HUMINT: Language Learning Spy Kit II
Part two of the field kit continues part one, which delivered the methodology and resources required to master the foundations of language learning. However, this part is designed to take you beyond the operational usage of a language.
Understanding what it means to be operational in a language is crucial. However, it’s equally important to have the desire to move beyond this stage. This desire, fueled by your passion for the language, will propel you to further your language skills and truly master the language, putting you in control of your learning journey.
Operational refers to having the right amount of understanding of a target language to get by without any problems. However, this can limit your ability to fully engage in the information gathering process. Moving beyond operational usage, you open yourself to the rich tapestry of cultural nuances, slang, and local expressions at the heart of effective communication in a native language.
L.L.A.B
The language learning process is quite simple. It’s most efficient to utilize how babies or children learn languages: they hear sentences, phrases, and words throughout adolescence. They learn to do this even before they learn sentence structure or grammar, and the best way to replicate this process as adults is to utilize sentence mining/chunking daily and practice the speech pattern with a language professor.
The Process
The language learning process, which will take you to operational and beyond, requires an intended end goal that you aim to achieve, as this will motivate you to practice the necessary steps daily. So, the steps and tools you will utilize for your intended end goal are as follows:
Sentence Mining
As stated in part one, the sentence mining method is “finding target language sentences, analyzing the patterns, and drilling them repeatedly to build fluency.” To effectively utilize this, you must download Anki, the intelligence flashcard software that simplifies memorization.
After Anki is fully installed, you can choose a flashcard deck in your target language. You can search for these via the Anki website or use reputable ones from Xefjord.
- With continual immersion, you must remain immersed throughout the language-learning process. To add to your immersion after you’ve learned Anki and are comfortable adding your decks. You can watch movies or TV shows and copy sentences or phrases using the language reactor extension. So, if you’re watching shows in your target language and want to learn how to memorize a specific sentence, copy it using a language reactor.
Speech Practice
Speaking as much as possible in your target language daily or throughout the week is crucial to developing fluency. It also motivates you to immerse yourself in the culture and history of the country’s target language. Speaking practice can be done using Italki.com with friends or family members. Try not to translate from your native language, as this aids with memorization and familiarity.
Speaking, even to yourself or with others, builds confidence, and this boost of positive reinforcement from native speakers is one of the essential facets of acquiring fluency at a faster rate.
- A note on immersion to aid with speaking is to utilize a Pimsleur voice coach, which will help perfect your pronunciation and test your accuracy with speech recognition patterns.
Listening Practice
For most of their adolescent developmental stages, babies and children spend time listening to others speak. Fully immersing yourself in listening to the target language for 1, 2, or more hours daily will allow you to recognize native speech tones and dialects. Listening to various series, music, news, or podcasts will familiarize your mind with the pronunciation of native speakers in the target language.
- Note on immersion in the target language: Listening to Pimsleur’s daily course twice a day is an effective method of familiarizing yourself with the pronunciation that native speakers utilize. Listening to music and saving sentences using the Language Refactor app helps you learn slang words, making you sound more native and allowing you to blend in.
- Clozemaster is a useful application that aids with listening and writing practice. Incorporate it into the daily routine for 30 minutes or 1 hour per day and it will greatly improve your understanding of the target language.
Writing Practice
Write using pen/pencil and paper, not through essays on computers or phones, because writing by hand is a tool that aids in long-term memory retention. It may seem like a slow and methodical practice at first. Still, over time, your mind will become as creative in your target language as you can quickly write essays and stories in your native language. If you utilize Italki, your language professor can edit your writing and give you critical feedback.
Reading Practice
Reading books that are a grade above your current level of understanding is an effective way to mimic how children read and retain information. Also, due to the effectiveness of sentence mining and the constant reiteration of different sentence structures on a daily basis, you will already be familiar with the content of the written material. Suppose the target language is in a script you still need to familiarize yourself with, like Arabic or Russian. In that case, it’s best first to learn how to write those alphabets and their pronunciations in conjunction with one another, making reading less difficult.
For example, you might already know how to pronounce the sentence “her hair is brown”, pronounced “shaeruh buni” but written in Arabic, it is شعْرا بِنّي. Because you’ve already familiarized yourself with the sentence using sentence mining, placing the alphabet and grammar together becomes much easier.
