I do language experiments to find shortcuts to speaking other languages. My way is the highway: I dont take classes, but learn from interactions with natives on a daily basis. GREEK UPDATE: Heres whats happening with my Greek experiment so far. GREEK LEARNING PROJECT. Arrival: 3 Dec, 2014. Prior knowledge of Greek: zero. Challenges: new writing system, almost no commonality with languages I know (except for many borrowed words from Greek that include political systems and concepts like: chaos, criticize, democracy, problem). But the pronunciation of these words makes them difficult to recognize in spoken Greek. And third challenge: most Greeks speak English and switch when they hear you hesitate or make a mistake. And with noun declensions and three types of articles and all the verb tenses, its so easy to make a mistake even with the simplest phrases like Can I have a beer, please. Heres how I started: **STAGE 1: ** GET ORIENTED and Early TRANSACTIONAL proficiency: 1. Learned alphabet: via youtube videos. Hardest part: lowercase letters and diphthongs (ae, ei, eh, ai, ah, oy, ay, etc) 2. Used Google translator lots: only for single words and simple, non idiomatic phrases (like: I went to the car, but not, can you get me one?) 3. Getting question adverbs down what, where, why, etc. Getting the logic of phrases: a) give me that b) he gives her that c) I give him that, etc d) I want that 3. Practiced reading signs everywhere. That got easier. 4. Got the GENIUS memory app on my computer for vocab memorization. Brilliant. 5. Learned to have and to be. Especially practiced for: me, you. 5. BREAKTHROUGH: first all-Greek interactions when making purchases Do you have a ....I would like one, please.. Yes, thats all. Just that one there. Thanks. That was the day 2 in Athens. 6. BREAKTHROUGH: first all-Greek interactions at restaurants Can I have a cappuccino, make it sweet please? Can I see a menu Do you have a glass OF wine... That was day 4. 7. Lessons with a tutor, started to understand how to use two verbs together (helping verbs) and prepositions: I would like to go to the movies with you. Can you meet on Friday? About 2 weeks. 8. First successful chats writing in Greek and getting my meaning across with help from Google translate and a second translator to check google. 9. BREAKTHROUGH: First language ally. An Albanian woman who likes speaking with me in Greek. 1-2-3 exchanges. Talking about the weather, where were from, etc. 2 weeks. 10. BREAKTHROUGH: first problem solving (to fix something, asking for directions and getting lost 6 times before finding the right shop. Successfully explained what I wanted fixed and made the deal. 3 weeks. 11. BREAKTHROUGH: Can speak about where Im from, where I live, where Im going, when Im returning, what I would like to do, and some other verbs in present, past, and future. Can talk about doing things FOR myself, and use simple sentences to relate more meaning. Still a ton of things to learn, but each time I study I see progress. Im in that magical place where everything is new, so my brain is activated 100%. Heres a sample of what it sounds like... 4 weeks. Would love to hear other immersion tricks for getting from zero to transactional and basic in a couple weeks. NEXT: spyglass learning. As soon as the weather permits going εχό! **PROGRESS, not PERFECTION **
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:19:03 +0000
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