Comments on: Language Exposure is Worth It

By: Doug 陀愚

Doug 陀愚 — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:36:04 +0000

Hi Lissa and welcome to the JKLLR!

Sounds like you’ve been following the same windy path I have for a while. Glad I am not the only one.

But yeah, I totally agree. Even though I don’t understand the words in Korean much, I find I am getting used to the pace, tones, and those little intuitive bits. I really wish I had done this long ago with Japanese. I would haev started off much better rather than trying to catch up years later. Oh well, it’s all hindsight.

P.S. With regard to loving a language, I agree: it sort of becomes effortless when you can combine interests and a language you like.

By: Lissa Clouser

Lissa Clouser — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:54:17 +0000

Exposure is very important! I listened to lots of Japanese anime (un-dubbed) and Japanese music before I started formal lessons my last year of high school. It wasn’t until then I realized how much I had picked up and learned without noticing, just by listening to the language on a consistent basis. I already knew a few words and had a decent knowledge of speech-pacing, etc. It made structured lessons easier.

Now I’ve added Korean music and dramas to the list of what I often find myself listening to/watching. I have no structured Korean lessons just yet, but over the last 4 or 5 months of listening to the language I’ve already noticed I’m picking up on individual sounds, word breaks, pacing, and accents… even if I can’t translate more than a few words yet. When I first started it was just a jumble of unfamiliar sounds.

Besides, if you truly love a language enough to want to dedicate the time to learning it, wouldn’t you want to be exposed to it every chance you could get? =)

By: Doug 陀愚

Doug 陀愚 — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:21:33 +0000

Hi everyone and sorry for replying late:

timetales: Glad you enjoy. I went to France for a few days and didn’t learn much myself. :p

Jan: I remember a friend and co-worker who was Swedish and grew up in a small town way up north, but speaks brilliant English because he watched so much American TV growing up (with Swedish subtitles). It works, that’s for sure.

Pink Ninjabi: language study is always a good investment of time. Best of luck in your efforts.

Justin M. Smith Yeah, now if only I could follow my own advice more often.

By: Justin M. Smith

Justin M. Smith — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:06:35 +0000

Truer words have not been spoken, sir. Immersion is the key to fluency

By: Pink Ninjabi

Pink Ninjabi — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:28:50 +0000

Great encouraging post as I need to resume my Arabic studies after a three year hiatus. It can feel like little progress is made in language studies, by try we must!

Pink.

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:09:56 +0000

I’m having the same experiences. As I listen to jpop or watch Japanese films I’m gradually starting to understand more and more of what’s being said. One trick I’ve been doing recently is that if I’m rewatching a Japanese film that I’ve already seen (and so know the plot already) I’m switching off the subtitles and just listen on the dialogue while watching.
And actually exposure is basically how I learned English as well. I used to suck on it at school, but when my parents bought me a Playstation I gradually got really good at it.

By: timetales

timetales — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:19:39 +0000

I always enjoy your posts on Language when Iwent to France I crammed for a couple of months when I got to France and face to face with someone I forgot everything but after a week or so I started to understand what was being said even though I couldn’t speak it.