Learning another language

Lest92 · Post by **Lest92** » 08 Jul 2017, 06:08

I've learned German from non-native and native speakers alike, and I think both helped. My first German teacher was Afrikaans like us, and she could explain where we would have trouble understanding the rules and nitty gritty things like that. The German speakers taught us nuance and pronunciation among other things. I think learning this way helped so much; we had the best of both worlds in that regard. I might try learning Spanish someday.

Chepkemoi95 · Post by **Chepkemoi95** » 08 Jul 2017, 06:41

I think the best way to learn a language is through interacting with the natives; that way you will learn the language fast and easily.

Naval Aulakh · Post by **Naval Aulakh** » 08 Jul 2017, 10:03

I want to learn French as I am in canada and French is second language here. So , I have to learn it.

Donnavila Marie01 · Post by **Donnavila Marie01** » 08 Jul 2017, 10:14

When I learned the Spanish language from the University, I learned it from a non-native speaker but he stayed in Spain for a decade and I found him to be an effective mentor.

siakasonko · Post by **siakasonko** » 08 Jul 2017, 20:21

I am learning another language using youtube video and online which is very good because it is very expensive to live abroad as well as getting visa to travel from Africa but with the help of technology i am able to understand basic Swedish,Spanish and German .I hope it is also the best for me since it cost me little fortune ..

Kalin Adi · Post by **Kalin Adi** » 08 Jul 2017, 20:29

Tough question! I think it depends first on the student and second on the teacher, not necessarily in that order. What I mean is that a good student can learn English in a non-English speaking country with or without a native speaker as a teacher. On the other hand, a bad student can be in a English-speaking country for years and he/she does not learn the language (I've met a few like that, sadly but true). There's also the fact that a native speaker is not necessarily a good teacher. Sometimes, people have knowledge but they do not know how to transmit it.

I want to learn how to speak Japanese. I don't think too much about writing it. The hiragana and katana are simple but the kanjis are complicated.

Donnavila Marie01 · Post by **Donnavila Marie01** » 09 Jul 2017, 03:57

siakasonko wrote:I am learning another language using youtube video and online which is very good because it is very expensive to live abroad as well as getting visa to travel from Africa but with the help of technology i am able to understand basic Swedish,Spanish and German .I hope it is also the best for me since it cost me little fortune ..

This is another perfect way of learning the language because it saves time, money, and effort but I believe, this is also challenging.

siakasonko · Post by **siakasonko** » 09 Jul 2017, 07:07

Obviously true ,it is challenging ,because of my economic situation ,it was very hard to have access to technology which transform others life ...Thanks

Amagine · Post by **Amagine** » 10 Jul 2017, 05:07

Another language that I want to learn is Arabic because we have a huge Arabic community where I'm from. Once sgain, I think learning from a native speaker would be best.

SilviaP21 · Post by **SilviaP21** » 10 Jul 2017, 08:14

I learned German in college and I was pretty good at it. But when I got to Austria I realized that what I learned was a very small part of the language and I developed a lot faster while living there and talking to the natives.

Donnavila Marie01 · Post by **Donnavila Marie01** » 10 Jul 2017, 08:57

One of the languages which I am considering for my next language lesson is Mandarin because according to the international statistics, Mandarin is the second language in rank as to the world's population using languages. It is second to the English language.

22kcox · Post by **22kcox** » 10 Jul 2017, 10:21

My husband speaks Spanish and I am trying to learn so that our daughter can learn too. The easiest time I had learning Spanish was word association with foods. Similar to how I learned English. See an apple? This is called apple.

Donnavila Marie01 · Post by **Donnavila Marie01** » 11 Jul 2017, 05:12

bookiegalke wrote:in my opinion, the best way to learn another language is by learning it from someone who is already fluent in the language you intend to learn for example a child will most likely his/her first language from the mother because the mother already knows it. for me, it doesn't matter if that person is a native or not. if they can speak the language and understand it, that is enough to teach it to another person. If I were to learn a second or a third language, it would most probably be French because I would like to travel to France in the future and I would prefer communicating in French while there without necessarily looking for an interpreter.

You have a point. There are non-native speakers who are fluent in the language.

gali · Post by **gali** » 11 Jul 2017, 05:26

Donnavila Marie01 wrote:
bookiegalke wrote:in my opinion, the best way to learn another language is by learning it from someone who is already fluent in the language you intend to learn for example a child will most likely his/her first language from the mother because the mother already knows it. for me, it doesn't matter if that person is a native or not. if they can speak the language and understand it, that is enough to teach it to another person. If I were to learn a second or a third language, it would most probably be French because I would like to travel to France in the future and I would prefer communicating in French while there without necessarily looking for an interpreter.
You have a point. There are non-native speakers who are fluent in the language.

I agree as well. Non-native speakers can teach just as well if they are fluent in the language.

Jax14 · Post by **Jax14** » 12 Jul 2017, 06:59

One of the major problems of learning a language through a native speaker is picking up their quirks or mannerisms. A native speaker tends to use the language, dare I say intuitively, without understanding why he is, they are etc is used. Conversely when you learn a language at school that is taught by a non-native speaker you get to learn the rules but not necessarily the colloquial usage. Practising with a native speaker is key, but I think it is really up to the individual as to the best way for them to learn. Coming from a country that has 11 official languages we are certainly exposed to the written and spoken word!