| What is the Best Method to Learn a Foreign Language? | |
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| Aug 21, 2007 21:45 |   |
 | I've been learning English for over ten years and still not confident to say 'I know English well'. There are a lot of talent people who know more than two languages. How can they do that?? What's the best method to learn a foreign language? |
| Aug 22, 2007 00:25 | #1 |
| I think that to learn a language well you need to start in the classroom but ultimately you have to be speaking the language with locals, by that I mean go to the country and speak it all day everyday. That is the only way to become fluent. There are a lot of people who claim to be fluent in English but I am sure I could find some words and phrases that would confuse them as they have never been to UK and spoken to English people. I expect my Chinese to improve hugely when I move to China, but at the moment classroom is all I have here. |
| Aug 22, 2007 04:39 | #2 |
| You are totally right, Davec. But less people have the opportunity to live and speak with locals. I really wish I could go to Britain some day. |
| Aug 22, 2007 09:30 | #3 |
| >>>but I am sure I could find some words and phrases that would confuse them Didn't you just do that to me, Dave??? If I go to the UK or Australia I won't know what the locals are talking about some of the time. ...after all, what the heck are bangers??? ;-) |
| Aug 22, 2007 10:03 | #4 |
| At a guess dave was talking about sausages, or a firework, or an old car. depending on the subject of the topic. The more popular would be sausage as in Bangers and mash with onion gravy, yum yum The way I talk think of Long John Silver in Treasure island ooh arh me 'earty |
| Aug 22, 2007 16:33 | #5 |
| Sausages?? where did they come from ? Someone got food and not sharing with me eh. What I mean with confusing people is for example London cockney rhyming slang, how could someone from outside UK every understand that when I live 1 hour away and I havent got a clue. Strong accents also cause problems, I live in south of England and I cant understand Scottish people or geordies from Newcastle but we are all speaking English. I think it must take a while to get used to local accents. |
| Aug 22, 2007 22:55 | #6 |
| o, what if we all use the same language?? |
| Aug 23, 2007 02:35 | #7 |
| Hi Dave, I may have mis-understood, Griz was asking what the heck are bangers? I agree regional accents are a problem, Londoners don't understand me if I revert to my Somerset accent, I have lived in London for 12 years and my sister thinks I sound like a cockney now, I'll have go back home for a top up!! |
| Aug 23, 2007 14:48 | #8 |
| May001, I am no expert on the subject, but my Chinese speaking abilities have improved tremendously over the past 3 months. The "best way" to learn a foreign language is determined by the individual, although it appears that the Chinese people, as a whole, have a pre-determined advantage over Westerners. Because they start out learning a second, or third language, at a very young age, their brains are able to retain more information easily. As one becomes fully mature (i.e. grown up), the brain is much slower and less able to retain information. Therefore, repetition in both pronounciation and listening skills are necessary. My method to improving my listening skills is watching Chinese television and/or movies and figuring out what they are saying by having a dictionary close at hand. Pronounciation is best mastered in front of a mirror and reciting sentences, tongue twisters and other difficult-to-say words. practice makes perfect, so you have to make this a daily habit. What I don't do is listen to Chinese people talk to one another in public. This can be confusing because of all the local dialects and slang used in everyday conversation. Later on, after becoming fluent, this might be a useful tool. __WINDENERGY__ |
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