***Official Language Learning Thread 2019***

[BetaAsPhuck]

S'up misc,

If you're thinking of learning a new language for 2019, then sub and participate!





Benefits of learning a foreign language include;


Improved memory.

Improved attention span.

Improved multi-tasking.

Improved confidence, through a sense of achievement.

Improved job prospects.

Improved global cultural and political awareness.

Delaying the onset of Dementia or Alzheimer's.


https://www.universeofmemory.com/ben...uage-learning/





The Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies (US state department), ranking of language difficulty for English speakers...

Category I Languages: 24-30 weeks (600-750 class hours)
"World languages" - Languages more similar to English.

Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish

Category II Languages: Approximately 36 weeks (900 class hours)

German, Haitian Creole, Indonesian, Malay, Swahili

Category III Languages: Approximately 44 weeks (1100 class hours)
"Hard languages" - Languages with significant linguistic and/or cultural differences from English. This list is not exhaustive.

Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Czech, Dari, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, Georgian, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kazakh, Khmer, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Mongolian, Nepali, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, ****li, Tagalog, Tajiki, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese

Category IV Languages: 88 weeks (2200 class hours)
"Super-hard languages" - Languages which are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers.

Arabic, Chinese – Cantonese, Chinese – Mandarin, Japanese, Korean



One of the Easiest Languages For An English Speaker To Learn: Taking only 150 hours of study/use to get to an advanced level.

Spoiler!

Esperanto.

Some studies show that learning Esperanto will make you better and quicker at learning another language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propae...e_of_Esperanto


Former UN and WHO translator, and psychologist, speaks about the value of Esperanto...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHALnLV9XU


Free Resources For Learning...

https://lernu.net/en/kurso/nakamura

https://www.duolingo.com/course/eo/e...peranto-Online

https://www.memrise.com/courses/english/esperanto/

Free language learning resources...

https://www.duolingo.com

https://www.memrise.com


Paid language learning resources...

https://www.lingq.com/en/

https://www.fluentu.com


Popular Textbook + Audio courses (can be brought online or in bookstores)...

Teach Yourself.

Assimil.

Pimsleur.

Michel Thomas.

FLR Method.


Online tutor services...

https://www.italki.com/

https://baselang.com/ (Spanish only).





Methods:

Chunking - Take one or several phrases a day. Listen, Speak, Read, and Write it multiple times throughout the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQiZo-wbFc

Bidirectional Translation - Take a piece of dialogue. Translate it into you native language, and then translate it from your native language to your target language.

Reading and Listening things in your target language - Reading an Audiobook and book simultaneously. Watching children's/teen TV shows with target language subtitles. (Lingq and FluentU are paid resources for this.)


2 polyglots speak 12 languages at a mall...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITzFRlVhMVs


Edit: Numerous polyglots advise not to learn Grammar until you are conversational/intermediate level. Basically they argue that Grammar is a 'monitor' and too much 'monitoring' will stifle your ability to express yourself, and enjoy a conversation.

[RedRusty]

I actually really want to learn ASL. Always been told it's best to take an actual class than to use materials or even videos, but if anyone knows of any good resources until I can find a class, I'd take the recs!

[BetaAsPhuck]

3 Reasons To Learn Latin...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmBahbIkkB4


Latin learning resources...

Familia Romana (Lingua Latina) (Latin) by HansH. ørberg - Renowned book, that teaches Latin just by reading it. (Audiobook also available.)

https://www.latinitium.com

https://areena.yle.fi/1-1931339 - News in Latin

Edit: Numerous polglots advise people not to study grammar, until you are at least conversational/intermediate level in a language. Basically Grammar is a 'monitor', and too much 'monitoring' can make you inhibited when it comes to expressing yourself.

[SikhAndDestroy]

[BetaAsPhuck]

I actually really want to learn ASL. Always been told it's best to take an actual class than to use materials or even videos,

Yeah, I've read that too about sign language.

