Discussion Learning a language

[Tirous]

みなさんこんにちは!

As you can see from my (likely garbage...) introduction, I've been (trying...) to learn how to speak a bit of japanese! (or at least read it)

This project of mine being the case, and having yet to see one started yet, I've decided to create a topic to discuss the subject of learning a new language, not japanese, but language in general.

What languages have you guys tried to learn?
How did you go about it?
Why did you want to learn it?
Did you succeed more or less?

A discussion like this addressing the task of learning a foreign language i feel could be of great help for me and anyone hoping to expand there linguistic abilities.

As for me, i started due to the fact that i'm always being told that its good to learn another language, that doing such will make you a generally smarter person, as well as make you more culturally aware, among other things.

Thus i decided to take the plunge and while french and german are more common around here, everything i really interact with on the internet tends to contain just as much japanese as it does english, specifically things like games, music, pixel-art, chiptunes, etc.

Thus far I've learned to use/spot basic particles, and am working on memorizing hiragana and katakana by trying to read things i encounter in japanese, you know, only using my chart when i really dont know the kana.

So ya, if anyone has any stories/tips to share on this topic, then do by all means!

 

[Coded Games]

おはいよございます！日本語わかりません。バカは外人。

I took 3 years of Japanese in high school and that is about the limit of my Japanese (Note, my computer autofilled the Kanji. I don't know most of them). It's really hard to learn a language unless you are forced to use it on a daily basis and I find that it's even more difficult if you don't have someone directly teaching you it. If you can't go to the country but still can take language classes in school or college I think that's probably the best way to learn.

 

[nvrogers]

Knowing multiple languages can be really helpful. I mean, learning Java in addition to gml has really opened doors for me.

Spoiler

I know a bit of Spanish, which I found interesting because it really made me think about the inner-workings of language, even if I probably won't ever really use those skills in real life.

 

[Mercerenies]

Linguam Latinam intellegere olim potui.

Any other Latin speakers here? If so, feel free to tell me that my grammar is horrible after years of disuse.

 

[Ninety]

Linguam Latinam intellegere olim potui.

Any other Latin speakers here? If so, feel free to tell me that my grammar is horrible after years of disuse.

I studied Latin through high school (nearly 6 years). After I was finished, I decided I didn't need it in my brain anymore and promptly forgot all of it. It's very freeing, you should try it.

 

[RekNepZ]

Inglés es mi idioma primera, pero he estado estudiando español desde 4 años.

 

[HammerOn]

Native: Portuguese. Upper intermediate: English (I read and write more in English than my native language). Beginner: Japanese and Russian (I can read child books and such. I started about 4 months ago). Russian grammar is as troublesome as Japanese reading... Before a year or two, I want to start Korean and German.

If you see it as study, you will have a hard time. I learned English thanks to a small (some people called it fool) reason. I wanted to understand better the story of the games I played. Now the language is the my main source for a living and learning.
The trigger for my adventure in Japanese was "no more dependency in translations or cringing with lame localizations". I don't know what it'll gives me in the future but my lame reason keeps me going.
Abstract and distant goals like "a better future" or just make more money don't give a great push in motivation for learning.
I used English to learn how to draw, code, play music and now for other languages - all self-taught. I keep watching and reading about then everyday. Now I'm starting the same thing with Japanese.
The more languages I know the more information I can get to learn, entertainment, exchange knowledge (in places like this forum) or work with people from other countries.

Tip: Traditional learning methods (school) are inefficient for language learning (and many others subjects).
Nowadays we have a lot of research in better learning but the school system don't change.
I always gives this advice for everyone that wants to learn something: stay away from how school teach people, search better methods, and mindset is more important than practice.

