Is memorization all about flashcards?
The end goal of being fluent in a particular language is to be able to converse easily, read books, and preferably, to think in that language without translating every word. Right now, when I recognize a word in Swedish, my mind wanders down a path:
ett frimärke > ok, I know this one > STAMP! that’s it! a stamp >
Occasionally, this is shortened a bit and, luckily, a few phrases have sunk in so that I don’t have to think, “Tack .. tack means thank you.” The biggest problem with translating, is the pause during which the brain has to sort through its stored information and return the correct meaning to you. This is when you can easily to miss the rest of the sentence and miss something key to comprehending what is being said. So how do you get from translation to fluency?
Before fluency comes memorization.
Initially, it is necessary to memorize words and their meanings. Later, one must memorize conjugations in the case of verbs and for nouns, their gender. So, how do you memorize? Read the rest of this entry »
Is immersion required for language proficiency?
I had someone ask me if I thought it was possible to learn a language without living in an area where it was spoken exclusively. While I think one will never be fluent without doing so, I do believe it is possible to learn the language. After all, if not, why did I suffer though language classes in high school and college? At the same time, I do believe the more immersion available the better. I’m going to try to tala svensk at certain people in order to put some phrases into my subconscious. Phrases like, “Hej hej!” and “Hey då!” come naturally, but even the simple, “Hur är du?” doesn’t roll off my tongue easily when it would be appropriate. I’m still getting, “Jag förstor inte.” och “Jag vet inte.” confused in class.
What do you think? Is it possible to become fluent in a language without living in a country where that language is spoken?
Today I’ve been reading through Introduction to Swedish© by Urban Sikeborg. The phrases for greetings in Chapter 2 are more than I’ve heard in the past 6 months that I’ve been learning. Now I would like to use a few of these instead to switch it up a bit.
Svensk
Jag har läst Introduction to Swedish© by Urban Sikeborg idag. Jag vill använda talesätten i kapitel 2 i stället talesätten jag känner nu.
