Anyone else successfully learn a new language? (OFFICIAL COLI LANGUAGE THREAD)

[Exit9NJturnpike]

Iran isn't an Arabic-speaking country (they speak Farsi) but they have some small Arab minorities there.

Iraq, you should be good with MSA but you can try and learn Iraqi dialects. You may have people speaking languages such as Kurdish & Assyrian tho

thanks breh

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

dope blog, especially that 10 Ways Black Americans & Afro-Brazilians Can Help Each Other article.

did you go to a portuguese school there or just make friends and learn thru your daily interactions with them?
where did you live in Rio? Barra da tijuca? I hear it's better for gringos to live there but that shyt is far as hell from zona sul
out of the 2 cities which one did you feel had better business opportunities?

I took Portuguese in college first for a couple semesters then went to Rio. I didn't take any classes there, I met friends and they helped me. Sometimes we did language exchanges, but 85% of my time was just studying on my own and going out to put the language in action.

I lived in Rocinha, a pacified favela in Zona Sul right above Sao Conrado. I wouldn't say Barra is the best place for gringos, but if you want to feel that American vibe in Rio then Barra is your best bet. I think they patterned the neighborhood off of American burbs lol. It's definitely a nice area. I prefer being closer to downtown and the metro tho, my favorite area is Flamengo.

Sao Paulo definitely is better for business opportunities. I wrote a post on why I like Sampa more than Rio too lol.

http://www.rioinaweek.com/sao-paulo-is-better-than-rio/

 

[hoodheronova]

IIGHT PEOPLE IF YOUR LEARNING A LANGUAGE SET UP SHOP HERE. WERE ALL GONNA MOTIVATE EACH OTHER

 

[Fatboi1]

IIGHT PEOPLE IF YOUR LEARNING A LANGUAGE SET UP SHOP HERE. WERE ALL GONNA MOTIVATE EACH OTHER

Mwen bliye di'w on lot bagay.

To retain this information it's important to not rely on rote memorization and shyt because you'll forget. Enter SRS... Don't skip this. Read this, download a SRS(i recommend Anki for Windows and Ankidroid for Android.) When you learn a new phrase or word, copy it into your SRS and make a new deck with cards for each sentence.. Read this first....After you understand read after these tidbits.....

SRS is short for “spaced repetition system”. Generally speaking, it’s a piece of electronic flashcard-like software that helps you to long-term-memorize large quantities of information by effectively working on only a small subset of the information each day, using spaced repetitions.

The idea of spaced repetitions is painfully simple: when you first learn something, you (need to) review it very frequently in order to keep remembering it. Later, you can review it less frequently — apparently this is a property of human memory regardless of age or “intelligence”. The ever-increasing space of time between repetitions allows you to keep reviewing (and thereby remembering) old material even as you learn new material. The SRS takes care of that constant “leaking bucket” problem where you only remember things learned recently. In this sense, it could be said that SRS basically solve the problem of long-term memory: as they say at SuperMemo, you can forget about forgetting.

SRS aren’t perfect, but if used correctly (i.e. daily and with well-formed question-answer pairs), then they promise retention in the range of 90-95%, and in my experience, they do deliver. It’s interesting to think that actually “letting go” — allowing that you will forget 5-10% of what you learn, rather than being obsessed with 100% retention, has the counter-intuitive effect of leading you to actually learn more. To put it in numerical terms, I have so far learned 4500 kanji with a retention rate of about 90%+; 90% of 4500 is a much better statistic than 100% of only, say, 1000. Also, the 5-10% that I forget generally aren’t the ones I’ve been reviewing for a long time; they are the more recently learned characters.

There are many SRS available for varying platforms. Whatever SRS you choose, remember that the key is not which SRS you use, but that you actually use one and use it every day.

What is SRS and what can it do for you? ~ Spaced-repetition software lets you keep things (e.g. English vocabulary) in your head. It is based on scientific research on human memory.

• How does it work? ~ You add some knowledge to your SRS (e.g. 100 English words). Every day, you review part of the knowledge (e.g. 5 words). In the process, the SRS collects information about your memory.
• Why is it good? ~ You can remember thousands of English words and phrases while spending only 10 minutes a day on reviews. This is possible because, in an SRS, you don’t waste time on reviewing things you know well; you only review things you really need to review.
• What are the results? ~ An SRS can help you improve your vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, ace your tests, understand books and movies, eliminate your mistakes, and amaze all your friends with your progress.

Which SRS should you get? ~ The most popular choices are Anki and SuperMemo.

