Tomorrow I am going out to give a talk entitled”Learn with laughter, Learn that much faster” We can so often remember vividly things that make us laugh so we need to find ways of incorporating laughter into our learning. Not only does it make things memorable , but easier and fun. Who can resist fun? This laughter can apply to any learning and not just languages.
However it is fun to write about green dogs and red elephants and people taking their cats to the cinema and so on.!It helps to make the words you are learning more memorable.It creates vivid pictures in your head.Give it a try. Opt for fun and laughter and easier learning.You won’t regret it.
Apparently there is a link between education and a long life. Studies appear to be suggesting that the longer you study or stay at school the longer you live.[or does it just seem that way.?] I want to look into this further as it raises many questions but I myself have never been in any doubt that lifelong learning is a must. Learning a language is particularly beneficial to the brain. Why stop at learning one.? Why not go on to learn an other.? Learning a language is a continuous process. I am continually learning new words in my own language. The way to look at the learning of a language is to consider it to be a fun journey with no final destination.People often ask how long is it going to take. I often answer with a question”How long are you going to live?” Enjoy and have fun on the journey.
One of the most frequently asked questions about languages is “How long does it take to learn a language?” That can be a bit like asking “How long is a piece of string?” There are many opinions about this.I have just started to learn Finnish. That is a challenging language. I am teaching myself using my own system. I send some Finnish once a week to my daughter in law who lives in Finland with my son and their two children.I ask for new words and specify what I want them to be.I aim to learn those words during the week.In fact I will spend no more than an hour a week studying. One or two people who come for lessons will say”I have been learning Spanish for two years and I am still not fluent” I then ask them how many hours tuition they have had and the answer will be approximately eighty hours[two working weeks!] Added to that may be added the number of hours spent at home learning . Very often this is not a lot and certainly much less than they have spent in a class. So how long is a piece of string then? How long does it take to learn a language? You tell me.I look forward to hearing from you.
I love helping people learn and especially learning languages. Come to this blog and share your experiences. It is my constant aim to help people learn more easily and have fun while they are doing it. Write to me with any challenges which you may have with your learning. Write about your successes too . They could help other people.
Here is a little puzzle for you to start you off on this great language journey.Here are two words ending in “dous” :- horrendous and stupendous.Apparently there are only two more words ending in “dous” What are they?Let me know. Have a good weekend.
