★Learning a New Language

Anyone speak more than on language? Thought it might be a fun thing to do. I am sure it is good for your mind. Here are some tips I saw listed.

Step 1.
Take a week or two (or three or four or five or six) to REALLY learn the most basic and useful phrases.
“What is this”, “How do you say”, “I don’t understand”… stuff like that.

Step 2.
Learn the common pronouns, common verbs, and common adjectives.

Step 3.
Learn the “glue” words. Stuff like “but, and, or, even though”.

Step 4.
Find a “language parent”. That means you find someone who speaks the language who will WORK WITH YOU. The language parent should work to understand you without correcting you. The language parent should confirm their understanding by using the correct language. The language parent should use words the learner knows.

Extra tips.
Pay attention to the speakers faces very closely and see how they are forming the words. Copy their faces.

Use a “feedback loop”. That means use more than your ears to learn. Use your imagination as well. If you are learning the word “fire”, for example, picture fire in your mind, smell the fire, feel the heat of the fire as you are learning the word.

A closer look at step one.

Anyone have some thoughts about step one? What are the “basic phrases”? Can we put them into some sort of categories?

I found this

If someone out there knows about this kind of thing please share. I’d really like to know. There are certainly some commonalities that most languages share. What are those basic areas of communication. I think that link is a good start.

Maybe we could think of the “parts of speech”. What part of speech are the question words called? Who, what, when, where, why and how?

Then we have stuff like verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs.

Then we have common topics related to travel, direction, quantity, exchange and I am sure there are more. Can anyone think of what categories there would be?

Okay. Here are all the parts of speech.

There are eight of them:
Noun
Pronoun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Conjunction
Interjection

I’m still not sure what you call the “question” words. Interrogatives maybe?

Let me see if I can come up with basic communication necessities. Please add more if you think of them.

Greetings and Name:
Hello, Goodbye, My name is, What is your name

Speed and Directions:
Up, Down, Left, Right, North, South, East, West, Slow, Fast

Basic Numbers: 1-10, How Much, 10, 20, 30 etc…, Few, Many, Some

Size, Shape and Color: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Pink, Black, White, Brown, Big, Large, Small, Medium, Round, Square, Rectangle, Triangle, Sphere

Question Words: Who, What, When, Where, How, and “How do you say”, “How much”

Time:
Day, Night, Morning, Noon

Friend and Family Words: Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Sister, Brother, Wife, Husband, Family, Friend, Married

Eating, Drinking: Chicken, Beef, Egg, Cheese, Sandwich, Drink, Eat, Water, Soda, Tea, Coffee, Soup, Bread, Meat, Vegetable, Salt, Pepper
Food Adjectives: Hot, Cold, Spicy, Mild, Medium, Sweet, Tart, Sour, Fresh
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Fish, Chicken, Beef, Pork

Temperature, Density, Environment: Hot, Cold, Warm, Hard, Soft, Smooth, Rough, Oily, Dry, Wet, Fire, Freeze, City, Country, Island, Beech, Ocean, Weather: Rain, Sunny, Cloudy, Storm

Most basic nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs?
Man, Woman, Boy, Girl, Old, Young, Fat, Thin, Tall, Short
Walk, Run, Drive, Talk, Tell, Smell, Taste, Touch, Hear, Think, Taste
Fix, Repair, Get, Buy, Shop
Car, Boat, Plane, Phone, Computer
Road, Tree, Rock, Air, Sun, Sky, River, Ocean, Mountain
Store, House,
Animals: Dog, Cat, Chicken, Cow, Fish, Beef, Pig, Bird, Frog, Snake, Bug
Body: Body, Head, Arm, Leg, Chest, Hand, Foot, Finger, Toe, Knee, Shoulder, Back, Butt, Neck, Mouth, Nose, Eyes, Hair, Ear, Tongue, Tooth, Teeth, Throat, Heart, Stomach, Face, Elbow

Mood/Feeling: Happy, Sad, Angry, Love

Emergency: Hospital, Sick, Police, Doctor

˚ allowing all good 💗  

Posted on 25/04/2016. Last edited on 13/06/2016.

nice contribution!

I have been looking and looking for some kind of list of “word groups”. I have finally found something worth sharing.

Base vocabulary list

101 Survival Phrases

I may be the only one around here working on a language, but, I have been making real progress with a fun, free site called Duolingo.

Also, wanted to add something I just did that you might want to try.

I went to google translate. Then I created a blank document on my word processor and entered a two column table on a page.

I entered a sentence I wanted to say and copied the sentence I wanted to say into the left column and the translation in the right column. I repeated the process until I had a custom sheet I could learn from. I printed it out so I can study it at my leisure.

˚ allowing all good 💗  

Posted on 17/05/2016.

In response to Smart_Routines_With_Enthusiasm’s post:
very cool site! Thanks Jeff! I am definitely going to return to it. I work and live in a bit of a melting pot…and it will be a very good thing to do 34 hours there learning (they say its a equivalent to a semester of a language)

I’ll throw this out there. I’ve reached a “20 day streak” on Duolingo. I know that doesn’t meaning anything to you, but, I can tell you this. Twenty days ago, according to Duolingo, I was 15% fluent in Spanish. You probably are somewhere around 15% too just from general knowledge. Everyone knows “Gracias” means “thank you”, for example. If you don’t really speak Spanish you already know some anyway. Well, 20 days ago I was at 15%, and now, 20 days later I am at 25%. And all I have done is go to Duolingo every day for a few minutes and practice.

˚ allowing all good 💗  

Posted on 17/05/2016. Last edited on 08/06/2016.

In response to Smart_Routines_With_Enthusiasm’s post:
encouraging! thanks!