Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Learning languages

just wondering if there's a specific way to use PR in learning new languages such as Chinese, Putonghua...?

There are only two things that come to mind. The first is to PR dual language dictionaries. Read the dictionary going from language A to B and the mirror dictionary go from language B to A.

The other thing I can think of, but may be less helpful, is to get some pairs of books. So you have the same material but presented in two languages.

I would think you should spend some time consciously learning the phenetic rules that are in the dictionaries. So that you might be able to hear the words, not just see and understand them.

Those phenetic rules are tough for the untrained in there use, but eventually help.

Good luck,
Iam2

Shahab--You might want to listen to language tapes-- in the language you want to learn--
for about a week to train your ears and help with pronunciation before the "formal" study.

Iam2--I knew about PRing a dictionary in your chosen language but I never thought to follow it up with reversal technique (English-German then German-English)
Thanks

I would also suggest chinese web-radio, dvd's (if you can find the right dialect), TV shows, children's stories on tape... Keep things playing in the back ground to train your ear.

Also, if you can find a family with small children, try some babysitting, or have someone teach you nursery rhymes and short jokes.

Keep a focus on full sentences - knowing the meaning of the sentence rather than each word. It jumpstarts the process, and understanding of individual words will crystalize after a while.

Try chinese karaoke, too - there are LOADS of chinese karaoke bars and it is a very popular activity. Shouldn't be too difficult to find someone to help you get started!

Some people like to go to chinese restaurants and talk to the waiters etc. Lots of chinese restaurants don't actually serve chinese food - more like westernised chinese food, but if you search the net, you could find some good adresses for a genuin experience...

In other words, anything that helps inspire you to keep learning, and gives you cultural pegs to hang your new words on, and to activate things that you have read in the dictionary or in self-teach books.

Depending on how serious you are, find a course at a local community college. My sister was the only person on our island learning chinese, so she took classes at the community college... by video uplink!!!!

Good luck, and most of all, ENJOY YOURSELF.

Oh, and: Don't let anyone fool you into thinking it is easy. It always takes work and effort and interest. Some things just make the effort and work seem a bit less frustrating, and a few things will speed things along. So far there aren't many magical language learning pills. Only Lozanov seems to have made "a language in a month" possible, and I have yet to find a course that uses his material. Of course, I am in the middle of nowhere, and you might be located a bit more centrally!

Kosmik

AlexK had a good post on an experience with PhotoReading a german book without a strong fluency of the german language.

It had a lot of good pointers in it. One of the main points was that you should actually hear the language being spoken either with people you know who speak it, or some audio tapes or whatever else you can think of.

This helps your brain to know what many of the words should sound like. Also, it gives a good idea to the flow of the language and the way someone fluent with that language pauses at certain parts, or emphasizes certain words or letters.

I would find the post for you, but I'm kind of busy right now. You could do a search for AlexK about PhotoReading languages, or PhotoReading German.

Kosmik had some good ideas too that you can implement.

-Travis

AlexK's post on the German experiment is here:
http://www.learningstrategies.com/forum/ubb/Forum8/HTML/002346.html

At usedtapes.com there are some cheap courses for sale - some very good ones, too (pimsleur and rosetta stone are both to be found in the mandarin chinese version)

Kosmik

Speaking of pimsleur language programs, I've been wanting to use one to see how it works out. I've been taking Spanish in school for the past 3 years, including this year, and I think I'd like to start pimsleur with a Spanish program, just to enhance my skills at Spanish. Can anyone tell me how they work? Are they effective? Any experiences with pimsleur? Also, if you know of anywhere I can get these tapes for a cheap price, I'd be grateful.

Thanks,
ambiguousendeavors