Posted by pacman

What techniques do you use when learning a language to get it to stick in your long term memory

I am currently learning Korean in high school. So far, it's been pretty good. One reason why I chose Korean over all the other languages my school has to offer (French, Spanish) is because I really want to learn Japanese because of my intense passion for anime and manga. I've heard many people say that Korean is the easiest one out of the 3 languages that I think that's hard to learn. (Chinese, Japanese, Korean). Currently finishing up Korean 1 right now, and I must say, it's been a fun, and interesting ride learning my third language. (Vietnamese, English, and currently Korean) some advices I can give you for studying is use flash cards. I know, it sounds lame and boring but it really help me a lot. I also did what Colin said, changing the electronic to the language I'm focusing on right now, and it really help a lot. Another way is to find a game that mainly uses the language you're trying to learn. I recently found one for Korean and it's called "Zenonia Online". (You must change your App Store to Korean App Store to get it.)

Anyway, that's all the advice I can give you. Hope this helps somehow.  

Posted by Wolfie

I am currently learning Korean in high school. So far, it's been pretty good. One reason why I chose Korean over all the other languages my school has to offer (French, Spanish) is because I really want to learn Japanese because of my intense passion for anime and manga. I've heard many people say that Korean is the easiest one out of the 3 languages that I think that's hard to learn. (Chinese, Japanese, Korean). Currently finishing up Korean 1 right now, and I must say, it's been a fun, and interesting ride learning my third language. (Vietnamese, English, and currently Korean) some advices I can give you for studying is use flash cards. I know, it sounds lame and boring but it really help me a lot. I also did what Colin said, changing the electronic to the language I'm focusing on right now, and it really help a lot. Another way is to find a game that mainly uses the language you're trying to learn. I recently found one for Korean and it's called "Zenonia Online". (You must change your App Store to Korean App Store to get it.)

Anyway, that's all the advice I can give you. Hope this helps somehow.

That's a good language to learn. I would choose it over French for sure.  

After doing like two years of it in college, I can tell you that learning Japanese is kind of a nightmare after a while.

Hiragana / Katakana isn't so bad, but when you get into Kanji you're basically learning vocabulary along with symbols at the same time, and you're expected to learn a ridiculous amount of them. By the time high schoolers graduate in Japan, they know an average of about 10,000 words and symbols, some of which have several meanings, just like they do in English. Pair that with having to speak all of it fluently as well, and it kind of makes your brain melt after so long.  

Posted by Draenin

After doing like two years of it in college, I can tell you that learning Japanese is kind of a nightmare after a while.

Hiragana / Katakana isn't so bad, but when you get into Kanji you're basically learning vocabulary along with symbols at the same time, and you're expected to learn a ridiculous amount of them. By the time high schoolers graduate in Japan, they know an average of about 10,000 words and symbols, some of which have several meanings, just like they do in English. Pair that with having to speak all of it fluently as well, and it kind of makes your brain melt after so long.

As much as I like and respect Japanese culture, there's a reason we have the alphabet in the west. :/ Props to anybody who can learn Japanese or other non-alphanumeric-based languages as a second.  

Posted by MattKan

As much as I like and respect Japanese culture, there's a reason we have the alphabet in the west. :/ Props to anybody who can learn Japanese or other non-alphanumeric-based languages as a second.

Yeah. The reason why they started writing in Kanji a lot was to save space in documents and whatnot. Hiragana / Katakana is basically their alphabet, but it takes up a large amount of space in newspapers. So they found a way to condense it.

And while it's a smart idea and all, it's torture to learn them all when you haven't grown up with it as your primary form of writing.  

Gardening can be very rewarding and yields a sense of accomplishment once the plants are finished growing - i'm also teaching my son how to garden just to get him out of the house once in a while, you should consider it!  

Swimming is hard as hell when you start off but once you get the hang of it, it's the most rewarding thing in the entire world. I always feel so great after a good couple laps. (Freeform swimming is really fun and gratifying too).  

Electrical engineering. It allows for great problem solving skills in any situation, while also allowing you to apply your skills to everyday life.

Actually, I suggest any type of engineering, not to mention that it boosts your creativity quotient.  

Posted by David

Swimming is hard as hell when you start off but once you get the hang of it, it's the most rewarding thing in the entire world. I always feel so great after a good couple laps. (Freeform swimming is really fun and gratifying too).

Yes it really is amazing! For me once I got a good breathing technique it became a lot easier.  

My hobby is reading books while eating nutella, My brain gains the weight, so do I.
After eating nutella you should work out do, small pushups and crunches will fix it right ahead! but it will leave a small belly.  

I'm a huge gamer, but I'd like to say give IT shot?  

Posted by Draenin

After doing like two years of it in college, I can tell you that learning Japanese is kind of a nightmare after a while.

Hiragana / Katakana isn't so bad, but when you get into Kanji you're basically learning vocabulary along with symbols at the same time, and you're expected to learn a ridiculous amount of them. By the time high schoolers graduate in Japan, they know an average of about 10,000 words and symbols, some of which have several meanings, just like they do in English. Pair that with having to speak all of it fluently as well, and it kind of makes your brain melt after so long.

Yeah, on my road to fluency I completely omitted learning Kanji at all. I had a background in Mandarin Chinese so that really helped when I got to that bridge, but even then, Kanji is mostly comprised of the traditional Chinese characters while the Mandarin I learned was mostly in simplified.

But yeah, I didn't even touch Kanji until I was confident with going an entire day around my Japanese friends, not even using English to think or correct myself.

If anyone's still looking to learning any language, I really, really suggest any material by Benny Lewis (from his. TED Talks to his novels or blog). It's immensely helpful, and I definitely would have just stuck to textbooks and called it quits a few weeks in if not for him.  

BADMINTON!