Learning Natural Languages

Process

1. Foundation

• use flashcards, vocabulary lists, and grammar guides as input

A1 Active Immersion

• subtitles: only use NL, in habit forming phase
• watch easy shows: watched shows (which have dubs), or children shows
• make it a game:
  • focus on the sounds
  • try identify where words begin and end
  • search for known words
• use browser extensions

A2 Passive Listening

• passive listening by downloading audio from previously watched shows
• podcasts
• audiobooks
• music is better than nothing

B1 Phonetics

• learn the language's phonology (sound system)
• look for resources that show how to move your mouth and tongue
• possibly learn stress and pitch accents

B2 Writing System

• learn well enough to read vocabulary and grammar
• don't stress about mispronunciation
• accept inability to read

C1 Grammar

• grammar is not a set of rules, it's just a way to explain the chaos of a language (hence why there is many exceptions)
• focus on absolute basics to understand immersion
• spend max 10-20min / dag studying basic grammar concepts => goal is to help comprehension, not follow the rules
• what to study?
  • tell the words apart
  • identify subject of the sentence
  • identify what's happening
  • when it happened (past, present, future)

C2 SRS Best Practices

• don't learn too many new cards => leads to massive reviews
• don't be too hard on yourself when grading, if you think you got it despite answering wrong, answer good
• delete or suspend cards that aren't giving you value right now, for example if you don't get a card, it becomes a leech, meaning you aren't ready to learn it at this moment, but maybe in the future

C3 Vocabulary

• use a pre-made vocabulary deck
• create your own cards
• only create "comprehension" or "recognition" cards, delete "production" or "recall" cards
• you don't have to finish 1500 common words, before moving on

2. Develop Comprehension

• choose immersion content which is most comprehensible
• study vocabulary for that content

A1 Domains

A2 Comprehensibility Factors

A3 Comprehensibility Index

A4 Levels of Comprehension

A5 Types of Active Immersion

A6 Immersion Guide

A7 Basic Sentence Mining

• prioritize words that feel familiar
• choose accessible words (easy definitions)
• words you want to learn
• mine sentences, not words
  • definitions sometimes don't explain really the meaning or usage
  • words can have multipl meanings depending on the context
• aim for sentences with only 1T (1 target) = 1 unknown element, be word or grammar structure
• mine however you want (manual/automated), (a/synchronous)

3. Learn to Speak

• at some point the little machine has had enough input, to start the output
• when trying to write or speak, you'll notice gaps
• use gaps to target immersion

4. Refine to Mastery

• rinse and repeat

Tolerate Ambiguity

• accept your own incompetence
• don't look up every word

Active Immersion

• netflix, YouTube, podcasts, ...
• use a dedicated YouTube account
• use browser extensions

or Passive Listening

• re-listen actively immersed content
• focus on hearing the sounds
• if you get bored, trade it for something else

References