What is the best way to learn languages?

[Renjykk]

Hello WoW community, I've decided to consult you about an issue of mine.

Ever since I started taking German in high school I was attracted to it, and the study of language in general, immediately. Though, ever since a scheduling problem I was forced to drop German and since then I haven't done much with it on my own as I used to. However, recently, after looking videos about a 17 yr old prodigy who has learned to speak 20 languages, it has sparked my interest once again.

So I ask you, what is the best way to learn languages on your own? What tools lie within the vast collection of information called the internet can help me?


Thank you for any input.

[serenka]

move to Germany :P

best way to learn is to immerse yourself in it so you're forced to learn it!

[Deleted]

The best way is to immerse yourself in that language, in otherwords moved to that country and learn the hard way.

[Sett]

Put yourself in awkward spots where you have to learn and speak it. Moving is good but jumping over the 'I feel silly' thing is another thing.


Start thinking of stuff in your head in the language too if possible.

[Keyblader]

Although it's expensive, Rosetta stone is supposed to be the best on the market, I know two people that used it to learn spanish, without having any prior experience. I used the free trial thing to learn korean, and it seemed easy, and stuck. Again, that is a pretty expensive method, but I've heard it works.

[Deleted]

Well...

1) Speak to yourself in German when at home. Just narrate yourself in German at your best ability.
2) Join a foreign forum or maybe even a German server in WoW. The neckbeards will heckle you into perfect linguistic ability.
3) Use spell check set to German when typing. Has the same effect as "2)".
4) Look at German movies and series with text. Try not to look at the text but instead use it has a crutch when you don't understand what they're saying.

[Deleted]

When i first started to read English Books and watch Movies i understood only 5% at best.
Its hard to ignore at first but it gets easier over Time.

My Grades were never the best in fact my English grade was the worst of them all. Because i though well its not worth the effort you cant learn a Language you have to train it at least if you are no prodigy.
Even though its not perfect i can understand enough to watch english Movies now but i have still
difficulties to understand them perfectly. Light comedys or action flicks are not that complicated anyway but Dramas like cloud Atlas are another cup of coffe.
My comprehension of the written word is much better.

I had absolutely no reason to learn english until Harry Potter 6 was released 6-8 month earlier then the german translation :Y

[Orcbert]

It's like swimming. Dive into the water but have a coach there ready to float you for a bit.

Namely immerse yourself somewhere that speaks German but have a person to help you out when you have no idea what is going on.

[klaps_05]

i learned english and german during high school. spent 2 years on internship in new york and it was ok. then I went to munich and found out i have no clue what german is.

spending time learning it at home(like in your school/etc) is ok, but if you want to be sure you mastered the language, or know the basics to go around, move to the country its most spoken in.

[Reeve]

Although it's expensive, Rosetta stone is supposed to be the best on the market, I know two people that used it to learn spanish, without having any prior experience. I used the free trial thing to learn korean, and it seemed easy, and stuck. Again, that is a pretty expensive method, but I've heard it works.

I thought Rosetta Stone was excellent, but I've heard there's a free equivalent service available on the web for those intrepid enough to search for it.

[GrieverXIII]

Practice and immerse yourself in the culture. Start reading in the language, even with a dictionary around, if it takes you a month to read a 200 pages novel in german, its not a big deal.

[Xothic]

Id say the best way to learn a language is to be born into a household that speaks it exclusively.

Fuck im helpful.

[Garnier Fructis]

When i first started to read English Books and watch Movies i understood only 5% at best.
Its hard to ignore at first but it gets easier over Time.

My Grades were never the best in fact my English grade was the worst of them all. Because i though well its not worth the effort you cant learn a Language you have to train it at least if you are no prodigy.
Even though its not perfect i can understand enough to watch english Movies now but i have still
difficulties to understand them perfectly. Light comedys or action flicks are not that complicated anyway but Dramas like cloud Atlas are another cup of coffe.
My comprehension of the written word is much better.

I had absolutely no reason to learn english until Harry Potter 6 was released 6-8 month earlier then the german translation :Y

Well you're doing a great job so far, so keep it up!

[Sharde]

play video games. seriously it worked much better for me than anything else.

mostly because you have to understand what was said to complete the game in some ways. best are oldschool rpgs with multiple choice dialogue.

i learned a great deal from vampire bloodlines because of the "natural" way of talking and the slang. try playing as a malkavian when you struggle to even pass english classes in school ... but it worked out really well. i switched all my games to english after that and my scores went from 5 to 2 (or F to B?) in one year.

one problem for this method is, that german dubs for games are pretty bad in most cases. one positive example could be the legacy of kain series. the only games i prefere in german even now.

as for movies: try buying international or german versions for subtitles and dubs. if it's to hard you can still switch to english without wasting the money.

personally i find games the easiest way to get into languages. books are harder and movies even more so (mostly because of the speed they speek. and you cannot pause ... without annoing everybody ... and yourself). i would try to set wow to german. most buttons should be known and quests are a nobrainer. but there are still dialogues, cutscenes and texts to read without messing up the "flow".


EDIT: personaly i had great success in training my speech with studends from other countries. there should be germans available in most universities i would guess. i also have the luxury that my father works in an international concern and has guests from all over the world for dinner from time to time. it's a great way to train. especially technical terms and business english. those suck the most ...

EDIT2: as mentioned above somwhere. use german forums. for wow it should be relatively easy as most technical terms are the same as in english. and with a bit of context i should be relatively easy to get into. don't expect correct grammar and perfect writing style though ...

[haxartus]

Total language immersion. It's very easy with English since everything is in English right now.
I couldn't learn English when I was in school because I found it pretty tedious to try to memorize words and grammar rules. Then I had to immerse myself in the language because I wanted to work with computers and pretty much all important information for the topic was in English. At the same time I started playing WoW and watching a good amount of movies.
During the course of one year I learned the language to a level greatly exceeding anything that was taught in high school, and as I found out later, in college. All thanks to the Internet.
I checked a grammar textbook later because I didn't know any grammar, but I found out that I instinctively knew it and applied it, so understanding the rules behind what I did was extremely easy.

[luravua]

The best way is to immerse yourself in that language

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

What people do over here is go to the library and offer to trade lessons. Say I talk English with you for an hour each week and then you talk German with me for an hour. You can also trade other things, like piano lessons. Be creative.

Watch German TV. Get DVDs with German language sound and English subtitles. Get books in German that you already know really well in English and read them.

[Willfox]

move to Germany :P

best way to learn is to immerse yourself in it so you're forced to learn it!

Basically this, move/visit there if possible for a few months. You could also try something like, finding something that you enjoy, and force yourself to do it entirely in whatever language it is you want to learn.

[Thalian]

https://www.babbel.com/

Thank me later. It has you speak into a mic and it only let's you pass if you get 50% of the verbal pronunciation correct!

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

https://www.babbel.com/

Thank me later. It has you speak into a mic and it only let's you pass if you get 50% of the verbal pronunciation correct!

I'd probably fail, my German ranges from Hochdeutsch to the local dialect depending on who I'm talking to.