Learning a new language

[NJB18]

The best way to learn a new language is to stay on the place where it was use. That way you will be force to learn. If you cant stay on that place, then better to understand and speak few words per day. Use google.

[Proper]

The best way to learn a foreign language if you don't have to live in a country where it is used to marry a citizen of this country. When you communicate with people every day you will learn not only the language but also the correct pronunciation.

[richsoon]

Repetition is the key, keep learning every single day and repeating even basic phrases and eventually you will never forget them. As time goes by you will start learning and repeating more and more complex sentences. Even just a few minutes every morning and evening is enough.

[szpalata]

Try busuu.com and then find a native of your preferred language as your study partner and practice with them . I think the basic technique of learning any language is consistent practice with a speaker of a hat language.

[Smolko]

Move to the country for a couple of months, watch movies in the native language, starting with native subtitles ( subtitles in the language you want to learn)  and then move on to watch movies without subtitles, read texts and get a partner who speaks the language.

[scribbles]

I think most important is exposing yourself to the new language every day. 15 minutes if you like, but not a day should go by without reading/hearing it.

[karmamiu]

      Learning new language could be good for you at the same time its beneficial, some people nowadays actually learn different kinds pf languages through internet, some also from reading books while small percent of the people learn it by exposing themselves in the crowd.

[ericacay]

I can only speak one language, it is very difficult to learn a new language because I am easy to forget and not so smart

[lipcoins]

Learning a language, like all things, takes practice and a lot of effort. It's not just a learning process like with most subjects but it also has a very important psychological side to it because to speak it well you need to learn to not just speak but also think in a language different than your native one.  This is where the greatest difficulty lies. Being naturally gifted with languages is a great advantage and so is having a good memory.

[lipcoins]

The best way to learn a new language is to stay on the place where it was use. That way you will be force to learn. If you cant stay on that place, then better to understand and speak few words per day. Use google.

True! There is nothing like a full immersion in a place where they speak nothing but that language! It's better to start at home obviously and learn the basics but it's amazing how fast one can pick up a new language when they have no other option for communicating!

[lipcoins]

The best way to learn a new language is to stay on the place where it was use. That way you will be force to learn. If you cant stay on that place, then better to understand and speak few words per day. Use google.

True! There is nothing like a full immersion in a place where they speak nothing but that language! It's better to start at home obviously and learn the basics but it's amazing how fast one can pick up a new language when they have no other option for communicating!

[lipcoins]

Move to the country for a couple of months, watch movies in the native language, starting with native subtitles ( subtitles in the language you want to learn)  and then move on to watch movies without subtitles, read texts and get a partner who speaks the language.

Yes! I have found that even being passively exposed to the language helps a lot, especially for picking up the pronunciation and intonation. The internet is a great help with this. Sometimes I have YouTube videos of movies, talk shows, anything just playing in the background while I'm at home doing other things, even away from the screen. Just a weekend spent like this with very little interference from even my native language can make a huge difference!

[lipcoins]

Hmm my friend know my own language and english so he want to learn 1 more language so which you would prefer him german or french? I think german that it is better.

Tough one. German is spoken in many of the world's top economies including obviously Germany itself. French however is spoken in half of Africa, Canada and some parts of Asia too. While most of these are at the bottom of the 3rd world countries list, they can still prove to be important markets in the future.

Myself I'd pick German mainly cause of bias, but it would be a good option to know them both. Also in the EU French seems to be accepted as 2nd official language after English for some reason. Probably cause many of the institutions are located in Brussels which is a mostly French speaking town.

"German is spoken in many of the world's top economies"  sorry but NO. German is spoken in Germany and Austria and in a part of Switzerland, even though it is so distorted compared to Hochdeutsch that it literally squeezes all the beauty out of the language. It is common to learn German in school in neighboring countries such as The Netherlands and Denmark, however this won't guarantee that you'll be able to stop people in the street and they'll automatically speak German, unless they live near the border.

If a person has a specific interest in a language for cultural reasons or because they plan to move there, they can learn any language they choose. If they're just looking for a language to learn that will be useful business-wise, well, between these two it would definitely be French because:

1) French is spoken in a variety of countries in Europe + Africa and Canada and former colonies overseas.
2) French has historically been the diplomatic language in which foreign delegations used to communicate to each other. Most words that describe governmental positions and organization have been directly borrowed from French
3) French are very proud of their language and have not taken well to English replacing it as The international language. Jacques Chirac was the first French president to ever have spoken English in public and this caused a bit of a stir with the public opinion: not because previous presidents didn't understand English but rather because the French always expect others to speak their language and not the other way around. I have worked with many clients with whom this was consistently the case. Hence: whenever you work with French clients, be prepared to speak their language. And you'll be better off this way since they have such a thick accent that they would make most languages they attempt to speak almost incomprehensible. Germans, on the other hand, are not so precious and are happy to speak English.   

Basically: unless you have a specific preference for one of these two languages or cultures, go for French. If you're looking for an even more useful language, opt for Spanish.

[lipcoins]

Move to the country where you want to learn the language. Easy job , you will speak the  language within 6 months.

