The main secret of English. Secrets of polyglots: truth and fiction 10 secrets of successful learning of foreign languages
Every language has basic algorithms that can be quickly mastered and brought to automaticity. To do this, you will have to go through the path that a child goes through. Children typically begin to speak between the ages of two and three. At this time, no one really teaches them the language, they just get used to the sound of their parents’ voices, listen to the speech addressed to them, and at some point a linguistic revolution occurs, the logic of their native language “turns on.”
When a child begins to read fairy tales, he understands little; most of the words are unfamiliar to him (Lukomorye, gilded belly). The first thing that arises is a feeling of pleasant vibrations and a comfortable rhythm. The child is born with emotions, followed by images, not necessarily related to what is written in the book.
When we begin to learn a new language as adults, we are just like little children. It’s as if we are “born” and must go through the same path: from recognition to habit, assimilation and reproduction. We should begin to experience pleasure by combining elements of language that are already familiar to us, creating phrases and sentences.
2. Get used to the sound of someone else's speech
In order for the new language environment to cease to be alien to us, audio perception must adapt to a comfortable level: the language should not frighten, it should become familiar. Watching films and TV series helps a lot with this. For adaptation, you can turn on subtitles, but only in a foreign language. It is important to look at what we have seen before, so as not to stress and panic that we will not understand anything.
A good option is watching talk shows. This is the only format on television where people speak in ordinary language. In the news, the announcer reads a pre-recorded text, trying to fit into the timing, so watching the news will not help much.
3. Determine what type you are
We are all different: some have difficulty perceiving information by ear, but speak easily and willingly. Others, on the contrary, understand everything, know all the rules, but are afraid to open their mouth again.
Before you start learning a language, it is important to understand what type you are. The solutions will be different. The problem is with perception - listen to audio books in parallel with printed books, listen to music with the lyrics in front of your eyes, watch movies, put talk shows in the background. If you want to start speaking the language... just start! A good exercise to get rid of a block is to talk about anything for a minute without interruption.
4. Watch your breath
While learning a language: listening to audio files, trying to learn a rule or construct a phrase, we strain not only mentally, but also physically. Be mindful of your body, notice any discomfort and relieve it through breathing.
As a rule, tension is concentrated in one of three points: in the forehead, throat or abdomen. It is useful to “raise” your breath to the top of your head as you inhale, and as you exhale, slowly pass through each of the points, relaxing them.
5. Watch for foreigners
Pay attention to how native speakers of the language you are interested in speak Russian and what their accent sounds like. Just from a few words you can understand how they articulate, how their speech apparatus is structured, and see the phonetic picture. This will help you change your mind.
6. Don't strive for perfection
One of the most popular wishes of those who come to language courses is: “I want to learn to speak without an accent.” But this task is not just difficult, but impossible: all native speakers speak it differently. In small England alone there are more than three dozen phonetic rules, and the classical rules are becoming increasingly blurred.
And if previously students-translators were required to have perfect pronunciation and an Oxford accent, now it is more important to teach them to expand their range of perception - to teach them to understand by ear the English speech of Arabs, Chinese, and Indians.
7. Use an emotional-imaginative approach
In our native language, a word is associated with images, and not with the letters of which it is composed. Letters only distract from emotions and pictures. It is important that a foreign language gives rise to positive emotions and vivid images that are felt on the physical level.
Languages can be compared to friends: each has its own characteristics, character, and temperament. One friend can hardly be confused with another. It is important to build such associations with languages. The key element could be, for example, music or cuisine. They will become a password that will allow you to activate the “file” with the desired language. A picture, an emotion, a taste allows you to immediately “penetrate” the language, bypassing the “internal translator”.
8. Don't be afraid of mistakes
The most harmful thing in learning a language and anything new in general is being afraid of mistakes. Without them it is impossible to learn anything. The child is praised for any incorrectly pronounced or even invented word. He feels supported and encouraged to speak again. It should be the same with learning a new language as an adult.
