RESEARCH/ARTICLE: Cheat With Science: Learn a New Language Fast
From Wired Magazine August 2010...
By Katharine Gammon - July 28, 2010
Hablass Esspainyol? No? Well, no te preocupes. New research may help adult learners master foreign tongues. Scientists at the University of Haifa in Israel studied how language learners understood foreign words spoken in an authentic accent and those spoken in the learners’ native accent. They found that you get a lot less information from the people who actually know how to pronounce stuff. ¡Qué rico! So if you want to pick up a new lingo, take a new tack.
Illustration: Juan Leguizam
Don’t go Native
Start by listening to speakers who have your own linguistic background. That way the words are different—but not too different. Your brain will process the familiar sounds more easily, letting you focus.
Start by listening to speakers who have your own linguistic background. That way the words are different—but not too different. Your brain will process the familiar sounds more easily, letting you focus.
Don’t stress out
When you start working on the accent, don’t worry too much in the beginning about rolling that rrrrrrr or nailing the pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull. If you’re older than a teenager, your ear can’t pick up all the subtleties anyway.
Take it Slow
After you feel comfortable with the gringo accent and can hear the difference between pronunciations, start incorporating the correct sounds. Then panic about the weird alphabet and all the vocabulary. Bon chance!
Read More http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/st_cheat_learnlanguage/#ixzz1...
When you start working on the accent, don’t worry too much in the beginning about rolling that rrrrrrr or nailing the pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull. If you’re older than a teenager, your ear can’t pick up all the subtleties anyway.
Take it Slow
After you feel comfortable with the gringo accent and can hear the difference between pronunciations, start incorporating the correct sounds. Then panic about the weird alphabet and all the vocabulary. Bon chance!
Read More http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/st_cheat_learnlanguage/#ixzz1...
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