All about foreign language learning!

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Keiichiiownsu12
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31 Jul 2013, 1:08 am

Hello! Buenos tardes. 元気ですか?!?! 

hehe, so I am currently monlingual, with only English under my belt. however! I desire to eventually change this, to eventually break an imaginary barrier and see the day where I will finally be able to comprehend completely a statement unlike any in English.

the only thing is...as I am sure many can guess, this is rather difficult to do, especially with my language choice (Japanese, almost NOTHING like English), but I still press on, searching for ways to make phrases and words stick.

so how about you guys? what languages are you interested in learning or are currently studying? what are your approaches, can they apply to other foreign languages? do you have questions of your own you would like to ask?

I am still new to this, so I want to hear how others are doing it. at the same time, I wanna help others on their linguistical journey.



jk1
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31 Jul 2013, 3:06 am

Hello!

I'm very interested in foreign languages, too! For me learning grammar and pronunciation is very exciting. I'd like to learn Spanish. My approach is to get the pronunciation and grammar right at the start. Once you get into a bad habit of speaking a foreign language with a bad accent and/or bad grammar, it gets harder to correct it. My English grammar is not perfect, but it is not too bad. Although I do sound like a foreigner when I speak English, my pronunciation is quite accurate and people have no difficulty in understanding me. So my approach worked pretty well.

Japanese pronunciation is pretty easy. If you keep listening to it, you'll probably pick it up quite easily. My friend told me that Japanese grammar is quite systematic and logical. The difficult part is probably the kanjis. There are thousands of them to remember. You need to take your time to learn them gradually. There is the "A Japanese Thread" thread in this subforum. Maybe you can post there, too.



Keiichiiownsu12
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31 Jul 2013, 3:20 am

hehe, thanks for the reply. I am quite familiar with the pronounciation of Japanese syllables as well as the high and low tonal values, all of which are quite easy.
kanji is also not as difficult as I first thought (thinking of them as visual morphemes helps), it's simply the sheer volume of them that is difficult.

Grammar and pronunciation are rather simple concepts for me. however I have great difficulties in generating random speech using grammatical knowledge. in essence, putting the "pieces" together. heh, but in a sense, I really have no set way for this endeavor. I'm still trying to find an overall method that can work...that is not incredibly intimidating

that's why I wish to hear from other members their own methods. I figure the more you know, the better you can do ^(O)^.



AnonymousAnonymous
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01 Aug 2013, 4:39 pm

I've been interested in learning a foreign language for a long time. For me, it's the effort in successfully learning a foreign language that is exciting.

The most obvious language I'd like to continue learning is Spanish. However, the last time I was enrolled in a Spanish class at my school, I passed with only a C.

I'm also interested in learning to fluently speak Chinese, Japanese,
Russian, Arabic, Italian, and Portuguese.


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Annaliina
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01 Aug 2013, 6:03 pm

ÖuÖ Did someone say languages?!

I speak Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Spanish, and English.

I want to speak -deep breath- Inuktitut, Faroese, Norwegian, Icelandic, and sign language.

As for how?
I learned Swedish through Rosetta Stone. Most people don't take anything away from RS, but somethin about it connected with my learning style.

I found that once I pushed through my first foreign language, I was able to see the how and why of language aquisition. It was no longer a mystery as to how we learn language. I was able to seperate concepts from language in my brain, making transitions into other languages fluid. After a while, languages just became a spectrum for me. That each one described similar things, but had precise differences. It's hard to explain.

Speaking another language feels like my mother tonue, just different vocabulary, grammar, and accent.



Andriska
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09 Oct 2013, 2:40 am

There are effective ways, slow ways, empowering ways, disempowering ways, and crappy ways of learning languages.
Once we understand that, then we can start looking for the ways that work. I have been looking into this for many years, both as a language teacher and as a language learner.
Strategies in language Learning is a site that looks at the empowering ways which are also effective, showing why some other ways lead to dead ends, frustration and a sense that "I was not cut out to learn languages because ................"



Moomingirl
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09 Oct 2013, 3:20 am

Andriska wrote:
Strategies in language Learning is a site that looks at the empowering ways which are also effective, showing why some other ways lead to dead ends, frustration and a sense that "I was not cut out to learn languages because ................"


Thanks for the tip. I will checking out that site tomorrow. I find that I get stuck, and then lose interest in studying, even though I still want to speak the language.

To the OP - the best thing I ever did was join www.mylanguageexchange.com
Sometimes it takes a few tries to find people you get on with, but knowing there is someone waiting to hear from you, is a great way to keep you on track. Even when I stall now, at least I don't give up completely.

Annaliina - that is amazing! I am very jealous of your language skills. 8)