Ask HN: How did you learn a new language as an adult? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How did you learn a new language as an adult?

17 pointsrokhayakebe13 comments

How did you come about learning a new language as an adult?

Daily immersion in the language (articles/books/wikipedia/podcasts/newscasts/films) in addition to a decent grammar work book and a very good dictionary.

Don't bother keeping a good record of vocabulary.

You're brain will remember what you need to know, just keep doing it everyday (read/listen/watch then speak/write).

It's like exercising; a bit every day is (usually) better than a lot once a week.

Grammar drills, looking up dictionary definitions (use cases) and general exposure over a sustained period of time is by far the most realistic way to learn a language as an adult.

In short, the same way a musician in NY finds his way to Carnegie Hall. Practice.

It's like exercising; a bit every day is (usually) better than a lot once a week.

+1.

That upwards pointing arrow is like giving the comments you think help the discussion a +1.

He was emphasizing a particular point, and I agree that point is the single most important in the entire thread.

I almost decided to explain myself until I saw you have been here for a little over a month, so I will just say "Thank you for reminding me. Sometimes we forget. Cheers".

Hey! It just so happens my start-up is dedicated to creating fun language learning apps (free in app store), if you're learning Chinese or Spanish and have an iOS device, give it a whirl: http://321speak.com/

I pretty much comment on every hn language learning thread hoping for feedback...

Wow, nice app! I tried the Chinese version on my 3g, I like how it has male and female voices, and the images and design was top notch. I tend to like the immersion style, it's how children learn basically. I can see this really being successful for travelers and kids, especially as software like rosetta stone is so expensive, and this seems at least on par if not better (from what I've seen so far). Bon chance! Are you planning other languages?

Same question was posted a few days ago:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603562

I found this to be an interesting perspective on language learning as an adult: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/koreans-english-acqui...

Had 5 years of german. I'm from Norway, and most people have 3+ years of learning a 3rd language. But I only learned enough german to make fun of it :-/

Halli hallo wie geht es so? Ich bin eine kleine HN-er.

Just six days ago, this topic got a lot of discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603562

edit: ramchip beat me to it.

i am working on a browser plugin i call babelfin to help build vocabulary.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com