

Ask HN: How did you learn a new language as an adult? - rokhayakebe

How did you come about learning a new language as an adult?
======
nazariusk
Daily immersion in the language
(articles/books/wikipedia/podcasts/newscasts/films) in addition to a decent
grammar work book and a very good dictionary.

Don't bother keeping a good record of vocabulary.

You're brain will remember what you need to know, just keep doing it everyday
(read/listen/watch then speak/write).

It's like exercising; a bit every day is (usually) better than a lot once a
week.

Grammar drills, looking up dictionary definitions (use cases) and general
exposure over a sustained period of time is by far the most realistic way to
learn a language as an adult.

~~~
rokhayakebe
_It's like exercising; a bit every day is (usually) better than a lot once a
week._

+1.

~~~
ashconnor
That upwards pointing arrow is like giving the comments you think help the
discussion a +1.

~~~
billswift
He was emphasizing a particular point, and I agree that point is the single
most important in the entire thread.

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321speak
Hey! It just so happens my start-up is dedicated to creating fun language
learning apps (free in app store), if you're learning Chinese or Spanish and
have an iOS device, give it a whirl: <http://321speak.com/>

I pretty much comment on every hn language learning thread hoping for
feedback...

~~~
DrumLady
Wow, nice app! I tried the Chinese version on my 3g, I like how it has male
and female voices, and the images and design was top notch. I tend to like the
immersion style, it's how children learn basically. I can see this really
being successful for travelers and kids, especially as software like rosetta
stone is so expensive, and this seems at least on par if not better (from what
I've seen so far). Bon chance! Are you planning other languages?

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ramchip
Same question was posted a few days ago:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603562>

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pw
I found this to be an interesting perspective on language learning as an
adult: [http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/koreans-english-
acqui...](http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/koreans-english-acquisition-
and-best.html)

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lovskogen
Had 5 years of german. I'm from Norway, and most people have 3+ years of
learning a 3rd language. But I only learned enough german to make fun of it
:-/

Halli hallo wie geht es so? Ich bin eine kleine HN-er.

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wvl
Just six days ago, this topic got a lot of discussion:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603562>

edit: ramchip beat me to it.

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jdavid
i am working on a browser plugin i call babelfin to help build vocabulary.

