A faster way to start learning a language
You can get to the point where you can express yourself in a language by learning basic grammar and just 200 words.
My test for being able to express myself is: Can I keep a diary in this language? Can I talk about what I did today and my opinions on just about any subject?
Too often, people who have been learning a language for months or even years say âno.â However, in my experience, itâs possible after learning just basic grammar and the 200 most useful words. If you wanted to go fast and learn 20 words a day (the default rate of Anki), then you could learn 200 words in a week and a half. (In my experience, learning basic grammar doesnât take as long as learning the words, so the total time could be three weeks. However, I didnât teach myself my first foreign language, so I canât speak to that case â if youâre teaching yourself your first, kudos, and let me know how long the grammar takes!)
The key is that you have to learn the right 200 words. When I was teaching myself languages before, I could never find a good answer to the question: What words should I learn first? If you use Duolingo, theyâll start by teaching you words like âappleâ, which arenât very useful. I spent a lot of time writing and talking in order to determine which 200 words would let you express the most. I think I finally got it. But donât take my word for it â see this demonstration.
I personally tested this method out with Esperanto and French and Iâm now able to keep a diary in both languages, writing about anything that happened in my day and any thought that crosses my mind.
To be clear: 200 words wonât make you fluent, but theyâll allow you to express yourself, and itâs a lot easier to keep improving from there. Feel free to adapt the method based on what works for you. Here are the steps:
If your language uses a non-Latin alphabet, learn the alphabet.
Practice writing
(This method is introvert friendly! You donât have to talk to strangers if you donât want to. But at this stage you can also practice by speaking, if you prefer.)
Iâve made a Memrise course based on this guide for Spanish! Please fill out this quick survey to let me know if youâre interested in Memrise courses and for what languages.
If you run into any difficulties or if I can help you in any way, please let me know. Also, please send me your feedback! Iâd love to know if this works for you or if it doesnât. I welcome all comments, criticism, and suggestions for improvement. And if you think this guide could help other people, please consider reblogging it. :)
To be able to express yourself with 200 words, youâll need to be able to rephrase things: e.g. âyou comforted meâ = âyou made me feel betterâ. Even if itâs hard for you to rephrase things this way, the 200 basic words are a great starting vocabulary list.
This is the order in which I usually learn an alphabetic language: basic writing and speaking, reading, listening, advanced writing and speaking. Being able to express yourself doesnât mean that youâll immediately be able to listen to the language and understand it, because native speakers may speak fast and use a wider vocabulary (though hopefully theyâll slow down and simplify for you in a conversation). But itâs a lot easier to keep improving from a point where you have basic writing and speaking skills than from one where you donât.
tangentwithtanner
discoholicmusic
gracieabrams
romaincrisis
