Questions tagged [learning-methods]
For questions about methods, techniques, and/or practices that assist in learning another language
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Evidence that learning radicals speeds up character learning in Chinese?
Characters — in Chinese or Japanese (or Korean Hanja) — can be learnt in various ways, and it is plausible that paying attention to radicals helps memorisation and retention. But is there any hard ...
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According to research, how well do speed reading skills transfer to other languages?
According to Wikipedia, speed reading is
any of several techniques used to improve one's ability to read quickly. Speed reading methods include chunking and minimizing subvocalization.
There are ...
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Does the law of diminishing returns apply to language practice?
Have there been any studies supporting the idea that the longer you practice a language each session, the less benefit you yield from it? I've always thought this was true, and thus I always tend to ...
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What are the main benefits and drawbacks of learning vocabulary only through conversation?
Many people learn foreign languages at school, which often involves learning vocabulary lists. Others learn languages through immersion. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks.
What are the main ...
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Is learning vocabulary by means of (bilingual) vocabulary lists inefficient, and if yes, why?
A previous question, "Is it bad to only learn vocabulary through conversation/applied use?" (The question is now only visible to users with 2000+ reps) looked like three questions combined into a ...
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How does the vocabulary learned through immersion compare to vocabulary learned via study?
When reading texts in L2, (sometimes) it can be easy to infer the meaning of a word based on its usage in the text. This can work similarly when listening or conversing. (Of course, to ensure there is ...
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Learn a new language in between the non speakers environment (Same native language as mine)
I am planning to learn French as my third language. I am native Hindi speaker and my second language is English. I was going through few websites how to learn. Then I came to this video How to learn ...
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Modern Hebrew before Biblical Hebrew?
I have heard it said more than once that there are advantages to gaining a basic fluency in Modern Hebrew before attempting Biblical Hebrew. Getting comfortable with text decoding, basic vocabulary, ...
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Is recall study more effective than recognition study for learning vocabulary?
According to Tim Ferris,
If you train for recall, you get recognition automatically; if you train for recognition, recall is terrible, or as slow as molasses. (See The Time Ferris Show, 19 June ...
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Momentum and hours per week
I was told I could be in a beginner's Hebrew class that meets for two hours per week, without any required out-of-class work. I said (or rather, wished to say) that this situation is hopeless: two ...
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What are Memrise's advantages?
I want to use Memrise to learn languages, but I do not know Memrise's advantages. What are Memrise's advantages?
I accepted an answer, but If someone posted a good answer here, I will accept the ...
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What are some of the oldest documented language learning techniques or resources?
There are several archaeological bilingual and multilingual artefacts, e.g.
the Philae obelisk (ca. 118 BC?),
the Rosetta Stone (196 BC; Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and Greek ...
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My L2 and L3 are similar, will using L2/L3 flashcards increase or reduce the possibility of mixing them up?
Here's a follow-up to this question. I'm afraid that learning L3 may interfere with my L2. I'm wondering about a good strategy for making the two languages separate if I use flashcards.
How to avoid ...
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What's the most effective way to learn to quickly read Chinese?
I know enough Chinese characters to read quite advanced texts in this language. The problem, though, is that I'm terribly slow, so slow that reading anything is not a pleasure. This is something that ...
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Repetition interval during initial learning within a day
I found that some words hard to recall after several minutes or on next day when learned them from flash cards.
With longer period of time between recalls (5/10/60 min) and after working with another ...
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What are effective ways to gain speaking comprehension without the help of a partner in non-english speaking countries?
I know this question sounds complicated and general, indeed.
I'm looking for some effective tips for people with this condition.
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Additional sentences for language deconstruction (CEFR levels A1-A2)?
Tim Ferris' blogpost How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour (Plus: A Favor) describes a "language deconstruction technique" to help people find out what a foreign is like before deciding ...
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Is it beneficial to learn vocabulary by words by lexical class?
Is it beneficial to learn vocabulary by words by lexical class?
For example, learn a list of nouns first, then a list of verbs, then a list of adjectives. (There are, of course, more classes). I've ...
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How did Cardinal Mezzofanti learn foreign languages?
Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti (1774-1849) was an Italian cardinal who also became famous for his language skills. According to his biographer Charles William Russell, he spoke at least 30 languages very ...
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Learn languages by memorizing rhymed poems
My native language is Portuguese and I had the initiative to read and memorize Os Lusíadas by Camões, the principal literary work in Portuguese.
So I started to memorize the Divina Commedia by Dante ...
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Efficient techniques to use songs to learn and retain vocabulary
I'm learning a language that is morphologically rather unrelated to my native tongue. I find great difficulty in retaining vocabulary in this new language, to the point where I have reached something ...
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How to manage learning many languages at the same time?
Being interested in learning 2 or 3 languages at the same time, I wonder if there are some best strategies to use for better results (regarding time management, things that we should focus on more, ...
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Is there reliable data for the success rates of different methods of learning/reviewing vocabulary?
Is there reliable data for the success rates of different methods of learning/reviewing vocabulary? I.e.:
no reviewing
audiobooks
hand-written flashcards
SRS flashcard apps
Goldlist method
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How can flashcards be made using only the target language?
Usually, language flashcards are made with a word on the front and its translation on the back. This happens to work well with nouns like apple and most colors because, well, fruits and colors usually ...