That is a good idea, but I think I can't learnthe language  that I want within 6 months and even I move there. Maybe for 2 years I can learn the language, it is German, I want to learn German, they day it is the hardest one, so I think I really need a lot of time.

ok german is quite hard, especially the articles "der/die/das" and all the other stuff, to learn them you have to live here or spent a lot of time in this language. Are you planning to move to germany?

der/die/das  is the very least of your problems, trust me! When you're in the country and use the wrong article people can still understand the noun and there are very few words that have a double article with a different meaning so that minimizes the risk for embarrassment.

The most difficult thing in German are secondary sentences, the way after the comma you start with subject + all complements in strict predetermined order (Time+Cause+Mean+Location) and then the verb at the end. In case of a compound tense, the infinite verb goes first and the auxiliary go last.

EX: "I'm happy that you have read my book!"  turns LITERALLY into: "I'm happy, that you my book read have".

That's  a complete overhaul of the way most languages are structured and it's quite difficult getting used to that in writing, never mind when speaking it!  My suggestion, as someone who has learnt it:

give yourself a few months to learn the basics and then go to Germany, even 3 to 6 months. Depends on your talent and dedication but that's long enough to pick it up. You can always stay longer or go back. The best area to pick up the purest German is the Hannover area - what is usually referred to High German. If you have to make an effort, make it count. Avoid Bavaria (and Austria and especially Switzerland ) by all means !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

[lipcoins]

Learning new language not only can help you prevent certain diseases in old age, it also activates different parts of your brain when you speak it and you even start to think differently. I've read some research and scientists say that bilingual children are easier to educate. 

Yes. Another study of foreign languages contributes to the development of concentration and interaction with other people. Those who know several languages communicate more easily with other people and have a good memory.

i speak french,spanish,german very well, i dont think i can learn any more languages.

Awesome! and you speak English as well. I  wonder how did you take it? Knowing four languages is amazing. Anyway, I have read that a person who knows more than 1 language tends to have split-personality and may unconsciously change personality when he or she switch languages. I wonder if this is true? And if you have ever feel that something like that happen to you? I hope you don't mind me asking.

It is true indeed! It depends on many factors, one of them being the fact that you learn a different language at a different stage of your life, when you literally are a different person from the one you were when you learnt your native language. Given that in order to learn a language well you usually have to spend a period of time abroad, in a complete different setting than the one you're used to, that takes out parts of yourself you probably didn't even know existed. Every time you are immersed in a different reality, a different part of you comes out. It's a coping mechanism of finding yourself in unknown environments, especially when the language you're trying to learn is the only one in which it is possible to communicate. Plus, you take in new things and you evolve. Once you learn the language, or are able to express yourself freely in it, you will relate to that language also based on your experience of that culture, within that culture. You change a bit the moment you change language depending on what that language means to you and all the associations you have with it. Personally, I think that a great deal of how a language affects a person is primarily in its sound and structure. Russians are known to have a complex mind and a complex soul and the explanation is all there in their complex, beautiful language.

The most amazing thing is when you start thinking in that language. There comes a day at some point (usually when living abroad) when you wake up and realize you just dreamt in that new language! You can literally dream of your mom arguing with you in a language she doesn't know, and yet in your dream she does. That's the moment you realize that you have started thinking in that new language and your mind is just at ease using it as it is using your native language. A happy day indeed that is!

[lipcoins]

Learning new language not only can help you prevent certain diseases in old age, it also activates different parts of your brain when you speak it and you even start to think differently. I've read some research and scientists say that bilingual children are easier to educate. 

Yes. Another study of foreign languages contributes to the development of concentration and interaction with other people. Those who know several languages communicate more easily with other people and have a good memory.

i speak french,spanish,german very well, i dont think i can learn any more languages.

If you really speak these languages very well as you say then you can definitely take on a new one and learn that too well enough. It gets more difficult after 30 but your brain is already well trained so you should be fine till 40, easily!

[lipcoins]

I find a really effective method is to marry someone who speaks another language especially if their family does not speak your language.
What language(s) were you thinking about learning?

You really don't need to marry. You can start with just having an affair!  (unless the othe rperson is ridiculously rich in which case I totally recommend marriage)

Just spend some time in the country where that language is spoken, meet people, hang out with them, have a romp if you really have to, try force yourself to communicate in that language and not ask people to switch to English. That's enough, really. 

[lipcoins]

I speak 7 languages: English, French, C, C++, Java, JavaScript and HTML.

Well, "speak" probably isn't the most appropriate verb to use. Hard to imagine anyone chit chat in HTML down at the local pub...!   

[lipcoins]

The best is the practice.
So I learned Russian at school.
But no one spoke Russian in my region and I had no contact with Russian-speaking people.
And all the Russians I had met in Europe or worldwide wanted to speak English - so no chance for Russian.

If you want to refresh it you can start by streaming their online tv channels. Kanal Kultura is very good and they have a lot of documentaries that are really well made on writers, actors and so on. The language is of course of a higher standard than you would find in talk shows. You can stream it as a background to whatever you are doing and it can be really helpful in taking back to surface everything you have learnt, however long ago that might have been.

[3DBrushes]

Don't rely too much on the grammar.
Keep a contact with a native speaker of the language which you are interested in learning.
Practice a lot!!!!!