Education Best way to learn a new (spoken) language?

Right, I'm currently trying to learn/better my language skills, currently I'm working on my dutch and I'm running into some roadblocks in that I've only just broken out the CD that came with my "Teach Yourself" book, and up until now I've only known certain phrases that have been taught to me by native speakers and from my own reading and abuse of various translation services.

This has presented somewhat of a problem as I've picked up some rather bad habits and awful pronunciations.

Another issue for me is that in my experience the people speaking on the CD sound very different to natives that I know. And also the fact that a lot of the conversations etc use a lot of redundant wording (You know 7 words when 3 would do).


Anyone got any ideas as to the best way to absorb the stuff etc?

 

Go to the Netherlands, and live there for 3 months with some locals who don't speak English, and hang around non-English speaking crowds. You'll pick it up real fast

 

Did that... except I was around people that spoke english around me mostly, but picked up random bits here and there, from TV over there too. But it's been about 2 years since I was last there and while I've retained basic amounts of dutch, it ain't great to say the least.

And I don't have the money really to pick up and just go over for a few months right now, as much as I'd love to.

Also it's not even worth suggesting "go over and find work there" I've looked into it a LOT over the last few years, they have a very lovely catch 22 type situation for living, renting, working etc. (You have to have a residency permit to get a flat, (and a permit for the flat if it's over x amount per month), to get a residency permit you need a job, or enough money for a year's living costs and so on, to get a job you need to be a resident and a SoFi number, to get a SoFi number you need to have a residence and permit for such. It's a real PITA, you could go about it in a different way of just renting a place then getting permit after the fact etc etc but from what I can tell it's more problems again and again)

 

You could try dating a Dutch girl. It would bring the idea of "immersion" studies to a whole new level.

 

As I say... Done that...

 

Ick, trying to speak Dutch is like trying to speak German with cottonballs in your mouth.
Have you considered being involved with the local Dutch community where you live?
Even perhaps taking some night classes. It'd probably be best to be immersed in the language with those who don't use slang. The more older the people are the better; as they're less likely to accept any kind of "syntix errors" (syntex.. syntax? you know what I mean..) to their language.

Good luck!

-Tia

 

Why would you want to learn Dutch? It's the most disgusting language I ever heard... Learn Flemish instead: the older, ruder and a lot less effeminate version of Dutch

I learned English in school (sort of - wasn't exactly a good teacher), but most of it I picked up through television (BBC Cheesecake) and of course popping over the Channel once in a while for a few years.

As the person above me said, immerse yourself in the local population (however, do not look into their eyes!) and try to avoid chav-like people/the cool kids etc who most likely speak some sort of Dutch SMS-language. Find yourself a nice, middle-aged geek! (Just make sure he doesn't pose as 19-year-old Jodie during nighttime chats.)

 

Yeah there's no dutch community in Nottingham as far as I'm aware (I don't mind being corrected on that all)

While the idea of learning dutch "properly" is all well and good but it still makes you stand out like a sore thumb, I'd ideally like to learn both "proper" dutch and little bits of slang too, last thing I want is to come out with some eloquent perfectly constructed sentence to have the person you're talking to go "Ahh you're english"

And Khensu, ... Find yourself a nice, middle-aged geek! Yeah, that just read sooooo wrong it made my man parts crawl inside me and hide for the winter. I'm planning to go back over to NL soon with some luck, so I expect my dutch will improve some more... Hopefully later next year I'll be able to go over and stay for a reasonable amount of time

 

For the whole winter? It's only August, man, you don't want to go that long without "sexual healing"!

Also, I repeat myself: don't look into their eyes. If you do, they will either...
1. think you are their friend (worst. thing. evar.)
2. try to sell you cheese
3. try to selll you windmills
4. try to sell you clomps
5. kill you

Either way, you end up ast the losing end.

I may be durnk. But hte barmaid wase ****ing hoooooooooooooooot I tell ya. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. lol I found teh caps lock key,. I think I need to puke again though . Tata.

Also, learn a rpoper lagnuage, Dutch is justl.... ew. Have an emoticon:
Waah, exactly what the Dutch are like. Don't trust them. They will drink all yoru coffee. True story. I heard it from a bum.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I neecd to go spend ten minutes near the sink just to be sure I don't have to bguy carpet cleaner.

 

Right that explains a lot let me go over the situations again to see if that's happened to me.

1. Yes this did indeed happen, Could be the fact that I had been out for drinks with such people before.
2. Hot digity damn, THAT'S WHAT KAAS MEANS... no wonder they had loads of cheese around in the shop *rolls eyes*
3. I knew the windmill convention for young millionaires was a bad idea.
4. I think you mean clogs... Somehow the airport shops just seemed to think you might wanna buy something stereotypically dutchy.
5. You got me. I'm actually the ghost of Lorquismas past... Boo.

And tbh if you look hard enough you'll find arseholes in any and every country, on the whole I've always found Dutch folk to be much nicer than english folk... Plus the language from what I've learned is a lot nicer than any other language I've sampled.

Either way sober up and stop insulting countries and their people, it just makes you look stupid.

 

Google didn't seem to come back with any Dutch communities in Nottingham either..

How well do you read/write in Dutch? Perhaps being in a Dutch chatroom might help.. with the voice chat on? You're still being immersed in the language and once you feel overwhelmed you can just close the window? A dutch forum, listening to an online Dutch radio station??

Or just save yourself the trouble and move to Australia!

-Tia

 

Stayed with a Dutch family for a few weeks during my College days and the Mother had picked up English just from watching English speaking programs with Dutch subtitles. Maybe an all weekend bender of Dutch porno movies with Subtitles will do the job for you.

Have to feel sorry for people learning English as a second language. We have soo many dialects in this country, not to mention London cockney and Scottish Glaswegian.

Use to know an Arabic Gentlemen (Software Engineer) from my previous Job who spoke with a Scottish Glaswegian accent. Pure Genius. That's gotta be tough.

 

You'd only end up learning phrases like, "Hello, I'm the plumber you called for and I'm here to fix your pipes!"

 

Total immersion with people that speak well is teh best :
I should know, I'm French, speaking English -above average level according to every English teacher I've met- and also a bit of Spanish. I've studied German for 4 years, but have stopped, and can read Arabic (but not understand nor speak it : I know the alphabet and a few grammar rules)