8 ms·

I speak three languages fluently (Arabic, French, and English), and I have the same advice for anybody who wants to learn a new language: - Watch their news me

by why-el 15y ago

I speak three languages fluently (Arabic, French, and English), and I have the same advice for anybody who wants to learn a new language: - Watch their news media. For instance, if you are learning Arabic, then watch Arabic media. It might be tough at first, but just go at it. Be a baby. Babies bombard their minds with input and eventually patterns form. - Pick a TV show you saw and watch the whole thing again using language-you-want-to-learn subtitles. This can be fun, and well things will be mentioned so often they will stick. This is extremely effective, and my English vocabulary improved dramatically this way. I prefer this to carrying cards and trying to memorize them. Its unnatural. - Go to a country that speaks it.

oops 15y ago
Comprehension exercises using foreign music videos and magazines can be good too, for the less formal stuff.
meepmorp 15y ago
Movies, too. When I was learning Russian in college, we'd be assigned a 5-10 ten minute segment of a movie and have to transcribe it for homework. It took forever at first, but it really helped my listening comprehension improve quickly.
- why-el 15y ago
  Yes, movies too. I just liked TV Show more because they last longer and they provide a lasting context.
ashconnor 15y ago
Can you recommend a good Arabic TV show?
- why-el 15y ago
  Oh I don't know. I am actually a native Arabic speaker so never needed TV shows for that purpose. And there is one issue you will face if you want to learn Arabic watching Arabic TV Shows: Any show you pick will be in some colloquial form of Arabic and not Classic Arabic. The most popular ones across the Middle East now are in Turkish dubbed in Lebanese Arabic (Yeah :p), and seconds are Egyptian TV shows, so you will have to choose. Pretty much any country makes TV Shows in its own version of Arabic, except in Syria where they used to make historical TV Shows in Classical Arabic. What I suggest is to watch news outlets like Aljazeera, which you can watch online for free [1]. Don't pay attention to the existing perception of Al Jazeera; they are very professional. And, relevant to our discussion, their Arabic is the best around. If in doubt, get a feeling of their editorial policies watching Al Jazeera English, then proceed to learn Arabic. Good Luck [1] http://www.aljazeera.net/livestreaming/pages http://www.aljazeera.net/livestreaming/pages
- bricestacey 15y ago
  For Arabic I also recommend learning songs. I learned to read and write (but not understand anything) but the phrases I remember best are Wael Kfoury songs.
  - why-el 15y ago
    Ah famous fella. :) and shares my first name.
  - ZanderEarth32 15y ago
    Also check out Abdel Halim Hafez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2toXE3c7was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2toXE3c7was Great arabic, easy to hear what he's saying and simple songs. Classic.
zerostar07 15y ago
Babies have a unique way to acquire languages that we don't have as adults. However i find that reading newspapers and understanding the basics is quite easy (mostly because you already know most of the facts mentioned). But the stuff written in newspapers is not the language you would use in a normal conversation. The TV subtitles thing really works, especially when watching reruns of shows you like.
personlurking 15y ago
I'm with you on the bombardment method. In terms of fluency, my Portuguese is 95%, my Spanish is 85%, my Italian is 50% and my French is probably 20%. Of course, these percentages would be best if broken down into reading, writing, etc, in order to get a clearer picture. I don't consider myself to be a quick language learner (ie, with a 'gift' for it) but I do believe that being passionate goes a long, long way and that bombardment and immersion are key. It's not about the time it takes, it's about your drive to reach the right level for you. Being a language lover, I never just want to "get by", I'm looking for near-fluency or fluency. It took me a good decade and a lot of commitment to reach the levels I've reached in the languages mentioned. Btw, the OP is right about getting the accent down. To me this is just as important as any other aspect of the language.
- why-el 15y ago
  I am actually in Brazil right now and I just started learning Portuguese a week ago. I am basically just watching How I Met Your Mother with Portuguese subtitles. Such a beautiful language. My French helps a lot though.
  - personlurking 15y ago
    After teaching myself Brazilian-Portuguese at home in California over a good 5 year period, I moved to Brazil to perfect the last stage, speaking. After half a year, I moved back to the States. A few years later, I moved again (to Brazil) for a few months and last year I moved here once more. Now I've been here for almost a year this time around. So I've climbed this mountain and found myself wondering what is next. Seems I'm going to take another stab at Italian since it's been several years since I first got into it. That's what's great about language learning, if you consider yourself a lifelong learner, you can 'bookmark' your learning process for later.
    - why-el 15y ago
      I know right? I reserve a fixed time for each one of the languages I speak and find myself learning few more words every day. I dont know about you, but I see a lot of similarity between the human languages I speak and the computer languages I use. They both require life long commitment. Isn't that interesting?
godDLL 15y ago
As a fluent speaker of Russian, and to some extent English; having Ukrainian and Hebrew do well enough for business conversations – I can confidently second that.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

by why-el 15y ago

oops 15y ago

Comprehension exercises using foreign music videos and magazines can be good too, for the less formal stuff.

