#language learning methods

[rigelmejo]

The Nature Method

Information about the old Nature Method institute's textbooks. Note: Lingua Latina is still being published and can be bought from the official publisher. The other nature method textbooks are either out of print (and can be found online if you look), or are being printed by a few companies making them easier to access again (I found a company printing the All Spanish Method since I wanted a print copy badly). This rather long page also mentions some newer books which have come out since for Russian in a nature method like style, which is the first I've heard about: "In addition, we have Marianna Avery’s Сорока (Soroka) children’s books, as well as Stanislav Chernyshov’s Поехали! (Poekhali!) books. There is a new course entitled Дорога в Россию (The Way to Russia) by V.E. Antonova, M.M. Nakhabina, and M.V. Safronova, too. There is also Ignaty Dyakov’s series of books, Рассказ Сенсация (The Story of Sensation), Рассказ Провокация (The Story of Provocation), and Рассказ Канонизация (The Story of Canonisation), to which learners sing praises. Still, though, darn it, I want to find Uncle Oleg’s course!"

A collection of links to several of the nature method and direct method style textbooks. Note: several of these can also be found on archive.org and annas-archive.org. These are not all by the nature method institute. The 'direct method' books are a little bit different, they still use only the target language, but they're often designed with the intention that a teacher will help students understand the meaning of unknown words and the lessons are more dialogue based. Poco a Poco textbook is more 'direct method' styled, compared to say Lingua Latina which is more 'nature method.' Nature method textbooks tend to have more context of what is happening on the page (This is Maria, she is Mary's mom, Mary is the little sister to Sophia, Sophia and Mary are Maria's daughters), more of a connected narrative through each chapter (versus direct method where you see more 'this is a chair' 'this is an elephant' 'this is a rose' 'is this a rose?')

[ohyoisho]

what is your language learning schedule? and what language learning methods do you like the most?

[theenglishnook]

Language learners face a key choice: grammar first or speak early? Structure aids accuracy; communication builds fluency. A blended method, rich in input and practice, leads to long-term success.

Grammar or Conversation First? Weighing the Two Paths in Language Learning

[learnlanguageswithani]

i made a playlist for my favourite songs in swedish!!!

i'd say this is primarily a pop playlist, but i'll keep updating it so who knows what will end up on there.

i've read a few times that listening to music can really help with learning pronunciation, so i always make sure to make a playlist dedicated to my target language. that and i just like immersing myself in whatever language gets the dopamine flowing at the moment.

i'd say this is primarily a pop playlist, but i'll keep updating it so who knows what will end up on there.

[legitdro]

4 Ways To Overcome The Language Learning Plateau

4 Ways To Overcome The Language Learning Plateau

4 Ways To Overcome The Language Learning Plateau

Learning a language is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your lifetime. Nevertheless, it is still a challenging task, and sooner or later everybody hits the language learning plateau. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, and just like puberty- everybody has to go through it.

What is a Plateau?

Are you familiar with the straight line ridge on…

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[fluentlanguage]

How to Trick Yourself Into Doing Things (like Language Learning)

Yawn. 7am. Cold outside. No one wants to jump out of bed and face the world this way. But here I am, pulling on some exercise gear and getting ready for the gym. I do this at least once a week.

You know why?

Because it gets it out of the way before I find a good excuse. If the first thing I put on is a sports bra, then there aren't really many excuses to go and change my mind. Of course I have to commit and get everything ready as evening Kerstin, but she's ok with it because she doesn't really care about what morning Kerstin will have to do yet.

My morning class is on at 8am, and the only reason I turn up so early is because they didn't give me a say in the matter. The other reason is that deep down I actually enjoy it. I may not like leaving bed but the proud glow of being done with a class before 9am does do a lot for me.

What does my morning class mean to you?

Dealing with annoying stuff like early morning workouts isn't fun, but the key is to put yourself in a situation where committing to it has become a no-brainer.

As a language learner, I have always used the same principles to coax myself into learning.

Can't remember verb endings? Put them up on the bathroom mirror. I've even gone as far as taping a plastic wallet with my memo onto the shower wall.

Too busy to start? Set a timer. Do something for just 5 minutes.

Can't be bothered studying at the weekend? Make an appointment with a language exchange partner.

Losing stamina? Get your Language Habit Toolkit and start tracking the habit.

Do you know that you are going to be tired and unmotivated after 6pm? Make sure you queue up some target language practice for the morning - reading the first article of the day in another language, or listening to the radio while you brush your teeth.

