Learning a language by reading and listening
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Why crawl if you can walk? I think that trying to master a language without listening to it is as futile as playing the piano without listening to music or trying to learn to swim by analyzing the chemical composition of water instead of plunging into it. I’ve always been puzzled by the fact that even intelligent people learn languages in a clumsy way. I began learning languages on my own when I was eight. The first one was Russian. I was intrigued by the different letters and ever since I became hooked. Even now after forty years I remember the first text I ever read. It was about seagulls and the sea and the way you become happy by soaring above the Earth. I am extremely grateful to Russian writers and poets, they helped me regard their nation as something more than mere oppressors that they were and still are to many. This is the way I do it: If you want to learn a language quickly you’ll need: 1. a recording performed by good actors or narrators in the language you want to learn 2. the original text (of the recording) 3. a translation into your own language or a language you understand 4. the text should be long: novels are best You may wonder: why long texts? Because of the idiolect of the author; it manifests itself fully in the first ten–twenty pages: it is very important in learning quickly without cramming. The key factor in learning a language is EXPOSURE, that is how much text you will be able to perceive in a unit of time. There is a physical limit here, you can’t understand any faster than the text reaches your brain. That is why you ought to SIMULTANEOUSLY read the translation and listen to the original recording: that provides the fastest exposure. You should ENJOY the text you're going to listen to. Texts for beginners should be long - the longer the better, up to fifty hours (e.g. The Lord of the Ring, Harry Potter, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Catch-22). You might doubt if it is possible. I can assure you it is - you should see twelve-year-olds listening to Harry Potter. The translation: a) interlinear (for beginners) b) literary, but following the original text as closely as possible The original text and the literary translation should be placed in parallel vertical columns side by side. If the texts are placed side by side, you can check almost instantly whether you understand or not. The order ought to be EXACTLY as follows: What you do: 1. you read the translation because you only remember well what you understand and what you feel is "yours" psychologically 2. you listen to the recording and look at the written text at the same time, because the flow of speech has no boundaries between words and the written text does, you will be able to separate each word in the speech flow and you will get used to the speed of talking of native speakers - at first it seems incredibly fast 3. you look at the translation and listen to the text at the same time, from the beginning to the end of a story, usually three times is enough to understand almost everything This is the most important thing in our method, it is right AT THIS POINT that proper learning takes place. 4. now you can concentrate on speaking: you repeat after the recording, you do it as many times as necessary to become fluent Of course, first you have to know how to pronounce the sounds of the language you’re learning. How to teach yourself the correct pronunciation is a different matter, here I will only mention the importance of it. 5. you translate the text from your own language into the language you’re learning you can do the translation both orally and in writing, that’s why the written texts should be placed in vertical columns side by side: you can cover one side and check using the other one. And last but not least: conversing is not learning, it is USING a language, you will NEVER be able to say more than you already know. © Phi-Staszek
You provided a lot of information on the best way to "learn" a language, but in reality, your method only teaches how to understand the language. A major component of "knowing" a language is the ability to speak it, something that your method lacks. I sincerely applaud you for "coming up" with this method of understanding the language, but we must not forget that it is equally important to be able to speak the language and be comprehensible. <3 meesh
I couldn't agree less. As to speaking and writing see 4. and 5. I do not say it is 'the best way", it is the most enjoyble one. IF you like literature.
That's a good website. I don't agree with the credo of the founder though. I think it's fine to learn more than one foreign language at once. Although I had a tiny bit of exposure to some foreign languages as a child, I didn't start learning formally until I was 14. I took French and Spanish in school at the same time. I'm glad I did. The French teacher was a good grammar/translation type of teacher and we rarely heard any French at all. My Spanish class was a party. We listened to a movie, made up games, and sang. Occasionally we did some work. Mostly, I think we laughed and listened to stories the teacher told. If I had not taken French, I would not have understood what it means to conjugate a verb, nor would I have understood a lot of things language learners need to know. It gave me a core for understanding other languages (including Spanish). However, if I had not taken Spanish, perhaps I would not know how much fun a language could be. I think different methods work for different people. I started a thread about the hyperpolyglot Stuart Jay Raj. I heard him translate a few things from Thai into several languages (most of us could do the same with several short phrases, I think.) like English, Mandarin, Lao, Spanish and Hindi. He has several interesting methods, but some probably only work for a few students.
“Listening” is one great way to approach a language. Especially if you want to speak and understand a language. That’s what most learners want to do. But, ever notice how most beginners are awful at speaking & understanding a foreign language? Why? Because they focus mostly on reading. So, why listening? There was an interesting audio experiment done. It shows how 1) listening combined with 2) a follow-up translation/explanation gets you understanding something you didn’t know before. Here’s the basic premise of this experiment.
Just listen to this 50 second experiment below. Press play. So, how does this relate to learning language? It’s very similar. If I were to say something new to you in Japanese, Korean or Russian, it’d go in one ear and out the other. You’d forget it. It’s garbled to you. For example, listen to this Japanese phrase: If you’re not already learning Japanese, this will go way over your head. You have no translation (old information) to connect it to. It’s gone. As the experiment says, your brain can’t process new words/phrases it has no prior knowledge of. But… if you have the translation and can read along as you hear it – now you have something to connect it to. You instantly understand it. And next time you hear it again, you’ll know it. So, what you heard was:
Play it again. Now you have the 1) transcript that you can read with and 2) the translation. You know exactly how it’s said, how it sounds, what it means and how to say it. You just learned a phrase. You’ve learned some language.
Alright, how do you apply this to language learning? There are many ways to start a language. Most beginners start with reading a textbook. They get good at reading at grammar but their listening & speaking skills suck. Why? They put 100% effort into reading and 0% effort into listening and speaking. It’s just a matter of what skills you’re practicing and how you choose to start. There’s no wrong way. But remember, if you practice only 1 thing, you’ll only get good at that 1 thing. Here’s how you apply this. Start learning with Audio Lessons, Video Lessons, Podcasts – that’s the first step. I recommend the Pod101 Online Language Courses. However, you ABSOLUTELY must have the translations and scripts for everything you hear – so you can read along and instantly understand. Here’s the process.
Here’s an easy example with JapanesePod101 to show how I learn Japanese with this process. This sounds so obvious, right? You hear, get the meaning, and understand it. Yet, most learners start out by reading and then wonder why their Japanese listening and speaking SUCKS. This experiment is a great lesson in why you should use to audio lessons.
However, if you don’t HEAR it first, you won’t know what to listen for. And that’s pretty much how conversation flows for beginners. They pick out words they already know in a conversation and, boom, they know what they’re being asked. But reading a word first, and THEN hearing it in a conversation won’t help you identify it. Reading and speaking are two different things. Reading doesn’t train your ear to hear native Japanese conversation. And here’s the key point: Conclusion:
Are speaking and/or listening your weak points? Have you tried this “listen & read” along method? Leave me a comment below! – The Main Junkie Sources:
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