如何在90天内学会一门语言.docx
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如何在90天内学会一门语言
HowtoLearnALanguagein90Days
‘Ifyoutalktoamaninalanguageheunderstands,thatgoestohishead.Ifyoutalktohiminhisownlanguage,thatgoestohisheart.’~NelsonMandela
Editor’snote:
ThisisaguestpostfromManeeshSethiofHackTheSystem.
Istillrememberthehappiestmomentofmylife.IhaddecidedtothrowapartyformyItalianfriendswhilelivinginFlorence,Italy.Myfriendsdidn’tspeakanyEnglish,andIvividlyrememberthrowingthepartyandtryingtoonlyspeakinItalian.Andthen,someoneaskedmetotellajoke.
Idon’tknowifyouknowthis,buttellingjokesinanotherlanguageisoneofthemostharrowingexperiencesyoucanimagine.
Ibeganthejoke.C’eraunavolta(Onceuponatime)…
Halfwaythroughthejoke,Ibegantogetflustered.Icouldn’tremembertheItalianwordinthepunchline.And30Italianswerestaringatme,waitingforthejoketoend.
Atthelastminute,Irememberedandcompletedthejoke.Iwaitedforthesoundofcrickets…butinsteadexperiencedathunderouslaughandaroundofapplause.IhadmadedozensofItalianslaugh,intheircountry,intheirlanguage.
Untiltoday,thatmemorycontinuestobeoneofthehappiestmomentsI’veeverexperienced.Andit’sthereasonthat,overthelastfouryears,I’vestudiedlanguagesandnowspeakfive:
English,Italian,Spanish,Portuguese,andGerman.
TheBenefitsofBilingualism
Becomingbilingualopensupawholenewworld—aworldofdifferentpeople,ofdifferentcultures,ofdifferentemotions.
Learningasecondlanguagehasmanycognitivebenefits.Forexample,learninganewlanguagehasbeenshowntodelayAlzheimer’s,boostbrainpower,reducecognitivebiases,andevenincreaseconcentrationandtheabilitytotuneoutdistractions.Yourabilitytobuildbetterhabitswillimprovebylearninganewlanguage.
But,moresothancognitiveeffects,theabilitytospeakasecondlanguagehasatonofsocialbenefits.There’sblissinhavingtheabilitytoorderfoodinthewaiter’snativelanguage,toeavesdroponpeopleinanelevator,toimpressnativesbyspeakingwithandunderstandingthem.
Thecoolestthingaboutlearningyoursecondlanguageisthatitmakeslearningathird,fourth,orfifthlanguagemucheasier.Thechallengeisn’tinlearninganewlanguage,butratherlearninghowtolearnalanguage.Onceyouknowthetechniques,you’llbeabletoapplythesamegrammaticalpatternsandlanguagetechniquesineverynewlanguageyoulearn.It’sforthisreasonthat,whileItaliantookme3orsomonthstomaster,Spanishtookonly2monthsandPortuguesetookjustafewweeks.
Whymostpeoplearewrongaboutlanguagelearning
Istudiedspanishforseveralyearsinhighschool,andevengotgoodgradesonnationalexams.Butoneday,whenIactuallytriedtospeakthelanguage,Isuddenlyrealized.
FouryearsofstudyingSpanishinschool,andIcouldn’tevenorderaburrito.
Sowhatwentwrong?
Accordingtoofficialstandardizedtests,IwasanexpertinSpanish.ButIcouldn’tevendothemostbasicoftasks!
Thefactisthatwenottaughtlanguagesintheidealway.Studentsstudylanguagesinhugegroupsandthinkthatafewworksheetsandgrammarexerciseswillbeenoughtolearnalanguage.
Yetalmostnooneactuallylearnstospeak.
Inactuality,bydoingworksheets,wearepracticingforjustthat—forworksheets.Butifyouwanttolearntospeak,well,youactuallyhavetopracticebyspeaking.
Sowhenpeopletrytolearntospeakalanguageoutofabook,orwithRosettaStone,Itrytoshowthemthattheywon’tachievetheirgoalsthatway.Ifyouwanttospeak,youhavetopracticespeaking.Andifyouwanttospeakalanguagerapidly,well,youhavetostartspeaking.Alot.
TheBasicStrategyOfRapidLanguageLearning
Learningalanguagecanseemdaunting,soI’mgoingtoprovideanoverviewofthegeneralstrategy,beforewegetintothespecifics.
Hereisthebreakdown.We’llgomoreindepthintoeachoftheselateron.
1.Gettherightresourcesforlearning:
Agrammarbook,memorizationsoftware,andfilms/books.
2.Getaprivatetutor.Youwantoneforatleastamonth.Irecommendfourhours/day.
3.Attempttospeakandthinkonlyinthenewlanguage.Everytimeyoucan’trememberaword,putthatwordintoyourmemorizationsoftware.Practiceyourvocabularydaily.
4.Findfriends,languagepartners,andotherspeakersofthelanguage.Onceyoucanhavebasicconversationswithyourprivatetutor,youneedtofindotherpartners.Ifyouhaven’talready,thinkaboutmovingtothecountrywherethelanguageisspoken.Consideragroupclass.Practicecontinuously.StopspeakingEnglish.
