Recap
Just to recap from Talk to Locals!, the goal here is to be fluent enough to be able to talk to locals in their language. We don’t have to be “fluent” per se, but we have to know a lot more than bonjour, ciao, or xin chào. If we want to converse with someone in their language, even at a basic level, we have to do some work – but it takes less knowledge of the language than one might think. And it might be easier to learn a language than you think.
To converse with someone in their language, we need to be able to do four things:
Recognize foreign words when they’re spoken.
Translate them into our language so we get the meaning.
Translate what we want to say into their language.
Pronounce it well enough for them to understand what we say.
We need to know a lot of foreign words and grammar rules. That means memorizing a bunch of stuff. There’s no way around it. Over the years, mostly through trial and error, I’ve developed a language learning method and a tool that works for me, so I’m sharing them here. Let’s get started.
How to Memorize
Let’s say we want to memorize ten french words. Write them down with their translation, try to commit them to memory, then go away. Come back later and see if you recall the french translation of each english word. The longer you wait, the fewer you’ll remember. Let’s call this the first review.
Sometime later, maybe the next day, look at the ten words and their translations again, checking to see how many you remember while reinforcing your memory. Call this the second review. Go away, come back later, and test your memory again. You’re reinforcing your memory as you test yourself. Repeat as necessary. Eventually you’ll know those ten words.
You’ll find, (as I did), that there’s a relationship between the time between reviews and your ability to remember. At first, we need to reinforce frequently. If we wait too long, it’s like starting from scratch. The further the new words sink into our memory, the more time we can take between reviews and still get encouraging results.
After a few times reinforcing, the new words start to stick. Now we can reinforce those words less frequently without losing them. At some point, it’s not so much reinforcing as it is a game, testing your memory. Eventually, words start accumulating in your head – permanently. These are now words you KNOW. That’s kind of neat, eh?
For a long time, this method seemed so basic and worked so well, I thought it must be documented somewhere. Then one day I finally came across it, in a book titled “Fluent Forever,” by Gabriel Wyner. “My” system was legit! (But on the other hand, I guess it wasn’t “my” system). Mr. Wyner describes this method in detail and takes it many steps further. If you want to be fluent in a foreign language, “Fluent Forever” is a fantastic resource to check out, either the book or the website.
Here’s How I Do It
I start with a standard sheet of paper. On the left-hand side, I make a column of 10-15 words in my language, english, that I want to learn in, say, french. I look up the corresponding french words and write them across from their english counterparts.
Then, continuing down the left-hand column, I write down 10-15 phrases or short sentences using the words written above. I write their corresponding french translations in the right-hand column. Now I have two columns with 25-30 items each. There’s an empty column in the middle of the page that I’ll use for scoring. Now I’m ready to go.
I look at the first english word and try to recall the corresponding french word. If I get it right, I write a “1” in the center column. If not, I write a “0.” I continue down the page, writing down “1’s” and “0’s” as I go. When I get to the bottom, I have a sheet with a center column consisting mostly of “0’s.” Time to walk away.
Some time later, or maybe the next day, I’ll go through the list again, making another column of “1’s” and “0’s” as I go. This is the first review. This time, (unless I waited too long), I’ll have a handful of “1’s” mixed in with “0’s.”
On my third review, I might have more “1’s” than “0’s,” and on my fourth pass, I’ll have mostly “1’s.” After the fourth pass, I’m ready for a change. I put the list away, make a new list, and start the process again with new words and phrases.
On some future day, I’ll pick up the first list and repeat the exercise. On the first pass, there might be quite a few “0’s,” but they’ll turn to “1’s” fairly quickly.
That’s It
That’s the method, as concisely as I can describe it. The “tool” is the piece of paper with three columns. I know. It’s not very complicated.
I didn’t say much about timing, but the time between reinforcing makes all the difference. I found that there’s a optimal range of times between reinforcements for getting new words to stick with the least amount of effort. I’m guessing the optimal timing is different for everyone.
