Learning a foreign language

[Panic57]

I've always dreamed of being fluent in like thirty-five languages as a child. I've reduced the list down to seven based on the places I want to visit some day before I die. I've found that when I'm anxious about nothing and I have some free time, I try to translate traditional recipes in their original language. I heard that if you do the already translated recipes that things like butter, milk and sugar get added to match the taste of a new country and not the original country. I find that the focus on translating helps temper my anxiety a bit. Then I reward myself with cooking the original recipe and eating it. The only problem happens when I mistranslate. I've eaten some very laughably awful dishes but it's fun. Is anyone else trying to learn a language? I like it because it's a slow process.and people don't get angry if you don't master it instantly.

 

[Jemina]

I'm always interested in learning new languages, and I'd love to do so through food. It always surprises me how similar a dish might sound yet be entirely different when it comes out based on it being from a different culture. I think learning languages through recipes, menus and food could be a great way to do so, particularly because those are things you're going to really need when you get to that country. I also make a point to learn points of interest such as: supermarket, hotel, toilet, shop and bus or train station. If I know all of the basics before going to a country I'll add in a few extras too. Listening to songs in the language you want to learn can help as well. I find that learning languages can help me with my anxiety about traveling for sure.

 

[djordjem87]

I am always trying to learn something. I think that is the only way for me to stay sane. I am only fluent in English but I do understand several other languages like Greek, Spanish and a bit of French but I forgot most things I knew from French. Anyway, I used to download several Oxford French Learning audio classes and it went very well. I recommend to all of you to try out some audio lessons because I think it is the most effective. Learning some phrases of a language and the morphology of the words and phrases, the basic syntax and phonology is crucial. For example, Greek language has different positioning of the subject, predicate, object, adjective, etc., in a sentence than English language. For them it is very difficult to learn it just because of that. they constantly do it in a wrong way and to avoid that it is best to listen to those audio files and learn the basics. In addition to that I would also listen to some good music in the language you are eager to learn.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I currently speak two languages, but I guess that it's always good to get to learn something more. For now, I speak English and Spanish but I'm looking forward to learn Japanese and korean. They sound so beautiful! And I don't know, I find them really interesting. And yes, somehow learning to speak English helped me to be less anxious, because I used to get really frustrated when I didn't understand something on English, because almos anything is on this language. So, that's a plus.

 

[It'sJaz]

I have tried to learn a few languages in the past. Currently I would say I am fluent in two and know a fair amount about two others. I can't really speak them physically but I can understand them. Sometimes it's stressful when I realise there's still so much that I don't know about a language, but then it's always one step at a time.

 

[kelden]

Learning a language, heh, there are few thing out there that can make me struggle long term while learning. There are several ways to learn a language, and neither is better than the other since all depends on the person. And the more foreign and unrelated the language is, the harder is to learn, is truly a struggle for westen folk to learn mandarin, cantonese, vietnamese, japanese, korean or arabic. And these languages besides sharing a few things have an entirely different cultural background.

 

[fukozawa]

That is an absolutely brilliant method you've come up with to counter-act your anxious thoughts! Ever since I was little I wanted to learn french but no matter how hard I tried to learn something always got in my way and since I get easily distracted I simply never learned. I still have that ambition though and hopefully one day I will live in France and force myself to learn the language I've always wanted to learn.

 

[Belovedad]

I have learned both French and Spanish so far. I know a lot of Japanese but I will be focusing on it for the next three years or so. I really want to visit or even work there so that's my goal in life right now.

 

[orchid]

I love learning foreign languages, but I'm too shy to speak them. I've learned Italian fairly fluently. I took some French too. I dabble in other languages, but I wouldn't say that I "speak" them. I've tried to learn Polish, Spanish, Danish, Gaelic, Norwegian, Nepali, Japanese, Russian, Hungarian... the list goes on. I LOVE languages, but I can't sit down long enough to learn one before I get excited about a different one!

 

[woodpeck]

I'm really trying to learn German right now - it's tough for me to get it to stick in my long term memory but I have a duolingo and memrise that I'm pretty committed to. I want to do a placement there next year which would really help me with my skills, and quite a few of my friends live there so I might even end up moving there when I finish my degree! I think I would love to live in Berlin. I live in London right now so I think it would be just similar enough for me to feel familiar with it but also different enough that I don't just go "why didn't I just stay where I was?". I think it would be great to go travelling too, I love the idea of travelling the world and busking for money wherever I was. I try and busk in London but I can't afford a battery powered amp so the take home pay is pretty small.