9. Immerse yourself in the right environment
Many people complain that, having gone abroad and immersed themselves in a linguistic environment, for some reason they do not begin to speak the language. But being abroad does not mean being in the environment. The environment means the opportunity to intensively and continuously communicate with native speakers.
Do you understand that you are ready for such communication? Go to any foreign training or seminar on a topic not related to language: a gathering of aquarium fish lovers or a forum for amateur gardeners. Usually only residents of the country come to such events to communicate with each other.
10. Fall in love with a new language
What usually motivates us to start learning a language? Competitive advantages in the labor market (when without language we cannot get promoted), access to information or cultural resources (the desire to read our favorite author in the original), personal relationships, the need to feel comfortable when traveling.
But the best motivation is, of course, love. And the goal of learning any foreign language is pleasure and freedom.
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About the expert
Polyglot, psycholinguist, simultaneous translator, fluent in 35 languages, author of the book “The Magic of the Word” and training textbooks for quickly learning foreign languages, author and host of the intellectual reality show “Polyglot”, creator of the Center for Innovative and Communicative Linguistics. You can listen to his lectures in the “Direct Speech” lecture hall.
You can spend years studying English and still not succeed. And it’s not even a lack of ability to study. Those who manage to master a foreign language, as a rule, consciously or unconsciously adhere to similar principles.
Secret #1: Motivation
The most important thing is that learning a foreign language is enjoyable. Think about what you like to do? Listen to music? Watch films or presentations by famous experts? Perhaps you enjoy reading, listening to audiobooks, or discussing the news.
Do everything the same, only in English. Firstly, a whole new world of ideas and views will open up for you. Secondly, after a while you will be able to understand live English speech and speak English fluently (and this, at a minimum, should be inspiring).
Secret No. 2. “Living language”
To quickly master a foreign language, you need to immerse yourself in the appropriate environment. However, in everyday life, few succeed. In this case, materials created by native speakers can help. Hear British, Canadian and American speech in songs, films, audiobooks and presentations. Take it in by ear, immerse yourself, try to understand the essence. Over time, you will get better and better.
Not a single tutorial or textbook will help you achieve the result that you will achieve thanks to “living speech”. It has a deeper impact on consciousness and causes lasting associations. Words are remembered more easily in the context of a real speech or work, rather than a simulated academic text.
Another important benefit of authentic content is correct pronunciation. It is better to immediately plunge into the perception of competent and correctly sounding speech. Then your pronunciation will come much closer to the original one, rather than to pronunciation with a Russian accent.
Secret No. 3. Modeling and copying
How do children learn language? For several years, with interest and persistence, they repeat all the words they hear from others: “lofka” gradually becomes “spoon”, and “halasho” after a dozen repetitions takes the form of “good”.
Adults have a huge advantage over children in the process of learning a foreign language! We already know at least one language. We have already developed articulatory muscles, thinking, figurative and motor memory, and hearing. If we know at least one language, we already have enough ability to master other languages. The only problem may be that some of us have "forgotten" how we learned our first language.
Have you heard an unfamiliar word in English? Act like a child: repeat it, “taste it,” imagine the meaning of this word, look with interest at the letters with which this word is written. Compare your pronunciation with the original. If you actively use imitation and copying in the language learning process, your chances of success triple.
Secret No. 4. Mutual influence
The development and training of each skill affects the development of the others. When you hear and listen to native speakers speak, you actively develop not only your listening comprehension, but also your pronunciation. Especially if you say to yourself what you hear.
When reading aloud, you not only practice pronunciation, but also listen to yourself, comparing your pronunciation with the “standard”. With all these actions, you unconsciously lay the foundation of the grammar and style of the language you are learning. Not to mention, with every listening and speaking, frequently used words and their meanings are better remembered.
Thinking and speech are also interconnected. It is not for nothing that one of the criteria for fluency in a language is the ability to “think in it.” After some time after active study, phrases in a foreign language begin to appear in your head on their own (at first, perhaps not very coherent).
