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May 23 - June 25, 2020
One of the core mnemonic weapons in any competitor’s arsenal is known as the person-action-object (PAO) system, and
Mnemonics are a handy way to turn unwieldy declension charts into vivid, memorable stories. Instead of endlessly drilling verb forms or noun declensions, you can learn a pattern once, attach an image to it, and use that image to quickly memorize the pattern of every related word you encounter.
Languages often have groups of “irregular” words that follow similar patterns. While you can learn each of these patterns easily with the help of illustrated stories, you may still need some way to remember which words follow which patterns. • Any time you run into a tricky pattern, choose a person, action, or object to help you remember. For verb patterns, pick a mnemonic person or an object. For noun patterns, use a person or an action. Adjectives fit well with objects, and adverbs fit well with actions.
Self-directed writing is the ultimate personalized language class.
Writing also trains you to take the patterns you’ve memorized and actually use them.
With spaced repetition, you only need to receive a correction once, and within a few weeks, it will become a permanent part of your long-term memory.
Use writing to test out your knowledge and find your weak points. Use the example sentences in your grammar book as models, and write about your interests. • Submit your writing to an online exchange community. Turn every correction you receive into a flash card. In this way, you’ll find and fill in whatever grammar and vocabulary you’re missing.
Turn the dialogues and examples in your grammar book into language that you’ll actually use, and see what mistakes and missing words you can find.
Remember, you’re going to be using an SRS, which basically gives you a perfect, photographic memory. You’re going to remember every tiny detail about every sentence you choose. As such, you don’t need fifty almost-identical examples for “how to form a plural noun.” Just take one or two, turn them into flash cards, and then move on to the next topic.
Your first step: go through the words and see which ones are new.
Next, figure out which of these words lend themselves to simple pictures.
You’ll take these words and make flash cards in the same way you did in the last chapter, by playing Spot the Differences with Google Images, adding in personal connections, and using mnemonics for gender (if needed). That
It’s not always clear when you’re looking at a new word, and when you’re looking at a new word form.
The only difference between new words and new word forms is that here you’ll give yourself an extra clue (I or to be). This makes your flash cards somewhat easier to remember and links closely related concepts.
Any time the position of a word, the form of a word, or the word itself surprises you, then learn it. But if you’re not surprised by it, then skip it and move on to the next sentence.
The former—using the same, single image on every card—will probably take you less time, and the latter—different images on every card—will be easier to remember.
Deal with declension charts (I am, he/she is, we are, etc.) in the same way you dealt with example sentences; turn them into the same kinds of picture flash cards described above. The only real difference is that your grammar book won’t supply you with every example sentence you need. So make those sentences yourself. Take an example sentence from your grammar book (I am a student) and turn it into a bunch of new sentences (She is an architect, he is a duck inspector).
By learning the sounds of your language, you gain access to words. By learning words, you gain access to grammar. And with just a little bit of grammar, you gain access to the rest of your language.
Begin with the top thousand words in your new language.
The second thousand words will give you a 5 percent boost to your reading and listening comprehension—you’ll understand 90 percent of what you hear and 80 percent of what you read.20
(90 percent comprehension takes approximately 5,500 words, and 95 percent comprehension takes 12,500 words)
Not everyone needs to learn the same words, and you can save a great deal of time by customizing your vocabulary to suit your needs.
Start by learning the top one thousand to two thousand words to form a solid foundation and then add key words based upon your interests.
Choosing your vocabulary is one of the most enjoyable parts of learning a new language: it’s like a personalized shopping trip for your brain.
To learn vocabulary efficiently, begin by learning the top thousand words in your target language. • If you’re aiming for a high degree of fluency, then keep going until you know the top fifteen hundred to two thousand words. • Once you’re done building a foundation, choose additional words based upon your individual needs. You can find these words by skimming through a thematic vocabulary book and finding key words for every context you need—travel, music, business, and so on.
write out your own examples and definitions. After you get your corrections, you can use the example sentences to teach you your words and use the corrections to teach you your grammar.
A good monolingual dictionary is an extraordinary source of input.
Use Google Images to find quality example sentences and pictures for your words. It’s fast, it provides clear examples, and the combination of images and sentences is easy to memorize. • If you run into problems or you’re away from your computer, write out your own example sentences and definitions for new words. Get them corrected and use those corrections to learn both grammar and vocabulary. • Once you have enough vocabulary under your belt, add a monolingual dictionary to your toolbox. When you do, you’ll gain the ability to learn every word in your target language, and as a bonus, your
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For your very first book, try to find a familiar story—a translation of something you’ve already read or a book that’s been turned into a movie you’ve seen—and read it along with an audiobook. The audiobook will carry you along and help you read faster than you otherwise would. You
Even familiar words can sound different in the context of rapid speech, and audiobooks are the easiest way to familiarize yourself with real, spoken language.
Reading without a dictionary is the simplest, easiest way to grow your passive vocabulary. On average, a single book will teach you three hundred to five hundred words from context alone. By reading just one book in your target language, you’ll make all future books and texts of any kind much easier to read. • By reading in conjunction with an audiobook, you’ll have a much easier time moving through a long text, and you’ll pick up invaluable exposure to the rhythms of your language in action. This will improve your pronunciation, your listening comprehension, your vocabulary, your grammar; in
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DVDs of movies and TV shows often come with subtitles in English or your target language. Don’t use them. The problem with subtitles is that reading is easier than listening.
You need to put yourself in a situation where you’re relying entirely on your ears, and subtitles take that away from you.
You’ll have a much easier time understanding a TV show or movie if you read a summary of it first, particularly if that summary is in your target language.
When you read one of these summaries, you pick up a bunch of the vocabulary used in each episode.
Listening is a fast-paced skill that can sometimes feel overwhelming. Take baby steps, and gradually ramp up the challenge until you can handle the fastest and hardest of listening challenges (radio, podcasts, ridiculous garbled train station announcements). • Start with an interesting foreign TV or dubbed American TV series without subtitles. You can dial down the difficulty by reading episode summaries ahead of time, in order to prepare yourself for the vocabulary and plot twists of each episode. • As your comfort level grows, wean yourself off of summaries and begin watching and listening
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Fluency, after all, isn’t the ability to know every word and grammatical pattern in a language; it’s the ability to communicate your thoughts without stopping every time you run into a problem.
When you travel to a country, you learn something about the soul of a language—its people, its food, its culture—that can’t be captured in books.
With the advent of ubiquitous, high-speed Internet connections, you can get quality speech practice anywhere. • Whenever and wherever you practice, follow the golden rule of Language Taboo: no English allowed. By practicing in this way, you’ll develop comfortable fluency with the words and grammar you know.
Sound Play: Learn how to hear and produce the sounds of your target language and how spelling and sound interrelate. 2. Word Play: Learn 625 frequent, concrete words by playing Spot the Differences in Google Images, finding personal connections, and if needed, adding mnemonic imagery for grammatical gender. 3. Sentence Play: Begin turning the sentences in your grammar book into flash cards for new words, word forms, and word order. Use written output to fill in the gaps missing from your textbook. Here’s what I suggest you do next: 1. If you haven’t already done so, learn the first half of
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Language learning is a form of strength training for your brain.
The process of exploring a language is the core of learning a language. Every
