How to Learn a Foreign Language

The third step includes reading and translating what you’ve read.  This will improve a wide array of language skills including reading, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension.

 

At the beginning of your language learning journey, collect a large selection of reading material in your language.  Find newspapers, children’s books, novels, magazines, and articles. 

 

Choose a wide variety of materials especially those that are of interest to you.  You will be using this opportunity to pick up a lot of new vocabulary words.  Don’t choose a trade magazine in German about cars if you have absolutely no interest in cars.  You will only be learning words that have to do with cars that you will probably never use.

 

Children’s stories are great for learning basic words.  Also, the sentence structure is going to be simpler than in other forms and perfect for the beginner.  Newspapers are great to use because they will give you a variety of words that may be easy to integrate in your everyday life.  Also, the grammar is more advanced which is perfect for progression.

 

You will then choose a certain amount of text to read.  Again, choose according to how much time you will study.  This one is easier to manipulate, though.  If you choose to read 3 paragraphs and after your allotted time you’ve only read 2, you can stop.  The same goes for if you have extra time.  Just save a few minutes at the end.

 

Read the first sentence and translate the entire sentence, writing it word for word in your notebook.  You should devote a notebook for your translating.  Look up any words you are unsure of. 

 

Here are a few example sentences of how you would translate.  These sentences come for the Spanish verstion of Left Behind, Dejados Atras:

Spanish: Él sencillamente le dijo que sí a ambas cosas. 

English: He simply said yes to both.
Spanish: Estaba comprometido a no decir nada más, a menos que ella preguntara. 

English: He pledged not to say anything more, unless she asked.  Spanish: Esperaba y rogaba que su curiosidad sacara lo major de ella y si asì era, entonces él podría hacer justicia a lo que había sucedido allí ese día; quizá ella hubiera deseado haber estado allí. 

English: He hoped and prayed that her curiosity got the best of her and if it did, then he could do justice to what had happened there that day, perhaps she would have liked to have been there. 

When you are finished, write all the words that you didn’t know, either at the end of the translated paragraphs for that specific session, or in a separate section.  Do whatever works for you.  Write the word with its English translation. 

 

You can also write these on note cards if you want and add them to your vocabulary.  It will be in addition to your other vocabulary.  Read how to learn a language through translation for more information. 

If you want to learn more about this, get a copy of Barry Farber’s How to Learn any Language quickly, easily, inexpensively, and on your own..  It’s my favorite language learning book and I strongly recommend it.

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