Learning Languages

[krayziekid727]

So, just wondering, when it comes to learning languages at school, do you have any tricks in general that you use? Tips? To memorize and stuff. Also if any of you happen to take Latin, do you have any specific tricks or tips for any of the laws and words and such that help you remember them? I mean I'm a great crammer, but I need a way for the information to stick in languages. I can learn 24 words in 2 minutes flat but then I'll forget it as soon as class is over. And so I need a way to change that...

[xLiMeY LeM0Nx]

well i always use notecards and do a lot of exercises using those vocab words...

i actually take spanish and the language is a little similar to english so it's less difficult...

try the notecards or why not try writing the words and its definition over and over till it gets registered....well good luck!

[dogo]

hmm... i took spanish and am taking german now lol... usualy.. i just look over the words... the most important thing.. is getting how to write sentences. hmm for words.. i just relate the words to another language... either english or mandrin.. because i speak those fluently..

[ChenRKO420]

i am learning spanish n there is no secret to it, we do projects that r fun it requires spanish so we have fun while learning it

[bertie9488]

repetition (especially in latin!), if you do it enough times, you remember. cramming doesnt really work in that area. also, make flash cards, and every once in a while go through all of them again and see if you still know them. when you accumalate a lot...maybe do a little each day. i know that i've had a few issues with memorizing principle parts and such, especially since i have four languages jumbled in my head, but its all reptition. and always read in that language a lot! reading improves you vocab a lot.

[krayziekid727]

Thanks everyone! Especially you Bertie..but actually cramming does work sometimes because I usually make up some joke to go with a word or something..but it has to be really memorable for me to remember it for three days. And my Latin teacher is evil so we never have fun projects, we have 3 quizzes a week and a test every other week.

[AloneInDespair]

Well, it's easy to learn words in spanish or french because there are many cognates. Just look at the root of the word and most likely you can figure out it's meaning. And if you really want the words to stick in your head, repetition definitely helps. If you repeat it over and over, the words will get stuck in your head. I find that repetition drills are extremely helpful when you're cramming.

[DORKiFiED]

i make a poem or a song lol iss the easiest instead of just trying to memorize =D

[AznAngel922]

Index cards are considered the best tool. Put the word in latin on one side, and put english on the other, therefore you can test both your recognition skills in latin and english. It works for everything, so I think it's useful. But if not, make a recording of you speaking the latin and the meaning and play it in your sleep. Supposedly, you can still learn while you are sleeping.

[mikkis8]

It's sometimes easy to make sentences, or a story, or a poem. Anything to help me remember something. If I can't spell something, I'd look it up, then try to remember how to spell it.

At least, that works for languages which you can spell out a word. ^_^

Unfortunately, does anyone have hints for knowing languages with ideograms (eg. Japanese, Korean, Mandarin/Cantonese)? :unsure: I'm taking Mandarin in school, and I'd like to know some tips to learn it better... :mellow: