Questions tagged [learning-methods]
For questions about methods, techniques, and/or practices that assist in learning another language
328
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How can I make sure my pronunciation based on IPA is correct?
I have read this question and answers titled "How can I learn IPA?" and now start to (finally) learn IPA and phonetics.
However, while the question asks about the way to learn the IPA, which focuses ...
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How can I get over lack of learning resources in "minor languages"
Sometimes I want to learn a language but give up due to the lack of resources available. These languages tend to be the ones that very few people learn using English.
In my opinion, one of the core ...
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How to overcome limitations of memory palace?
I frequently use the loci method (memory palace) to learn vocabulary, but I find that after 150-200 words my house is full with words/images and there is no space left.
I know of people who can ...
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Does learning a new language while in the target country instead of learning the current language reach the goal of acquiring both faster in the end?
Here is the situation:
I have now been learning French for two months.
I will start to stay in South Korea for one month.
After staying in Korea, I'll stay in France and attend language school for ...
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Are paper flash cards better for retention than digital flash cards (both self made)?
Language Learning Stack Exchange currently has sixteen questions about flash-cards, fifteen questions about anki and twenty questions about spaced-repetition. There is no doubt that spaced repetition ...
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How to get most language learning benefits from frequent casual conversations with natives?
I know several languages on various levels:
Polish native
English C1-C2
German B2-C1
Russian B1
Spanish B1
I have tons of opportunities to speak to natives:
English - quite a few people at work (...
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What is the better way for structure the learning of 5 languages in 1 year and 6 months?
It's really this, I have a dream to speak Japanese, Korean, Standard Chinese, French and Russian. I know it is hard and very difficult to learn five language at the same time.
Right now, this is my ...
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Best way to improve your ability in a language post A-Level (Exams at age 18)
It is fairly clear how to get your standard of language up to an A-level standard (exams taken at age 18 in the uk) due to clear syllabi and textbooks up to this standard. However, I find that past ...
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kannada learning - beginner's way
I am a native Marathi (Maharashtra, India) speaker and I wish to learn Kannada.
These 2 languages are totally different except for a few words in common.
To start with, I would like to learn basic ...
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What is the easy and effective way to learn in tandem live, when speaker A has B1 and speaker B barely has A1 in the language of A speaker?
I learn German (~B1), my friend learns Russian (~A1, just a little bit of the vocabulary and ability to pronounce the text). Mainly we communicate through English. Next couple weeks we live together, ...
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Do gender differences affect language learning strategies?
As far as I know, there have been many discussions and a considerable amount of research about differences in learning between boys and girls, or men and women. See for example:
Gender differences in ...
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Is it a good idea to practice American English by listening to radio from the USA?
While I was looking for a better way to practice American English I found a website, where you can find radio channels from all over the world. Do you think it is a good idea to practice your ...
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Can adults learn grammar like 5 or 6 year old kids?
As the title said. Learning a language is complicated, but children can easily pick up any languages around them. Can adults learn grammar like toddlers? and How?
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how can I structure my plan learning korean?
I am not a native speaker of Korean and not-native speaker English. I want to make a plan for learning Korean well and maybe arrive to B2 in July 2019.
I do not have a lot time because I get up 6 Am, ...
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Resources for learning the Silbo Gomero (Gomeran Whistle)
Here's a fascinating video on the Silbo Gomero, or whistled tongue of the island of Gomera in the Canary Islands of Spain. Today, it's essentially used as an encoding of Spanish that can be carried ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Should I learn English from the UK if am I learning English from USA?
I'm learning still English and in some blogs and friends always tell me that I should I learn English from the UK and American at the same time, but for me it is something hard to learn both ways of ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
user584
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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, ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Approach to multiple language learning goal for a multilingual family
I'm going to live in Japan with my future wife.
She is L1 (first language) korean speaker but lived in Japan for over 10 years making Japanese her L2 (second language).
My own L1 language is German ...
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How can I improve the listening and speaking skill as a self-learner?
I learn any languages mostly alone, without any school or tutors (as it is insanely expensive and also quite inflexible). I learn it mostly online, starting with apps like Rosetta Stone and Memrise as ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
...
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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 ...
user3892
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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 ...
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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, "...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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