Questions tagged [learning-methods]
For questions about methods, techniques, and/or practices that assist in learning another language
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Coming from Spanish, where do I start learning English?
Is there any manual or website that I recommend to start learning English?
Honestly, with my mother tongue (Spanish) I have forgotten and sometimes left without understanding, some concepts that are ...
2
votes
2answers
80 views
What are the effective ways to learn and remember any word. And use that in the right way
I am having trouble with picking the right word for the context that I am talking about. To get rid of the problem I practiced to find all the forms of any word that I encountered ever through books, ...
5
votes
1answer
67 views
Is shadowing really a technique for interpreter trainees?
Shadowing is a technique for improving pronunciation popularised by the polyglot Alexander Arguelles. There are many YouTube videos about the technique; most of them don't demonstrate shadowing in the ...
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0answers
41 views
Learn alphabet by replacing letters in native text
I've read before somewhere about a way to quickly learn how to read a foreign alphabet. You take an unfamiliar letter and put it in English words where the sound of that letter makes sense. That ...
4
votes
1answer
36 views
How many Hanzi (Chinese characters) are theoretically possible to learn per day using Heisig's RTH?
I am currently learning three new Chinese characters per day using Heisig's Remembering the Simplified Hanzi (1 and 2) combined with Anki. This leisurely pace suits me because Chinese is not my top ...
4
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1answer
46 views
Question about Leitner box. How many cards to study from levels other than 1?
I am trying to learn Tagalog. I have made around 1500 flash cards and I am about to start using the Leitner box.
If I choose to learn 10 new words every day (from level 1) when I am in the ...
6
votes
1answer
41 views
Learning Tahitian, having issues with comprehension
I'm taking a class at my school in Tahitian, it is the beginning level. However, I am having trouble with understanding and memorizing the words. I am a native English speaker and know Mandarin to a ...
5
votes
1answer
62 views
How does language learning in a classroom affect self-learning?
Circumstances require me to take a ~3 month break from my formal/classroom/directed language studies soon. Prior to studying my L2* under a teacher I was learning independently. How will my classroom ...
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0answers
45 views
What sequences of learning kanji characters, their readings, meanings, and related vocabulary tend toward longest retention?
In Japanese, many words can be written both with just the kana (phonetically) and with the kanji (Chinese characters).
For example, the character 年 (ねん - "nen") means "year". In other vocabulary it ...
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0answers
45 views
What are general cognitive principles that could explain why Heisig's method works?
This is a follow up to this question on Remembering the Kana.
James Heisig is author of a famous series of books involving learning Chinese and Japanese characters. These books are
Remembering the ...
5
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0answers
19 views
About Inductive-Contextual method [duplicate]
I am currently reading Lingva Latina per se illustrata, by Oerberg. It follows the Inductive-Contextual method, which I find quite pleasant and effective. I have not found, however, books using this ...
7
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2answers
78 views
Should I learn english from UK if am I learning english from USA?
Hello everyone I looking for any expert about this topic I'm learning still english and in some blogs and friends always say me that should I learn english from Uk and American to same time but for me ...
7
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1answer
57 views
Differences in language learning abilities and strategies between a 30 year old and a 70 year old?
This is a question about language learning for different ages, specifically people in the second quarter of their life versus someone in the fourth quarter of their life (assume average life span of ...
3
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0answers
26 views
In Anki, do you have any effective methods for learning words with multiple meanings? [duplicate]
I have been learning English for over a decade now, and my ultimate goal is to reach level C2. With that in mind, I use Anki as my base of vocabulary.
A very specific problem has been haunting me ...
7
votes
1answer
39 views
What is the popularity of using colored (e.g. red) transparencies to obscure words in a language book?
When I was in Japan twenty years ago, I noticed that high school students would sometimes study English from special books with black and red printing inside. The book would come with a red-colored ...
4
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1answer
55 views
Similar Languages to South-Slavic/Balkan
I am going to be travelling through the western Balkans (specifically Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania) and would like to learn some of the spoken ...
