Learning a new language
Mingle
Veteran
Hola .Learning a bit of Spanish at the moment, it is fun but also quite hard.
I've noticed the words compared to English are very fluid. Fluid in the sense that they seem to change and mean something completely different depending on the context of the sentence. English words seem to be quite solid in that sense as most words don't have different meanings. This all means its not as easy as "that word is this word"
Anyway I have been learning for a few days now so I know I can't expect much. When learning something new I have found that its best not to question everything and kinda just take stuff on board even if you don't understand it. Things don't need to make complete sense straight away and trying to make sense of it all can impede progress.
Anyway I'm trying to learn Spanish and I cant really absorb any pattern or logic to it yet, kinda all just sounds like gibberish at the moment. I'm hoping if I roll with it I will though.
Whats your experience with learning a new language been like? Any advice?
Comments
Well, I am truly blessed to speak three languages, two, fluently, the third, practically (but not quite) perfectly.
What you also have to remember is that many languages (particularly those which are Latin-based, although this is not the leading criterion) have masculine and feminine terms. English is gender-neutral. The language only sounds fluid and unbroken, because as ou don't understand it fully, all the words seem to run into one another.
Believe me, when you speak it fluently, the wods will all sound distinct and separate....
Incidentally, only one word (AFAIK) in daily and common use, in the English language, has a masculine and feminine spelling.
Blond = masculine.
Blonde = feminine.
English words aren't "solid" at all; many can change according to context. There are also homonyms; words that sound the same but are completely different in meaning. You're so used to English, you don't notice those aspects of it, I gather.
OP, your description of your language learning experience ("no logic, all kinda gibberish") worries me. Have you ever noticed any comprehension difficulties in other areas of schoolwork? Were you slow to learn to read in grade school? What is your learning method for Spanish: are you taking a class? Self-taught with a book and audio component?
It shouldn't be so jumbled and confusing. At this stage, it should be memorizing new vocabulary, and a few basic phrases, reading dialogs or other simple text. The vocabulary should be organized around a simple introductory story, to provide context. It shouldn't feel like gibberish.
I unfortunately only speak English fluently.
I did however take Latin in school which seemed to help greatly with my vocabulary in other romance languages as I can generally get the gist of what the subject is.
I tried Spanish and French but never got very far.
I did take two years of Japanese and can read 1st grade comics
I have also picked up some Farsi words here and there from my Mother-in-Law and wife.
With that being said it is funny because when I listen to someone talk in those languages I have been exposed to (not Latin..
) I will catch a word here and there, and the rest I don't understand. But the words I do understand come through quite clear like @federica said.
I've found that some people who have been studying a language are too embarrassed to speak it for fear of making a mistake...
The only advice I can give you @Mingle is.......
Be confident when attempting to speak it, and don't worry about making mistakes...
Que tengas buena suerta
I did Latin and French at school, and later on learned some cockney. The best way to learn languages is to converse with native speakers of the language, gord blimey.
^^ true dat. ^^
As you'll discover, the best advice is that it takes many many many hours and hours of study and practice. I took French and Russian, but I don't speak either very well. I'm better at Spanish because I lived for 20 years where that language is common, and traveled in Mexico often, so the hours came about naturally.
I think everyone should learn English and stop being foreign.
@federica -- Do you include fiance/fiancee as being too French?
OP ... be of good cheer: Spanish is arguably the easiest language in the world and the bedroom, as with other languages, may be a good place to learn it.
Learning language, if unable to learn by immersion, has always followed a schedule/plan/method and that is how it has worked best for me. Learning the basics of the alphabet, numbers, how to say your name, etc and then expanding out on a basis of common interaction, like how to find the restroom or order from a menu.
I took several years of Latin and German this way. Both of my older kids know Spanish and the oldest started it when he was in kindergarten. That is how they learned, too. My oldest said he quite enjoys duolingo but it's not useful for everything. I learned Finnish by immersion by having Finnish grandparents and great grandparents who spoke it when they didn't want us to hear,
. They taught us a lot of stuff but we picked up more just in being around them.
Well, yeah, you're right. However, You can only use that term about one person. The term blond/e applies to anyone with hair that colour...
But it's a fair point.
I have spoken a good number of languages in my lifetime, though I've lost most of them because of a lack of use over the years and decades. Interestingly though, occasionally I'll dream in one of these forgotten languages and as far as I can tell, I'm still fluent in my dreams. A bit off topic but there may be something useful in there for retention.
@yagr -- A buddy with whom I attended the army language school and learned German was sympathetic after I told him I had all but forgotten the fluidity two years in Berlin had once bestowed. "Don't worry," he said. "If you go back to Berlin for a visit and get drunk three times, it all comes back to you."
I never did get to try his prescription.