meepmorp 15y ago

Movies, too. When I was learning Russian in college, we'd be assigned a 5-10 ten minute segment of a movie and have to transcribe it for homework. It took forever at first, but it really helped my listening comprehension improve quickly.

why-el 15y ago
Yes, movies too. I just liked TV Show more because they last longer and they provide a lasting context.

ashconnor 15y ago

Can you recommend a good Arabic TV show?

why-el 15y ago
Oh I don't know. I am actually a native Arabic speaker so never needed TV shows for that purpose. And there is one issue you will face if you want to learn Arabic watching Arabic TV Shows: Any show you pick will be in some colloquial form of Arabic and not Classic Arabic. The most popular ones across the Middle East now are in Turkish dubbed in Lebanese Arabic (Yeah :p), and seconds are Egyptian TV shows, so you will have to choose. Pretty much any country makes TV Shows in its own version of Arabic, except in Syria where they used to make historical TV Shows in Classical Arabic. What I suggest is to watch news outlets like Aljazeera, which you can watch online for free [1]. Don't pay attention to the existing perception of Al Jazeera; they are very professional. And, relevant to our discussion, their Arabic is the best around. If in doubt, get a feeling of their editorial policies watching Al Jazeera English, then proceed to learn Arabic. Good Luck [1] http://www.aljazeera.net/livestreaming/pages http://www.aljazeera.net/livestreaming/pages
bricestacey 15y ago
For Arabic I also recommend learning songs. I learned to read and write (but not understand anything) but the phrases I remember best are Wael Kfoury songs.
- why-el 15y ago
  Ah famous fella. :) and shares my first name.
- ZanderEarth32 15y ago
  Also check out Abdel Halim Hafez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2toXE3c7was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2toXE3c7was Great arabic, easy to hear what he's saying and simple songs. Classic.

zerostar07 15y ago

Babies have a unique way to acquire languages that we don't have as adults. However i find that reading newspapers and understanding the basics is quite easy (mostly because you already know most of the facts mentioned). But the stuff written in newspapers is not the language you would use in a normal conversation. The TV subtitles thing really works, especially when watching reruns of shows you like.

personlurking 15y ago

I'm with you on the bombardment method. In terms of fluency, my Portuguese is 95%, my Spanish is 85%, my Italian is 50% and my French is probably 20%. Of course, these percentages would be best if broken down into reading, writing, etc, in order to get a clearer picture. I don't consider myself to be a quick language learner (ie, with a 'gift' for it) but I do believe that being passionate goes a long, long way and that bombardment and immersion are key. It's not about the time it takes, it's about your drive to reach the right level for you. Being a language lover, I never just want to "get by", I'm looking for near-fluency or fluency. It took me a good decade and a lot of commitment to reach the levels I've reached in the languages mentioned. Btw, the OP is right about getting the accent down. To me this is just as important as any other aspect of the language.

why-el 15y ago
I am actually in Brazil right now and I just started learning Portuguese a week ago. I am basically just watching How I Met Your Mother with Portuguese subtitles. Such a beautiful language. My French helps a lot though.
- personlurking 15y ago
  After teaching myself Brazilian-Portuguese at home in California over a good 5 year period, I moved to Brazil to perfect the last stage, speaking. After half a year, I moved back to the States. A few years later, I moved again (to Brazil) for a few months and last year I moved here once more. Now I've been here for almost a year this time around. So I've climbed this mountain and found myself wondering what is next. Seems I'm going to take another stab at Italian since it's been several years since I first got into it. That's what's great about language learning, if you consider yourself a lifelong learner, you can 'bookmark' your learning process for later.
  - why-el 15y ago
    I know right? I reserve a fixed time for each one of the languages I speak and find myself learning few more words every day. I dont know about you, but I see a lot of similarity between the human languages I speak and the computer languages I use. They both require life long commitment. Isn't that interesting?

godDLL 15y ago

As a fluent speaker of Russian, and to some extent English; having Ukrainian and Hebrew do well enough for business conversations – I can confidently second that.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]