Questions tagged [learning-methods]
For questions about methods, techniques, and/or practices that assist in learning another language
328
questions
4
votes
1
answer
93
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 ...
- 283
5
votes
1
answer
52
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 ...
- 2,368
3
votes
0
answers
41
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 ...
- 141
2
votes
2
answers
339
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 ...
- 121
6
votes
2
answers
96
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 ...
- 61
2
votes
0
answers
38
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....
- 21
3
votes
1
answer
183
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 ...
- 173
4
votes
1
answer
83
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 ...
- 173
4
votes
1
answer
157
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 ...
- 196
3
votes
3
answers
294
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 ...
- 811
4
votes
0
answers
94
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 ...
- 173
4
votes
4
answers
2k
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 (...
- 142
1
vote
5
answers
129
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 ...
- 2,368
2
votes
1
answer
141
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 ...
- 43
3
votes
1
answer
78
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 ...
- 2,368
3
votes
0
answers
67
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 ...
- 446
4
votes
1
answer
94
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 ...
- 181
6
votes
1
answer
155
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 ...
- 2,368
3
votes
1
answer
122
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 ...
- 2,525
1
vote
0
answers
48
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 ...
- 11
6
votes
0
answers
56
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 ...
- 2,368
2
votes
2
answers
120
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 ...
- 415
3
votes
3
answers
184
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 ...
- 415
4
votes
1
answer
117
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 ...
- 3,425
3
votes
0
answers
72
views
How important is to find language exchange partner?
Currently, with all social networks and internet, it seems that everybody suggest [citation needed] that the primary way to learn a language is to find a language exchange partner.
Beyond the obvious ...
7
votes
1
answer
137
views
Polish affricates learning tips
I find Polish affricates extremely challenging, especially the juxtaposition of non-palatized and palatized affricates, e.g. dżem vs. dźwięk, ćma vs. czas.
Any learning tips, e.g. using a widely ...
- 244
5
votes
1
answer
62
views
Can a baby learn a new language by interacting with a foreign language speaker over skype?
A friend who took a linguistics class in college once told me that an infant can't learn a new language by sitting in front of a TV program because the TV program doesn't react to their facial ...
- 61
4
votes
1
answer
246
views
Is the use of mother-tongue in the English class a boon or a bane?
I teach English in a government school where the medium of instruction is both English and the regional medium Telugu. The slow learners opt for Telugu medium and they are not able to follow my ...
- 415
4
votes
2
answers
105
views
Is it difficult for the low proficiency learner to learn a second language like English?
As a teacher of English I have observed that any child acquires the first language naturally. But learning a second language like English seems to be very difficult for the low proficiency learners. ...
- 415
5
votes
1
answer
83
views
Are learning and acquistion the same?
Many books on English Methodology treat learning and acquisiton synonymously. But I think they are different.
Some professors I know say that they are different.
Some others say they overlap and ...
- 415
1
vote
3
answers
81
views
1 Month Curriculum For Learning Spanish Conversationally
I have set a goal to learn Spanish at a conversational level in 1 month, with 2 prior years of experience at a traditional highschool, with information retained but still not able to hold a ...
- 19
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
When studying Japanese, how much should I be able to retain at the end of a Genki textbook chapter (Self-study concerns)?
I've been studying Japanese since about January using the Genki second edition workbook and textbook. I try to get in an hour session each day but I have been a little on and off with it; I think its ...
- 119
2
votes
1
answer
247
views
How can I learn to speak in SOV when my L1 is SVO?
I have been learning Hindi for almost 2 years, and my mother tongue is English. I find that I can understand things in Hindi that I read or hear, and I have a working vocabulary, but I struggle to ...
- 123
1
vote
1
answer
92
views
Way to prevent speaking fluency of acquired language to be lost or possibly enhance it further
In general fluency, there was a related question: How can I prevent myself from forgetting a language? which suggest speaking to yourself a lot. But how about your general speaking fluency? I have a ...
