7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 4
Hi everybody,
I hope your study of your language(s?) is still going strong!
Each week, I share 7 things that could be useful to your learning odyssey. I hope they can help you improve your journey, tickle your curiosity, and inspire you to keep exploring.
Let's dive right in!
One video: Translation as a Tool to Learn Any Language - Luca Lampariello
In this very interesting talk Luca gave at the 2016 Polyglot Conference, he explains his method for starting to learn a new language using bidirectional translation. His method can be a great way to build a strong basis in a foreign language so the rest of the journey is easier.
One article I read: Language Learning Lessons from Polyglots - Michael Wilkins
In this article, Michael talks about the lessons he learned from polyglots when he went to the Polyglot Conference. As one myself, I was able to see he was on point. This article is a combination of many small details that compound and can make you a better language-learner overall.
One article I wrote: 3 Extremely Slow Methods to Learn a Language You Should Avoid
Not all methods are created equal. Some work but are so slow that almost anything else would be better. These are three methods you should try to avoid so you don't waste time (and will to study languages).
One podcast episode: Mike Campbell: Sentence-based learning and Glossika - Actual Fluency Podcast
This old podcast episode was an interview of Michael Campbell, the creator of the Glossika method. This method focuses on learning languages through very extensive practice of sentences, after hearing them in both English and the target language. While I haven't tried it myself yet, I've always found it fascinating, especially for people whose focus is to speak the language.
One tool to try: Language-Learning With Netflix extension
I can't stress enough how much I love this tool. I discovered it 2 years ago and it has revolutionized how much I can remember from the TV shows and movies I watch. I now make it a point to always learn something about the language in each episode.
One quote: "We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly."— Kato Lomb
One challenge for the week ahead: Review at least 3 grammar patterns
Many people hate grammar but I love it for how it helps fast-tracking progress in a language. Without grammar study, you automatically create weird-sounding sentences. That's why the challenge for this week is to identify at least 3 grammar patterns you struggle with and study them again. This means you should find in which situations you struggle and create on your own completely new examples using them. Doing this challenge once in a while helps consolidate your language skills in the long run.
For last week's challenge, I found 10 sentences in a Chinese movie ("Us and Them", or "后来的我们" in Mandarin). Since it was a romantic drama movie, I knew a lot of vocabulary already so searching for more complicated sentences was a great challenge. I also loved discovering the word "倒霉" ("unfortunate") in the sentence 我还能在遇见什么倒霉的事?(How can I be so unfortunate?)
Let me know how it went for you and send me a mail at barra.mathias(at)gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading!
Mathias Barra
For more of my articles, you can find them here.