Quick tips to higher proficiency

[The_Brightest_Moon]

Hey so what tips would you give to someone to help increase their proficiency? A simple tip of mine is simply to do something in the language very single day and actively think your thoughts in the target language.  

[Shiina-kun]

The_Brightest_Moon

actively think your thoughts in the target language.

This exactly. I remember on the first day of my Japanese class we learned the phrase "いいお天気ですね。(Nice weather, isn't it?)" and every day it was sunny out, I would think that to myself haha. It seems silly, but it really works.

I also keep a personal "dictionary" of words I've learned. It's just a small spiral notebook (7.75" x 5"), and every time I hear/learn a new word, I put it in there along with the definition.  

[The_Brightest_Moon]

emikodo

The_Brightest_Moon

actively think your thoughts in the target language.

This exactly. I remember on the first day of my Japanese class we learned the phrase "いいお天気ですね。(Nice weather, isn't it?)" and every day it was sunny out, I would think that to myself haha. It seems silly, but it really works.

I also keep a personal "dictionary" of words I've learned. It's just a small spiral notebook (7.75" x 5"), and every time I hear/learn a new word, I put it in there along with the definition.

Me too! I always carry a tiny pocket notebook around with me full of Japanese vocabulary. I should get one for French too.

I often find myself thinking in French without even realizing it. I actually prefer thinking and speaking in French over English. I'm weird...  

[Tc Frorleivus Almus Ph]

Translate everything you see and hear. If you can't, that's what you need to study. Even if it's just something that someone off-handedly mentions.

The_Brightest_Moon

Hey so what tips would you give to someone to help increase their proficiency? A simple tip of mine is simply to do something in the language very single day and actively think your thoughts in the target language.

"Heus quale consilium nonnemini exercitium suum adaugere iutum? Consilium simplex mei est simpliciter in lingua aliquid quotidie facere et cogitationes tuas in lingua designata alacriter cogitare."

See? It's easy. ;D  

[The_Brightest_Moon]

Shizuka Mizu

Translate everything you see and hear. If you can't, that's what you need to study. Even if it's just something that someone off-handedly mentions.

The_Brightest_Moon

Hey so what tips would you give to someone to help increase their proficiency? A simple tip of mine is simply to do something in the language very single day and actively think your thoughts in the target language.

"Heus quale consilium nonnemini exercitium suum adaugere iutum? Consilium simplex mei est simpliciter in lingua aliquid quotidie facere et cogitationes tuas in lingua designata alacriter cogitare."

See? It's easy. ;D

I've tried to write and translate my notes in Japanese... doesn't always work haha  

[The_Brightest_Moon]

A good tip is to go to Yahoo! or some news site in your target language and learn 5-10 new vocabulary from the headlines you read every day  

[Shiina-kun]

The_Brightest_Moon

A good tip is to go to Yahoo! or some news site in your target language and learn 5-10 new vocabulary from the headlines you read every day

Or go to Twitter and subscribe to a few people who speak your target language, then try to translate what they say. This helps if you're trying to learn slang or informal speech.  

[Tc Frorleivus Almus Ph]

The_Brightest_Moon

Shizuka Mizu

Translate everything you see and hear. If you can't, that's what you need to study. Even if it's just something that someone off-handedly mentions.

The_Brightest_Moon

Hey so what tips would you give to someone to help increase their proficiency? A simple tip of mine is simply to do something in the language very single day and actively think your thoughts in the target language.

"Heus quale consilium nonnemini exercitium suum adaugere iutum? Consilium simplex mei est simpliciter in lingua aliquid quotidie facere et cogitationes tuas in lingua designata alacriter cogitare."

See? It's easy. ;D

I've tried to write and translate my notes in Japanese... doesn't always work haha

Practice practice! If I had my computer, I'd put this in kana, but alas! I'm only on my tablet at the college, so romaji will have to do.
Narau yori nare yo!  

