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I want to learn new languages (Spanish, French, Italian and German) can any native speakers help me?

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by MrCharacter, Aug 10, 2016.

  1. MrCharacter

    MrCharacter Fapstronaut

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    Any native speakers willing to help? or the best way to become a fluent at a language? Thanks you.
     
  2. GSarosi

    GSarosi Guest

  3. Monji

    Monji Fapstronaut

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    Edit:This is just based off my own assumptions who appearently are wrong. please ignore what I said other posts are more accurate and motivating. Sorry
    (This is one of those cringy moments when I regret saying stupid stuff...)


    It takes too long for an adult to learn a new language, But the general steps are like this:
    1: learn basic vocabulary, takes 6 hours at most. numbers to 100, 10 most used verbs and most common words ,
    2: learn grammar, depends on the language this is the easiest part from 3(chinese) to 8(french) hours
    3: learn real vocabulary most boring part because it's very tiring, find texts and write everything you dont understand on a journal, then translate it. this takes 30 hours.
    4: watch kid shows to get you started, spongebob is nice. then watch subtitled series to get fluent.
    edit: 4th step takes years if you want to be fluent. that's the limitations of being an adult.
    I speak 3 languages very fluently but thats because I'm exposed to them daily in my country. I stopped learning spanish because they talk way too fast while skipping syllables its annoying.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2016
  4. Unas

    Unas Fapstronaut

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    Here in NoFap there exists a little language learning group, maybe you want to check it out. The members are very kind and helpful.

    I wouldn't say that, kids experiment a lot by imitating their parents and other persons in their environment, that's why they are very likely to not develop an accent. Furthermore, kids are always corrected when they speak, we, however, are not, that's why it takes longer for adults to learn and speak a language. The aim is to be able to communicate and that's doable.

    You also pointed out a crucial factor, being exposed to a language is important, but only when you have internalized the basics of a language. There are people in Japan for example who have been living there for a few years, but nearly don't speak Japanese.
    My first time visiting Spain was horrible, because I wasn't prepared appropriately and, to be honest, I sucked really bad... but with time and effort I became fluent (one year struggling with the accent of the south ;) ), although I should have prepared myself much better. It would have facilitated things quite a lot.

    I agree on needing some time to become fluent, but it depends much more on your effort and time investment than on your age.

    The problem is that there's probably a long discouraging period of "sucking" which means that you won't see immediately results.
    What's the motivation for you to learn a new language? How can you maintain the motivation?
    • Search for a kind and friendly partner/native speaker, maybe you already know somebody!
    • Search for a regular language meeting where people with all kinds of levels try their best
    • Plan a trip to a certain country when you have time, it's awesome to apply your skills!
    • Pick a more specific reason why you'd like to learn that language (career, friends from there, interested in culture,...)
    • Set a doable goal...
    ...and deconstruct the skill, which means to come up with a few milestones. I got this method from Josh Kaufman. To become fluent is a long way, so why not begin at first with "being able to order food in a Spanish restaurant only in Spanish".

    Currently I'm studying Chinese and it's a buttload of work because of all these symbols. However, I set a few milestones, every time I know like 50 new symbols, I give myself a credit by marking it off. Actually a cool method to keep the motivation, can't wait to mark the next one off ;D
    Sometimes I meet with some Chinese people of my area and we practice and improve my pronunciation, often they provide me with some further information, hints on typical greetings and cultural things. It's really nice! (however, I still suck pretty much, but it's fun and they have fun teaching me their language!)

    Knowing a language opens the gate to one's culture's heart! You will also encounter a different "you", my Spanish "I" is different from my English "I", it's an interesting experience.

    Here are some links to support your aim:

    http://lang-8.com/
    "Let our community of native speakers support your language learning. A new language learning platform where native speakers correct what you write."

    https://www.memrise.com/
    Many users recommend it.
    "We make learning languages and vocab so full of joy and life, you’ll laugh out loud."

    While searching for more sources, I stumbled upon this one
    http://app2brain.com/learn-languages/ebooks/free-guide/

    Have to check it out myself, but seems to be interesting!

    For every language the system and approach to learn it slightly differs. For Chinese I was advised to learn radicals (somewhat basic symbols) at first to grasp the idea of what more complex symbols could mean and to make the learning process easier. In Japanese you probably begin with Hiragana and Katakana, and so on.

    What I found especially useful when not having time to learn a new chapter of a language was repeating simply vocabulary with a vocabulary trainer. It'll cost you 10 to 15 minutes and you've done something.

    Remember - language learning should be fun, so don't get discouraged if you get stuck, misspell something other things happen. The message is important.
    You are 22 years old which means you have 22 years of experience in speaking English and applying it daily.

    Have fun learning your new language, viel Erfolg, bon courage, mucho éxito y diversión, 祝你好运!
     

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