This is a excellent article for students and independent learners, which explains the most effective techniques for learning any material.
It was written by learning scientist and spaced repetition software creator, Piotr Wozniak, and explains the simple rules we should follow to create the most efficient flashcard decks for use in SRS programs, such as Memrise.
https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules
Happy New Year and Happy Learning!
XVG11,
Thank you very much for this most informative article. I intend to read through this more carefully after having skim read the article. The one thing that immediately jumps up is the first rule which states: Do not learn if you do not understand. This rule applies literally to anything you want to learn. There are a good handful of organisations that promote their language courses stating that you can speak this language or that one very quickly. This may be true but to truly understand a language, it behoves an individual to learn its grammar and understand therefore the principles of putting together a sentence. Anyway, you have my thanks
Youāre welcome!
I agree with you about languages. I think itās much more valuable to work on understanding and mastering how the language works, and why things are expressed the way they are in that language, rather than trying to memorize a huge list of words and phrases, or even grammar rules, without true understanding.
Iām reminded of the experience of an acquaintance, who, after being a high-school Spanish teacher for over ten years, decided to take a trip to Spain. When she got there, she discovered to her great embarrassment that she couldnāt actually speak or understand Spanish. Although she had ālearnedā the subject in college, and passed all her courses, she never really understood it, and couldnāt put into practice any of the knowledge she supposedly had.
The best way to learn a language is to live among the native speakers. Once I shifted to England with my English wife in 1966, I quickly found out that there was a huge difference between English learned at school (in The Netherlands in this instance) and the English spoken and written in the UK. Since then I have furthered my studies of English plus a few other languages) and have lived in an English speaking environment ever since. However, to experience āproper Aussie languageā is something else again. It took me a while to understand expressions like: 'this arvo (this afternoon), a barbie (barbecue), fair dinkum (seriously?, for real?), pollies for politicians and the list goes on. Now I am studying Esperanto, but contrary to assertions of some people, Esperanto is not as easy as one makes out. The basic grammar rules appear easy until you start seriously delving into the finer points of grammar. Again I state that by merely learning long lists of words, you still will not be able to stitch a sentence together. I wonder to what extent Memrise is capable of having grammar in its courses.
@Arkonide ~ I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that the best way to learn a language is to live among native speakers. In my case, I thought my Mandarin learning capability was going along smoothly, prior to our moving to Taiwan. But now that we have been here for a good while, I realize there are many, many things about a language one cannot learn in a classroom, from textbooks, computer courses, etc.
Native speakers are some of the best teachers around (and also ironically some of the most confusing, since they often take āshortcutsā with their language and never explain to clueless refugees why this is. It is only with time that one begins to figure things out, and ironically enough, begins to take the same shortcuts as well. Imitation truly is the best form of flattery.)
While not everyone can ālive among the nativesā, one should at least try to find some ānativesā with whom one can communicate (either verbally or in print, or both) as this will probably escalate oneās learning curve dramatically.
Languages are dynamic and synergistic. Computer courses, textbooks, etc, often just facilitate one-way learning. The more one can facilitate two-way learning situations (peer-to-peer) in the target language, the better ~ and the more enjoyable ! At least IMHO.
I agree that immersion among native speakers is irreplaceable for perfecting your mastery of a language.
True mastery of any complex subject requires a combination of solid formal study of the theory, and solid real-world practice in the field. Thatās why licensed professionals, such as physicians, nurses, engineers etc., have to take both formal education from classroom study, and must do supervised field work, before they are granted licenses, and considered minimally qualified to practice their professions.
And I think that this requirement is as true for languages as for any other field. Natural human languages are far too complex to ever condense into a textbook or multiple textbooks, but if you forego the textbooks, and just try to learn by observing and imitating natives, you will have huge gaps in your knowledge, without realizing it, until you suddenly need those skills, and discover that you donāt have them. Even native speakers of a language benefit from formal study of their mother tongue, and thus are required to take classes in it throughout their primary and secondary school years.
XVG11, I continue to agree with you. It is one of the reasons why I have studied English in addition to being immersed among native speakers as expressed by PDAO. All you need to do is listen to TV programs and be amazed how many errors in grammar occur. I do not know about other countries but can tell you that there now is a lot of discussion in Australia about literacy or rather the lack thereof. When children are brought up communicating almost exclusively by means of mobiles and emails and often create an abbreviated form of English, there are bound to be ramifications. Employers increasingly complain about applicants who are not able to write a letter or speak correct English for that matter. Another interesting aspect is that many can barely write but are great in typing fast and furiously. PDAO, you see that I also agree with your observations here.