In order to provide a concise description, I’ve omitted a lot of information. It’s non-essential, perhaps, but if you’ve made it this far, it might be worthwhile to read on.
Making Word Sheets More Effective
I used to make my lists on a computer. I printed them out and put in my “1’s” and “0’s” my hand. I’d save the file without “1’s” and “0’s” so I could start with a fresh sheet when I came back for the subsequent set of reviews. Now, though, I find that it’s more beneficial to do everything by hand. Yep. By hand. (I explain why it’s more beneficial below).
I didn’t used to do this, but these days, I’m pretty careful to put simple words, (as opposed to phrases), near the top of the list. Then I try to incorporate those words in combinations or phrases further on down the page. It helps a lot to use new words in examples as you go down the page. It’s a way of reinforcing your memory of that word as you go down the list.
On some sheets, I focus on a concept – maybe the future tense of a few verbs, a particular grammar structure, or maybe a topic that’s in the news. The more the words can be related to each other on one sheet, the better.
On the right side of the page, next to the foreign words, I make little notes and drawings to help stick that word deeper into my memory. (See “Making Connections” below).
If my goal was to be able to read the foreign language, I’d put the foreign words in the left-hand column instead of the right. But I want to be able to converse, so I don’t want my brain to be dependent on seeing the word to be able to translate it. That’s my thinking, anyway. (It’s probably best to practice going either way).
In Practice…
Let’s say I just created a new list. Once a new list has been created, the first time through takes a while. This is when I’ll make notes, drawings, etc., next to the translated word to help me remember it. I’m trying to get those seeds planted as deep in my head as possible.
I try to make the first review the same day as the initial run. The time between creation of the list and the first review makes quite a difference. For me, four hours or less is ideal for the time to the first review. (It doesn’t always work out that way, of course). Subsequent passes usually happen on subsequent days. It’s great when I can do two passes in one the same day, but usually life gets in the way. By the fourth review, I’m usually ready to move on to a new list.
In practice, I usually have at least two lists going at a time – a relatively fresh one, and one that I’m making my second set of reviews on. It’s fun to do reviews more frequently because the learning is faster, but there has to be a balance. This is supposed to be fun, not drudgery.
Making Connections
In “Fluent Forever,” Gabriel Wyner explains what research says about how our memories work. It’s really interesting. Very briefly, it’s about making connections. The more connections we have in our brains to something, (say, a new word), the more we’ll remember it.
On my hand-written lists these days, in addition to writing the word, I add things that connect to the word. Maybe a little drawing. A pronunciation note. A rhyming word. A goofy word or phrase that helps me think of the word. (The goofier, the better). My brain connects all these things together, and the result is faster learning.
In the detail of the portuguese word list above, I do a couple of things to help myself learn faster. To the right of some of the translated (portuguese) words, I write down a phonetic version to help me remember its pronunciation. To set the the phonetic versions apart from everything else, I write them using all caps. (European portuguese, with it’s “oo’s” sounds and “sh’s” is really something to hear).
Also in the image above, I made a little drawing to help me remember, “caneta,” the portuguese word for “pen.” For some reason, I had a hard time remembering this simple word. That is, until I realized that “caneta” sounds sort of like “can o’ tuna.” Then I made a little drawing of a pen stuck into the top of a can of tuna. Now, I probably couldn’t get that word out of my head if I wanted to. Too many connections!
Other Tips…
One of my favorite things to do when I’m starting to learn a new language is to go to a library sale or used book store and buy a couple of high school language text books for next to nothing. They spell out the basics, and they have lots of exercises and examples. I like to get more than one and compare how the material is presented.
If we want to converse with someone, we have to be able to figure out what they’re saying, so we have to get our ears into the act. I don’t have any magic pill for how to do it, other than saying the more we can hear of the target language, the better. Thank goodness for the Internet.
More tips coming…
