學習語言你必須知道的十件事

1. Make realistic, specific goals

You have decided to learn another language. Now what? On our recent live chat our panellists first piece of advice was to ask yourself: what do you want to achieve and by when? Donavan Whyte, vice president of enterprise and education at Rosetta Stone, says: “Language learning is best when broken down into manageable goals that are achievable over a few Months. This is far more motivating and realistic.”

You might be feeling wildly optimistic when you start but aiming to be fluent is not necessarily the best idea. Phil McGowan, director at Verbmaps, recommends making these goals tangible and specific: “Why not set yourself a target of being able to read a newspaper article in the target language without having to look up any words in the dictionary?”

2. Remind yourself why you are learning

It might sound obvious, but recognising exactly why you want to learn a language is really important. Alex Rawlings, a language teacher now learning his 13th language, says: “Motivation is usually the first thing to go, especially among students who are teaching themselves.” To keep the momentum going he suggests writing down 10 reasons you are learning a language and sticking it to the front of the file you are using: “I turn to these in times of self-doubt.”

3. Focus on exactly what you want to learn

Often the discussion around how to learn a language slides into a debate about so-called traditional v tech approaches. For Aaron Ralby, director of Linguisticator, this debate misses the point: “The question is not so much about online v offline or app v book. Rather it should be how can we assemble the necessary elements of language for a particular objective, present them in a user-friendly way, and provide a means for students to understand those elements.”

When signing up to a particular method or approach, think about the substance behind the style or technology. “Ultimately,” he says, “the learning takes place inside you rather that outside, regardless of whether it’s a computer or book or a teacher in front of you.”

4. Read for pleasure

For many of our panellists, reading was not only great for making progress, but one of the most rewarding aspects of the learning experience. Alex Rawlings explains that reading for pleasure “exposes you to all sorts of vocabulary that you won’t find in day-to-day life, and normalises otherwise baffling and complicated grammatical structures. The first book you ever finish in a foreign languages is a monumental achievement that you’ll remember for a long time.”

5. Learn vocabulary in context

Memorising lists of vocabulary can be challenging, not to mention potentially dull. Ed Cooke, co-founder and chief executive of Memrise, believes that association is key to retaining new words: “A great way to build vocabulary is to make sure the lists you’re learning come from situations or texts that you have experienced yourself, so that the content is always relevant and connects to background experience.”
1.制定現實而具體的目標

你已經決定要學習一門外語。現在要如何做呢？在我們最近的在線聊天中，我們的嘉賓所給的第一條建議就是問問自己：你想要達成一個怎樣的目標以及何時達成？來自羅塞塔石的企業教育協會副主席多諾萬·懷特（Donavan Whyte）說，學習語言最好的辦法是將學習目標分成幾個易處理的階段目標，這些目標要能夠在數月之內達成。這個方法具有激發性同時也更容易實現。在開始學習一門語言的時候你可能會過於樂觀，但把目標設爲能流利使用該門語言可能不是最好的做法。Verbmaps公司的主管菲爾·麥高恩（Phil McGowan）建議將學習目標具化爲實際且具體的目標：“爲什麼不設定這樣一個學習目標，即能夠在不查閱字典的情況下，閱讀目標語言的報紙文章呢？”

2.提醒自己學習的目的

這問題的答案看起來似乎很明顯，但能夠準確地認識到自己學習一門語言的目的是很重要的。語言學教師艾利克斯·羅林斯（Alex Rawlings），目前正在學習他的第十三種語言，他說：“確定學習動機是首先要做的事情，尤其對那些自學外語的學生而言。” 他建議學習者寫下十個學習這門語言的理由，並把它貼在學習文件夾的首頁，以此保持學習的動力：“當我開始懷疑自己的時候，我就看看這些當初學習的理由。”

3.集中精力學習那些你想要學習的東西

關於如何學習語言的討論通常都變成關於所謂傳統學習方法和技術學習方法之間的辯論。對於Linguisticator公司的主管亞倫·羅爾比（Aaron Ralby）來說，此類辯論都沒有抓到重點：“問題並不是關於在線學習和離線學習，亦或使用應用程序學習或使用書本學習，而應該是我們在面對一個特定的學習目標時，如何收集學習所需的素材，並將這些材料以對用戶友好的方式呈現，並提供給學生理解這些材料的方法。” 當決定使用某種特定的方法時，要思考這種方式方法或技術背後的內容實質。“最終，” 他說，“學習是發生在你的內心而非外部環境當中，無論你面對的是電腦、書本還是老師。”

4.快樂閱讀

對於我們當中衆多的小組成員來說，閱讀不僅對學習進步大有裨益，而且是這次學習的經歷中對我們最有益的方面之一。艾利克斯·羅林斯解釋說快樂閱讀能“將你沉浸在衆多日常不會使用到的詞彙之中，並且將那些令人疑惑和複雜的語法結構常態化。你完整閱讀的第一本外語書籍是個值得紀念的成就，這會是一個很難忘的經歷。”

