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The most effective way to learn a foreign language
I will give you tips and concrete examples that will change the way you look at learning vocabulary and grammar.
You can use these ideas to learn Spanish, French, Italian or ANY other language.
There’s a surprise at the end.
I will give you tips and concrete examples that will change the way you look at learning vocabulary and grammar.
You can use these ideas to learn Spanish, French, Italian or ANY other language.
There’s a surprise at the end.
To learn a language you will need to use your memory.
No matter how much people belittle memorization,.
You just cannot deduce:
- Foreign vocabulary
- Grammatical gender
- Grammatical rules
- Exceptions to all these rules
- etc
No matter how much people belittle memorization,.
You just cannot deduce:
- Foreign vocabulary
- Grammatical gender
- Grammatical rules
- Exceptions to all these rules
- etc
The key to speed up this process is using mnemonics:
Imagination & Association
For every new piece of information, you need to find a way to associate it to something you already know.
Imagination & AssociationFor every new piece of information, you need to find a way to associate it to something you already know.
Let’s go to the examples, so you can understand the techniques.
I will use German as my target here since I am currently learning it. It is famous for its complexity:
- Vocabulary
- 3 grammatical genders
- cases
- 2 verbs to form “the equivalent” to past perfect
- etc
I will use German as my target here since I am currently learning it. It is famous for its complexity:
- Vocabulary
- 3 grammatical genders
- cases
- 2 verbs to form “the equivalent” to past perfect
- etc
How to learn grammatical genders
- If the gender is the same as in your native tongue, nothing to do
- If it is not (or there are no genders in your native language):
1. Pick a "key" for each grammatical gender
2. Link the foreign word and its gender, using your “key”
- If the gender is the same as in your native tongue, nothing to do
- If it is not (or there are no genders in your native language):
1. Pick a "key" for each grammatical gender
2. Link the foreign word and its gender, using your “key”
I will give you some examples
For masculine words: Terminator
For masculine words: Terminator
For feminine words: Beyoncé
For Neutrum: a baby
You can pick other keys, as long as it’s ALWAYS the same.
To learn the gender of a word, picture your key character interacting with that word. Add details to your movie.
Next time you think of the word, you'll "decode" the gender from the key you used!
Some examples:
To learn the gender of a word, picture your key character interacting with that word. Add details to your movie.
Next time you think of the word, you'll "decode" the gender from the key you used!
Some examples:
Tisch - Table - Masculine -> Arnold doing push-ups on your living room tableDie Wolke - The cloud - Feminine -> Beyoncé starts her performance descending from the cloudsDas Rad - The bike - Neutrum -> The baby is riding your bike
You are thinking this is silly. Try it (I'll give you some examples):
Die Wand - The wall - F. Beyoncé performing on top of the Berlin wall
Das Glass - The glass - N -> The glass acts as a crib for a baby
Der Rock - The skirt - M -> Arnold wearing a nice skirt
Die Wand - The wall - F. Beyoncé performing on top of the Berlin wallDas Glass - The glass - N -> The glass acts as a crib for a babyDer Rock - The skirt - M -> Arnold wearing a nice skirt
Your turn:
Das Buch - The book - N
Die Post - The post (office) - F
Der Wind - The wind - M
Der Fish - The fish - M
Der Hut - The hat - M
Test yourself and see how many you can remember.
Das Buch - The book - NDie Post - The post (office) - FDer Wind - The wind - MDer Fish - The fish - MDer Hut - The hat - MTest yourself and see how many you can remember.
How to learn verbs/ prepositions + case
Some verbs and prepositions require Akkusativ (ex: fragen), others Dativ (ex: danken) and others Genitive (ex: während).
How to remember all this?
Easy. Create a key for each category. I'll give you some ideas
Some verbs and prepositions require Akkusativ (ex: fragen), others Dativ (ex: danken) and others Genitive (ex: während).
How to remember all this?
Easy. Create a key for each category. I'll give you some ideas
Akkusativ: a prisoner (accused of committing a crime) -> Ex: a prisoner got accused of stealing a fragance (fragen)Dativ: a date palm (date is similar to dativ)Genitive: a geniusWhat it takes a thread to describe happens in seconds in your brain.
How to learn foreign vocabulary
The same principles apply
Überqueren - To cross -> What about imagining “You almost get hit when CROSSING the road by an UBER driven by the QUEEN of England”
Die Tür - The door -> “Beyoncé (Feminine) is eating TURKEY at the front door”
The same principles apply
Überqueren - To cross -> What about imagining “You almost get hit when CROSSING the road by an UBER driven by the QUEEN of England”Die Tür - The door -> “Beyoncé (Feminine) is eating TURKEY at the front door”
From the keywords you can easily reconstruct the word you wanted to learn.
Uber + queen when crossing -> Promt for überqueren
Turkey at the front door -> Tür
Uber + queen when crossing -> Promt for überquerenTurkey at the front door -> Tür
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More in depth tutorials, examples, tricks and ideas to learn in the most efficient and entertaining.
DM me if you want to know more
An amazing piece of software that helps you learn words from any language More in depth tutorials, examples, tricks and ideas to learn in the most efficient and entertaining.DM me if you want to know more