7
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1answer
86 views
How can I sound more 'native'?
I'm fluent in French and Russian - by which I mean that I don't have any trouble reading novels and can easily converse in either without making grammatical errors or feeling uncomfortable - and have ...
4
votes
1answer
61 views
Is thinking speech just in brain less effective than speaking aloud, to improve speaking skills?
I'm struggling with improving speaking right now, which is far inferior to my reading and writing skills. The language is Mandarin Chinese and I live in China and attend language school.
But the ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Japanese – how to learn it without using SRS?
I hate SRS (spaced repetition system), even though I have used it for more than ten years for various languages. I can’t stand the sight of it anymore, yet, I know of no better alternative for a ...
9
votes
3answers
131 views
Does living in a country where the language is spoken improve the language skill that much?
It seems quite common among language learners that living in a country where the language you learn is spoken is a very effective way to improve the language skill (especially speaking).
However, ...
4
votes
1answer
50 views
How does flow relate to language competency? Can it be taught/learned?
Psychological flow is kind of like going on autopilot, or
being completely immersed in an activity, and is also related to high
performance levels. I was reading about flow in music, but it reminded
...
8
votes
1answer
103 views
Studies on average time by full immersion in 2nd+ language to become conversant?
Are there any studies that have noted some "average"1 length of time for a brand new 2nd (or 3rd, etc.) language learner fully immersed in a culture to pick up a new language to a level of at least ...
3
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2answers
100 views
Can I learn a language with a child?
I am living with my brother, his wife, and their one year old daughter (my niece). They are attempting to raise their daughter bilingual in two languages, Language A and Language B. Language A is the ...
4
votes
1answer
58 views
Should I put more focus on the subtitle or the content when watching a movie to improve the listening skill?
I tried watching a few Chinese movie to improve my listening skill, but I wonder whether I should put more focus on following the subtitle or the content of the movie.
When I put more focus on ...
5
votes
1answer
86 views
approach to multiple language learning goal
So I'm in this situation where I'm going to live in Japan with my future wife.
She is L1 korean speaker but lived in Japan for over 10 years making Japanese her L2 language.
My own L1 language is ...
4
votes
1answer
56 views
What advantages and disadvantages does intensive classes in the country of the language have over weekly lessons in my own country?
At my Japanese school in Sydney, I've seen an ad for 2+ week summer course in Fukuoka, Japan. The discounted price for the course is 88 thousand yen for 30 hours of lessons, which is roughly ...
9
votes
4answers
106 views
What are some strategies for effectively studying two unrelated languages simultaneously?
We already have a few questions on this site asking about learning multiple related languages, however, what about learning multiple unrelated languages?
I'm a (mostly self-taught) student of Spanish ...
4
votes
2answers
86 views
Is it possible to learn grammar through spaced repetition, and if yes, how?
Spaced repetition is mostly used for learning vocabulary, but learning vocabulary is not all there is to learning a foreign language. Grammar also needs to be acquired, one way or another. Since doing ...
9
votes
3answers
83 views
Learning language by singing songs?
Learn languages by memorizing rhymed poems is about pro/cons of using poems to learn a language.
What about using songs? Songs might use more modern language, avoiding the cons mentioned for poems.
...
7
votes
2answers
88 views
How can one learn a language with unpredictable pronunciation?
I've always preferred languages like Spanish, German, Japanese, with pronunciations that you can easily predict (yeah, German has a few irregularities, but they're not that numerous, the only major ...
14
votes
4answers
177 views
Should I start learning another language even if I haven't mastered the last one?
I have studied German for the whole year last year. But I want to study other languages too.
I haven't mastered German yet, and I am seeking advice whether I should start learning a new language ...
9
votes
1answer
56 views
French subtitles
I have been watching a lot of French-language shows on Netflix lately but with French subtitles. I find that the subtitles rarely match what is actually being spoken!
