My way of learning languages II.AVI

[sprachbegeistert]

Quite a few people have told me that with regard to this video. Generally speaking my accent is quite mixed but in this video I really speak in a way that makes some people think that I have been exposed to an Irish accent. Anyway, thank you for watching my videos.

[visitnajr]

you sound Irish.

[Ferinoification]

sprachbegeistert ,why don´t you try to learn portuguese.It will be very easy for you,since you can speak spanish and italian/french.portuguese is pretty close to spanish.greetings from Brazil.

[sprachbegeistert]

@Ferinoification

Thank you for your comment. I'd love to learn Brazilian Portuguese but I just need to get a few other things done before I can embark on that adventure. I understand quite a bit when I read Portuguese but very little when I hear it spoken because your pronunciation is rather difficult compared to the other Romance languages I have studied so far.

[Tchaikovsky09]

I'm thinking of becoming a medical interpreter. How many years would you say it would take for me to learn another language fluently in college (I"m thinking of learning Spanish or German for my language to interpret)? My primary language is English. I've taken Spanish in school, I just want to know to what caliber I should learn it if I decide to use it. My reason for possibly pursuing this career is because I enjoy science and languages and I wanted a career that could combine these.

[sprachbegeistert]

@Tchaikovsky09

I think you will be able to learn Spanish faster than German. German grammar is quite complex and it is more difficult to interpret from German into English and viceversa than from Spanish (at least that has been my experience so far). I'd say you need a very good understanding of the language itself and be quite confident when using it before you can start interpreting. Depending on the type of classes you take and their intensity, it will probably take you

[sprachbegeistert]

@Tchaikovsky09

ctd

around 4 to 5 years at college to achieve the level of proficiency required. Then it is all about getting enough practice with interpreting itself. I do believe that your choice is a really good one. Medical interpreters/translators are in high demand.

[Irishborne]

You roduce really terrific videos. How long did it take you to learn the other 4 languages? I know that German is your mother tongue. My mother is 3/4 german, 1/4 irish, while my father is nearly full-blooded French with some german from the northwestern german border. I speak German fairly well, enough that i understood your german introduction in the polyglot intro video, and I really want to learn French as well (fluency in both would make my life complete for now.)

[sprachbegeistert]

@Irishborne

Thank you very much for your kind words. I studied English and Italian at school before I went to university. All the other languages I have studied on my own. With Spanish and French it took me about 2 years to achieve a level of proficiency that allowed me to work in those languages. This was possible because they are very similar to Italian which I had already studied for about 8 years by the time I started with French and Spanish.

[Sanyadr]

Langenscheidt books and dictionaries are really good.

[sprachbegeistert]

@Sanyadr

Yes, I think so too. Langenscheidt is one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Germany and Austria when it comes to foreign languages.

[glubglubhuge8itch]

Your videos are awesome!

-subscribes-

I have always wanted to be multilingual and an interpreter.

[sprachbegeistert]

@glubglubhuge8itch

Thanks a lot for your comment. Being multilingual opens so many doors and provides you with new insights. It is hard work, though. But I guess you know that already. As for being an interpreter, I think it is a great job, albeit a challenging one. If you are interested in it, you should definitely go for it.

[glubglubhuge8itch]

@sprachbegeistert Tell me about it! xD I've been working on my Japanese for half a year now and I still don't have the sentence structure down... Language study is time consuming but it's fun!

[LeiaAlexis]

Your amazing !! Im trying to learn German and the fact u know so many languages has given me the kick up the bum I need to carry on learning and that at the end it will be worth it X) Thankyou !!!

[sprachbegeistert]

@LeiaAlexis

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you liked the video and that it motivated you to keep studying German. I'm sure you will benefit a lot not only from the results of your studies but also from the learning process itself. Good luck!

[Vilyus]

Yeah, langenscheidt grammar books are cool.

[csayumi8]

dont try to learn gramma by a thick gramma book. that will screw you.

dont buy a book with lists of vocabulary. i think , in my experience,

real life dialogue is helpful. And i Recommend michel thomas!

[csayumi8]

try to speak the language as soon as possible! I learnt english from school and silenced for 10 more years until i came to australia. was that the "silent period"?

FXXX it!