Me and SuperMemo ~ Tom writes about his personal experience with SuperMemo from 1993 to 2002. He talks about his motivation for using SuperMemo and his excellent results while learning English in high school.

How to use an SRS to learn languages

• Making SRS items (cards) for learning languages ~ Learn how to design items (cards) for learning English.
  • definition-word items
  • sentence items
  • gap-filling items
  • pronunciation items
  • word-definition items
• How to grade yourself in SRS

Installing and uninstalling SuperMemo

• Starting your first collection

• Memorizing and reviewing knowledge

Reviews
Review of SuperMemo for Pocket PC ~ the easiest-to-use version of SuperMemo that lets you learn anywhere. Unfortunately, adding words and sentences with the stylus will slow you down.

 

[Audemar]

I learned Spanish over the years, starting when I was young, like around age 8/9. Although I can't speak as fluently as I used to due to being out of practice, I can still read, hear, and write it well.
My advice to someone trying to pick up a language would be immersion. That means extended travel to a place that speaks the language natively. If that isn't possible, I would find friends who speak it, which is what I did, and try to incorporate the language into everyday life by watching programs, etc.

 

[hoodheronova]

Mwen bliye di'w on lot bagay.

To retain this information it's important to not rely on rote memorization and shyt because you'll forget. Enter SRS... Don't skip this. Read this, download a SRS(i recommend Anki for Windows and Ankidroid for Android.) When you learn a new phrase or word, copy it into your SRS and make a new deck with cards for each sentence.. Read this first....After you understand read after these tidbits.....

m'ap utilize Anki deja. Se yon tres bon program. Jodia m' te esseye gade yon film ayisyen avec ton ton bicha. Papa! li pale trop vit pou mwen. Zanmi mwen te de'm que sa se kijan abitan pale, so sa se poukisa m'pa compren byen

 

[September]

I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household so I'm fluent but aside from that, I've been taking French classes since I was in middle school, so since I was around 12. I'm 22 now. I always assumed what they taught us was just super basic shyt and maybe not the same as actual conversational French but I was judging that off the way I saw Spanish teachers teaching Spanish. No one I knew, regardless of background, spoke Spanish the way they taught it in class. But when I used to go to DR, me & the Haitians would have a mushed up Spanish/French conversation and we understood each other somewhat so I guess I learned something.

I took two years of immersion classes in college. There was no English spoken in class. None at all. Hard as hell but I loved it. I feel like if I went to France, I could get around more or less with no problems. If I were more dedicated, I could become very fluent tho. I also feel like knowing Spanish helped my French a bit. So yeah, I'd say try to find some immersion courses because they're difficult but man, totally worth it. And fun.

 

[Fatboi1]

m'ap utilize Anki deja. Se yon tres bon program. Jodia m' te esseye gade yon film ayisyen avec ton ton bicha. Papa! li pale trop vit pou mwen. Zanmi mwen te de'm que sa se kijan abitan pale, so sa se poukisa m'pa compren byen

Lol Tonton Bicha funny as hell
Just keep watching. One thing to do is watch the same shyt OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN! You'll pick up new words over time that you didn't pick up before. There's videos, songs and clips of japanese stuff I've watched/heard well over a hundred times I thought It wouldn't help but I end up hearing new words that I didn't before. Once you pick up something new, look it up, and then put it into Anki.

Since you said you're using anki already, you should try out Anki MCD's. Basically instead of having one card with info on the front and answer on the back, you'll have several cards where you only have to guess the word that gets "clozed"..

This is an regular sentence example:


Can be Kreyol or English on front with opposite language on back
FRONT:

Mwen gen yon gwo chien lakay mwen




BACK:
Home

I got a big dog at my house


With MCD's, it hides text that you specify that you have problems with.. Say you have problems with certain phrases or words, you'd make a card that comes out like this:

FRONT:

Mwen ###### yon gwo chien lakay mwen.


Back:

gen

Mwen gen yon gwo chien lakay mwen.

Front:
##### gen yon gwo chien lakay mwen.

Back:
Mwen

*rest of sentence

Front:
Mwen gen #### chien lakay mwen


Back:

yon
*sentence*


Basically instead of trying to remember the whole sentence, you just need to get the one clozed out text right. . It's basically breaking it down. Instead of big ass pieces of text, you just cloze out several parts. Don't cloze out multiple words, just one word per card.

 

[Fatboi1]

ANKI MCD plugin Don't mind that it says Japanese, you can use it for any other language.

