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Hubris Boy · 12-30-2001, 11:48 PM

Well... I've had to do it twice: German and Russian. The most important thing I could suggest would be to immerse yourself in it, to the extent you're able. Make it a part of your daily life... listen to the music, replace the magazines in your bathroom with a bilingual dictionary, get yourself a shortwave radio and listen to broadcasts in your new language. Whatever it takes.

I was lucky: both times, I had plenty of access to people who spoke the language every day. I learned Russian from native speakers of the language. And, although I'd had 4 years of high school German and 4 more semesters in college, I didn't really learn to SPEAK German until I lived in Germany and had to use it for everyday living. I don't know how your brain is wired; everybody learns differently. But, for what it's worth, here are a couple of things that I've found useful.

First, I'd suggest brushing up on English grammar as a precursor to your studies. Remember how you hated diagramming sentences in 10th grade English class, and wondered why you'd ever need to know what the hell the a direct object was? Bend over... here it comes again! Grammar is the skeleton of any language. Once you learn the rules, the rest is just memorization. Renewing your acquaintance with the rules of grammar will make your road to a new language a lot smoother. And, as you make progress with your new language, you'll come to appreciate (and love) what a silly language English really is!

Second, as Sycamore correctly points out, there's no substitute for practicing with native speakers of the language. Go out of your way to try out your new skills on people who grew up speaking the language. Frequent their restaurants. Patronize their shops. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You WILL make mistakes, and you'll learn from them. And the more you practice, the smoother and more idiomatic your speech will become. After all... you want to speak like a person, not like a grammar book, right?

Best of luck to you.

12-30-2001, 11:48 PM	#5
Hubris Boy Keymaster of Gozer Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Patapsco Drainage Basin Posts: 471	Well... I've had to do it twice: German and Russian. The most important thing I could suggest would be to immerse yourself in it, to the extent you're able. Make it a part of your daily life... listen to the music, replace the magazines in your bathroom with a bilingual dictionary, get yourself a shortwave radio and listen to broadcasts in your new language. Whatever it takes. I was lucky: both times, I had plenty of access to people who spoke the language every day. I learned Russian from native speakers of the language. And, although I'd had 4 years of high school German and 4 more semesters in college, I didn't really learn to SPEAK German until I lived in Germany and had to use it for everyday living. I don't know how your brain is wired; everybody learns differently. But, for what it's worth, here are a couple of things that I've found useful. First, I'd suggest brushing up on English grammar as a precursor to your studies. Remember how you hated diagramming sentences in 10th grade English class, and wondered why you'd ever need to know what the hell the a direct object was? Bend over... here it comes again! Grammar is the skeleton of any language. Once you learn the rules, the rest is just memorization. Renewing your acquaintance with the rules of grammar will make your road to a new language a lot smoother. And, as you make progress with your new language, you'll come to appreciate (and love) what a silly language English really is! Second, as Sycamore correctly points out, there's no substitute for practicing with native speakers of the language. Go out of your way to try out your new skills on people who grew up speaking the language. Frequent their restaurants. Patronize their shops. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You WILL make mistakes, and you'll learn from them. And the more you practice, the smoother and more idiomatic your speech will become. After all... you want to speak like a person, not like a grammar book, right? Best of luck to you.