etc but since been teaching myself.
Little and often for me works best.
So I do an hour a day. Some audio cds in the car. Michel Thomas is great.
Then a bit of Duolingo just for general stuff
Practice as much as possible when I'm here though
I'm getting there slowly and progression is noticeable each time I'm in spain

 

[Half Time Pies]

Will Self wrote an article on this, where he could never get a grip of French, no matter what method he tried.

In the end he enrolled on a Berlitz course and cracked it, at last!

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/mar/23/will-self-learns-french

I am not sure with 2 kids that I would have the luxury of a weeks intensive course but imagine that would be a great way to learn. I agree with what he said about the dry approach of learning grammar not working when English people often don't know the Grammar of the English Language. I did a course a while back where there were people with English as a second language that knew English Grammar better than the English natives did. My memory of being a child of the 80s is that it was never taught and other people in the class agreed.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

I used Pimsleur Spanish Audio lessons (http://www.pimsleur.com/learn-spanish-latin-american) I was able to find them online (*cough*) and they are pretty good. They are 30 minute lessons where you have to repeat things and it eventually kind of brainwashes the language in to you. It may not be for everyone but it worked great for me!

 

[Half Time Pies]

http://www.michelthomas.com/learn-spanish.php

Really helped me when I started from scratch. Couple of years later with alot of study I was pretty much fluent.

I did a Michael Thomas audiobook a few years ago and certainly gave me the confidence to put sentences together but didn't really help with listening skills which I think is my main problem now.

 

[Ron Manager]

http://www.michelthomas.com/learn-spanish.php

Really helped me when I started from scratch. Couple of years later with alot of study I was pretty much fluent.

I used the MickeyThomas course. "Tienes cinco falso cinco libras?"

 

[Thunder Bolt]

How are you getting on with German?

Dabbling, I found the verb rules (and non rules), and the logic of sentence construction often being the opposite of English, the main challenges.

Not too bad, although I had done it at school, so there was a background of knowledge, although lost in the mists of time.
I actually find French grammar harder.
Duolingo will fail the sentence, if you get the right words but in the wrong order (a la Andre Previn) I really only want conversational French, not to teach it, or conduct business over there.

There are two types of people who learn German: those who have done Latin at school and those who haven't. If you're the former, you'll find German grammar pretty straightforward; if you're the latter, German is going to be tough.

As I said, I went from beginner to fluent in about five years but I know people who couldn't get to grips with the grammar and struggled for a long time.

That's interesting as I did Latin for one year, before dropping it for German.

 

[RandyWanger]

Our new columbian friend stuck post it notes on everything from his phone to the walls. Maybe try that?

I did this when I moved to France, helped a bit. Structuring a sentence will require a real conversation. There are foreigners over here, we still let them in, find one and meet up for coffee and conversation.

 

[Weststander]

There are two types of people who learn German: those who have done Latin at school and those who haven't. If you're the former, you'll find German grammar pretty straightforward; if you're the latter, German is going to be tough.

As I said, I went from beginner to fluent in about five years but I know people who couldn't get to grips with the grammar and struggled for a long time.

Thanks. Good to hear a positive story.

I went to school in the 70's / early 80's when Latin was not taught at all. But some of my peers in the same boat, mostly girls, were naturals at learning modern foreign languages and became fluent in French, German and then one of them in Chinese at University.

I do realise that you're referring to adults going back to learning German.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I've struggled with Japanese for 20 years, most of that time living in the country. Net result so far is I can order drinks, food, chat about the weather, sing a J. song in Karaoke and get home. It's not much to shout about.

I've had one to one tuition, done numerous courses and taken a few exams. And I'm still struggling. I come to the conclusion that I've probably got as far as I'm going to.

My conclusion, FWIW, is start very young.

Starting young is a very good idea. Something that amazes me is hearing groups of teens here in Berlin switching between English and German fluidly like they're one language. They'll be talking, say German, and something will trigger them switching to English, like an English quote or a common English phrase, and they'll stick with English until something switches the conversation back to German. Crazy.

 

[moggy]

Another thing I do is a couple of online games I play.
I've joined spanish clans/groups so you can chat to your team players having fun playing the game and learning a bit of lingo in the process

 

[Weststander]

I used the MickeyThomas course. "Tienes cinco falso cinco libras?"

I loved the way Mickey Thomas completely changed direction in his career, following:

 

[Salty_Seagull]

I started out with Duolingo and found it good for some very basic vocabulary but it doesn't really teach you the rules of the language itself, rather you just memorise sentences and words which isn't that useful if you want to become fluent.

I found this website: http://www.languagetransfer.org/complete-spanish and I learnt more Spanish in a year from this podcast then from 5 years at GCSE, Duolingo, Rosetta stone and other sources combined. Basically it is a Spanish teacher teaching a student who knows no Spanish and he goes through it with her teaching her the rules of the Spanish and how to apply them. You make most of the same mistakes as the student does because these mistakes are common to English learners and the teacher tells you how to get around them. I listen to this everyday in the car and is available via Youtube, Soundcloud or mp3 files and all for FREE.

I now use this and Duolingo to keep things fresh and found that I now understand things on Duolingo that I was just memorising before allowing me to apply this to other sentence construction.

What I also like about this podcast is that the teacher explains how some words are derived from Latin/Arabic words, which whilst not important I found really interesting

 

[Half Time Pies]

Starting young is a very good idea. Something that amazes me is hearing groups of teens here in Berlin switching between English and German fluidly like they're one language. They'll be talking, say German, and something will trigger them switching to English, like an English quote or a common English phrase, and they'll stick with English until something switches the conversation back to German. Crazy.

Its a bit late for me but we have put both our children in a Bilingual primary school in Hove so as they have a better chance of becoming fluent https://bilingualprimaryschool.org.uk/brighton-hove/primary/bilingualprimaryschool

There aren't many of these types of schools in England so we are very lucky to have one in this area.