Another tip: We forget to pay attention to the differences in writing style between languages. Usually, we change food and behavior when in another country. Likewise, we need to change our way of thinking when writing in another language.
You can translate a text from Portuguese to grammatical correct English but it will not fell like English at all.
Portuguese is convoluted, bigger sentences and plentiful of passive voice. English is more lean and direct. Translation alone don't make a good job, I also need to restructure sentences or rethink a great piece of the text.
Make sure to get a book for yourself about how to write better in the target language when you reach a good level.
It improved my ability in writing. I'm still working on it though. This comments in one my practices.

 

[Mercerenies]

I studied Latin through high school (nearly 6 years). After I was finished, I decided I didn't need it in my brain anymore and promptly forgot all of it. It's very freeing, you should try it.

Nah, I like Latin. There are a lot of emotions in it that you can't convey in English. Then again, I don't know if that's true of other Romance languages or not, but still.

 

[Lukasmah]

I studied Latin through high school (nearly 6 years). After I was finished, I decided I didn't need it in my brain anymore and promptly forgot all of it. It's very freeing, you should try it.

Poor guy. After only 2 years of Latin I was so happy to be finally free from it. In fact, I still am. Whoooo!

 

[ThompMel]

I think the absolutely most effective way to learn a language is to surround yourself with it. Perhaps go on holiday to Japan if you can or a cheaper option may be to watch Japanese television/listen to Japanese music. There might be some clubs in your local area you could join?

 

[Tirous]

I think the absolutely most effective way to learn a language is to surround yourself with it. Perhaps go on holiday to Japan if you can or a cheaper option may be to watch Japanese television/listen to Japanese music. There might be some clubs in your local area you could join?

こんにちはThompMelは

While i'd love to see the sights of someplace like kyoto, it unfortunately seems like i lack the resources to do such at the moment.
Tho at some point in the future i do want to, and ill be sure to embarrass myself when i do, what with my canadian accent and all ;D

That said what i've found to weirdly help is to actually talk to my pet in japanese(being that i have no friends ;D), specifically my cat pasha. Here are some examples:

When he walks up to me(presumably wanting to be fed...) ill say 'Hi pasha' as 'こんにちはパシアは'(pasha->pashia->パシア).

When hes scared or startled ill say 'You ok pasha?' but instead ill phrase it as 'パシアは元気か?'(probably not correct, but it works!).

So ya, thus far doing this i have found it more or less has helped me structure and vocalize sentences in japanese, even if said sentences still leave a lot to be desired.

edit: also have been watching the vids made by a youtuber 'Tae Kim', he does stuff relating to a bunch of the aspects of the japanese language, and has been a massive help seeing as hes basically alone in covering this stuff on youtube it seems.

 

[Lumenflower]

English is my first language and I reckon I speak good enough French to live comfortably on the other side of the channel. Aside from that I have a few snatches of German, Spanish, Serbian and Latin (maybe enough to get by on a holiday) and the rest is 'hello', 'goodbye' and 'thankyou' in a bunch of other languages.

The first thing I would say is that I've found you really only need to know the first five percent or so of a language to get by. The vast majority of what you'll need on a holiday for example (probably where you're most likely to need this language) will be what you can learn from a decent textbook in a day or less.

My second piece of advice is that if you're not too fussed about sounding eloquent and just want to get your meaning across, then go ham with the vocab and worry about grammar later! People will get the jist if you talk to them like a caveman.

My final piece of advice is that making an effort to learn even just one word of a person's language can really brighten their day. Learn 'thankyou' in Polish and use it when you can. It really does make a difference.

 

[Coded Games]

こんにちはThompMelは

While i'd love to see the sights of someplace like kyoto, it unfortunately seems like i lack the resources to do such at the moment.
Tho at some point in the future i do want to, and ill be sure to embarrass myself when i do, what with my canadian accent and all ;D

That said what i've found to weirdly help is to actually talk to my pet in japanese(being that i have no friends ;D), specifically my cat pasha. Here are some examples:

When he walks up to me(presumably wanting to be fed...) ill say 'Hi pasha' as 'こんにちはパシアは'(pasha->pashia->パシア).

