Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Effective Language Learning + Learning multiple languages at once

superseiyan · 12-17-2008, 03:39 PM

Hi Guys:

Background: I'm 27. Grew up in France aged 2-9. Then Kenya, Then US at 13. I grew up around French. Lost it in Kenya. I took some French in high school. Never got fluent. I took it up to Intermediate level in College. Never got fluent, but did well enough to get a "B". Go figure. Today I NEVER use French, but I somehow pick it up when people are speaking, and I can scan newspaper headlines and know whats going on. I probably couldn't take a grammar test though.

However, recently I got interested in Italian. I like Italy, plus my immediate family lives there. Now I was able to self-teach myself basic rules and grammar and vocabulary to the point I could probably pass a Italian 101 and 102 class at college. But no verbal fluency. French is probably ahead in terms of residual understanding that's left.

Now, I'm in a position where I'd love to know Italian for passion, interest and future travel reasons. For career purposes, French'd be advantegous - I work in on of the most powerful International Organizations int he world.

With this background, I'd like to seek feedback from those that speak multiple language. In addition to these five questions, you may add any other thoughts you have on langauge:

1. What are your experiences learning two languages at once? Do they clash or slow each other down?

2. What are your opinions on formal classes? I'd like to be able to be intelligible and conversational. Knowing every grammatical idiosyncracy is not THAT important to me. But maybe it should be? Classes - necessaryk or nto?

3. At beginning level, should I worry about all: me, you, he/her, we, you (pl.), they + ALL the tenses or can I get buy with me, you, we + simple past, simple future & conditional?

4. As I'm in the Washington DC area, fluent French speakers are more readily accessible. Italian's hard. Either way, how do you guys practice or hone your verbal skills?

5. to what extent do you utilize audio-visual stuff like movies, radio, news telecasts, sporting events, etc? I've heard that it is better to be exposed to language in it's natural form and speed, than to use rote memorization as a crutch.

Cheers,

12-17-2008, 03:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
superseiyan Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 18	Effective Language Learning + Learning multiple languages at once Hi Guys: Background: I'm 27. Grew up in France aged 2-9. Then Kenya, Then US at 13. I grew up around French. Lost it in Kenya. I took some French in high school. Never got fluent. I took it up to Intermediate level in College. Never got fluent, but did well enough to get a "B". Go figure. Today I NEVER use French, but I somehow pick it up when people are speaking, and I can scan newspaper headlines and know whats going on. I probably couldn't take a grammar test though. However, recently I got interested in Italian. I like Italy, plus my immediate family lives there. Now I was able to self-teach myself basic rules and grammar and vocabulary to the point I could probably pass a Italian 101 and 102 class at college. But no verbal fluency. French is probably ahead in terms of residual understanding that's left. Now, I'm in a position where I'd love to know Italian for passion, interest and future travel reasons. For career purposes, French'd be advantegous - I work in on of the most powerful International Organizations int he world. With this background, I'd like to seek feedback from those that speak multiple language. In addition to these five questions, you may add any other thoughts you have on langauge: 1. What are your experiences learning two languages at once? Do they clash or slow each other down? 2. What are your opinions on formal classes? I'd like to be able to be intelligible and conversational. Knowing every grammatical idiosyncracy is not THAT important to me. But maybe it should be? Classes - necessaryk or nto? 3. At beginning level, should I worry about all: me, you, he/her, we, you (pl.), they + ALL the tenses or can I get buy with me, you, we + simple past, simple future & conditional? 4. As I'm in the Washington DC area, fluent French speakers are more readily accessible. Italian's hard. Either way, how do you guys practice or hone your verbal skills? 5. to what extent do you utilize audio-visual stuff like movies, radio, news telecasts, sporting events, etc? I've heard that it is better to be exposed to language in it's natural form and speed, than to use rote memorization as a crutch. Cheers,