Main Project: code.google.com/p/mcdsupport/

Development: github.com/tarix/mcdsupport

Installation

1. Click File -> Download -> Shared Plugin …

2. Search for “MCD Support for Anki”

3. Select “MCD Support for Anki v1.2″

4. Click OK

5. Restart Anki



Deck Preparation

1. Open your Sentences or MCD deck.

2. Click Settings -> Deck Properties …

3. Click the “Add” button

4. Select “Add: Japanese MCD” and click OK

5. Close the Deck Properties window



Adding MCD Cards

1. Open your Sentences / MCD deck

2. Click Tools -> Add MCD Cards OR Press F9

3. Paste the passage you want to learn into the “Text” box

4. Add any notes you want on the back of the card to the “Notes” box

5. Add the words, kanji, kana, etc. you want clozed in the Clozes box

6. Make sure all of your clozes have spaces between them!

7. Add any tags you want these cards to have

8. Click the Add button

 

[Fatboi1]

MCD examples(Can be used for other languages)

1. 一＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃に行きます。
   I shall come with you.
   緒
   一緒に行きます。
   I shall come with you.
   いっしょ【一緒】 1 〔共に同じ事をすること〕 毎朝學校へ一緒に行ったものです We used to go to school together every morning. 一緒に行ってくださいませんか Won’t you come with me? 一緒に遊びませんか Won’t you join us in the game? クラスが一緒でした We were in the same class. 途中までご一緒しましょう I’ll 「go with [((文))accompany] you part of the way.
2. 一緒＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃行きます。
   I shall come with you.
   に
   一緒に行きます。
   I shall come with you.

 

[hoodheronova]

ANKI MCD plugin Don't mind that it says Japanese, you can use it for any other language.

Main Project: code.google.com/p/mcdsupport/

Development: github.com/tarix/mcdsupport

Installation

1. Click File -> Download -> Shared Plugin …

2. Search for “MCD Support for Anki”

3. Select “MCD Support for Anki v1.2″

4. Click OK

5. Restart Anki



Deck Preparation

1. Open your Sentences or MCD deck.

2. Click Settings -> Deck Properties …

3. Click the “Add” button

4. Select “Add: Japanese MCD” and click OK

5. Close the Deck Properties window



Adding MCD Cards

1. Open your Sentences / MCD deck

2. Click Tools -> Add MCD Cards OR Press F9

3. Paste the passage you want to learn into the “Text” box

4. Add any notes you want on the back of the card to the “Notes” box

5. Add the words, kanji, kana, etc. you want clozed in the Clozes box

6. Make sure all of your clozes have spaces between them!

7. Add any tags you want these cards to have

8. Click the Add button

m'bezwen aprann kijan pou fe sa. Sounds great tho. Combien kat ou genyen counye'a?

How you say sounds good (or something similar to that) en creole?

 

[Fatboi1]

m'bezwen aprann kijan pou fe sa. Sounds great tho. Combien kat ou genyen counye'a?

How you say sounds good (or something similar to that) en creole?

Sounds good??

Bon bagay
Tres byen
Sa byen bon

As far as cards go?? I have a BUNCH of cards. For me the site I got my info from the owner has sentence packs full of common, non textbook, colloquial Japanese. The one I bought had like 576 sentencees(some of them phrases and expressions). Basically each sentence I add to my SRS which when MCD'd makes at least 3-4 cards per sentence. I probably have at last over a thousand cards.

 

[hoodheronova]

Sounds good??

Bon bagay
Tres byen
Sa byen bon

As far as cards go?? I have a BUNCH of cards. For me the site I got my info from the owner who has sentence packs full of common, non textbook, colloquial Japanese. The one I bought had like 576 sentencees(some of them phrases and expressions). Basically each sentence I add to my SRS which when MCD'd makes at least 3-4 cards per sentence. I probably have at last over a thousand cards.

y'ap vand nepot kat ayisen tou?

 

[Fatboi1]

y'ap vand nepot kat ayisen tou?

Lol nah that dude only has sentence packs in Japanese. Though Anki has shared user decks online.

https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/781035279
This is one I found for Anki.. It's short.
Best thing to do is just type down/jot kreyol you hear and have your friends look at it and translate it if you need help and then add them to Anki and make MCD cards out of them. Mine haitian kreyol from places you'll find Kreyol on like websites, books, TV, lyrics and stuff like that. It's harder since Kreyol is not a big language.

 

[hoodheronova]

just reviewed 50 more words today. Total number of words i know = 300