Katrink Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Hello! It is a well-known fact, that foreign language is easy to forget without constant practice. Did you have long pauses in using foreign language? Possibly, someone can share own experience … There are many methods how to learn foreign languages. One of them is reading popular newspapers. For instance, when I studied English, I read the Forbes, the Economist and The New York Times of course. Also, bbc channel was very useful. Now, I can say that content from the New York Times and the Forbes was much easier to understand comparing to the Economist. What about learning German? Which newspapers can be the best for people with middle level of German? I just know about Die Welt and Die Zeit. Who can offer other newspapers, that will be easy for comprehension? I studied German several years ago, but then I stopped… Surely, I do not remember a lot of things and my level is not even advanced. How to refresh old knowledge? Can be reading newspapers in original effective in my case?How did you refresh language skills after certain break? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedonologist Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 The first time after coming back form a break, but the longer you've known a language, the longer breaks you can take without forgetting. I would just go through a newspaper or tv show and pick out what you've forgot, memorise them with flashcards or audio practice and repeat until you are back up to scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAMX Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 I think a small session of practicing the basics always helps to freshen up rusty knowledge - It takes a while to move back into it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dora M Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 I think it all depends on how interested you are in the language that you have been learning. I studied French several years ago, but never had much opportunity to practice it, hence I forgot a lot of what I learnt. I can still understand about 70% of what I read, but I can't speak French very well. I know that I could relatively easily pick up on it again, but to be honest, I lack the interest as at this stage in my life I have no or very little use for the French language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 What works for me is that I watch movies or tv shows. I also listen to music. There are many free websites that can be used for practice test. Lastly I try to read my notes. After a while of not using the language there are many words that I can't recall. Even in a break, it is important to put even a small time in using it. like watching or listening to a music. That will make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 For me the best way to freshen up my language skills in a particular language (after a long break, like I did with dutch), was to actively watching and listening TV shows and movies in that language. That is a great way to remember some words and sentences with almost no pressure, you can also see how much you have forgotten. Last time I took a long break from Dutch, I was surprised to find out (after watching some videos) that I haven't forgot a lot! I might have forgotten a few things, but after some days of active listening I could remember it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 What works for me is that I watch movies or tv shows. I also listen to music. There are many free websites that can be used for practice test. Lastly I try to read my notes. After a while of not using the language there are many words that I can't recall. Even in a break, it is important to put even a small time in using it. like watching or listening to a music. That will make a big difference.That is what works best for me as well! Watching movies and TV shows, it's even better if they have subtitles, but if they don't i just pause the video and repeat the part I couldn't quite understand... then I try to write it. If I still can't do it, then I ask my boyfriend to write it for me! It really helps having a native speaker close to you But again, he is the sole reason I'm learning that language... if it wasn't for him I'd not be learning it. No way! I never liked the language... not even when I was learning languages for fun! I had my eyes on indo-european languages mostly... the Germanic branch to be more exact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VNtomboy Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 TV shows, movies and music are your best bet. Our brain tends to remember the stuff we LIKE better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtledove Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I like reading through my old work or my old notes. Sometimes I watch movies or read magazines in the language. I also like to go onto language websites (like duolingo or babbel) to refresh, they help quite a lot. It is a bit of a pain at times to go back after a long time and try to remember what you used to know so well, and it may take a while to get back up to speed, but you'll get there eventually! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourseFindersGermany Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 If you want to stay motivated or to start again after a long break, you could use Wikivoyage for a start. It's a website which talks about countries, cities, regions ... and it's very interesting to read the topics. Here is an article on the CourseFindersGermany blog how to deal with it in German: http://coursefinders.com/de/studentlibrary/1520/wikivoyage-sprache-und-urlaub-zu-hause Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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