Best Way to Learn a Language?
I've been reading The Principle of the Path and it makes an interesting point:
There are two central points here:
1) Even the best language "solution" is actually a "roadmap" for following a path that will lead you toward fluency.
2) When you're talking to an experienced learner, that learner's knowledge arises not just from the great method that he or she is using now and you really ought to try - it also comes from all the mistakes, blind alleys and detours where that person learned things the hard way before finding this great system. Your results may be better for trying this person's system, or worse, but unless you've followed the same language learning journey all the way through your results won't be quite the same.
So when you sit down to study, be aware that the ideas here, there and elsewhere are well worth trying out if they feel right for where you're trying to get with your language learning. But remember that you're on a path of your own. If you feel you're getting somewhere, keep at it. If you're not, though, don't look for a "solution" to better learning now, look for a path to fluency that fits with your goals and with the rest of your life.
Wouldn't it be great if there were a yellow brick road that led to wherever it is you want to go in life? [snip] If that were the case, you would stop looking for solutions to problems, and you would start looking for the right path.The author is writing about life choices in general, but it really applies to language learning. On these blogs, some of us (like me) spend a lot of time looking for language solutions - the fastest way to learn, the easiest way to learn, etc. But language learning is a journey whose desired destination, fluency, we only near if we apply our efforts in the right direction over time.
There are two central points here:
1) Even the best language "solution" is actually a "roadmap" for following a path that will lead you toward fluency.
2) When you're talking to an experienced learner, that learner's knowledge arises not just from the great method that he or she is using now and you really ought to try - it also comes from all the mistakes, blind alleys and detours where that person learned things the hard way before finding this great system. Your results may be better for trying this person's system, or worse, but unless you've followed the same language learning journey all the way through your results won't be quite the same.
So when you sit down to study, be aware that the ideas here, there and elsewhere are well worth trying out if they feel right for where you're trying to get with your language learning. But remember that you're on a path of your own. If you feel you're getting somewhere, keep at it. If you're not, though, don't look for a "solution" to better learning now, look for a path to fluency that fits with your goals and with the rest of your life.
5 Comments:
Interesting post. IMO, unless you are learning for a very specific purpose (like work) and have a time limit on you there is no real reason to be concerned with studying as fast or as efficient as possible. What matters more is that you apply the full weight of your concentration on what you're studying for a few hours every day over a long time period.
You see this a lot on exercise forums; people get obsessed with calorie counting, spreadsheets and micronutrient ratios because they are afraid that their effort will not get the maximum possible yield. People seem more concerned with the meta-discussion on exercise methods instead of actually going out and, you know, exercise.
Reading about something is easy, going out and actually doing it is hard; if it wasn't like this we would all speak six languages and look like greek gods. The key to successful language learning isn't any one method or concept, it's consistent effort applied over years of study.
I definitely agree with this!
The problem is that people are getting too focused on trying to find the perfect method to learn something and they are too little focused on actually learning it.
I remember once I was reading a forum about a specific business niche and the advice given by one of the forums members was something as follows:
Well, if you guys didn't sit on your ass all day reading these forums and instead used that time to work, I am sure you all would be making five figures already...
This applies so much to language learning. And, in fact, to a lot of things in life. Sure, it's about choosing a way that's more efficient in the beginning. But then it's about sticking to it and not just spending half of the time trying to reaffirm it and see if there isn't a "slightly more efficient way" because you lose ten times the efficiency when you take into account the time you used to find that way.
For some people, though, it becomes more of a journey on finding out "how to learn it" rather than a journey of learning it.
This is a bit distressing.
I think it might be helpful to mention here that one should also look for a method that fits with one's own learning style. Some people learn better orally and some beter visually. Some people do well with flexibility and others with more rigid patterns. Some people value fluency, others value accuracy. Knowing your own best way of learning and exploiting what you're good at (to build up confidence in using the language) is important while also finding ways to work harder on your weak points. And figuring out what you're going to use the language for and what is valued in different places is also helpful for learning.
Interesting post... Which roadmap do you use?
My Roadmap:
1) Where possible, Pimsleur or Michel Thomas to get comfortable with some everyday speech.
2) A phrasebook/dictionary to learn some of the things I'd like to say on a daily basis so I can integrate the language into everyday life.
3) Where possible, Assimil, for lots of reading and listening in a format where I can figure out what's going on.
4) Music, short newspaper articles, etc.
It is, in short, a path from some very basic stuff, followed by the familiar and moving cautiously into the not so familiar while doing my best not to lose my bearings.
Sifting through the posts, it will be clear that things haven't always worked out so neatly for me in my studies, but this is my preferred roadmap and the one with which I have the most success.
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