The trick here is to commit in advance and ignore any voice that tells you otherwise.

Working with a tutor or joining a group class is great - just get someone else's enthusiasm to carry you along when things get boring.

Other ways of committing can involve performing small rituals, and definitely plastering those language post-its everywhere.

What works for you?

Do you have a cool way of sticking to your habits?

What have you observed about your own study rhythms?

Share your best tips the comments or hop over to join our Fluent Language Learners Facebook Group.

The Language Habit Toolkit

I'm so excited to tell you about my latest project, the Language Habit Toolkit. It is a set of effective tools to help you get organized, stay motivated and make daily progress towards speaking a language.

I have just finished working with a small group of language learning experts who took the product on a road test. And they loved it! One tester reported that it made him feel more organized than ever.

The Toolkit will be available on April 12, 2017. If you are quick, grab yourself one of the last 25 Pre-Sale editions.

--> [> > Pre-order now to receive the Language Habit Toolkit on the day of release.]<--

[language-princess]

Group new words together in your notes (according to parts of speech, the same pronunciation, the same topic area, etc).

Think of relationships between what you already know and new things you learn (for me it is for instance hond-hund (nl-no) ).

Visualize idioms or phrases in your mind, or draw them, to help remember. Try to see the spelling before your closed eyes.

Make diagrams or semantic maps (word maps, webs of words) to arrange key words visually on paper.

Remember a new foreign word by a crazy association with a known word (camarera = a Spanish waitress with a camera).

Create rhymes to remember new words.

Use (colored) flashcards to remember new English words (idea: one colour = one part of speech OR one colour = one language if you are learning more than 1 language at the same time)

When trying to remember, physically act out new verbs.

Say aloud or write new English words repeatedly [When I was a 4th grader I couldn’t remember ‘chicken’ word so I wrote this word 20 times. Not only I remember I did such thing but also when I close my eyes I see this piece of paper with 3 lines of chicken word – but this is only for hardcore learning I guess, can’t imagine learning every word like this ;) )

Copy, rewrite new language items to practice writing.

Imitate (shadow) recorded language to imitate a native speaker’s way of speaking.

Try to use whole ready-made phrases fluently (Nice to see you too! What a shame!).

With new structures,  try to make analogous (similar) sentences based on a model.

Consciously try to use the words you know in different combinations to make new sentences.

Start conversations in your target language whenever you are around a native speaker.

Come to out-of-class language events (search for language club in your city maybe?).

Get involved in any class activities that require writing or speaking spontaneously in the language you are learning (not working if you are a self-learner…).

Use a monolingual dictionary

Use other kinds of resources (a picture dictionary, a dictionary of collocations)

Use thematic /vocabulary books for your own study.

Look for words in your own language that are similar to new words in the language you are learning.

Try to find patterns, regularities in grammar.

Work out the meaning of a word by dividing it into parts (prefixes and suffixes) that you understand.

Make comparisons between languages (e.g. German vs Spanish).

Make notes / summaries of new information that you hear or read in your target language.

Even when you are not terribly sure whether it is correct to say something in a given way, take risk to try!

Understand unfamiliar words, make guesses from the linguistic context and clues (like this must be a negative word, this must be the name of an illness).

To understand new and difficult language material, make guesses from the situation (in a film), pictures (in a magazine), gestures, tone of voice in a conversation, etc.

When you are writing a new word in your notebook, also write a sentence where this word is used. Personally I was too lazy to do it but when I finally started it helped me a lot.

Try out different ways of learning and revise, revise, revise...

[fluentlanguage]

How This Slow Language Learning Routine Might Beat Language Hacking

Usually I write on Fluent based on my teacher experiences more than my learner experiences. But today, the tables are turned. I'm excited to be sharing my current Welsh study routine, which is one based on two concepts: Learning thoroughly and staying disciplined. It's not the fastest or the one that squeezes study time out of every moment in my life. Instead, here's what works for me and keeps me liking the language I'm learning.

My Welsh Study Toolkit

Here are my starting materials:

Say Something In Welsh podcast episodes

BBC's Big Welsh Challenge

Ap Geriaduron, a dictionary app for my phone

Every now and then, the Instagram Language Challenge and HelloTalk for practice and feedback from Welsh speakers

A sprinkling of Memrise

I picked courses that felt like they built up a logical routine and gave me lots of vocab and basic structures without boring phrases. Definite language learning tip: Never commit to a textbook or course if you don't like the contents section. So here's what I do:

Step 1: Listen to a Say Something in Welsh (SSIW) Lesson

The Say Something In podcasts are short and feature a male and female speaker. They start right at the beginning, not assuming that I know any Welsh at all.

