Big yikes.
You don’t think so? Have you learned a second language?
Anki and any flash card system can be a small step in the right direction and that is huge!
You don’t think so? Have you learned a second language?
Anki and any flash card system can be a small step in the right direction and that is huge!
If you already live there, forget flash cards, take a basic in-person course then just pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV, talk to that gas station employee in your broken German... Having actual conversations, no matter how broken, is IMHO way more beneficial than any app or course. And yes, I've learnt several languages (including German) this way. There's countless ways, but in the end it pretty much boils down to the willingness to learn it, not an optimal learning method.
And Anki is a nicety but won't revolutionise your learning. In fact in the end I stopped using it and switched to just reading German books and watching German movies.
They live in English/Russian/Turkish/Arabic speaking bubbles. They are not isolated from people, only from Germans.
Their issues are poverty, violence, lack of education that makes it impossible for you to really earn money. The expats speaking English do not have these issues.
But the Türkendeutsche no longer are - not the under-50 set, anyway. Try ordering a Börek in Berlin sometime - the person serving you will answer in perfect Berlinerisch.
Socially/politically they might be in some kind of a bubble, but so are the rest of us.
Flashcards can be help, somewhat to learning foreign language. But they are not necessary nor able to teach you to communicate by themselves.
I agree. Far and away, the fastest way for me to acquire a new word is to use it incorrectly in conversation. My theory is that the emotion of social embarrassment makes it stick (there is some research associating strong emotion with learning).
Maybe there's something about the act of using the word that also adds to the impact, because similarly, if I learn a new word for the first time in conversation, I rarely forget it. Words acquired via flashcards or reading or whatever take ages to stick in my brain, and then I usually have to go through another learning process it be able to use them effectively in real life.