learning new language

[shootingstar]

I was totally impressed meeting Chinese-Canadians living in Quebec, some who speak and write all 3 languages quite well. These folks I met, engaged in counselling services, so they really had to know 3 languages well to serve their clients and also network across Montreal with the other agencies professionally.

Chinatown signage there, some of it is in 3 languages in Montreal.

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mhami.. the pattern in our family, is to answer in Chinese to my mother, who speaks/knows primarily only Chinese and then fit in English if we don't know the Chinese word(s).

So yes, it sounds like a dog's breakfast. And it is. So that's why in such family situations, there has to be intuitive trust by parent and child so that there is SOME familial bond and ongoing communication.

Despite this sort of linguistic purgatory, it does help in language retention. So never be afraid of looking stupid. My parents and relatives appreciate it.

[tulip]

Crankin, you don't have to understand all the Spanish on the TV or radio to get benefit from it. Just listening to the cadence and rhythm of the language is incredibly useful. I would encourage you to reconsider not listening to Spanish TV or radio because you don't understand everything. Just go with it and have it on a little every day. It's particularly useful if you are learning European Spanish with Rosetta Stone and want to also get a sense of Mexican and Central American Spanish (which is what most of the TV/Radio stations tend towards, at least around here.)

I found Rosetta Stone (Portuguese) to be very useful with the pronunciation. But I still needed the grammatical rules since I already speak French; it just makes more sense to me. So I took some private lessons and studied out of a book in addition to Rosetta Stone. That's what I'm going to do with Spanish starting in January, too.

[malkin]

Also, when you are in the process of learning a new language it is perfectly ok if you don't know what's going on. You don't have to understand everything, and you don't have to know what tense is what, or anything.

Learning language is something that humans do, sort of like digesting food. It doesn't help to worry about it so much.

Think of little kids learning a first language. There is quite a lot that they don't understand, sometimes it is adorable, sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating.

Just keep up your exposure to the language and you'll get better.

[Crankin]

I know all of these things, but right now it seems impossible. I actually feel that I can learn languages fairly easily when I have the structure of a class or some immersion, so maybe I can swing some private lessons before the trip. I will start watching the TV. I loved taking Spanish in HS; it was my second foreign language. I took 3 years of French (everyone took French here in MA), so when I moved to south Florida, I decided to add in Spanish. I just wish I had continued it in college!
My son took 2 years of college Italian in a year, in an intensive style course. He lived in the international student dorm, where he had to speak in Italian part of the time, the semester before he went to Italy. He said he still could not understand the TV, etc when he got there. He arrived on Jan. 3d. When we went to visit him in the middle of April, he was totally fluent. So, I guess really does take immersion.
Shooting Star, I remember being in a Chinese restaurant in Montreal and marveling at the trilingual menu and wait staff.

[OakLeaf]

When we were in Spain, we'd come back to our room sometimes and watch game shows. For the most part, the vocabulary was limited enough that between DH and me with our middle-school Spanish and, in my case, enough other European languages to give me grammar and cognates, we could understand enough to enjoy the shows and maybe pick up on a bit of the slang.

You should be able to find a slang dictionary, too - obviously there's no substitute for immersion, but for me, having spent a grand total of one day in France, my French slang dictionary is hugely helpful in reading online forums.

[malkin]

In language learning research the thing you are feeling has an official sounding name: the affective filter.

Anything you can do to reduce your affective filter could help.
(Alcohol works for some adult learners.)

[NbyNW]

I've had good luck with Pimsleur language programs, both with Italian and Spanish. I don't know how it compares vs. Rosetta Stone, but it's a pretty efficient system if you're preparing to travel somewhere and don't have a ton of time to take a conventional language course. (I've had years of formal French and Mandarin coursework, and I felt like I got comfortable with the "feel" of Italian much more quickly using the Pimsleur tapes).

The emphasis is on the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation that you would need as a traveler, so you get drilled with greetings, how to order at a restaurant, discussing transportation, using numbers to describe things and money.

I think an advantage to using a product like Pimsleur or Rosetta is that you're not sitting in a classroom listening to your classmates struggle with pronunciation. One of the things Pimsleur emphasizes is to listen and respond to the speaker at a similar speed. Early lessons are a bit slower and simpler, but then they get progressively more complicated and speed up to a more regular pace of conversation. Two months of working with recordings and I was much more comfortable with Italian vs. seven years of French, albeit with a limited vocabulary.

Probably any system like this is no substitute for practicing conversation with native speakers, but they can help you get a good foundation with things that you would find immediately useful.

[tulip]

In language learning research the thing you are feeling has an official sounding name: the affective filter.

Anything you can do to reduce your affective filter could help.
(Alcohol works for some adult learners.)

Interesting! It's true...I'm much more talkative when I'm having a glass of wine. That's true for English, as well as French and Portuguese! I'll find out with Spanish in the spring.