The start of every new lesson features in-built revision for the last, which makes the progression easy. You learn structures instead of phrases, meaning the power is in your hand as the learner and you end up ready to say an awful lot after just about four lessons. I use and believe in the same structure when teaching my languages, so this is a bonus. As a seasoned learner, I'm not scared of grammar and I'm getting my explanations from other materials, which works great for me.

One downside is the lack of smalltalk phrases at the start, but the BBC covers that very well.

Step 2: Write In My Notebook

I take hand written notes to accompany every podcast episode and review the previous pages regularly. The podcast says I'm not really meant to do look up all the spellings, but I disagree there. Writing is essential for my memory. My notes include new words, example sentences and vocab lists in different colours.

Writing everything down means the first listen is not "learning on the go". After the first listen, I run through every lesson again to make sure things are set in my memory before moving on. On second listens, it's much easier to catch up while walking or driving.

Step 3: Watch BBC Welsh Challenge Videos

The BBC Welsh Challenge is designed to teach you the most useful things to say, so it's much more like a traditional communication-based textbook with all the nice smalltalk starters.

Every chapter contains videos, tutor notes, a large vocab section and exercises, and I tend to work through at least twice before I move on. What I really like about the BBC's materials is that they're anything but intimidating and the video tutors and stories are friendly and inviting.

Step 4: Write and Revise the Notebook

Back to the notebook. I usually add the most useful words I found in the Welsh challenge and go over older vocabulary while I'm there.

Here's where my memorizing and revising techniques come in (see The Vocab Cookbook). Every vocab list is reviewed, and when words just won't stick I start highlighting them, going over them more frequently, and eventually adding them to a homemade Memrise course called "Welsh Words I Can't Remember".

Over time, I've felt that this routine is something I can stick with at my own pace. Here are two more important points that are really important for most language learners, and if I was to give you any advice for your own studies, it would be to adapt these.

Follow Your Course Structure

Sometimes the difficult things bring up a lot of resistance, trip you up and make you want to stray from whatever you are studying. These are the times when a new line of study on Memrise or that textbook on Amazon look more tempting than ever.

It's easy to find fault with your tools when you know that your craft isn't perfect yet. But after 20 years of language learning, I've learnt that this is a rabbithole you run down without learning much new. The key is to choose good materials and stick with them through the tough times.

So even though I'm excited that Teach Yourself has a Welsh book, I make myself listen to another Say Something in Welsh episode. Even though there's this new Youtube Channel, I want to steer clear of watching it for now. I try my best to finish a course, then see what else is out there.

I am not missing out on dim byd (anything).

Thoroughness Beats Hyper-Productivity

Above you read the word "regularly". You may have assumed that this means daily or twice a day. It does not mean anything of the sort. Last month it meant "twice". I haven't been able to carve out a regular Welsh learning slot yet and there is no way I'm going to feel guilty about it. There's something to be said for scheduling and committing, but sometimes I prefer to let the mood come to me.

Here I'm remembering Lindsay's reference to Richard Simcott's words from the Polyglot Conference in Berlin this year:

A polyglot is someone who's learning a language for fun.

So I guess I'm in the club (whether I want to or not) because I'm here to follow a nerdy curiosity. Which is fun.

If I don't think it's fun to aim for fluency in 4 months or C1 by Christmas, then I don't have to aim for that at all. My goals are small and tangible right now because that's how I want them. They may be things like "revise yesterday's vocab list" or "make notes for chapter 4 of the BBC series". What I'm trying to tell you here is that I do not feel guilty about picking my own language pace and neither should you. Well, unless you're in formal education and have an exam tomorrow.

When you schedule and streamline to a fault, your productivity can become a burden. Sometimes I see all this posturing of cold showers and hyper productivity. It exists in language learning too, and I can only echo this wonderful article: if you want to get it all done quickly, maybe you're chasing the wrong goal.

What Do You Think?

Of course I'm writing this to make sure that I stay committed in the routine I've just told you all about. But what are your tricks? Do you like using language and productivity "hacks" or do you follow a structure and take the slow road like I do?

Please tell me about your own routines in the comments!