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6 tips for learning languages

These are all things i do when learning languages based on my personal experience of learning languages at school & by myself at home (but they might not work for everyone!)

avoid languages of the same language family that are too similar! I know it’s tempting to learn Norwegian AND Swedish AND Danish cause they’re so similar, but at the end of the day, you WILL always confuse them, constantly. So choose one of them and you’ll likely be able to understand a lot of the other languages anyway (at the very least written stuff)

only start learning a new language once you’re advanced and comfortable enough in the other languages you speak (i’d say at least level B1). Cause then you can concentrate on practising using & applying one language you already know quite well, while learning new basic vocab and grammar exercises in a new language (if you start another language while you’re still in the middle of bulking vocab & grammar exercises, you might confuse the two or get overwhelmed)

always reflect on what you’re struggling with! If there’s a certain grammar aspect you always get wrong, take some extra time to read up on it, do exercises and practise, practise, practise! The same goes for vocab: if there’s certain words or phrases you just can’t seem to get in your head, make a special vocab folder/file with those and then set some extra time aside each time you practise that language to go over those words and phrases.

learn to understand AND use a language. You can be able to understand your target language like native speaker and still struggle with forming complete sentences. So always focus both on understanding AND actively using languages!

when using vocab cards, look at the word in your native language first! It’s much more effective if you have to think of the word in your target language (instead of just recognizing it)

if you learn a language that has letters with accents (e.g. é, à, ç, š, ö, ü) ALWAYS make sure you memorise them and get them right! These accents are there for a reason! They can change the whole pronunciation & meaning of a word and you don’t want to learn it the wrong way!

#LearningMalayalam #sstellestudiess 1

Resource List for Learning Malayalam

Hello! Do you want to learn Malayalam but don't know where to start? Then I've got the perfect resource list for you and you can find its link below! Let me know if you have any suggestions to improve it. Here is what the resource list contains;

"Handmade" resources on certain grammar concepts for easy understanding.

Resources on learning the script.

Websites to practice reading the script.

Documents to enhance your vocabulary.

Notes on Colloquial.

Music playlists

List of podcasts/audiobooks And a compiled + organized list of websites you can use to get hold of grammar!

Google Docs

MALAYALAM RESOURCE LIST

MALAYALAM RESOURCE LIST Join South Asian Languages server for learning more about the Malayalam Language : https://discord.gg/H2Cj6gP6RW In

I want to rant for a moment. Which if you're following me, I hope you are used to this lol.

This is for the people using comprehensible input to learn Chinese:

Pinyin IS NOT ENGLISH. IT IS NOT ENGLISH TRANSCRIPTION. IT HAS IT'S OWN PRONUNCIATION AND DOES NOT MATCH ENGLISH LETTERS PRONUNCIATION. (Chinese is not pronounced like English, the sounds in pinyin do not match English sounds any more than French letters/pronounciation match the sounds of English - which if you don't know, NO French is not pronounced like English). This is a pronunciation guide for how pinyin sounds and is pronounced.

Pinyin is used in Chinese elementary schools. Pinyin is learned by native speakers, and used to type on phones and computers. Or Zhuyin is learned in elementary schools in Taiwan, and used to type on phones and computers. This is a zhuyin pronunciation guide for how zhuyin sounds and is pronounced.

If you are trying to do a pure Automatic Language Growth approach to studying, pinyin is just a transcription system used for Chinese! It is okay to start reading pinyin whenever you start reading hanzi. It is NOT English translation, or English 'estimation' of pronunciation. (Not any more than the French alphabet or German alphabet is 'English' - and be so for real, I know you know German alphabet isn't pronounced like English so stop pretending Chinese pinyin is pronounced like English). Native speakers see pinyin when they're in school. In some educational materials for native speakers, you'll run into pinyin! You don't need to avoid pinyin once you have gotten to the point in ALG where you're okay with yourself reading hanzi! Once you have acquired enough language to start reading, pinyin and zhuyin are just as 'normal' for native speakers learning to read as hanzi is. You will ultimately NEED to learn pinyin or zhuyin to type.

I am not saying to read Everything with pinyin above the hanzi, once you start reading. By all means skip the pinyin as soon as you are able when reading things. Hanzi is what books are written in, and websites, and you'll need to develop the skill to read hanzi ASAP. You'll want to LOOK at pinyin when learning new words/hanzi, as you'll need to learn how to type it and what sounds match up to the pinyin, or zhuyin, writing system. So learning material like Lazy Chinese's videos that include pinyin? Useful for teaching you how the pinyin matches to sounds, and how to type the new hanzi she teaches you in each lesson.

