Of course, the number of people I could find to converse with in Latin, ancient Greek, or ancient Egyptian probably isn't sizable, but oh well.
~Meryat
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| Celtic Radio Community > Gaelic Languages > Language Learning Strategies |
| Posted by: Meryat 05-Nov-2004, 07:57 PM |
| I'm interested in learning several different languages, but it seems like I never get beyond the dictionary-in-hand stage. I was just wondering if any of you out there had any good ideas for becoming more fluent. Of course, the number of people I could find to converse with in Latin, ancient Greek, or ancient Egyptian probably isn't sizable, but oh well. ~Meryat |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 06-Nov-2004, 04:41 AM |
Danann is our resident linguist. I generally find that starting with phonetics, then simple common phrases such as 'how are you' and 'what's your name' tend to be enough to get things rolling. Gaelic and Elven are the only languages though that I have tried to learn outside of a classroom, I have found that this is, indeed, not an easy task. Slow and study  |
| Posted by: maisky 06-Nov-2004, 05:41 AM |
| Getting lost in the capital city of a country where it is spoken helps, too. You will be surprised how fast you learn. |
| Posted by: Meryat 06-Nov-2004, 11:53 AM |
| Poor maisky!! That would be a good way to learn, but I can't imagine it'd be particularly pleasant. I've tried learning common phrases that I use in Latin, and that worked really well for those phrases. ... It also had the interesting side effect of causing me to respond to my friends in Latin instead of English at times. I'd like to try the same thing with the other languages I'm learning, but it's really difficult when the main resources tend to be dictionaries that translate into English (and not the other way around) or books that prepare you for reading literature, neither of which is particularly helpful. I'd be happy at this point with some way to retain all the words I come across. Right now, I read 200 lines of ancient Greek literature for class each week, with probably about 400 words that I have to look up. At least with the Medea, I have a luxury I didn't with the Alcestis: I'm never going to be tested on my ability to translate it, so I can concentrate on learning the more common words (so I can stop looking them up all the time  ) instead of having to try to learn everything, even if it's only used once.~Meryat |
| Posted by: Meryat 06-Nov-2004, 11:56 AM |
| I took 2 and 2/3 of a year of Latin in high school. (I moved.) I'm currently in my 7th semester of ancient Greek in college, my 5th of reading literature. Ancient Egyptian, along with Irish, Japanese, and anything else I can pick up are solely pursued in my free time. ~Meryat |
| Posted by: cori 06-Nov-2004, 01:26 PM |
Ancient Egyptian? Nope, I'm afraid I canna help ye there. I do know several people who speak Ancient Greek, but it would be hard to converse over the net with them. Good luck in your studies! You seem a determined person to be undertaking such languages.  |
| Posted by: dragonboy3611 06-Nov-2004, 03:23 PM | ||
My sister knows ancient egyption. She's an egyptologist and knows like 7 or 8 langauges. I get them confused myself. LOL. She's an Egyptologist/Anthropologist for mummies and the like. I forget the scientific name..it's too long to think of right now! |
| Posted by: Annham 06-Nov-2004, 04:46 PM |
| I found that making flashcards for words and going through them during any spare time I had helped me when I was learning German. I used 3x5 index cards, alphabetized dividers and a shoebox... By the end, I had a whole shoebox full. After a while, the "pictures" of the words on the cards become imprinted in your mind's eye and you can "see" them when you need them... Anne |
| Posted by: Annham 06-Nov-2004, 04:54 PM | ||
*Sigh*, Wow, that's my dream job Really, I'd love to be an archaeologist, anywhere in the world... I can't stand hot weather, but give me little patch of history and I could get out there and dig all day no matter what the temps. Anne |
| Posted by: greenldydragon 06-Nov-2004, 05:51 PM |
| Notecards are really helpful! I'd love to learn Latin, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Egyptian, my hats off to you for trying to actually learn them Meryat! Good luck! |
| Posted by: Meryat 07-Nov-2004, 01:23 AM |
| I've tried flashcards, and they're usually how I learn best. I always get really frustrated, though, because at the point I'm at now, words are no longer in vocabulary lists, and I never know whether I've already got a card for a word or not. I really hate having duplicate cards because it takes so much time to make them in the first place, and I'm generally running a bit short on time. I keep trying to do flashcards on the computer, but I can't find any freeware flashcard applications that use unicode (which I need for the Greek characters) for Windows. I know a way to represent the Greek characters in ASCII, but it's so much better to see it in Greek characters; it makes it easier when I see it in texts. ~Meryat |
| Posted by: Meryat 07-Nov-2004, 01:28 AM | ||
I'm so jealous of your sister, dragonboy. I wish I knew that many languages. ~Meryat |
| Posted by: Annham 07-Nov-2004, 05:12 AM | ||
Meryat, It may not help, but If you alphabetize your cards, there isn't as much trouble with duplicates, I found that if I had a duplicate card, just another chance to remember it. And, If you can read by context now, just take the first ten or so words per reading session or something like that to write down & keep... Good Luck, What do you use all of those languages for?  Anne |
| Posted by: Meryat 07-Nov-2004, 11:55 AM |