- 121
0
votes
0
answers
19
views
Listening a short sentence from a movie in English and figure out what it suppose to be said [duplicate]
English is my second language and I have trouble listening and figuring out what it's said when spoken fast in English.
This is the sentence.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=...
user7170
7
votes
2
answers
165
views
Should I correct my grammar mistakes or just ignore them while practice speaking?
While practice speaking a foreign language, I often find myself make a mistake during the speech and correct it immediately. The mistakes usually come from grammar, which I rarely do in writing. For ...
- 1,253
4
votes
1
answer
81
views
How to learn the building of sentences?
Understanding a large number of words, either spoken or written, is one thing, but producing a sentence in a target language is another.
I am not referring to understanding how to read/hear a ...
- 151
6
votes
2
answers
152
views
How can I avoid the huge gap between paper and oral skills?
I learned four foreign languages but all of them have one thing in common; reading is the best and writing follows it, and then after the huge gap come listening and speaking. My reading and speaking ...
- 1,253
7
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Is it possible to learn a language without translation?
Let's assume I have no knowledge in a language I want to learn. I know only some basic alphabet, but don't know any words. Is it possible to learn a language just by watching videos and reading books ...
- 71
3
votes
1
answer
120
views
How to learn a language for which very few resources are available?
In the past, people have posted several questions about learning languages for which very few resources are available:
How can I learn a language with little documentation/resources (Georgian)?
How ...
- 19.7k
3
votes
1
answer
174
views
How to learn Malayalam without any resources
I've been interested in learning a language called Malayalam. The problem is though, there is a complete absence of any well-written comprehensive Malayalam textbooks or grammar guides for English-...
- 136
3
votes
1
answer
145
views
How can the natural approach to language acquisition work for L2?
So, I was seeing a video today where the narrator brought this approach as the best for L2 acquisition. I believe it can be useful, that's how we all learned our L1 after all, but I wonder how it can ...
3
votes
0
answers
35
views
Should I mix different dialects on minimal pairs deck?
After posting this question, I investigated why I don't understand the sound difference, and I found out that one of the reasons must be the different dialects that exist in the deck. I installed the ...
- 1,253
4
votes
1
answer
110
views
How can you understand the pronunciation differences if you don't understand them even on minimal pairs training?
The minimal pair training seems to be the best way for adults to distinguish the sound difference on a foreign language that doesn't exist in his/her native language. According to Fluent:
But it’s ...
- 1,253
3
votes
1
answer
161
views
Learning japanese, 1 month progress (Tokyo)
I am a Japanese Language student here in Tokyo. I don't know if I'll get a downvote for this question, but might as well try. I've been studying Japanese for about a month now here in Japan using a ...
- 131
6
votes
0
answers
79
views
What is the proper etiquette for a nonnative speaker who wants to practice Mandarin at a Chinese supermarket in the US?
There is a Chinese supermarket in the US I often shop at. I often hear the staff speaking Mandarin or Cantonese, and occasionally Hakka or Fujianese, amongst themselves and to Chinese customers. I can ...
- 975
3
votes
1
answer
137
views
How should I decide the order of learning each of languages if you learn all of them in the end?
I wonder if you will have learned multiple languages in the end, the order of learning each of them has any influence and if it does, what is the most effective order to learn.
For example, suppose ...
- 1,253
3
votes
0
answers
59
views
How can I find an appropriate image for a word on SRS?
I'm writing a script that converts my list of bookmarked words into SRS, with audio and image on it. Now, I'm writing a script to fetch an image from Google Image, but the images I got are mostly ...
- 1,253
1
vote
0
answers
40
views
Should the answers on SRS also be the target language?
I bookmarked words I didn't know while reading texts in a foreign language, and then created my own Anki deck from the list of bookmarked words. Originally I used English as the answer (translation) ...
- 1,253
4
votes
1
answer
73
views
Does one's target level make a difference?
Learning the script for Arabic, Greek, Russian, etc. seems too expensive an investment if one wants to learn just a little of the language (say A1 in the CEFRL). Likewise grammar beyond the very ...
- 203