Pinyin is just an estimate of pronunciation, just like spelling in any language (English spelling is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce English words, French spelling is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce French words, and Chinese pinyin is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce Chinese, like Japanese hiragana is just an estimation - it doesn't capture some sounds in spoken Japanese). You should listen to how actual people are pronouncing words over what pinyin says (for example, some people will say pinyin 'ng' as 'n', or 'shi' as 'si', or 'r' as 'l'). You'll still need to learn pinyin/zhuyin to type and write things digitally.

This post is because I see so many people studying Chinese through comprehensible input, thinking they need to desperately avoid pinyin. I'm sick of it. Pinyin or zhuyin are going to be NECESSARY at some point if you want to know how to type anything!

And unlike English, and French, Chinese language IS very phonetically similar to pinyin's estimates of pronunciation. (For example in English letter 'a' is not ONLY pronounced like 'cat' sometimes it's like 'ate', versus Chinese initials and finals which are quite consistent 'shi' is generally always pronounced the same as any other 'shi' if we're talking Standard Mandarin and not regional accents). If you can learn pinyin or zhuyin, you can type so many words just by hearing them! It took some practice to hear Chinese sounds correctly (obviously) but I can type most every word I have learned in Chinese in pinyin and then select the hanzi I want, just because I've heard the words. I sure couldn't fucking say that about English or French, the way words sound in English or French might not match the spelling much at all.

I'm just... really sick of the misunderstanding that pinyin is a tool for language learners, and no native speakers use pinyin. Native speakers use pinyin or zhuyin, if they're young enough to be using phones and computers. Some native speaker children use pinyin for a little while.

Native speakers also use hanzi to read in all media, and to write on paper, so learn hanzi obviously. You'll need hanzi. Don't try to avoid hanzi.

Hanzi are often phonetic, so knowing pinyin 'qing' for some hanzi with 青 in it, will help you realize how to read, look up, and type: 情 晴 清 蜻 请 青 箐 請 鯖 . Now again, like English, don't assume pronunciation is exactly like the Chinese pinyin, listen to the actual words pronounced. But it sure is a nice regular spelling for typing to pick up and learn.

As someone who learned to read, I do think it's fine and good to move right to reading hanzi directly, or hanzi while listening to matching audio, as soon as possible. You'll need to develop the skill of reading hanzi. Pinyin spelling is fairly regular, and once you get the sense of pinyin's spelling/pronunciation, you'll be able to type most hanzi in pinyin just by hearing the word's pronunciation. You can skip textbooks made for foreigners that use only pinyin for tons of pages (or whole volumes - I hate these textbooks). You can get textbooks that include hanzi from day one (probably with pinyin or zhuyin provided for brand new hanzi so you can sound out the hanzi if you don't have provided audio).

My point is: Don't avoid pinyin just because you're trying to 'learn Chinese in only Chinese.'

I mean, unless you want, in which case sure fuck yourself over and come back in 5 years and let us know how not being able to text or find anything online is going. I'm all for people doing whatever they want. It's your life. Maybe it will go so well, and you'll be able to come back and insist to learners everywhere and native speakers to stop learning pinyin as one learns to read hanzi. Maybe you'll have some awesome benefit to show us, that is acquired by avoiding pinyin. Maybe you come up with a new writing system that's more accurate and easier to write, like the Korean hangul writing system, and it replaces pinyin, zhuyin, and hanzi worldwide.

#reminders #that i needed to hear

Spoiler: it absolutely does workout for you, and even better than you anticipated.

Awww ♥️

If anyone hasn’t been to the ocean in a while

#LearningFrench #sstellestudiess

Resources masterpost

Being exposed to French:

Websites, social media

Online courses in French

French subreddits

Fanfictions

Buzzfeed

Improving your:

Pronunciation

Speaking

Things to listen to:

Music

Podcasts

Radio stations

TED talks

Things to read:

Graphic novels/comics

News

Ebooks + quizzes (by me)

Short stories

Vikidia - kids Wikipedia

Things to watch:

Cartoons

Kids shows

Imago TV - free activist Netflix

The Simpsons the movie

True crime

TV programs - sci-fi shows, travelling, etc.

Youtubers

Extra:

Antidote 10 + BonPatron - Grammarly equivalents

Conjugation by le Nouvel Obs

Deepl - very good at translating sentences/expressions

Forbo - natives pronouncing things

Lexicity - about Ancien/Moyen Français

Lingolden - Chrome extension that teaches vocabulary

Linguo.tv (french videos + subtitles)

Reverso - very good alternative to Google translation (single words)

Wordreference - very complete translation website (expressions)

girl help i’m starting over again for the 1000th time & i’m beginning to think that life is a never-ending cycle of starting over & i actually have to make peace with that in order to move forward

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