 

[hades_leae]

I'm so ready to learn French, I have sample the language several times, but I will only learn fluently when I know that I'm free enough to dedicate much of my time to actually mastering the language. I also want to master Spanish much more than I have so far, and as well as a few others. I used to want to learn all the languages of this planet, but I have had mixed thoughts about doing so. Plus I'll only learn what I'm interested in now.

 

[taco]

Learning a language if you are a child seems to be pretty easy, but the older we get the more difficult it is. I am not sure if this is something hardwired in our brains, or just the fact children seem to be more enthusiastic. I took 4 years of German in High School and 15 semester hours of it at the University. Even with all that schooling, until I took a vacation there and actually immersed myself in the language, I did not feel like I actually "spoke" German, rather than just understood a smattering. If possible I would recommend to anyone, after you have done some schooling at home, even if its just Rosetta Stone or the like, to take a vacation (preferably as long as possible) to the home country of the language. You will gain a whole new appreciation and understanding when you are forced to speak and think in another language just to accomplish lives tasks, like ordering food, hailing a cab, etc...

 

[sidney]

I learn by accident, since I watch subbed Japanese shows and I listen to foreign songs. But on purpose? Not really, since I figured that I won't have any use for it. I don't even intend to travel abroad, since I can't afford it.

 

[111kg]

At the moment, I am struggling with Hungarian. It's not a wide spread language, but I honestly think that it's good to understand your neighbor's language, or at least how to order some food or ask for directions. I am using Duolingo, which is an amazing free tool. If you haven't tried it yet, give it a try. You won't regret it.

 

[KW2496]

I took Spanish in high school and I know a little bit of it. I try and read things in Spanish sometimes and I find it pretty calming because I am focusing so hard on one thing. I would love to learn another language though. I'd like to lean one or more of the Celtic languages because I find the sound of them very beautiful.

 

[dysph0ria]

Run a web search in the language you want to learn, and make sure that google's search settings are adjusted to give you results in that language.


Open google translate in another window.


When you encounter a word you don't understand, look it up in translate. Resist the temptation to translate entire sentences.


Your vocabulary will expand fast.


Also, watch videos in the other language on youtube, with closed captioning enabled. You'll start to learn how words should be pronounced.

 

[whysewserious]

I was conversational in Japanese in high school, and took French in college. Practice really is everything. I live in Texas and at the moment I use DuoLingo combined with reading newspapers, putting instructions on an ATM into Spanish, selecting the Spanish option when I make calls to companies, etc.


I really like DuoLingo because as some have mentioned it, speaking it can be the hard part. I am always afraid of pronouncing something incorrectly or saying the wrong word and insulting someone. This app has an option where you speak into it and it will not give you points if you do not say things correctly. It has helped me a great deal!


Any time I have used a foreign language with someone, they always express how much it means for someone simply to make the effort. Whenever I introduce myself I make s. ure to tell them I am still learning, and that I might make mistakes. Most people will understand and be very helpful

 

[HappyKoi]

Making traditional foods to help learn a language? What a great idea! I've been studying Gaeilge (Irish) for about a year and a half, and I can maybe have a conversation with a preschooler, on a good day. I've never been good with languages.


KW, I'm learning Irish with Duolingo as well, if you want to try that. It's free and it really seems to work for me. I don't learn well with books, or even books with tapes or CDs. I've never tried Rosetta Stone because it's too expensive. I had a Bengali class in college, but it didn't really work for me. It would be nice if I could find some Irish language worksheets for kids. Sometimes I listen to the music and try to sing along with the songs.


How do the rest of you learn other languages?

 

[kgord]

I think it is common knowledge that immersion is the best way to learn a foreign language, but there are some language programs that are very good. Rosetta Stone is very good but as HappyKoi pointed out it is expensive, bur I know there are other highly ranked language programs that are good as well. I think you just need to find one that works for you. I haven't made a serious attempt to learn another language since my college days but I would if I could find something affordable.

 

[jennywren]

My husband loves role-playing games(RPG's), so I surprised him with learning some Italian from an audio book I found on Audibe. There are a lot of inexpensive language programs on audible.