I want to learn a sign language one day, I like the concept of communicating without sound.

[DolphinPilot]

Learning Japanese Crew. Who is in this with me? hit me up brahs we finna do it!

Currently using Assimil's Japanese books + audio lessons. I'm planning on joining a conversational Japanese group through meetup but don't want to embarrass myself being a total newbie.

[MuzzieChik786]

French

[RedRusty]

I took sooooo many years of Spanish from middle school through college and I still couldn't hold a conversation today. I should try to get back to it and make it functional.

[Peter Ruby]

Feels good to speak 2 languages, one of which is a category III.

[RoyalRyy]

Trying to learn Spanish before I move on to French. Pretty fookin tough if you don't stick with it and really give it your all.

[Plateauplower]

In.
Okay I'm not going to be actually going out of my way to learn a foreign language, putting in lots of extra time etc, but working towards it indirectly over the longer term...Both of my kids are in Dual Language Immersion programs (son is in Kindergarten, daughter in 1st grade). The program just started last year when my daughter was in Kindergarten and people are moving to the District to get their kids into it based on meta data analysis studies showing a huge benefit. They essentially spend half the day learning in English the other half is learning in Spanish. By last summer my daughter was able to read, write and have basic conversation in Spanish. One day she was having a conversation with some lady at the park in Spanish - blew my mind how fast they learn it at a young age. I have been learning some by default, watching cartoons etc in Spanish and listening to my son and daughter speak it. Already have to use Google translate occasionally to help with math homework for my daughter if she has trouble explaining it to me in English.

Cool thread subbed

Saw Amazon had some Rosetta Stone products pretty cheap, but our public library actually has them for free...


We are also learning some Japanese in Jujitsu...Its pretty limited though

[BetaAsPhuck]

Learning Japanese Crew. Who is in this with me? hit me up brahs we finna do it!

Currently using Assimil's Japanese books + audio lessons. I'm planning on joining a conversational Japanese group through meetup but don't want to embarrass myself being a total newbie.

learning japanese, already started a few months ago

i speak turkish so should be easy for me

Have you guys read this book?



I've read that it's invaluable for learning the Kanji.

[anonkunbrah]

I literally just got Rosetta Stone for Japanese last week

[BetaAsPhuck]

French

In case you don't know, there is renowned French course, called French In Action.



You can find the video part of the course on youtube (it is legally free, it was state funded), but I've read that you really need the coursebook to fully benefit.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3nHCqa_eoU

[BetaAsPhuck]

In.
Okay I'm not going to be actually going out of my way to learn a foreign language, putting in lots of extra time etc, but working towards it indirectly over the longer term...Both of my kids are in Dual Language Immersion programs (son is in Kindergarten, daughter in 1st grade).

Good for your kids! Bilingualism has a lot of benefits that I've read.

I wish them well.

[R1DINGPwnies]

Learning Russian crew

[BetaAsPhuck]

I literally just got Rosetta Stone for Japanese last week

We are also learning some Japanese in Jujitsu...Its pretty limited though

Tbh...

I'm a nerd, I become obsessed with topics at a time. From what I've seen researching online, Rosetta Stone is universally disliked amongst polyglots.

Very, very few polyglots (none that I've seen, but I'm sure there are some out there) believe it is worth the money or time.

Assimil and Teach Yourself are the most popular paid courses, practically universally.

[BetaAsPhuck]

I took sooooo many years of Spanish from middle school through college and I still couldn't hold a conversation today. I should try to get back to it and make it functional.

From what I've read (and experienced myself) schools in the English speaking west use a very Grammar and reductionist based method to teach languages. Which make it easy to grade, but is bad for learning.

Some kids get A grades, but can't hold a basic tourist/survival level conversation with a native speaker.

[Plateauplower]

Tbh...

I'm a nerd, I become obsessed with topics at a time. From what I've seen researching online, Rosetta Stone is universally disliked amongst polyglots online.

