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I assume
since you're visiting my page and are reading this article, you're
interested in learning a foreign language. Maybe you want to further
your opportunities in international business. Maybe you want to
travel, and would like to get the most out of your vacations abroad.
Or, maybe you want to be able to converse with family or friends
from another country. Your reasons for studying another language
are your own, but no matter what they are, learning another language
to a degree where you'll actually derive a level of functionality
requires somewhat of an investment of time, effort and money.
So,
shouldn't you "leverage" this investment by taking the few additional
steps that will guarantee your success? Shouldn't you do those
few critical things that will place you above and beyond the "average"
language learner? Yes, you should! In this article I'd like
to go over some things that will make a distinct difference in
the results you see from your language-learning efforts!
What
I don’t want to do here is just list a bunch of links related
to foreign languages. Any search engine will turn up dozens of
them. My goal instead is to guide you toward resources that will
help you undertake a sort of “gestalt” approach to language learning,
and attack it from many different sides at once! So, please check
out the resources below to find out how you can push your learning
to a higher level!
One of
the first topics I'd like to address is the importance of memory
development. By simply learning to develop your memory you
will become an undisputed heavyweight KING of language learning!
I can tell you without a moment's hesitation that by simply learning
and using some easy-to-master memory tricks, you will revolutionize
what you thought your mind was capable of! You will be absolutely
and completely astounded at the progress you'll experience in
learning your language! There's no way for me to overemphasize
the amazing success that you can experience, but the explanation
is pretty simple.
Fully
90% of language learning involves REMEMBERING the words and phrases
you learn. And once you LEARN them, you can RECOGNIZE them
when you hear them. The two disciplines of language study and
memory improvement were actually made for each other! But the
overwhelming majority of people who attempt to learn another language
either don't know the advantages of memory development techniques,
or they know them but fail to realize how important they are.
If you're
at all familiar with the memory-improvement scene, you're probably
already aware of the various courses you see for sale on television
at four o'clock in the morning. You know the ones- they claim
that you'll be able to memorize a whole phone book, remember all
the personal details of your co-workers' family members, or remember
a hundred words in a list. There are also books from varous authors
that you can buy on this subject (two of these guys are Kevin
Trudeau and Harry Lorrayne). But before you spend any money on
one of these courses, please read on, because....
Contrary
to all the claims of groundbreaking new methods, there's really
little new under the sun when it comes to memory improvement methods.
Most of what you'll find is some sort of a rehash or variation
on the tried and true techniques. The human memory, and the tricks
used to increase its efficiency, have been around for thousands
of years. In the days of the Roman Empire the senators used the
“Roman Rooms System” of memory tricks help them remember what
they were going to say, point by point, when they gave their speeches.
Interested? Then check out these two excellent pages- Mind
Tools and The
Memory Page. You’ll find literally everything you could want
to know on the topic of memory improvement.
But that’s
not all! There’s even- and I know it was just a matter of time-
software that you can download that claims to help you improve
your memory! Go to SuperMemo
World and download the latest copy of SuperMemo 8.0. I’ll
have to be honest here and tell you that I haven’t personally
tried SuperMemo, but I’d like to hear from someone who has and
who would like to fill me in on its efficacy.
There
are also a couple of books that I’d like to recommend. These books
are specifically for folks like you and me who are (or plan to
be) studying another language, and they're loaded with tips and
tricks that will make your language-learning experience both enjoyable
and efficient! They also contain all of those precious memory
improvement techniques of specific interest to the language learner.
The two I recommend here are not only great books on language
learning, they're also really easy to find. You can have your
local bookstore order them, or you can even order them via the
Internet from Amazon Books.
One book
that you can't do without- and one that I wish I'd found long
before I did- is "How
to Learn Any Language", by Barry Farber. If you plan to do
any language study whatsoever, get this book! It's packed with
invaluable tips and methods for staying motivated, improving your
memory, maximizing your learning experience, and loads of other
great stuff.
Another
great book for language learners is "How
to Learn a Foreign Language", by Graham E. Fuller. You can
also order this book from Amazon Books. It too contains loads
of helpful information and tips for anyone learning a foreign
language.
What the
heck is an indirect object? And what does "passé composé" mean?
Every language student needs a good book that can cover grammar
points in more depth and clarity than can the grammar section
of any cassette language course. One grammar series that I have
found very comprehensive is the "Teach Yourself" series, by NTC
Publishing Group. Amazon has these books too.
If you
decide to order any of these books from your local bookstore,
they’ll want the ISBN number for ordering purposes. Just find
your book at the Amazon site and copy the number down!
Get
a short wave radio! This is an excellent way to get valuable-
and free- listening time in your language. To find out more about
shortwave radio, check out the Shortwave/Radio
Catalog. You’ll learn loads of stuff fron this site and its
links, but don’t get intimidated by all the technical stuff. I’ve
got my shortwave radio set up beside my bed. When I want to listen,
I just pull out the little built-in telescoping antenna and it
works great! The trick is to do your listening in the evening
hours, when atmospheric conditions are favorable for letting these
little waves travel all around the world!
