Dear everybody who has learned a second language:

[Nihilego]

Which is it, when and why did you learn it, and how did you do it? What are some tips that you'd give to someone else trying to learn a language? Do you have any tricks to make the process any easier? Discuss, linguists (and wannabe linguists (like me)) of PC!

 

[Esper]

I wouldn't say I've learned it, but I studied a bunch of Japanese and even though I've not had much time to use/study/remember it lately I've got these tips from when I was more on top of my game:

• Use the language every day, at least a little. Practice writing, speaking, learning new words - whatever it is that keeps you interested.
• Get a children's book in the language you want to study. It's good practice.
• Don't be afraid to try speaking it with someone who is a native speaker. Unless they're a jerk they'll understand that you're learning and there's no reason for you to feel embarrassed by making mistakes. Mistakes are the best things because that's where you learn the most.

 

[Pokemon Game Fan]

Well I grew up on English as a primary language and Spanish as a secondary, so I know both. I did start learning ASL but only while I had the class, and I did good while I was there. Key is just to keep practicing as much as you can, but ASL is different from vocal languages.

 

[Laguna]

I once learned this really dumb obscure language called English.

It's stupid, makes no sense and nobody should ever try to learn it, ever.

 

[SparklingMistral]

I took a lot of Spanish throughout high school and a year in community college. A lot of it was just repetitive practice with the language and the grammar that helped me learn it. I never really used it outside of class, and I haven't really used it since I finished my last semester of community college and my last Spanish class. Practice lots and use it if you can, that's about the only tips I can give.

 

[Ivysaur]

I started studying English whe I was 5, although all I did until I was 13 was just memorizing grammar rules. What really worked for me was picking up a game I sort of knew already (Ruby) and playing it in English. Then I crudely attempted to read Harry Potter 6 before waiting for the translation. For speaking, watch videos! The internet is full of them. Get used to hearing the words, then attempt to talk to natives.

Of course, this all works much better if you start at a young age when your brain is still open to new things. The older you start, the harder it will be for you to get your mouth used to making different sounds to the ones you are used to in your language.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I did find Spanish incredibly harder to learn at an older age tbh. However after 2 or so years of taking it I was able to understand it fairly well. I still couldn't speak it fluently though. I have actually been considering taking it up again as well as French!

 

[Winter]

I was forced to study and learn Mandarin Chinese, as my mother tongue, and I didn't really like the way it was taught (since it was mostly rote and less experiential). Being Asian, I'm horrible at Mandarin but not to the point where I can't fake it in front of an uninitiated audience. xD

If anyone wants to pick it up, they've got to have guts, because it's very complex and even if you think you've got the spoken word mastered, try writing it (it's a pictographic language, have fun). One tip in speaking Mandarin is to not impose the phonetics of the English language onto the hanyu pinyin (aka the romanization). It's like how saying a Japanese kanji word in an English way just makes it sound alien. Like a lot of people say "thanks" in Mandarin as "chee-air chee-air" when it's actually "see-air see-air".

I guess one easy way to learn a language is watching content in said languages. It's how I could pick up Japanese quite easily, just from watching films and anime. Plus it's entertainment so it doesn't seem like a chore.

 

[Her]

i already said this to alex but for anyone who is interested, change your default browser language & your main websites to whatever language you're studying as soon as you have a decent grasp on it

it does wonders for integration and forcing you to understand your chosen language

 

[£]

1 - Don't live in England or America the education systems for learning other languages are abysmal. Unfortunately that doesn't help you.
2 - Make friends who speak the other language. Best way to learn is to get stuck in and speak to them right? A lot of people online who speak English as a second language have simply gotten stuck in to the English Speaking Internet. Shame the other languages aren't quite as prominent online!
3 - Living in the country is apparently really useful.
4 - Watching subtitled shows might be an alright idea? (Grasping at straws now.)

I could ask my fave Belgian for more tips when he's around.

 

[Nolafus]

I took French, I didn't learn it.

 

[Sheep]

Oh dear gosh. I was born in Sochi, Russia and moved to the US when I was 8 or 9 without knowing even a drop of English. Even as a naturally happy-go-lucky kid it overwhelmed me a bit but there were a few people in my class who could speak Russian/English and helped me out, it was also how I met my first friend in America even if we haven't spoken in eight years? by now. Immersion is always the best way for me to learn and I found myself picking up on things naturally after a while with little help from people. It's harder the older you get for sure, though, and that's why I'm a little nervous for when I go live abroad in the hopefully near future.

When I took three semesters of French in uni we did a lot of textbook exercises and in-class practice but in the end I totally forgot it all and probably couldn't hold a conversation for even ten seconds. Learning through a book is not ideal for me since it didn't help in putting it to use. I would've learned three semesters' worth of French in a week-long stay in France since those classes were so useless. Ehh. =(

There are some cool language learning phone apps out there that I'd probably use when it's time where you can sign up for pen pals and teach them English (or your language of choice) and they'd help you out with what you want to learn. Sounds awesome.

 

[Somewhere_]

I am working on Spanish.

Its going great...not. Its my least favorite class, easy.

 

[Universe]

is this because you're learning Italian, Alex

 

[Treecko]

Lol the only second I learned was Spanish in high school cause it was required to take a language and I only took one semester and almost failed so I don't remember basically anything from the class except doing one project on the Day of the Dead. Also during my weeaboo/obsessed anime fan phase as a teenager, I attempted to learn Japanese just so I could understand subs easier , and only managed to learn a few terms and phrases. Let me tell you, Japanese isn't an easy language at all.

 

[Rogue planet]

Now picturing atrocious attempts at picking up Italian girls good fucking luck mate jesus

 

[Sydian]

I unfortunately didn't retain much in the way of speaking and writing in French, however I can still read it pretty well. I learned it in school, two years in high school and three in college. If anyone is looking to retain the knowledge after a class of some sort though, I recommend keeping your text book for reference, watching movies/tv shows in the language, writing and/or speaking a bit even if it's just on your own, and reading it in some way (books, games, etc). I keep my reading caught up pretty well since I have two Pokemon games (Silver and Sapphire) in French. I know them very well in English so it's helped me read the language better as I play, actually.

 

[Shadowraze]

English. Well, it's being taught at school so I can't see why I wouldn't learn it just came in naturally from all those books read ofc i dont watch books :p, shows, movies that I've watched it's relatively easy to learn lol.

 

[Talon]

I'm currently in my 2nd year of French training. I have no tips except change your browers language to whatever language you're trying to learn. It forces immersion and understanding.

 

[bill flibby]

I've been teaching myself Japanese off-and-on again for several years now, but only recently developed an interest in anime. This past summer, having no classes to turn homework in for, I've been binge-watching anime like it's going out of style. I'd like to say I've picked up on a little of the language, mostly common phrases like "are you okay?", "I love you", "that's right" and so on. Subtitles aren't very useful when trying to learn the sentence structure of another language. However, watching media with subtitles in your language is fantastic for exposure. Especially when you find a wide variety of sources to watch from, so you get a grasp of how different voices pronounce the same words.