For example someone will say, "...
7
votes
2answers
52 views
How can I look up transliterations of words I hear (in Hebrew)?
I combine many resources when learning a language. One of my best resources is audio-only, but there are many times when I need to look up a transliteration, such as when I can't distinguish if a word ...
13
votes
3answers
161 views
Learning a language, for someone who can't stand flash cards
I can't stand memorizing words. I've found that the best way to memorize vocabulary is using (digital) flash cards, however I find studying flash cards to be one of the most mind-numbing and ...
10
votes
4answers
197 views
Improving a language at B1 level
I am learning Russian and English. I speak in English and understand everything most of the time when my friends talk. I understand about 60% of the words in movies and news. I also struggle with ...
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Collection of mnemonics for learning foreign languages?
I recently noticed that some language versions of Wikipedia have a list of mnemonic devices that contains examples that can be used for learning languages. For example:
Mnemonic devices on the ...
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0answers
84 views
What are the various context clue techniques children use to learn a new word?
Are there any literature that discuss in great details, the various context clues that children use to learn a new word? I found myself reading a few papers "The development of a classification
scheme ...
3
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0answers
40 views
Media-assisted Greek learning
As described in an excellent post, watching a movie multiple times with and without subtitles greatly improves comprehension.
I did a similar thing with books once: I knew the L1 version and read the ...
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0answers
89 views
According to research, how effective is learning an L3 through an L2?
There's a language technique in the polyglot community known as "stacking", which is essentially the process of learning an L3 through an L2. According to research on this topic, what are the benefits ...
4
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1answer
336 views
What is the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL)?
When reading research papers about language learning strategies, one frequently encounters the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning or SILL. What is it and where does it come from?
5
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1answer
37 views
How to relearn words after a while not reviewing them?
In short, I went on holiday for a week and didn't review any words and have forgotten at least 60 that weren't in my long term memory. How can I quickly retrieve them?
7
votes
1answer
116 views
Strategies for independent language learning
I am starting to learn a new language. My aim is to be able to read simple written news reports, follow television or radio news bulletins and hold simple conversations. In the long term, I may hope ...
7
votes
1answer
96 views
What are the steps to native language acquisition for children?
I've been trying to find literature that talks about steps taken to typically learn a language. I know that based on what I've read that children start from a one-word stage to multi-word stage. What ...
7
votes
1answer
98 views
Research on benefits of writing by hand when learning foreign languages
In the past, I sometimes did Chinese grammar exercises using pen and paper, and sometimes using a computer. In both cases, I wrote out the entire sentences (not just the answers) and had them reviewed ...
5
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1answer
78 views
How are the Pimsleur courses and Michel Thomas courses different?
Pimsleur method and Michel Thomas's method are quite similar, based on their descriptions. What are the differences between them?
12
votes
1answer
111 views
Can you 'plateau' while learning a language?
I feel like no matter how much I'm studying my language, no matter how hard I'm doing it (Georgian and Chinese), I'm still at just, a level. I can have conversations in them, read articles in them, ...
9
votes
1answer
135 views
How effective is induction as a language learning technique?
According to the Encyclopedia of Language Development,
Induction is a type of reasoning that involves deriving general principles from specific examples.
Induction is most often used to acquire ...
3
votes
1answer
149 views
Any tool to highlight collocations
It is believed that learning collocations is an effective way to enhance fluency. I wonder if there are any tools that, when provided with a text, can highlight its collocations? It would be great if ...
4
votes
1answer
47 views
Can a language be improved without further exposure to it by just writing and speaking in that language to others with similar skills?
With "without further exposure," I mean without exposure that contains something you haven't 'seen' before. For example, reading an essay (not written by you) or watching a movie in that language is ...
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0answers
34 views
How many words are usually taught per chapter in a textbook
I'm building a language learning app and am collecting the metrics I'll need to test its effectiveness.
I'm going to be doing another round of beta testing at local schools, and so far my plan is:
...
