To learn a language

I have used duolingo in the past and have a couple of apps on my phone, but the vocab never sticks.

I go through phases off doing them, but it is all forgotten within weeks. It seems that electronic input i.e. by typing on laptop or similar does not enter my long term memory.

Is this the same for anyone else?

I learnt the most learning by rote. I got a verb drill book and learnt the format for most tenses in Spanish. I know how to formulate nearly all the tenses in them by repeatedly writing them down in pen and ink, verb by verb.

I know this is a long winded method but it seems it is the only one that really works for me. Write it down, say it out loud and write it again.

I have to add to my verb compendium, but struggle to find the motivation to get going on it. I need to dedicate an hour or so a day on it. Really get into a rhythm like I do for my meditation and yoga.

The cheat method of typing on a computer is easy and simply doesn’t work.

How to get my arse in gear?

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I recently learned enough Italian to converse a little with an Italian guest at the hotel where I work. (Yes, I know Clint Barton’s second language is Italian. That former delusion wasn’t the reason I learned it. I learned it because I want to visit the coast of Acireale, Sicily some day.)

I basically found out that I don’t have enough free time right now to learn the language properly. I further found out that even Italians often have trouble understanding their many local dialects.

I guess my plan may have to be making some distant friends, or paying a tutor from Jaci (Acireale) to learn the local dialect, or going there and THEN learning the language.

Le sigh.

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Meet a woman who knows the lingo?

I had a dictator teacher, with a cruelty for writing on blackboards and saying something cruel if you did something wrong. Seemed to help…

Alternatively moon walking with Einstein was interesting - can learn mnemonics that way. It’s a useful book
But you said you prefer route.

Had a friend who learnt using films in subtitles and alternatively singing songs.

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I don’t prefer it :smiley: It is tiresome and boring, it just happens to work better than any other method I tried.

If I want to do something it takes effort. That much I realise. I just need to get up and at it.

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Just wondering if there is an inventive way you could go for a walk and practice labeling objects and occurrences somehow. And on each try, you improve. If you carry a translation dictionary with you on your walk? Then you can test your mind and memory against reality instead of a notebook? I think this can help with dyslexia, this kind of thing, when people have difficulty memorising verbally, they use kinesthetic ways of remembering.

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Or you could try getting a penpal. Maybe if your involved in communication that way you’d remember it easier maybe. But im not sure.

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Well, supposedly there were Minecraft servers or “Islands” for learning languages in the past. I haven’t found them recently, though.

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Thats sounds pretty cool.

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Now that is an app worth making! :money_mouth_face:

There is a plant recognition app, so it is not out of the realms of possibility.

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Yes it kind of dissapoints me - that there arent more weird and wonderful learning games. Make life experience more interesting and fun maybe.

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I learnt a map of a city on a ps3 game once, so there is no reason why something similar couldn’t be achieved on a ps5 game, but I have searched countless times for language learning games on the playstation over the decades and alas, nothing!

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“Gamification” in general seems to be taking a long time to get much traction.

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Even for students of any secondary school subject, it could be used. I even thought of writing a business plan for learning on a console company once.

The thing with a console is that it often means repitition and that works for me.

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Too much procrastination from myself. It is like I’ve said before that those who plan to do something ahead barely ever get around to it.

I have an app which has got 1000 verbs and all the tenses on it to learn, so it is easy to access.

No time like the present! See you in an hour or so!

:slight_smile:

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Yes maybe for economical reasons. The system selects that learning has to have a cost and so must be exclusively specialised - all must be indebted to serve. I like the idea of people having more freedoms. But that probably wouldn’t work in a legitimised economy that works as undemocratic.

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I don’t know why.

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Discobot, why hasn’t gamification progressed more in more endeavors?

@discobot quote

:left_speech_bubble: Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. — Winston Churchill

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Maybe discobot is saying you are right. Maybe gamification would improve education too much for the tastes of some decision makers. Thanks for pointing that out. @Nimbus

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45 minutes and 3 verbs all tenses refreshed!

I aim to do 3 verbs, 20 tenses or so everyday.

My fitness tracker didn’t like it though. Sedentary buzzing. :smiley:

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