[storebror21]

The problem with having a 'silent period' is just when does that period end? At what stage would someone feel ready to start talking. Far better to take the plunge as soon as possible. Keep the videos coming - very interesting.

[sprachbegeistert]

@storebror21

Thanks for your comment. The "silent period" issue seems to be quite a complicated one. I basically try to speak the language as soon as possible, which, however, does not mean that I'm able to have a decent conversation right from the start. I simply think that speaking the language (even if it only involves reading aloud or repeating set phrases) is very important. I definitely don't believe in any strict rules telling me to "remain silent" over an extended period of time.

[boabysands123]

Robert, did you study In Northern Ireland or Scotland at some point. I thought I heard some slight pronunciation traces. Thanks for the your videos. Keep them coming, your experience as a Polyglot and language professional should be very enlightening.

[sprachbegeistert]

@boabysands123

Thank you very much for your kind mail. I'll try to make more videos soon. Currently, I'm kind of busy preparing for a couple of conferences and finishing some lengthy translation projects. As for my English accent, it really is not fixed and it seems to change quite a bit lately. Steve Kaufmann thought he had detected some sort of an Ulster accent. I've never been to Northern Ireland or Scotland though. But I have colleagues from many different countries where English is spoken.

[luciananogueira7]

I loved your advices. I´m English student, could you tell me where can I see movies or videos in english?

[mykalLarue]

Thank you very much. Your videos are interesting and inspiring. Do you recommend use of Mnemonic techniques to rememember words? If so, are there some you find more useful than others?

[sprachbegeistert]

@mykalLarue

Thank you for your kind words. I have never used mnemonic techniques to remember words. I use this technique to study Chinese characters though. If people find it hard to remember the meaning and/or correct pronunciation of words, this technique might help but I'm afraid I have no experience with it in this context. Even with Chinese and Japanese I find that remembering the characters is much more useful for retaining the correct meaning of a word than mnemonics for the actual word.

[phonicsquest]

Thanks,a question....what do you think of "shadowing",is it a good technique"...is it better than the traditional repetition exercises?

[sprachbegeistert]

@phonicsquest

To be honest, I've never tried shadowing in my language learning process. However, I know the technique because we used it when we trained to become simulteanous interpreters. We would be given a speech in our mother tongue first and then we had to shadow it. Mostly to get used to the speed at which we had to interpret. I'll try it out with Chinese though and if you are interested I can get back to you with some sort of feedback.

[DelNegro10]

thanks so much!

[sprachbegeistert]

Thanks for your nice comments. I'm glad you find the video useful.

[jfbssp]

Robert, great video! I have a quick question. I read about 20 minutes a day, listen/watch Italian tv for about an hour per day and when I'm alone I think aoud. I feel that I am not making any progress. Any thoughts about this?

[sprachbegeistert]

@jfbssp

I'm sending you a PM. Cheers, Robert.

[davidmansaray]

Excellent video my friend. I agree with almost everything you say. Keep the videos coming :)

[sprachbegeistert]

@davidmansaray

Thanks for your kind words ;-)

[Bearod35]

Thank you for the great info

[MrFremdsprache]

Grammatik....tut es weh.........haha.......Danke fuer dein dein Video. Dein englische Akzent ist sehr gut!

[Lasha4509]

Great advices Robert, thanks for sharing. Following for next ones :)

[lingosteve]

Interesting video Robert, and I am most impressed with your Japanese and Chinese. Your working languages I take for granted. I agree with much of what you say, but have a few differences in what I like to do when learning a language. I also have a channel where I talk about language learning. Would you be interested in having a video discussion on language learning which we could put up in our channels in some way. Cheers. Steve.

[NorseRonin]

Great video! It's really nice to know how a professional interpreter learns languages. Can't wait for your next video :-)

[Chezrocksall]

Hey I love this video and your whole channel. Do you have Skype?

[loki2504]

Very interesting ! I agree on almost all your techniques ! I would like to add something you perhaps forgot: force oneself to use the language. For example, for my turkish studies I immerse myself in the language which is to say that my selfphone is in turkish, my fb is in turkish, my ipod also is, I try to put everything in turkish ! That's a great way because your exposure to the language increases a lot !