Language Learning TIPS

[polyglot]

Hey guys!

My name is Nana and I am a new member of this forum!

I am fluent in 4 languages (Armenian, Russian, English, French) and I am learning the 5th one (Spanish). All of those languages I learned at school & at home (from bilingual family) but I know that many people do not like school's approach to language learning or sometimes it is not even offered at school. And I created this thread to see what techniques you guys use for language learning both in and outside of school. It can include apps or online programs or YouTube channels. In other words, anything that you thought has made you a step closer to becoming fluent in a language is more than welcome!

Thanks in advance

[Sarabi]

Salut, Nana, et bienvenue !

Moi, j'adore Duolingo. Avant Duolingo, mes sites préférés pour apprendre le français étaient french.about.com et rfi.fr. Maintenant, c'est Duolingo, Netflix, des groupes sur FB, des meetups. Sur ce site, j'ai décidé il y a quelques mois de ne plus écrire en anglais (sauf si je vais le traduire dans une autre langue, mais normalement je n'aime pas faire ça). Dans le groupe Duolingo Norwegian Learners sur FB, je n'écris qu'en norvégien. J'ai même un groupe sur FB messenger pour parler en norvégien.

Hors ligne, j'ai récemment déménagé à une nouvelle maison. Donc j'ai mis des post-its autour de ma nouvelle chambre et de mon couloir pour apprendre des langues diverses mais surtout le norvégien. Et j'ai décidé de décorer les murs avec des langues. Savez-vous qu'à Washington, D.C. il y aura bientôt une musée linguistique ? J'habite à Washington, D.C. et je me suis dit, pourquoi pas tourner cette chambre en musée pareille pour moi-même ?! Sur les murs, j'apprends ASL (langue des signes américaine), le norvégien, les runes médiévales, le chinois, etc. C'est la première fois que j'ai fait une telle chose (j'avais déjà trop sur les murs dans mon ancienne chambre quand j'y ai pensé) et ça aide !

[awrui]

For me, it's only two important things: learn a language I have real interest in (that's why I sucked at English before college...), and find tools that work for you specific. For me, Duolingo is the most useless thing ever, even though a lot of people praise it. I prefer Anki and paper textbooks.

[Linguaphile]

For me, it's only two important things: learn a language I have real interest in (that's why I sucked at English before college...), and find tools that work for you specific. For me, Duolingo is the most useless thing ever, even though a lot of people praise it. I prefer Anki and paper textbooks.

And for me, I don't use Duolingo or Anki. (In fact I had never heard of Anki before I joined this forum.) But in general I like to use a variety of resources and I agree with both of awrui's points. I've used textbooks, online courses, language-learning apps, youtube videos, etc. As for language-learning apps, personally I've found that apps that are developed with a particular language in mind tend to be better than the more "famous" apps that offer dozens of languages. (This also means that I don't have specific apps or websites to recommend. It would be different for each language.) The same goes for textbooks; I'd rather use a text produced by a publisher within a country where the language is native, rather than a text published by a language publishing company that deals with dozens of languages. Sometimes those companies that produce materials for dozens of languages are a bit too one-size-fits-all and languages are quite different from each other in terms of what sequence material is best learned in or which aspects need to be emphasized or practiced more. That's really an overgeneralization though, as some companies (of apps, textbooks, etc.) are better than others at adapting to language-specific needs.
This makes me sound more picky than I am; those are just my preferences. When I'm really interested in a language, to be honest I'll use just about anything I can get my hands on whether or not it meets that criteria. But I will adjust my trust of the material accordingly, especially if it seems to conflict with what I've learned elsewhere, based on the source.

[Sarabi]

As for language-learning apps, personally I've found that apps that are developed with a particular language in mind tend to be better than the more "famous" apps that offer dozens of languages. (This also means that I don't have specific apps or websites to recommend. It would be different for each language.) The same goes for textbooks; I'd rather use a text produced by a publisher within a country where the language is native, rather than a text published by a language publishing company that deals with dozens of languages. Sometimes those companies that produce materials for dozens of languages are a bit too one-size-fits-all and languages are quite different from each other in terms of what sequence material is best learned in or which aspects need to be emphasized or practiced more. That's really an overgeneralization though, as some companies (of apps, textbooks, etc.) are better than others at adapting to language-specific needs.

C'est intéressant. Il y a plein de resources pour apprendre le français sur internet et je ne l'étudie plus autant que je le pratique, donc j'en sais pas trop ces derniers ans. Mais as-tu trouvé une appli meilleure que Duolingo qui est spécifiquement pour le français ? Moi, j'adore l'aspect du jeu de Duolingo, puisqu'il m'encourage à continuer avec mes études. Les chinois ont essayé avec leur 2 apps ChineseSkill et HelloChinese, basées sur Duolingo.... et j'aime bien ces applis, mais pour moi c'est mieux de les mélanger. Je ne dirais pas que l'une est meilleures que les autres.

[Linguaphile]

Mais as-tu trouvé une appli meilleure que Duolingo qui est spécifiquement pour le français ?

Pour le français, non. A vrai dire, je n'ai pas cherché d'appli pour le français.
En plus des applis je préfère les textes "natifs" plus que Teach Yourself ou Rosetta Stone ou d'autres séries... généralement. Mais je n'ai aucune recommandation pour le français. Je n'ai étudié le français qu'à l'école.