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I was guessing about about 15,000 hours I just think it has to be a lot time. I'm sure speaking helps most people who study languages simply by exposing them t

I was guessing about about 15,000 hours I just think it has to be a lot time. I'm sure speaking helps most people who study languages simply by exposing them to more input more frequently then they would otherwise be exposed to. I just don't think it is as efficient as focusing on listening first. It will lead to having an accent, grammer issues and pauses to think about how to say things. That being said good luck finding any program that doesn't focus on speaking early.

nemetroid 4y ago
I think there's some merit to your argument, that there's some minimal level of understanding that's required before speaking becomes meaningful, but that your time estimate is off by two orders of magnitude. Working in Sweden, where tech companies speak English internally, I've been able to follow the language learning journeys of quite a few people (including some using the strategy "don't bother"), and the people who end up the best speakers (with regard to accent, grammar and vocabulary) are invariably those who try to speak the language as much as possible as early as possible. Yes, they will have a strong accent in the beginning, but it goes away with time (though accents rarely disappear entirely). The native English speakers who've lived in the country for twenty years without speaking much Swedish daily still have strong accents.
- bobajeff 4y ago
  Yes I also believe my estimate is off. Regardless you should have a good understanding of the language before speaking it so you won't fall into the issues of adapting new words and grammer to your current one. You also should have it be exposed to you through experience vs try to memorize definitions or you'll have to pause frequently to remember how to say things. But that may not be that realistic for most at least not without a accommodating and capable tutor.

nemetroid 4y ago

I think there's some merit to your argument, that there's some minimal level of understanding that's required before speaking becomes meaningful, but that your time estimate is off by two orders of magnitude. Working in Sweden, where tech companies speak English internally, I've been able to follow the language learning journeys of quite a few people (including some using the strategy "don't bother"), and the people who end up the best speakers (with regard to accent, grammar and vocabulary) are invariably those who try to speak the language as much as possible as early as possible. Yes, they will have a strong accent in the beginning, but it goes away with time (though accents rarely disappear entirely). The native English speakers who've lived in the country for twenty years without speaking much Swedish daily still have strong accents.

bobajeff 4y ago
Yes I also believe my estimate is off. Regardless you should have a good understanding of the language before speaking it so you won't fall into the issues of adapting new words and grammer to your current one. You also should have it be exposed to you through experience vs try to memorize definitions or you'll have to pause frequently to remember how to say things. But that may not be that realistic for most at least not without a accommodating and capable tutor.