Secret No. 5. Optimal intensity
It is almost impossible to master a foreign language by studying once a week for an hour. If we summarize the recommendations of various teachers and linguists, it turns out that the most optimal regimen is to study for 2–3 hours every day for a year. Then after a year of classes, even if you started from scratch, you will be able to understand and speak English almost fluently.
There is a metaphor that learning a foreign language is less like a marathon and more like climbing an icy hill. It's much more important how intensely you exercise than how long you do it. In order to climb an ice slide, you need a fairly strong impulse. Think about this and decide what the intensity of your activities should be. The only limitation here will be compliance with the first principle - to enjoy the process.
You shouldn’t force yourself to sit for 3-5 hours “learning” a language, it’s better to just do what you like. Praise yourself for moving towards your goal with diligence and purpose!
Secret No. 6. Regularity
Regularity is even more important than intensity. It’s better to study every day for 1.5–2 hours than to spend the whole day studying English and then abandon it for a week.
Success associated with self-development - from sports awards to professional victories - is achieved through regular, intense, focused training, which, ideally, is enjoyable.
Apply the principle of regularity to the process of mastering the English language, and the result will not be long in coming! As a result, you will develop the habit of mastering and practicing the language, and with it will come sustainable progress.
Secret No. 7. Practicality and efficiency
Try to find tools, methods and techniques for learning a language that will help you!
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Learning foreign languages is not only fashionable, but also very useful. In addition to increasing a person’s level of education, career advancement and the opportunity to communicate in different countries, foreign languages strengthen memory, give the brain work, help to get acquainted with the culture of other countries, better understand the psychology of other peoples, and prevent the development of dementia and memory loss in old age. It is necessary to study foreign languages, because they can be used in practice when traveling, in a business environment, in business. In the modern world, knowing at least one foreign language is no longer just a common wish, but almost a necessity. Many language learners understand this, but not everyone knows how to learn a language perfectly, what are the secrets of learning it?
Successful language learning requires enormous motivation. Studying is not easy in itself, and learning languages requires constant effort and it is not a fact that even with hard work and perseverance, communication will be easy and relaxed. To get this motivation, polyglots who speak a huge number of languages advise, if possible, to get acquainted with the country of the language they are learning, its culture, art, and history. And not just read history books or magazine clippings, but travel around this country, find out what kind of people live in it, what worries them, what they like to do. It is useful to be interested in cinema or literature of the country of the language being studied, so that there is motivation to get acquainted with the works in the original. Simply memorizing words and phrases in isolation from connection with a living language will not bring either moral satisfaction or meaning to such learning.
You need to speak the language, this is its main task, that is, learning a language from a self-instruction manual is much more difficult than in a pair or group. By communicating, you learn to hear other people, perceive foreign speech with different intonations, accents and speed of pronunciation of words. You should definitely listen to recordings or live dialogues with native speakers. This can be ensured by discs attached to textbooks, communication with foreigners in a classroom environment, in the country of the language being studied, or via Skype. Moreover, the lower the level of language proficiency, the more articulate and simple the speech the native speaker should have; this is how notes for textbooks compare favorably with other methods of listening to speech. If you are using a study guide, it is better if it is published by a publisher in the country of the language you are studying. This way you can be sure that it contains the set of vocabulary that is actually used by native speakers. In addition to mandatory communication, we must not forget about other areas of language proficiency: reading and writing.
Regularity and consistency of study is very important; fragmentary knowledge will not be consolidated and practiced. Therefore, most students have only residual knowledge of a foreign language; they cannot speak it or do so with confidence. In addition, when studying, it is not necessary to follow any mandatory methodology: they all go out of fashion at some point, they have shortcomings. Exercise in a way that suits you. A language, in principle, can be learned even from films, or while traveling, communicating with residents of the host country. There are no specific secrets in learning a foreign language, you just need to devote time to it and learn with pleasure and motivation, like any business in which you want to gain skills and become a master.