| Good idea on just taking a few of the words to learn! I think part of my problem is just having so many words that I don't know where to start. And as far as what I use them for, all sorts of things. I love reading literature in its original tongue. Many of the ancient writers are hilarious and have a wonderful sense of humor. With Latin, I'll sometimes write poetry. Because of the ability to alter word order even more drastically in Latin poetry than in English, it's possible to express all sorts of little nuances, showing what things are important and what ideas are connected to which other ideas. I hope to know enough Greek to write poetry at some point, but most of what I know is from either epic poems, tragedies, or law speeches, which are generally not words I would be using in poetry. I also hope someday to be know Latin or Greek sufficiently to write proper Latin/Greek poetry, that is, poetry that actually scans according to the patterns used by ancient poets. I like thinking that by learning ancient languages, I'm helping keep them alive so that their knowledge isn't lost in future generations. I hope to someday be able to create computer tools specifically for learning ancient languages, in the hopes of sparking more interest in people learning them at younger ages, when they can more easily pick up words (like I wish I'd had the opportunity to do )~Meryat |
| Posted by: Annham 07-Nov-2004, 05:36 PM |
| That's interesting, Good luck with your learning. Anne |
| Posted by: stoirmeil 07-Nov-2004, 07:41 PM |
I'm in the beginning stages of learning gaidhlig. The first thing I found out is that it is NOT Irish. (duh) I have some friends who know Irish, and we compared a few simple greetings . . . not.  I guess I am a sucker for endangered languages, since I've done this before. About 20 years ago I set out to learn Yiddish, and after some time became quite fluent and then taught it for years. But gaidligh was deeper in my heart even then, and I wish I had not waited so long. Flash cards are nice, for vocabulary, but not as much help for grammar. Another thing that works very well if you are taking a class is to over-learn by taking your book exercises and substituting other vocabulary into them, so you work with the grammar forms as much as possible without getting bored. You can also take a well-known book (the bible works -- or the Little Prince, or even Harry Potter) that's been translated into the language you are learning, and track it from English to the other language in little chunks. Children's songs and simpler folk songs are very good for this too. And you take note of the structures as much as the vocabulary. I guess the best thing is to do a bit every day, and trust your brain to get it in its own good time, cos it will. And have somebody to talk to, or read with.Ah -- Runrig is on with The Summer Walkers. Excuse me while I bellow. "And the long winding shores of Loch Maree. . . " |
| Posted by: dragonboy3611 08-Nov-2004, 10:28 AM | ||||
Hehe...I could give you my sisters AIM address or email address if you would like! |
| Posted by: Meryat 09-Nov-2004, 05:16 PM |
| My AIM name is on my profile page; I'd love to hear from some of you. This is the first discussion I've participated in that's not over in the news section, and I'm so excited to be part of such a friendly community. ~Meryat |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 27-Jan-2005, 09:49 PM |
| I recommend speaking some of the language you are learning EVERY DAY! Even if it is just to your dog, or to yourself, speak it out loud. Also I try to do at least 30 minutes of work everyday, whether its in my lesson books, translating verses from the Gàidhlig Bible, reading in my Gaelic phrase book, etc. Also try to listen to some of your language everyday! This is easy for us, since we enjoy Celtic music! For those learning Scottish Gaelic, I recommend listening to Capercaillie, Distant Oaks or Mary Jane Lamond. I also understand that Runrig has some songs in Scottish Gaelic, but I don't have any of their albums. Some good books I would like to recommend: How to Learn a Foreign Language by Graham E. Fuller How to Learn Any Language by Barry Farber Help your Child With a Foreign Language by Opal Dunn (though written to help children, these techniques are easily adapted to help an adult) These three books are crammed full of ideas to help you learn! |
| Posted by: Celtic cat 12-Mar-2005, 09:11 PM |
| I have to really admire you as well for actually getting started. I fell like a bard sometimes, I want to learn everything but never get good at anything. Other wise my boyfriend is taking Latin in college and has become quite fond of it. If you can afford the classes maybe you can take them at your college and Audit (no credit) them. |
| Posted by: IrishBecca30 14-Mar-2005, 12:06 PM |
I've been slowly learing the Irish Celtic Language, It's not easy by any means, but it sure is fun.  |
| Posted by: gwenynen 12-May-2005, 03:44 PM | ||
Hi Meryat, I usually stay in the Welsh threads but couldn't resist writing to you. I cordially invite you to start learning Welsh which is an ancient language and in need of support from as many people as possible for its survival. With your aptitude for hard languages, I'm sure you'll make fast progress. I think Japanese could be classified together with Ancient Egiptian and Greek. It's so different from other languages and difficult. One difference must be it's a live language, quite official in Japan. If you need a partner to practice it, I'm at your service. |
| Posted by: gwenynen 20-May-2005, 10:42 PM |
| Wizard, thanks for recommending those books. I read one of them, "How to Learn Any Language" by Barry Farber. It has lots of practical advice, though serious learners may already be doing some of the workouts. It's helped me to be more deligient in using any spare mement to learn Welsh (I now have my flash cards by the computer and use them while I wait for a website to be loaded.) I ought to make more conscious efforts to think in Welsh and speak aloud. It tells you how to memorize new words by making a picture about them in your head. I heard it before and was rather sceptical. But when he said it doesn't work for some words which ought to be learned in the conventional way, it seemed more believable. Actually it works. I was surprised to find myself remembering the Spanish word for 'old' when I didn't even tried to, and I haven't studied any Spanish before. I tried on a Welsh word and it worked. There are some things he says I don't agree with. And his list of world's principal languages doesn't include Welsh! (though he lists extremely minor languages.) The book was written before the age of internet. But overall, it's very helpful and entertaining too. |