Questions tagged [learning-methods]
For questions about methods, techniques, and/or practices that assist in learning another language
303
questions
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40 views
Is there any research on "natural" language learning methods?
All the language learning material I see seems to follow the school example of just throwing information at you. Sure it works but I have seen something that works better. What I mean by better is ...
2
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0answers
17 views
How to master English prepositions?
I have been trying to learn English prepositions so many times but so far I have failed. It is the only thing that gives me so much pain. I have watched so many movies or videos and also read many ...
2
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1answer
54 views
In what order should English grammar be revised?
I am currently 3rd in my college and I am planning to prepare for competitive exams. I plan to revise my English grammar as I sometimes find sentences wrong, mainly because of grammatical mistakes.
As ...
2
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4answers
112 views
How to improve my usage of vocabulary
I have been having troubles recently, related to vocabulary.
While writing essays or whatever writings in English, I recognized that my sentences were mostly consisted of 'simple' words. Such as '...
2
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1answer
54 views
How to learn sciences in a foreign language?
If someone wants to learn science subjects in a foreign language what should they do if there is not much material available comparing the two languages?Especially if one is yet to enter a university ...
5
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1answer
68 views
How can I know that I am making progress?
I learn English everyday. I keep on reading, writing, speaking and listening. How can I know that I am making progress? Is there any quantitative standard?
3
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2answers
92 views
Learning a language without studying grammar
I'm more or less capable of explaining my thoughts in English and I've recently started learning Spanish. Of course, there's a bunch of various articles/videos/posts on how to do it.
But one thing I ...
3
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3answers
98 views
Is it faster to learn new languages at the same time or one after the other?
For adults who are learning new languages, does the research indicate that it is better to focus on one at a time, or to study a bit of each more frequently?
What learning schedule maximises ...
7
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1answer
52 views
Learning schedule with multiple languages
I am wondering how to schedule learning my languages to get the best results and to give each of the languages enough time.
Currently I am learning English(C1), German(B2),Turkish(A2) and Spanish(A2).
...
7
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2answers
145 views
How do I learn to read and write a language I can already speak fluently?
Born and brought up in the city of Kolkata, I've been surrounded by people who speak Bengali almost all my life. We speak a different language at home and my schooling has been in a different language,...
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33 views
Why do so may native Korean speakers speak English flawlessly? (Without the hint of an accent)?
For a while a local TV station broadcast the English language version of the Korean Arirang network on a subchannel. What struck me was the number of Koreans who speak English with no discernible ...
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0answers
30 views
How to learn phonemic vowel length?
I recently started learning Mongolian and I'm having trouble with phonemic vowel length. I have great difficulty distinguishing long and short vowels both in listening and speaking. I find it ...
0
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3answers
62 views
When learning a second language, should one choose a program focusing on grammar and structure or one that focuses on conversation?
I have a friend who wants to learn English and is debating between two different programs. One is more focused on conversations while the other is more focused on grammar, reading, and writing. Any ...
3
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0answers
41 views
What is the best manual (non-program) research-backed SRS spacing?
I am learning Japanese Kanji via Remembering the Kanji, but this question could apply to any vocab or grammar flashcard sets.
I know that programs such an Anki have an algorithm that decides the best ...
3
votes
2answers
98 views
Spanish verb tenses cheat sheet?
This is rather embarrassing, but I lived in Spain for five years from the age 9 to 14, and I also went through their education system, but I still do not know when to use which of los tiempos verbales....
3
votes
1answer
48 views
What do Chinese students do with the lists of new characters in 语文 textbooks?
In my grade-3 语文 textbooks, we find lists of new characters which appear in the accompanying essay, such as the following:
I'm curious as to what what Chinese students actually do with this. I ...
3
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1answer
73 views
Constructivism Learning Theory for English language teaching
Constructivism is a theory of learning to help the learners to construct something based on their own understanding. it implies that learners are encouraged to construct their own knowledge instead of ...
4
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0answers
37 views
When the Foreign Services Institute says "X class hours" are required, how many hours of self-study are assumed?