Today we will discuss the following topics:
- Why is translation bad?
- How to get rid of the translation?
The main secret of mastering a language.
It is about learning to perceive language
directly, without translation.
Many people believe that in order to master a language, you must first study grammar and learn to translate.In fact, there is no scientific evidence for the usefulness of the language learning method called grammar-translation.
Yes, sometimes you can’t do without translation, especially at the beginning of learning a language. But, if you are not going to become a professional translator and your goal is to master not your native language, but the TARGET language, then it is the TARGET language that you need to study. Translation is, so to speak, a necessary evil that needs to be gotten rid of as soon as possible.
Of course, you don’t have to completely exclude your language, but if you are training your speaking skill, then your native language should be completely excluded during this time.
Many people believe that the goal of learning a language is rapid translation, which over time will develop into full proficiency in the language. But this is fundamentally wrong, because the real goal is direct mastery of the language, the ability to think and speak in it. If we train translation, the result will be not the ability to think and speak, but the ability to translate. What you train is what you get!
Yes, professional translators are required to have translation skills. But the trick is that even they need to learn this skill AFTER they have mastered the language. AFTER they have learned to hear and speak, write and read fluently.
So, the conclusion is this: in order to learn to speak a foreign language, you need to train your speaking skill, and in this particular language. And exclude everything else!
Why is translation bad?
We already know the consequences - long learning time, low speed of perception and speech, difficulties in speaking, Runglish. But what are the reasons?
It's simple. When a person is used to translating, the following situation arises during communication:
- first you need to remember the question,
- then translate into Russian,
- then build a phrase in Russian,
- finally, translate it and voice it.
That is, we have as many as 4 steps.
If the language is perceived directly, we only need to complete 2 steps:
- hear and understand the question (no need to remember to translate),
- formulate and at the same time voice the response phrase.
Moreover, these processes occur so quickly that they are not noticed or realized. Everything happens instantly, and speech “flows” smoothly and naturally, without tension.
But here the question arises: what does it mean to “perceive language directly”? How to understand whether a person really thinks immediately in the language or whether he is translating? After all, it is not so easy to determine what is happening INSIDE a person.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear answer. Everyone learns to determine for themselves what is happening inside them. Psychologists call this reflection. Just listen to yourself what happens when you hear simple English audio or read simple text.
How to get rid of the translation?
You need to learn to perceive language directly. And to do this, first of all, learn to listen without mental translation.
But how to do this?
If you have done yoga or meditated, this will be much easier for you. Because one of the goals of meditation is to get rid of internal conversation (which always happens in your native language). And one of the goals when mastering a new language is to get rid of mental translation into your native language. Looks like it, doesn't it?
It's also easier for musicians because they can practice music silently. All they have to do is transfer the existing skill to language learning. The rest will need to “become yogis” for the duration of the class and learn to quiet the internal translator. Fortunately, this is not as difficult as it seems. Although it can be difficult to explain this in words. You have to feel it.
For now, use our tips. So, the task is exclude internal pronunciation and translation into native language.
One way to achieve this could be:
- pronounce simple phrases,
- repeat each phrase many times,
- pronounce phrases mentally and out loud.
This should automate the speaking of phrases.
— Why should phrases be simple?
So that translation is simply not needed.
- Why repeat phrases many times?
So that they can be pronounced automatically.
This can put you in a meditative-like state. And this is what is needed to develop automation.
- Why mentally?
Because at the same time you are not distracted by speech technique.This often reveals difficulties that are not noticeable when spoken aloud. This technique is taken from musical practice and is very effective.
Such a simple workout will give you a lot - more than you can imagine.
Still, does this seem complicated or incomprehensible to you?
Do you want to know how to do all this in practice?
Use our .
And discover 7 secrets of perfect English.
Relevant site pages:
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B The majority of Russian speakers who take up English,
don't realize that Sh It's not pronounced the way they think.
Let's say in words Shit or Sheet:
Instead of Sheet(sheet of paper) they often say ...