When hes scared or startled ill say 'You ok pasha?' but instead ill phrase it as 'パシアは元気か?'(probably not correct, but it works!).

So ya, thus far doing this i have found it more or less has helped me structure and vocalize sentences in japanese, even if said sentences still leave a lot to be desired.

edit: also have been watching the vids made by a youtuber 'Tae Kim', he does stuff relating to a bunch of the aspects of the japanese language, and has been a massive help seeing as hes basically alone in covering this stuff on youtube it seems.

Instead of spelling your dogs name as Pashia you can actually spell it as Pasha (パシヤ). The ヤ should be written a little smaller but I don't know how to do that on the computer. Anyway the シヤ combine to be just sha. There you go Japanese lesson of the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana

 

[Tirous]

Instead of spelling your dogs name as Pashia you can actually spell it as Pasha (パシヤ). The ヤ should be written a little smaller but I don't know how to do that on the computer. Anyway the シヤ combine to be just sha. There you go Japanese lesson of the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana

Holy shimmies i learned a thing! =D
also pasha's a cat...

 

[MikeDark_x]

My native language is Spanish and I know my English is horrible, I only learned it because I wanted to be able to read more stuff and understand the story of the games I play.
I don't really know how I learned english, I just kind of... kept trying to read stuff, studied the grammar and had a dictionary besides me... in fact I also want to learn a bit of Japanese... there's this snes game I've always wanted to play but as it's in japanese, it's story driven and I don't understand a thing, I haven't been able to, not to mention the fact that there's a load of light novels that I want to read...

And what not? releasing a game in three languages at the same time sounds like a good idea!

 

[crumblewolf]

Grew up in wales and while my first language is English, my entire school education was in welsh, so I'm fluent. When your schooling is done entirely in another language it kind of forces you to learn haha. Honestly learning a language is easiest done by constant use and practice. If your not living in japan or have someone to talk to in Japanese regularly i imagine it would be much harder to learn.

Also make sure you learn a popular language. Now i don't live in wales and there are only like 2 million people in the world that speak the language i never get to practice. I can feel the language dying in my head some days. Not a pleasent feeling being aware you memories of how to speak something are disappearing due to lack of practice.

I have alos tried learning Swedish using some online tools but that fell by the wayside. I have a real struggle to keep the words in my head without constant practice. I guess thats the same with any skill though .

 

[Kris]

Ĉu iun ĉi tie parolas esperante? I've practiced Esperanto (a constructed language spoken by hobbyists around the world) on and off on the internet for the past few years, but it was only about a month ago that I met up with people to speak it in real life in an immersion setting. The language is so simple and easy that it was a joy to actually understand the first conversation I had in it... I definitely can't say the same about Japanese. xD I started learning Japanese to play Japan-only video games, but that interest waned over time and it's now my major in university just because it's so danged fun/easy.日本語はホントに楽しいと思う! けど、漢字はチョット…w

The best Japanese tip I could probably give is: start learning kanji (alongside vocabulary) right away. Learn to associate each word you learn with its kanji (if it has them) and make mnemonics like crazy, no matter how ridiculous they are. For example, 湖 (みずうみ "lake") contains radicals for "water", "old", and "moon", so you can think of it as "in the lake's water, see the reflection of the old moon". Keep a notebook for them and write in it (even if you only practice a single character) once a day. If you try to learn a huge amount at once, you'll likely get overwhelmed.

I've also dabbled in French, Polish, and several other languages that interested me, but not enough to gain any conversational competence. Also had to take two years of Spanish in grade school.

 

[ThompMel]

こんにちはThompMelは

That said what i've found to weirdly help is to actually talk to my pet in japanese(being that i have no friends ;D), specifically my cat pasha. Here are some examples:

Ha, yes, funds are often the problem. I think talking to yout pet in Japaense sounds like a great solution though! Just make it part of your daily life as much as you can. Even if it just helps you to get over that feeling of being too worried about speaking, which is what I have found is actually the biggest problem for me.