First method: languages. Ott Ojamets

      First method – languages

      INTRODUCTION

      Often when learning we act like others, and we presume that it´s the best way. But that is not always the case. This same principle goes for learning languages. If you want to learn languages fast, cheap and effectively then this book is for you.

      WHY A NEW LANGUAGE METHOD?

      I´ll describe in a few words how this material was born and the main reasons for it. Five years ago I went to Tallinn University to learn French and Spanish. Before that I had also learned several languages, but never acquired the level that I was hoping for. Of course I didn´t concentrate only on languages – life in general is too interesting to go crazy on one subject. In the university the learning process was also pretty slow, and because of that my motivation was taken to zero – I had the feeling that I was no good at memorizing words, understanding French dialogues (which to my ears sounded like Chinese for a long time) and the languages altogether were something really hard, not playful and interesting.

      I remember learning Spanish in a group with 40-50 students and consequently I only got a really basic level. I know that this is an extreme example but I´ve also learned in smaller groups. The main problem remains: a fundamental lack of interest, causing a lack of motivation, leading to failure.

      On the other hand languages always seemed to me to be something really useful. You can´t write in your CV that you´re fluent in biology, but if you write that you can speak French, Spanish and German then it really shows something.

      I decided to learn how to learn languages.It´s awkward in schools that we don´t have subjects about how to learn – for me it seems vital to know which methods to use and which road to take when approaching a language. I decided to hack languages open and understand the process of learning – to find the method that suits me best. And I found it.

      It´s really important to emphasize that everyone has their own perfect learning method and I think that using this book as a guide helps you to find your own.

      So, that´s how the fundamentals of this book were set into place. I was certain that if a language seems hard, then it’s the method that is to blame, and not the learner.

      I also want to emphasize that I´m a practitioner, and the ideas you find in this book have formed in my head only thanks to real-life practice.

      Learning with my method will give you the freedom to learn individually (without spending money on neither expensive language courses nor learning manuals) and to approach languages in a more effective way.

      If you learn languages at school or in language coursesthen this material can help you achieve good results with very little time as a useful guide to help you in your learning process. In Estonia – where this book was initially published – a great number of students from high schools and universities have discovered this material to be a powerful guide in understanding the learning process that works best for them.

      This book has sold a lot of copies in Estonia, where it has helped people from various professions and various ages.I´m glad that many language teachers have found ideas from this book that they can use in the classroom to make the learning experience more effective and enjoyable. Many people, from students to businessmen have found the language method they were looking for.

      As I said earlier, this material is based on my own experience.It´s an essence of a remarkable amount of knowledge that I´ve gathered and analyzed as a student at the university. It´s also an essence of my own experience as a teacher (I was a French teacher for four years in several schools, including language schools and also giving private lessons).

      You can take this book here and use its key ideas to learn languages in a more effective and simple way.

      To be frank, the only things that you need in order to learn a language is this book and the internet – everything else is in you.

      To have more background information about the language method and to discuss on subjects related to language learning, go to our language blog: http://thelanguagemethod.blogspot.com

      WHAT KIND OF A LEARNER AM I?

      Before learning anything it´s important to know what kind of a learner you are.

      Everyone is unique and so is the way their memory works. We memorize things differently. A simple way to explain it is to have three big groups: the ones who memorize best by hearing, others that memorize best by seeing and the ones that memorize best by feeling and connecting the knowledge with a memory or an emotion.

      Of course we all use these three ways of memorizing but with every person there is always one which is more important than the other. So before you begin to learn a language, make a few tests online to understand your strengths and how it is comfortable for you to learn.

      Firstly, find out which type are you by making the VAK-test online.

      Secondly you may want to do the “multiple intelligences test” to understand your learning skills even better.

      You can find all the necessary links on our language blog http://thelanguagemethod.blogspot.com on the page “Natural language learning”.

      Analyze the results of these two tests, and take your strengths into account when you learn the language.

      CAN I LEARN ANY LANGUAGE WITH THE LANGUAGE METHOD?

      Experience has shown that you can learn almost any language with my language method, provided that you can find radio podcasts and newspaper articles in that language.

      You also need a list of the most common words of a language, so you can definitely use my method with the languages that have their most common words listed on the Wikipedia word frequency site. Google “Wikipedia word frequency” and find out.

      I am yet to learn an oriental language myself, but am sure that this method is as applicable to them. I would encourage you first to apply this method to a language that is not significantly different from your own, for which the main criteria would be sharing an alphabet.