Wikijunior talk:Languages/Introduction

What is not a language?
I think the analogy between traffic lights and languages is a logical short circuit. Just like the "language" of a traffic light, so are our languages limited. We can only express a limited number of objects, feelings, phenomena etc. If you want to differentiate the language of a traffic light and the verbal language of a human being, you should establish other parameters for differentiation. (Rich)

My friends and I would like to have a secret language - Link
http://members.aol.com/sylvanz/pjcont.htm redirects to http://www.peopleconnectionblog.com/2008/11/06/hometown-has-been-shutdown with the message "Hometown Has Been Shutdown. Dear AOL Hometown user,We're sorry to inform you that as of Oct. 31, 2008, AOL® Hometown was shut down permanently. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

Perhaps another website can replace it.

122.108.147.164 (talk) 15:26, 19 January 2009 (UTC)Anonymous

Request building a chapter on "I would like to learn another language!"
Herewith an assist. --SvenAERTS (discuss • contribs) 21:26, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

What is the best way to start learning a language?
I think the best way to start learning a language is:
 * be realistic, prepared and efficient: with some 600 hours of learning and training, you'll get really far. With a bit of luck, the language you learn and your own language have some words that are very similar.  They're called cognates.  Starting learning these ones would result in some quick-wins it seems to me.  Then of course it's for most people a matter of motivation and learning and rehearsing regularly.
 * optimize for what you want to achieve. In this linked article a person wrote to have been able to understand a Japanese TV series after 30 days, test at A2 level in Finnish after 30 days, give a public speech in Indonesian after 6 weeks, and so on. It's all a matter of optimization for your goal. https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-quickly-and-efficiently-learn-a-new-language
 * regularity: most people only learn 2 hours every week. That's too far spaced out for our brain.  There's an interesting learning project based upon research on how fast we forget things led by a Professor in Ghent: Mnemosyne.  The result is an open and free little program like a card system where you put on one side the phrase you want to learn in your language and the translation on the other side.  The smart thing about Mnemosyne is that the program has a smart algorithm and will present the card to your brain, just when your brain is about to forget it, thus optimizing and speeding up learning that other language !
 * immersion: check out your ministry of education. Good chance there are grants and projects to travel abroad for language learning.  Example: in the European Union, The European Day of Languages is a yearly event held on 26 September. There are funded exchanges between youth organisations from different language groups, International camps on a wide variety of topics where you can participate in together with some 20-40 people of your age with the same interest but a all speaking different languages.  There is the funded European Volunteer Service and young professional programs where you can go work in another country, etc. etc.   More: http://ec.europa.eu/languages/index_en.htm
 * motivation
 * variation: learning in a class room and studying vocabulary is one thing, but things will become much more passionate when you have a trip in foresight to the country where they actually speak the language. Imagine you go on a youth exchange and you make a native speaker friend.  Maybe your friend can share you some of the best movies in their language and you can watch it.  Or what about some songs? That will bring some variation to your language learning and slowly but surely you'll get better and better.

Quick-wins: do you know what cognates are?
Cognates are words that are very similar in different languages, for example your language and the language you would like to learn. Wouldn't it be great if you could help making a card system where you put on one side the word or simple phrase in your language and on the other side the words in the language you want to learn and that are very similar? That way you would make very quickly progress from the start. That sounds encouraging, doesn't it? Example. Imagine your friend speaks french and wants to learn english. The word for "a language" in french is "une langue". Another one: "the temperature", in french is "la temperature". Pretty similar aren't they? If you are a witted kind of person, you can help building such a list of cognates in Project Cognates, or you can have a look if such a list already exist for your language and the language you want to learn.

How long does it take to learn a language?
With some 600 hours of learning and training, you'll get really far. With a bit of luck, the language you learn and your own language have some words that are very similar. They're called cognates. Starting learning these ones would result in some quick-wins it seems to me. You can also optimize for what you want to achieve. In this linked article a person wrote to have been able to understand a Japanese TV series after 30 days, test at A2 level in Finnish after 30 days, give a public speech in Indonesian after 6 weeks, and so on. It's all a matter of optimization for your goal. https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-quickly-and-efficiently-learn-a-new-language