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[ARCHIVE] 900 day streak: my language learning tips

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Jacko079
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[ARCHIVE] 900 day streak: my language learning tips

Post by Jacko079 »

This was originally posted by BVirtanen

https://archive.ph/bMyng

As you can see I have now been doing Duolingo every day for the last 900 days, and because I also happened to get my Esperanto golden owl today I felt like sharing what I have learned about language learning over the past few years.

First some little disclaimers:
-This is all just based on my personal experience. Things that work for you could be complitely different.
-This is mostly not about how to best use Duolingo but more general advice.

My best language learning tips:

1: Learn pronunciation first. It is really hard to correct if you learn it wrong. Not long ago I realized I had been saying one of the English "th" sounds wrong for years - when I said "that" it sounded exactly like "rat". Now I'm trying to un-learn this habit but it's really hard!

2: Study the IPA, especially if you want to learn many languages. The IPA or the International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized system used by linguists that describes all sounds in human languages. All those symbols can look a bit overwhelming at first but you don't need to know them all. And once you learn how the IPA is put together it is a great help for learning new sounds. When some phoneme is giving you a trouble just look it up in the IPA and you can figure out how to say it based on its location in the table. If I hadn't been doing this, I would have never learned about the mistake which I mention at the point 1, not to mention several other sounds I was saying wrong in various languages.

3: Find books or films in your target language as soon as you can understand even a little. Audiobooks are even better. Start with your favourite ones you have read/watched/listened many times in your own language. Don't stop to translate unknown words. Later when your skill improves you can do the same again. You'll be surprised how much more you understand the second or third time.

4: Language learning penpals may be a good idea, but only once your level is a little bit higher. You should be able to discuss things you are actually interested in, not just "how are you" and "where are you from". Also, look for people with at least some shared interests. If you have nothing in common except wanting to learn the other person's language you aren't going to get very far.

5: Lots of input is the key. Books, music, Duolingo, Youtube videos, anything in your target language. The more you are exposed to it the faster you will learn. Again the quantity is more important than understanding everything.

6: Find things you can't do without your target language. Whether it is travelling in some fascinating foreign country or reading that sequel to your favourite book that was never translated, few things give better motivation than finding something you really want to do but which is impossible with your current language skills.

[Edit: bonus tip since so many people seem to be interested]
7: Don't try to learn words in isolation. At one time I tried listening to recorded word lists, those things with hundreds of words along with their translations read out loud. Typically I didn't remember more than one or two afterwards. Words should be learned in some kind of a context, even just a single sentence around them. Something with more full context like audiobooks or children's cartoons would be even better.

Do you have similar experiences? Or are your methods totally different? Tell in the comments.

Learning: Italian and Arabic.

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