5. 在語境中學習詞彙

記住一大堆單詞是很困難的，更不要說這可能是一個相當無聊的過程。Memrise 公司的聯合創始人兼首席執行官艾德·庫克（Ed Cooke）認爲聯想是記憶單詞很重要的方法：“建立詞彙庫的一個重要方法是確保你現在學習的那些單詞都是來自親身經歷的場景或閱讀的文本，這樣的話記憶的內容就會與經驗背景聯繫起來。”6. Ignore the myths: age is just a number

You are a monolingual adult: have you missed the language boat? Ralby argues “a key language myth is that it’s harder as an adult”. Adults and children may learn in different ways but that shouldn’t deter you from committing to learning another language. “Languages are simultaneously organic and systematic. As children we learn languages organically and instinctively; as adults we can learn them systematically.”

If you’re still not convinced of your chances, Ralby suggests drawing inspiration from early philologists and founders of linguistics who “learned dozens of languages to encyclopaedic levels as adults”.

7. Do some revision of your native language

Speaking your first language may be second nature, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you understand it well. Kerstin Hammes, editor of the Fluent Language Blog, believes you can’t make good progress in a second language until you understand your own. “I think understanding your native language and just generally how language works is so essential before you launch yourself at a bunch of foreign phrases.”

8. Don’t underestimate the importance of translation

Different approaches may be necessary at different stages of the learning process. Once you have reached a certain level of proficiency and can say quite a bit, fairly accurately, Rebecca Braun, senior lecturer in German studies at Lancaster University, says it is typical to feel a slowing down in progress. “Translation,” she says, “is such an important exercise for helping you get over a certain plateau that you will reach as a language learner ... Translation exercises don’t allow you to paraphrase and force the learner on to the next level.”.

9. Beware of fluency

Many of the panellists were cautious of the F-word. Hammes argues not only is it difficult to define what fluency is, but “as a goal it is so much bigger than it deserves to be. Language learning never stops because it’s culture learning, personal growth and endless improvement. I believe that this is where learners go wrong”.

10. Go to where the language is spoken

It may not be an option for everyone but Braun reminds us that “if you are serious about learning the language and getting direct pleasure from what you have learned, you need to go to where that language is spoken”.

Travel and living abroad can complement learning in the classroom: “The books and verb charts may be the easiest way to ensure you expose yourself to the language at home, but the people and the culture will far outclass them once you get to the country where your language is spoken.”
6. 無視那些迷思：年齡只是數字

你是一個只會一種語言的成年人：那麼你是否已經錯過了學習一門新語言的時機了呢？羅爾比說“關於語言學習的一個重要的迷思就是，成年更難學會新語言。” 成年人和兒童可能在學習的方法上不一致，但這並不應該成爲阻礙你學習另一門語言的障礙。“語言是有機和系統的。兒童學習語言的方法是有機和直覺的；而成年人學習語言是系統的。” 若你還對此觀點抱有疑惑，拉爾比建議從古代哲學家和語言學創始人身上尋找啓示，“這些博學者都是在成年的時候學會衆多語言的。”

7. 要多複習自己的母語

說自己的母語可能是人的第二天性，但這並不意味着你很好地理解這門語言。流利語言博客的編輯克里斯汀·哈梅斯（Kerstin Hammes）認爲除非你很好地理解了自己的母語，否則無法在第二語言的學習上得到進步。“我認爲理解自己的母語以及理解語言如何運作，這一點在你學習一堆外國語詞彙之前是很重要的。”

8. 別低估了翻譯的重要性

在學習語言的不同過程中，我們可能需要使用不同的學習方法。一旦你達到了一定的學習水平，口語不錯，準確度也還行的時候，蘭卡斯特大學德語研究高級講師麗貝卡·布勞恩（Rebecca Braun）說到了這個階段，翻譯練習在幫助作爲語言學習者的你跨越一個難以進步的穩定時期是非常重要的……翻譯練習不允許你進行闡釋，這會迫使學習者進入到更高一級的水平。

9. 當心流暢性

很多嘉賓對於“流暢”這個詞都持謹慎態度。哈梅斯認爲這不僅僅是因爲很難定義這個詞，還因爲作爲學習目標，這不應該要把它置於如此高的地位。學習語言的過程從未終止，這是因爲語言學習的過程也是文化學習的過程，也是個人的成長，它會一直不斷的提升。我認爲這就是英語學習者弄錯的地方。

10. 去到說目標語言的地方

不是所有人都能做到這樣，但布勞恩提醒我們說，“若你認真對待你所學的這門語言，同時能夠在學習它的過程中得到快樂，那麼你應該到說這語言的地方去。” 旅行和住在外國能夠有效地對課堂學習進行補充：“在家手看書本和詞彙表可能是讓你置身於目標語言環境的最簡單的方式，但是該語言環境中的人和文化都在書本之外，除非你到說這種語言的國家去。”