Very, very few polyglots (none that I've seen, but I'm sure there are some out there) believe it is worth the money or time.

Assimil and Teach Yourself are the most popular paid course, practically universally.

That's the way do it right, learn enough about the process to know what works and what doesn't. I do the same thing when getting into something new, try to research it and figure out the best / most efficient way to get from A to B...

[BetaAsPhuck]

Trying to learn Spanish before I move on to French. Pretty fookin tough if you don't stick with it and really give it your all.

Yeah, the hardest part is consistency.

I have bad ADHD, literally the only way I was able to develop consistency was paying to attend offline classes. I had paid the money, and I enjoyed interacting with people, so it was the only thing that kept me consistent ( I got my usual strong desire to quit, around weeks 6-7. The fact that I had paid, and my competitive side was the only things that kept me going daily.).

I didn't learn a huge deal from the classes, but I knew that going in. The discipline was something I was hoping to get, and it worked. (Last research I saw, says that it takes on average 66 days of doing something for it to become a habit.)

Now it's simply a habit for me to do language learning. At a minimum I do approx 50Xp of Duolingo a day.

[DolphinPilot]

Have you guys read this book?

[img]https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9780/8248/9780824835927.jpg[/i mg]
I've read that it's invaluable for learning the Kanji.

Not yet. I'm struggling with the spoken language enough. Once I get that down I'll study Kanji/Kana/Katakana. I'll definitely mark that when the time comes. Thanks brah!

I literally just got Rosetta Stone for Japanese last week

I heard Rosetta Stone is kind of so-so for learning languages. Not just Japanese but most languages overall. Can anyone confirm?

[IlChosenOne]

IN

My Spanish is okay, but I want to get a lot better this year

Then maybe learn some Portuguese, possibly the basics of French too

[Cornetto1]

IN

Want to learn Spanish or French. I have found a Spanish class in my area that does intensive learning of 36 hours in a 4 week period (8 hours/week). Would that be sufficient?

Got you when i'm off recharge OP.

[SwimLiftRunGrl]

I speak Cantonese (native language) so does that mean other languages should be easier for me to learn? lol. I took one year of Japanese in college and 3 years of Spanish in high school and I forgot about them already. I actually would like to learn how to read and write Chinese more.

[ilovelifenow]

Learning Swedish crew checking in

then again, i'm Norwegian soooo...

[Mlinebacker0]

In! And repped! It was actually my 2018 goal to continue my German from school, however just strting work and also studying for my CFA took priority. I think I could do 30 minutes a day or so. Any bit helps!! Let’s do this

[BetaAsPhuck]

IN

Want to learn Spanish or French. I have found a Spanish class in my area that does intensive learning of 36 hours in a 4 week period (8 hours/week). Would that be sufficient?

Sounds great.

What's the cost dude?

Baselang might be cheaper...

Unlimited Spanish Classes (with their own curriculum) for $129 (soon to be $149)... https://baselang.com/

[BetaAsPhuck]

I speak Cantonese (native language) so does that mean other languages should be easier for me to learn? lol..

Native Cantonese, and Native English?

Seem like you have the best foundation for learning practically any language.

You already understand how a tonal language works, and you already know a language that has strong Latin and Germanic foundation.

I actually would like to learn how to read and write Chinese more

I got you...

Stuart Jay Raj is a Polyglot and has a degree in Linguistics.

He recommends the book:

Cracking the Chinese Puzzles (Abridged Version) by Zijie An. It's a story, that creates Mnemonics to learn Chinese Characters.

[DirtyDon123]

Japanese so I can wife a hot Japanese chick

[BetaAsPhuck]

IN

My Spanish is okay, but I want to get a lot better this year

Then maybe learn some Portuguese, possibly the basics of French too

Just advice based on what I've heard...

Spanish and Portuguese are so similar, that it can be easy to mix them up.

A strategy to overcome that (seeing as you are planning on learning French) is to study French second, so that Spanish is more 'cemented' in your mind, before you learn Portuguese.