Talk
to yourself as much as possible. That's right- talk to yourself!
While in the U.S. military years ago, I found myself stationed
in the beautiful country of Greece. I had determined that I was
going to learn the language before my 18-month tour was over.
When I arrived in Greece, however, I thought I was going to have
to amend my plan a bit. Linguistically, Greek isn't really that
hard, but for someone who has been coddled by the familiarity
of the Romance languages, Greek was a real kick in the byoo-tocks.
Soon after arriving, I met a guy who was to change the way I learned
languages. When I got to Greece, this guy had been there only
about a year, but he was already spitting out Greek like he had
been there much longer. When learning another language, it's not
unusual for someone to quickly develop the ability to understand,
but it's much harder to develop the ability to speak what's
on one's mind. When I noticed how easily this guy conversed with
the locals, I asked him what his secret was. Here's what he told
me: "When you're learning a foreign language, speaking
skills normally develop more slowly than listening comprehension
skills. This is because when you speak, you have to think everything
up yourself. The only way I've found to overcome the problem of
being tongue-tied in a foreign language is to talk to myself as
much as possible. We all talk to ourselves many hundreds of times
each day, every day. I simply started speaking to myself in Greek
when I'm alone. And since I'm not talking to anyone else, I have
none of the trepidation I'd feel speaking to another person!"
Try it!
No matter what level you're at in a language, always try to speak
to yourself using what you already know. And since you're your
own audience, you won't have any inhibitions about saying what's
on your mind!
Forget
English. I am about to address one of the major stumbling
blocks that every adult suffers when he or she learns another
language! Ok, in the beginning this may be a little difficult.
But as you progress in your language studies, you must make a
conscious effort to avoid becoming your own personal "simultaneous
translator." What do I mean by this? Well, when someone
speaks to you in English (or whatever your own native language
may be,) do you find yourself taking a mental pause and thinking
to yourself "hmmm, what was it that person just said to me?"
No, you don't. You have the meaning in your brain instantaneously,
without having to resort to any mental "emulator software."
To attain
fluency in your language, you should work forcefully to
get to the point where you can
1- understand what's being said to you in "native format"
, without having to first translate it into English, and
2- reply in the language without having to first formulate what
you want to say in English, and then translate it into your target
language.
"But,"
you may ask, "what if I already know the word I'm looking
for, but just can't remember it at the time? Shouldn't I take
a moment to think of the word?" A caveat is in order
here. As you use your language, and hopefully speak it with others,
you will very often find yourself in a position where you simply
cannot recall a word that you know you've already
learned. It just won't serve itself up you your conscious mind
at that moment! In cases like this, you have a choice.
You can
point at the object so that the person you're speaking with will
know what you're talking about. This a basic and commonly used
method to communicate, and it works well. But what if this is
impractical?
You can
use the "talk around" method. Let's assume you're talking
to someone about your car and you can't remember the word "windshield
wipers?" You can say instead, "the thing that cleans
the glass." Or if you can't remember the word for "dog"
or "horse"? Don't be hesitant to make a couple of animal
noises! Outrageous? Maybe so, but it will pay rich dividends in
the long run. You
must make a conscious, disciplined decision as early as possible
to absolutely, completely and positively refuse to become your
own translator!
Download
RealAudio! It’s like having a shortwave radio on your
computer! RealAudio is a free application that actually allows
you to listen to foreign language broadcasts over the internet,
right through your PC speakers! And as you visit other sites on
the internet, RealAudio stays connected to the station you’ve
selected, so that you have uninterrupted listening as you surf.
It’s like being able to listen to your own foreign language radio
station that’s transmitting right from your own town! After you
download and install RealAudio, check out Timecast
to find listings for hundreds of stations that transmit you can
listen to live in your favorite language!
And believe
it or not, there are also dietary supplements in the form of herbs
that you can take to improve your learning and memory! Two of
the most popular are gotu kola and ginkgo
biloba. These herbs are available in just about any health
food store, and have been proven to actually improve your ability
to absorb, remember and access data that you learn! These two
herbs are so common that I’m still looking for a good link to
these herbs that isn’t a commercial site trying to sell them to
me! Do a little surfing with your favorite search engine and check
out what some of the commercial suppliers have to say about these
herbs. And as soon as I find a good link, I’ll post it here!
Always
remember that the world is full of people who wish they'd learned
another language. If you are serious about doing it, there's
no better time to get started than right this minute. Take
advantage of the world of resources, information and tools that
would have been unimaginable only a few years ago, but are today
right at your fingertips!
Learning
another language is no picnic, but it doesn't have to be nearly
as intimidating as many folks make it out to be. You owe it to
yourself to get every edge that you can! Arming yourself with
the tools and tricks I include on this page will surprise you
with a level of language-learning success that you wouldn't have
thought yourself capable of!
Wishing
you all the success in your language-learning endeavors!
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