I'm a language teacher, so I was really interested in the book Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It. I started German as a traditional high school student and took it all through college. Then I started Norwegian while in college and took two years. After college, I started Spanish (just a year ago or so) and am learning on my own.
There were several important tips presented in this book - tips that can challenge the way some people teach foreign languages. Instead of starting with rote phrases, Gabriel Wyner recommends learning the phonetic system first. The advantage is being able to recognize the language more easily. Spaced-repetition is another huge facet of his plan - not just repeating when the word is learned and never again. Instead, you repeat words just as your brain forgets them.
I've had the most success with Spanish using spaced repetition. I feel like I have a handle on the language pretty well, even though it's only been a year.
This is a great resource for anyone who is learning a language. He explains how the strategies work, as well as why. The book has also given me information I can use in my own classroom!
No comments:
Post a Comment