如何在90天内学会一门语言.docx

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