Pineapple Language Hacks #4：The MOST EFFECTIVE study method for learning a language.
There are countless choices for how to go about learning a language. Book stores are full of books with titles such as "Learn French in 10 days" or "Easy German" or "Swahili for Busy People". There are serious textbooks that you can buy online or at a university book store. There are classes and schools that use a formal classroom environment to teach you. There are even expensive computer programs and apps that supposedly work better than anything else (verdict out on this one). There are podcasts and Youtube series and clubs and language corners and tons of other resources out there.
All of these methods bring varied results. Most work for some people and not for others. In general though, none of them are as effective as everyone hopes. Very few find themselves conversational in a short period of time, especially when they are only putting a few hours a week into study. Most of us also have other responsibilities and can't put much more time into study and so we just hopelessly hope that one day we will achieve some level of fluency.
What if I told you that the most effective method of learning a language was the simplest and least fancy of them all?
The most effective method of learning a language, one that has consistant results among all those who practice it is something that we all do anyway when we join a class or hire a tutor or use a textbook, but it's something that we severely underestimate the importance of and therefore don't spend enough time on. It is literally more important than everything else, and you can learn a language doing nothing but that one thing. It can be summed up in two words:
Make Sentences
It’s so simple. The reason textbook work and classes and tutors are so useful is mainly because you have a chance to make your own sentences. They are also usually sentences that are related to the grammar that you are studying. This is a very important point. You don’t want to just make sentences at random, you want to make sentences which use certain grammar that you are practicing.
You can use textbooks or classes to practice making sentences, and of course it is very helpful to have a teacher, but you can cut out a lot of the fluff and save yourself a lot of money and time if you just do it yourself. Textbooks are useful but the practice sessions talk a lot about Bob or Mary, and you are not Bob or Mary, you are you and the things that are related to your life are far more relevant and important for you to talk about than anything you can find in a textbook. This makes everything you practice much easier to remember.
Having a systematic approach to making sentences can really help speed up your progress
Those who speak at random without any proper study or formula do learn eventually, but their understanding of grammar is full of holes, they make many mistakes and often can't understand everything being said. Here are some points keep in mind when making sentences:
- Choose a grammatical structure that you want to practice.
I think it’s good to have a textbook for this. I will usually review the dialogue section and the grammar section just to make sure I understand the nuances and then use this grammar section as a reference to make sure I’m not making mistakes. You can also check with a friend and ask for a few more examples so you can compare them.
- Make sentences
Instead of doing the practice section of a textbook, or in addition to doing the practice session (or in addition to the grammar you learned from a friend) make lots and lots of sentences. Write them, speak them to yourself or people you know.
Here is an example of what I might practice in my second week of learning a language:
I_________like_______________dogs
I_________like_______________microwaves***.
I_________don’t like_________pop music
*** - strange sentences are ok, they help you remember new words.
- Practice only what you’ve learned.
Don’t go outside your comfort zone without consulting a textbook or a native speaker. Every language has different rules and so you need to make sure you are following them. It’s good to start simple, for example, just using positive sentences and just talking about yourself at first. Then as you become more comfortable figure out how to make it more dynamic by either checking the book or asking someone.
I__________________like_________________your sister.
You______________don’t like____________me.
Your sister_______doesn’t like_________me.
See, the conjugation and negation might be confusing if you don’t read an explanation or see a sufficient amount of examples.
- Practice until you are comfortable
One thing that people often fail to do is practice enough to actually feel comfortable with the grammar. They learn it, then they move on, or they review it until they can recall it, but really it needs review until it comes AUTOMATICALLY. You shouldn’t really have to think about it. You can move on and come back to review but don’t forget to review.
- Make sentences that are fun and interesting
Interesting means relevant to you. It’s also nice to make ridiculous sentences because this helps you remember them. Context helps you remember things and the best context is something you can relate to or something you enjoy. It’s also easy to make friends when you say ridiculous things.
- Talk to whoever you can
If you don't live in that country, find someone on the internet, talk to a friend who doesn't understand just for fun, or talk to yourself. I cannot stress enough that talking to yourself is better than talking in your head.
We spend so much time and energy figuring out how to improve at a language when the answer is staring us right in the face. I bet you didn't think it could be that simple, but I can attest that ALL my students who do this regularly improve at a decent rate, and if they put more time into it, they can improve at a rate far faster than the average university course.
Keep speaking!
Feel free to share your progress or to contact me on discord @whatamidoing if you are interested in English, Mandarin (beginner) or Japnese (beginner) lessons.
Authored by @whatamidoing
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Very useful guide indeed! One can learn as many languages as possible but it takes time and needs lots of efforts to achieve Excellency in this persuasion. I think we can learn a language efficiently and properly if we become able to think in the targeted language. Thinking means one has maintained some command over that language. It also help to learn new words and improves sentence structure. However, it is very difficult to learn a particular language if verbal communication is not made in that particular language. It becomes easier to learn a language if one may find a partner who has command over that language.
That is exactly my goal when I am teaching. I always ask my students who are stuck "Do you think in English?" and the answer is usually no. The internal dialogue has to be English and if one doesn't practice speaking that just doesn't happen.
Yes indeed.
Learning a language at the beginning may seems so hard and frustrating but with determination, you can learn it. Just be patient when learning it and also make sure you always practice as practices makes perfect. Don't rush also to know everything as you may later end up not knowing anything. Just cool down and also believe in yourself that you can learn this language
That is great advice right there, I always emphasize the importance of review because there is a difference between knowing something and being able to use it!