From the Foreign Language Training website, we find e.g.:
The following language learning timelines reflect 70 years of experience in teaching languages to U.S. diplomats, and illustrate the time ...
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1answer
83 views
Learning to speak without thinking about grammar
I recently started learning (modern) Greek. As this is the first time I've tried to learn a second language, I have a question about learning to speak more naturally. Because Greek has such a ...
2
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1answer
49 views
How can one acquire a language just by listening without the visuals?
I have watched Stephen Krashen's talk on language acquisition.
And I learnt that according to decades of research and experience, the best way to pick up a new language is to acquire - just like ...
0
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1answer
73 views
Struggling with learning, especially without outputting
I'm trying to learn Japanese, and I know quite a bit already (I used rtk to learn the meaning/ stroke order or about 2200 kanji, know over 1700 vocab, listen and watch a lot of videos constantly ...
3
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2answers
205 views
Language learning seems tough and a long process
English is not my mother tongue, but in my country it was compulsory for all the schools to teach their students English right from KinderGarten. I remember we used to have a picture book of English ...
6
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4answers
62 views
I have been reading a lot recently but how to improve my writing skills?
I am a working professional and English is my second language. I realised that my vocabulary is very weak so I started reading. I don't have enough patience to complete a novel so I started reading ...
4
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2answers
94 views
Problems teaching the 'gn' and 'gh' to an English learner
I'm teaching a French girl English (I'm not a qualified teacher, I'm more of a language assistant, I'm an English native, I'm at university at the moment).
She is having trouble with pronouncing words ...
4
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2answers
383 views
Should I learn Japanese pitch accent right from the start?
I just started learning Japanese regularly, and I was wondering if it's worth it to work on pitch accent while learning grammar and vocab or forget it for now and start working on it when I can speak ...
7
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1answer
133 views
Is there any such paper that shows passive listening helps language learning?
I have been searching on Google Scholar to find a paper presenting research results on whether passive listening helps learning a language, but I could not find any. Is there any such work that shows ...
4
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1answer
44 views
Best teaching method for student with minor Aphasia
What would be the best way to teach a student a secondary language if they have minor aphasia? The aphasia isn't bad enough that they are losing their first language, but it's making standard learning ...
4
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1answer
45 views
Are there study methods aimed in particular at Chinese measure words?
Chinese has many measure words(*); in the HSK vocabulary, there are at least:
个 本 次 件 把 只 位 条 张 辆 包 双 层 刻 场 份 遍 台 座 节 趟 篇 棵 所 根 首 片 套 支 群 颗 顿 圈 项 顶 匹 团 幅 批 册 届 朵 壶 卷 艘 栋 枚 幢 束 粒 番 枝 株
(There are ...
3
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0answers
36 views
Are there books written specifically for bilingual or polyglots (i.e. not for learning the language but for proficient speakers)?
I started an experiment a while back of writing a story with someone who speaks a different native language to me (but we are both able to speak English). I thought the idea of stories where if you ...
2
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2answers
86 views
Studying with reversed flashcards
I've been using my language vocab deck in one direction, by viewing the foreign word and translating it into my language and thinking of the physical thing. I'm wondering if studying the cards using ...
6
votes
2answers
87 views
Going from 9.5/10 to 10/10 in grammatical correctness in spoken English
I speak French natively, with a level of spoken English I would rate at around 9 or 9.5 out of 10, in terms of grammatical accuracy. (My written English is at least as good.)
Problems I sometimes ...
2
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0answers
30 views
Approaches to conversational practice
I am a intermediate-advanced student in Spanish, B2 ish.
I found some really amazing C1-C2 grammar books and I am using that in class with a teacher to study and review topics in order and it's great....
3
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1answer
70 views
Can you point me to any good resources for learning Sognamål Norwegian?
One of my favorite bands, Windir, are from Sogndal in Norway. For that reason, most of their songs are written in their native dialect, Sognamål. I have heard many Norwegians from other regions say ...
4
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1answer
76 views
Is it possible to become fluent in pre-12th century English?
I would really like to learn to speak Old English, but it seems that spelling and pronunciation weren't exactly standardized in the early medieval times. In fact, I'm not sure we know much about Old ...
