12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time

[sammie_bee]

Tim Ferris (wrote the 4 hour work week) has written several times about language learning and how to do it quickly.  This is just one of his posts on the subject but it's fairly comprehensive (and a bit lengthy) but has a lot of interesting and good ideas for learning languages.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/03/21/how-to-learn-a-foreign-language-2/

[Dora M]

Thanks for the interesting link. I am just naturally skeptical of anything that claims to do something in record time. It sounds to me that I would have to put a lot of work into it to be able to achieve that. I much prefer to take things slowly and make plenty of mistakes from which I can learn. In my experience anything that goes too fast, usually doesn't sit all that well and dissipates quickly.

[Rosa]

If the reason for learning a language is not based on urgent necessity I wouldn't recommend record time learning. I believe that learning a language should be done at moderate speed. In doing so you are able to grasp every area of learning and what you have learnt will be more likely retained.

[Meerkat]

Well, I like to cheat a little. And there was a story of a man who learned  an entire lingala dictionary over 10 weeks (22 hours 17 minutes!) using Memrise.

Has inspired me to upload my AA Phrasebook onboard

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/nov/09/learn-language-in-three-months

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/01/20/learning-language/

Very interesting read! Lets be polyglots, shall we?

Enjoy...

[AExAVF]

These insights are useful for someone who is planning to go to a foreign country for an extended period of time, as in more than six months.  This is also useful for a person who will permanently move to his country of destination in a few months time.  However, for someone who is only interested in learning the language, this is not required reading, but it may help the person a little better.

[sillylucy]

I love Tim and his website! The 4 Hour Work Week is not for everyone. It only applies to people who want to work online and automate tasks, but there are some tasks that are effective.

[Agnieszka]

Very nice article, thanks for sharing.

[JessiFox]

Interesting article for sure, I'm not familiar with him but I'm always on the lookout for tips and tricks to learn things faster . Thanks for sharing.

[spacetimecontinuum]

Well I know you can learn roughly a thousand Italian, French and Spanish words in 10 minutes, just by changing the suffix. Any English word which ends with TION are easily converted.

[Muthoni]

I agree that learning a new language takes a lot of commitment. One must keep at it until they are able to master it. There is no greater achievement that being able to talk to a native in their own language.

[Kaffi]

I totally agree. Immersion is the best way, and to start to use the language  from start.

Basically we all know grammar, and get to caught up in it and the way we are used to saying sounds, that it takes us too long to start actually speaking.

A few phrases and you are set to start to communicate with people, its really helpful on travels. I was very glad to have learned the words for bathroom, toilet and exchange in Russian, we we suddenly had to stay and move to a hotel after our flight got cancelled. 

I have met many people who have learned a language in a matter of months , being immersed and using it every day, also they were not afraid to make mistakes, and used their mistakes to learn the language better.

Even though I cannot speak Chinese, I have learned about 15 words in writing by paying attention when watching martial arts movie. I know a saying or a poem, but have no idea what it means, but I learned it while  waiting for my flight at Heathrow , when listening to a mother sing to her baby, and when I joined in she was happy to teach me the words.

Usually we are to focused on the phonetics of our own language and accent that we cannot seam to get a grasp of the new one. And many of us are to used to go the "have to learn the rules" and spend days pouring over grammar and vocabulary and not even trying to speak even once.

I like Benny, he has a great way of explaining things.

[Baburra]

This is a very extensive and well made list, thanks for sharing. From skimming the article it sounds like most of the tips he gives are just common sense but it surely does help to hear it from someone who is able to expand on those ideas further and also to give some precise tips on what to so. I guess it also helps to be just as passionate as he is to learn new languages.

[jasou]

COol! Really interesting, as i'm interested in learning a lot of languages in my life.

You can't be shy, huh! I like the video he put about Quebec vs France french.

I am a quebecer myself, living in France, so it's very interesting to see the difference between our frenches.

He's good, though. Really inspiring.

[Meerkat]

I adore the fluent in 3 months website. It has taught me the errors of believing that languages such as Irish, Hungarian, and Polish are not hard at all. Different...but not hard.

Great blog. And THAT is the way to travel!

[petesede]

immersion is not all it is cracked up to be.  I moved to latin america 2 years ago, and I would say ´book learning´ is a much better way to do it.  There world is just filled with too much slang, local phrases and idioms.

[celinehazel]

Personally, I reckon it's all about perseverance! And exposing yourself to the language on a day-to-day basis, even if it's like one new word, or revising something you've learnt )

[lushlala]

Yes, very interesting article, thanks for posting But I too am one of those who prefer to take their time and really learn, not just speed through an intense crash course. I'd probably not be able to keep it in my head, forgetting some of the stuff over time. Practice, Practice and more practice is what I'm all about

[Trellum]

Thanks a lot for sharing this!  I read it and even bookmarked it!  I liked the link to some of the resources that guy listed! I I'm already trying some of those resources myself Like for example Memrise, Duolingo and others. Right now I'm taking a course at home, but that course doesn't leave some things very clear.  I will surely need a language exchange partner.