I am a supporter of the communicative method. Today it is the most popular method of learning foreign languages. For the early 70's it was a real breakthrough, because the main purpose of this method – to teach people to interact with other people in the target language, which involves all forms of communication: speech, writing (both reading and writing skills), the ability to listen and understand what was said by the interlocutor. This is easiest to achieve by teaching a person in natural conditions-natural, first of all, from the point of view of common sense.
Yeah, it seems like common sense to me, but it's funny how I had no idea how to begin just using the language before I actually tried a bunch of other things first that felt less natural. I think we are not used to doing things in an intuitive way, we always make things more complicated in society and so language learning tends to follow that pattern.
Yes its quite interesting that you were able to point out making a sentence as one of the simplest ways of learning a language. In making these sentences you will have to agree with me that there has to be a professional who is a master in such language to listen to you and make corrections where necessary if not you will end up making errors especially on choice of present and past tense.
Not really. It depends on your level of devotion to learning and to finding your own mistakes. You can easily ask a native speaker if you've made any mistakes and figure things out through trial and error. A professional will merely simplify the process and force you to do this...then again some professionals will over-complicate things and make you dependent on them. This is very common in Asia and America at least.
Interesting, I started learning Mandarin earlier this year, and things were going well. Unfortunately though, I don't have anyone to practice with, and so just stopped speaking everyday.
I'm going to start another language again soon, but I'm stuck between the choice of Brazilian Portuguese (Pretty useful, will be able to use, and like the sound).
Brushing up on my German (Can speak a bit, have forgotten lots so should be fairly rapid learning, useful, I like German people!)
Spanish (I'm about 70-80% fluent, though would like to get my grammar on point. Opportunity to speak all the time)
Mandarin (Love the sound, love trying to speak, would get a real kick out of learning something so difficult).
Swedish (Started learning some time ago and never bothered to take it past the 'bob and mary' stage. Love the sound of it, would mainly be learning just to hear myself speak that way!)
I'm toying with the idea of Portuguese and Mandarin at the same time, but think that is silly, but tempting!
What do you reckon?
Cg
You don't have any Mandarin speakers around!? Where!!! Hahaha I've yet to find a place with no Mandarin speakers. Feel free to send me a message on discord if you want to practice.
As far as learning two languages at a time, I think it's do-able, it just takes an extra level of devotion and it may be a bit slower. I did French and Japanese at the same time but I was more interested in Japanese and so my French kind of fell apart. Really it's just about being able to motivate yourself to actually speak.
I've been thinking of going to more Mexican restaurants to motivate me to learn Spanish. It's not hard to learn a language when you aren't in the country, but it is hard to motivate yourself to keep studying when you don't have any chances to use the language so you need to create opportunities.
Language is one of the most diverse thing in this world. Over billions people are on this earth and over thousands different languages in this earth so language is diverse and dynamic. I remember when I was learning a language back then, I almost gave up because I was not catching up as I expected but with my love and passion for the language, I learn it through and I was happy
Which language was it?
Interesting observations you make in this publication, @whatamidoing. Definitely constant practice is essential when learning a new language. And this practice must be oriented to develop the communicative competences of a native speaker of the studied language; it is effective as a method of study to listen and to try spontaneous conversations, to listen to music, to watch movies and thus to get closer to the knowledge of the grammar of that language, that is to say to understand how it is formed. For this reason, if you propose to formally learn the grammar of that language you will be able to understand much more the structure of it and you will be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Thank you @whatamidoing for all these tips and @adsactly for sharing them. Happy day.
I find that when we try to get back into the mindset and habits of children (with less inhibitions) we learn sooooo much quicker. Formal study helps but it merely works as a suppliment because we already have other languages and complicated ideas in our head.
@whatamidoing, when you said there was a secret to learning fast, I thought the idea was to travel to places where that language is spoken! Hahahaha. I think I need a vacation! I observe here that when we talk about the acquisition of any type of language, we must do it from the smallest structure to the most complex. That is, after we handle some words (maybe nouns and verbs) such as when the child begins to speak, we can then risk creating phrases or sentences. I feel, as you say, that verbal and scriptural practice is fundamental. Sometimes, even if you have the best method for learning, if you don't devote enough time to it, you may feel that you haven't made any progress at all. In the case of people who work daily and are busy in a thousand things, I think we should try to combine, perhaps with music in the car, with a basic application on the cell phone or simply have a booklet where you can go doing the task at any time of leisure. Of course, taking into account that everyone has their own pace of learning and there are languages that have a greater degree of complexity.
I will try to follow your advice, @whatamidoing and thanks to @adsactly for sharing this content. Greetings
It's like building a building! You don't need to go there to be fully immersed, it just makes it easier. The internet some concentration is all you need!
I find your orientation work to make the exercise of a foreign language more effective very useful, as well as simple and practical, @whatamidoing. It is a very functional and pragmatic vision to assume the true learning of a language. I consider the exercises that you propose to be correct, which start from daring to write simple sentences from the personal condition and the real context of the speakers. Of course, it will always have some kind of difficulty, but it will be more surmountable. Thank you for your recommendations, and also @adsactly for spreading your article.
People always make language study into this gargantuan task that one most devote their whole life to achieving, and it's really not a big deal, we just make it more complicated than it needs to be and mess around with overly complicated study methods. :-)
Great indeed.
I've thought and said to my self that I wouldn't be a able to a pineapple language but while reading this article I feel extremely encouraged.
Leaning a pineapple language is that easy tho, like you said, make sentence, it's actually a way of practicing no matter how good or bad you are and you can recall, practice actually makes you perfect, so giving it a try regular wouldn't cause much harm.
:-D it's just about changing your ideas about language learning, it makes it so much easier