That’sthebasicstrategy.Again,thisstrategyisintensive,becauselearningalanguageinthreemonthsisadifficulttask.Ifyou’dprefertolearnthelanguagemoreslowlyoryoudon’thavetheabilitytomovetoanewcountryandpractice4-8hoursaday,thenyoucanmodifytheplan.Itisextremelyimportantthatyoupracticeeveryday,however—20minutesadayismuchbetterthanonceortwiceaweek.
Someoftheseconceptsarehardtounderstandthroughthewrittenword,soIcreatedavideoseries,justforZenHabitsreaders,thatteachesthestepstolearnalanguage.GettheHackTheSystemLanguageLearningVideoshere.
TheResourcesYouNeedToLearnALanguage
Inordertolearnalanguage,you’llneedsomeitemsthatyoucanpracticewith.HerearetheresourcesIalwaysuse.
TheNecessaryResources
Agoodgrammarbook.Thisisessentialifyouwanttolearnalanguage.IrecommendDover’sEssentialGrammarseries:
thebooksareverycheap,concise,andthorough.WhenIlivedinItaly,theDoverEssentialItalianGrammarbookbecamemybible.Ireaditeverywhere,sleptwithit,andevenmemorizedit.
Aphrasebook.Thisissimilartoadictionary,butforphrases.Youcanstartmemorizingfullsentencesandphrases,andyou’llnaturallylearntheindividualwords.I’lltalkmoreaboutmemorizationtacticsshortly.
AnonlinedictionaryAmemorizationapp.Youhavetomemorizevocabulary.Ialwaysputnewwordsinmyapp,andpracticethemeverynight.
Ifyou’reonaMac,checkouttheappGenius.Thisgeniusapp(punintended)usestime-spacingtechniquestotestourknowledge.You’llrandomlybequizzedonwordsorphrasesyouaretryingtolearn,andthemoreoftenyoumakeamistake,themoreoftenyou’llbetested.IrecommendyouputEnglishontheleftcolumnandyourdesiredlanguageontheright,sothatyou’lllearntospeakinanewlanguage,nottranslatefromit.Ifyou’reonaPC,I’veheardgoodthingsaboutAnki.
Resourcestolearnfrom
APrivateTutor.Ihighlyrecommendgettinganin-personprivatetutorthroughCraigslistoranearbylanguageschool.However,ifyoucan’tfindanyoneinyourareaortheyaretooexpensive,checkoutE.EdufireisawebsitethatallowsyoutotakeprivateandgroupclassesonlineovertheInternet.Again,remember,privatelessonsareessential,soskipthegroupclasses.
Freelanguagepartnersandtutors.TheMixxerisanincredibleresource.It’sasitethatallowsyoutoconnect,viaSkype,withlanguagepartnersallovertheworld.Justchooseyournativelanguage,andwhatyouaretryingtolearn,andTheMixxerwillfindpartnerswithoppositeneeds(whospeakyourtargetlanguageandwanttolearnyournativelanguage).
Atthebeginning,onlinepartnersareabighelp.Why?
First,becausechattingismucheasierthanspeaking,soyougetachancetopracticeyourlanguage.Second,chatgivesyoualogofwhatyou’vebeensaying—anditmakesiteasierforyourpartnertocorrectyou.
IuseCouchsurfing.organdMtofindlanguagepartnersandlanguagemeetups,nomatterwhereIlive.CheckoutBenny’sarticletolearnaboutfindinglanguagepartnersthroughCouchsurfing.
Idon’trecommendRosettaStone.RosettaStoneisincrediblyslow.InLevel1,whichtakes1-2monthstocomplete,you’llonlybefamiliarwiththepresenttense.Thisisnotagooduseofyourtime.
Pimsleurtapes,ontheotherhand,canbebeneficialbecausetheyhelpyoupracticepronunciationinthecontextofconversations.However,theyarestillquiteslow.Totestthis,IstartedtrainingwiththeGermanPimsleurtapestwoweeksbeforebeginningmyGermanclasses.IfeltlikeIwasmakinghugeprogressbyfinishing1/2oftheGerman1tapes—untilIhadsurpassedthatknowledgeinfewerthantwodayswithanactualteacher.
The90DayPlantoLearningaLanguage
It’spossibletoachievefluency,oratleastahighspeakinglevel,injust90days,butitrequiresintensefocus.Thebiggestshiftwasinmindset:
Ihadtochangemyselfconceptionfrom‘Maneesh:
abloggerwhowantstolearnItalian’to‘Maneesh:
Italianlearner(whoblogsinhisextratime).
Ifyoudon’thavethefreedomtofocusfulltimeonlearningalanguage,that’sokay,buttheprocesswilltakelongerthan90days.Justmakesurethatyoucontinuetopracticeeveryday,orelseyou’llloseyourknowledgerapidly.
Days1-30
Thefirstthirtydaysarecriticaltolearninganewlanguage.Youneedtoimmerseyourselfasfullyaspossible.
Ihighlyrecommendmovingtoacountrywherethelanguageisspokenifyouwanttolearnalanguagein90days.Thiswillhelpyougetintothelanguagelearningmindset,andwillallowyoutosurroundyourselfwiththenewlanguage.Ifyouareabletomovetoanewcountry,trytolivewithahostfamily.You’lllearnalotbyeatingmealswithafamilythathostsyou.
Inanycase,duringthefirstmonth,workoneononewithaprivatetutor—notgroupclasses.Groupclassesallowyoutositbackandbelazy,whileaprivatetutorforcesyoutolearn.
Thisisimportant:
youmustbeanactivelearner.Mostpeopleallowthemselvestobetaughtto,but