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Learning L3 through L1, L2 or L1+L2? [closed]
I can study L3 with L1 or L2 material/textbooks/dictionaries, or combination of L1 and L2 materials (switching daily for instance).
Which will be most beneficial?
My main concern is retention of new ...
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At what level of Chinese or Japanese should one start learning the writing system to avoid a plateau?
In my answer to the question Is it necessary to learn the characters of a language that uses logograms?, I pointed out that there are universities that teach Chinese or Japanese where the writing ...
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For teachers : Improving oral communication skills in a language by identifying weak areas
How often can you improve oral communication skills in a language where you have some level quickly by identifying weak areas and working of them? (This could be the past tense or the most important ...
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How could we know that the pronunciation of an ancient language like Aramaic is correct?
This question is directly related to my former question on Aramaic:
How to learn the vocabulary of an ancient language like Aramaic, which is based on scripture only?
I'd like to know how and on ...
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Is it necessary to learn the characters of a language that uses logograms [Japanese]?
I want to learn Japanese and most books or guides begin with how to draw an logogram and to repeat the process of "writing" and single character dozens of times. And learning hundreds of those signs ...
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How to remember words I never use
How can I put words I don't often use into my long term memory? I have trouble doing this, as I think I know them, and a few weeks later I can't remember them.
For example, a word I am trying to ...
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Learning the grammatical gender of nouns in languages that have no articles, using non-visual techniques [duplicate]
When learning languages where nouns have a grammatical gender, it is sometimes (or often?) possible to learn the grammatical gender by learning the noun together with a definite or an indefinite ...
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How can I decide when to begin reading short stories? [closed]
I just started learning Spanish, and I want to know what criteria I should employ when deciding if/when to begin reading short stories in my target language.
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What are the benefits of augmented reality for language learning according to research?
Augmented reality is being used for games, navigation, task support, the visualisation of building projects etc. I can imagine applications related to language learning, such as labelling object ...
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How to remember words and improve my vocabulary
When trying to learn a new language I keep forgetting words, especially the adjectives. I think the main problem is that I don't use them at all and so after a bit I forget all the words that I don't ...
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Is the “T-Coding Method” a reliable method to learn vocabulary?
In Iran someone named "Mr Taraghghi" has imported a method for learning English vocabulary called "Vocabulary Coding" for Persian native speakers that works like this example:
Consider the word "...
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"Means" versus "can be translated as (in some cases)"
A word represents a concept. Different languages sometimes use different concepts to describe the same matter. In such cases (my impression) the word of one language is often said to "mean" the ...
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What is the most efficient way to learn how to write kanji?
Learning kanji is an important part of learning Japanese but what is the most efficient method if I want to be able to write them on the spot?
Muscle memory can certainly be useful but writing them ...
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Is it better to use different study methods for different languages?
Are there any studies done to see if the same learning methods can provide different results depending on the language being learnt? Are there certain methods that have been proved better for certain ...
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Would ASMR improve language learning?
I find ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) interesting, and I sometimes use it to relax at night. Now I am wondering if the "sensation" that ASMR provides can be beneficial to memory retention....
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Is it useful to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet in order to learn pronunciation? [duplicate]
I have always regarded phonetic transcriptions using the IPA, something only linguists learn and find useful. Would a normal language learner benefit from knowing the IPA when learning a new language ...
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Which is the more efficient method to improve the listening of the american english? [closed]
For some years now, I've been trying to get better in English and especially in terms of grammar, but my listening comprehension is still very low. I try to watch movies or series but listening ...
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Does dreaming in the target language speed up the learning process?
If so, is there a way to "learn" how to dream in another language? For example would thinking in 'language X' for one hour before going to bed help? Or does dreaming in another language only occur ...
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Learning through videos: what makes a video easy to understand for learners?
How can you tell if a video is easy to understand for learners? What are the important factors for a video to be easy? I guess slow and clear pronunciation is important. But also the usage of common ...
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What makes a language propaedeutic?
Learning any language helps learning another language after faster. This propaedeutic value is found in all language, but is more noticeable for some languages and combinations. For exemple, for ...
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What are the benefits of learning Slovianto or Interslavic as an introduction to Slavic languages? [duplicate]
I don't plan to learn a specific Slavic language, but I want to be able to grasp the subject of any text written in any Slavic language. The constructed languages Slovianto and Interslavic look ...
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What are the benefits and drawbacks to using subtitles when you have a reasonable proficiency in a language?
I'd like to know whether there is any known benefits or drawbacks in watching movies with subtitles, considering movies spoken in a language you're learning.
I mean, subtitles in the movie language ...
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What is the term for language lessons in which the native and foreign language are spoken simultaneously?
I recall a style of language learning where you listen to CDs in which your language and the foreign language are spoken simeltaneously. For example "Hello" is said in one earbud while "Bonjour" is ...
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Do difficult native languages slow down early education?
Do students from countries that teach native languages considered to be quite difficult (e.g. Japanese) generally take longer to master that language? Or does the power of being surrounded by a ...
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What resources can I use to master German word order?
There are a number of tricky parts to learning German, but for this question I'm particularly concerned about word order. I'm using Duolingo and I often miss questions where this is the only thing I ...
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How can I expand my active vocabulary in a foreign language?
I’ve been learning a foreign language for 5 years. Now, I easily understand everything I read, I know lots of words and everything seems to be alright, but I still have a problem. My active vocabulary ...
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