4
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1answer
79 views
Improving vocabulary reading foreign language literature on ebook readers, how to export selected vocabulary into a spaced repetition app?
For improving my vocabulary I read favourite novels and short stories, preferredly in the original (target) language. When my level isn't quite up to it, I read a translation (be that English or ...
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vote
2answers
124 views
How to remember a big list of grammar rules?
So the language I'm learning has a lot of endings. A lot. The suffixes for verbs and persons change based off of the word ending, the pronoun used, the object even, it's complicated.
What it boils ...
4
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0answers
83 views
The "fully grammatical" approach towards learning Indo-European languages
I have stumbled upon this video on Youtube (sorry - it is in Russian).
Here's a short summary:
The spokesperson introduces the following scheme of learning an Indo-European language:
"Learn by ...
3
votes
3answers
124 views
Learning Hindi as a speaker without first learning the writing system
My girlfriend is Indian and Hindi-speaking and I would like to learn some Hindi so to be able to talk with her using basic sentences and improve through speaking.
I have been trying using Duolingo (...
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3answers
85 views
After stumbling upon a word in Chinese, how can I determine if it's worth studying?
Nowadays I'm reading opinion pieces and news articles in Chinese. I'm at a late-HSK5 level. I stumble upon many new words, too many to study them all, so I need prioritize some words and postpone ...
2
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1answer
111 views
French pronunciation
I'm looking for a guide to master my French pronunciation.
Ideally, pictures with proper tongue positioning inside the mouth.
For now, after 10 years of living in a French-speaking country, I ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
How can I repurpose the time spent reading random stuff on the Internet to improve my Chinese?
This is my situation most days:
I'm too tired to study Chinese...
...but it's too early to go to bed...
...I know, I'll read random stuff on the Internet.
I feel like I could should be utilizing ...
3
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0answers
60 views
Modern grammar theories for serial language learning
When learning multiple foreign languages, would it be worthwhile investing time into mastering modern grammar theories (generative grammars, construction grammars, etc.) or are those too theoretical ...
3
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0answers
36 views
How do you learn to read Vietnamese using Chữ Nôm?
I am able to read Chinese characters, and have been exposed to Chữ Nôm, which is derived by amalgamating Chinese characters according to their meaning and pronunciation, so as to represent a Native ...
6
votes
1answer
100 views
Can Siri be used for foreign-language speaking and listening practice?
Siri seems to understand my Chinese, so I'm wondering if it's possible to talk with her in order to get speaking and listening practice. Currently, all I ever do is ask her for the weather. But it ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
Creating flashcards for grammatical rules that requires a few steps of thought, such as SPOCK versus WEIRDO
If there's grammar rule that requires a couple of steps of thought in order to create the correct output, how do I put it into flashcards?
For example, Spanish has (as well as imperative) the ...
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0answers
36 views
Characteristics or Preferences of Age Groups When Learning/Acquiring a Language
I've been looking for some research studies to get into more depth about the characteristics of age groups when learning a language. My main focus is on ages of 17 and 18 (basically, when teenagers ...
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0answers
47 views
I want to train myself to use the Chinese grammar particle 了 correctly: how do I go about doing that?
Motivation: In Chinese grammar, there's a particle 了 which has two main uses: completion 了 (post-verb) and change-of-state 了 (end of sentence). I'm bad at using this particle (see How does someone ...
2
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2answers
93 views
What are some of the most useful methods of teaching English grammar?
As a practising English teacher I have observed that teaching of grammar does not help the learners to speak or write fluently or even correctly especially in speech.only a few ...
3
votes
3answers
171 views
Must we start teaching reading and writing with the Alphabet?
It is common practice to start with the Alphabet of a language while teaching reading and writing.
But some linguists I know say that we need not begin with the Alphabet but ...
2
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1answer
73 views
What strategies there are for learning a Romance language when I already know a Germanic language?
In a comment on another question, What is the difference between Germanic and Romance languages?, Robert Columbia wrote:
There are actually known strategies for learning a language from one of ...