[Tc Frorleivus Almus Ph]

emikodo

The_Brightest_Moon

A good tip is to go to Yahoo! or some news site in your target language and learn 5-10 new vocabulary from the headlines you read every day

Or go to Twitter and subscribe to a few people who speak your target language, then try to translate what they say. This helps if you're trying to learn slang or informal speech.

That is precisely why Ookami put all those links to Japanese social network sites in her learning threads.  

[The_Brightest_Moon]

Shizuka Mizu

emikodo

The_Brightest_Moon

A good tip is to go to Yahoo! or some news site in your target language and learn 5-10 new vocabulary from the headlines you read every day

Or go to Twitter and subscribe to a few people who speak your target language, then try to translate what they say. This helps if you're trying to learn slang or informal speech.

That is precisely why Ookami put all those links to Japanese social network sites in her learning threads.

If you're on Tumblr I have a few good all-Japanese blogs, one that has snippets of twitter posts on various topics like politics and entertainment in Japanese.  

[Blade Lorenz]

I put sticky notes on things around the house, to help learn the vocabulary..

For example:

"die Tür" was put on my door.
"der Computer" on my computer.
"der Tisch" on the table.
Etc...

Helped because I would see those words every day, multiple times a day, then I'd also read them either aloud or in my head, and that further helped commit them to memory as well as having the visual in my head of an actual door, etc...


Now, as I'm pretty much beyond needing all that in German, what I'm using now to just help remember some grammar, or articles, or whatever, is to learn song lyrics.

An example was to help me remember that it was "mit mir" and not "mit mich" (as well as many other grammatical points) was, for example: Unheilig's "Das Meer", with the lyric "Komm geh' mit mir zum Meer, um auf ein Schiff zu gehen.".. All in all, helps me as well to remember/get familiar with the word "um"... and also "auf ein Schiff gehen" vs. "auf einem Schiff gehen" on so on. Of course, that technique is for slightly more advanced levels of fluency than beginners, because you have to have a deeper grammatical understanding of the language - so you don't get screwed up by the poetical aspect of song lyrics and end saying something, er, silly/odd sounding.


Another example, though, just for vocabulary, I use the song "Mooie Dag" by BLOF (Dutch), as there are a lot of nouns with articles in the lyrics and it's a great way to remember "de aarde" (the earth) and "het grass" (the grass).  

[Sakura Latte]

The_Brightest_Moon

Shizuka Mizu

emikodo

The_Brightest_Moon

A good tip is to go to Yahoo! or some news site in your target language and learn 5-10 new vocabulary from the headlines you read every day

Or go to Twitter and subscribe to a few people who speak your target language, then try to translate what they say. This helps if you're trying to learn slang or informal speech.

That is precisely why Ookami put all those links to Japanese social network sites in her learning threads.

If you're on Tumblr I have a few good all-Japanese blogs, one that has snippets of twitter posts on various topics like politics and entertainment in Japanese.

would you mind linking me to them? <3 I need some all Japanese language tumblrs to follow  

[Mors Morza]

My advice:

Try not to translate back to your native language in your head. It's not that easy to start with, but over time that becomes less difficult. Associate words with other words of the language, their meanings in images, or with some experience which can accurately describe the phrase.

Total immersion: if you have the chance, immerse yourself in the culture and language you are learning. I'm able to do that with Spanish because of the large Hispanic population of my town (have you ever had salted watermelon?), and it really helps improve conversational skills and articulation.

- - -

I listen to music in a great number of languages: Faroese, Finnish, Dutch, Ukrainian, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian, and so on. I've learned a number of words and phrases thanks to that, and since I'm hearing them I can usually legitimately sing along after a while. Noting this, I think it's easier to learn words through songs; I made up a language and started using it in little songs for my amusement, and thanks to that I almost never forget a word. :3

I'm not the only one who starts thinking in multiple languages without realizing it, right? sweatdrop