Following from this thread..
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2004/4543.htm
What would be the best way to get that particular "intuitive feel" of a language you are learning.
Is there a paraticular order of learning I should go about?
Do I need to be somehow enlightened and discover some kind of escrets to the language..
Seriously, I can understand English when I hear it.. but it's not easy for me to speak it because I feel like the new language is too foreign andnot really a language..
By full immersion of course. How else really?
I suppose..
Do you know any particulary effective method that can help me to immerse into the language?
Living in an Anglophone country, otherwise speaking regularly to those whose first language is English. And finally the media - listening to the radio and watching TV in English. Books are only good for fully grasping the underlying grammatical patterns of language.
Paul:
Mick is quite right...the best way to immerse yourself in any new language is to mix with native speakers and have the confidence to converse with them and not worry about any mistakes you make or think you will make. No-one will judge you or ridicule you. Language is a living thing spoken by real living people so Mick is right again...that approach is better than grammar text books.
Where do you live? Try listening to BBC radio, like the BBC World Service which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day. (MW 648 kHz; LW: 198kHz) A whole range of programs, not all of them heavy newscasts...some are lighthearted comedies and I think some plays and dramas. TV as well if you can pick up English speaking channels.
Best way, again as Mick says, go to an English speaking country and mix with us and have the confidence to do so. What better way is there than that to get "that intuitive feeling"? Of course any language other than your own is "foreign"! That's what makes it exciting.
btw: your written English is great!
Ok, I admit it, I was 'hoping' for a magic solution to my quest ^^;
Thanks guys for the replies and I do agree with all of you.
I wonder..why, then it's the best to immerse yourself into the world of natives to get that feel for it.. because no matter how many times you watch TV or listen to the radio, you are unlikely get to that level, where you are comfortably and confidently speak your mind without worrying about your accent or anything.
Is it because language acquisition ..engine(?) is most active when it's two way communication or..or.. is it because your brain is somehow turned on whenever somebody speak to you..
Can this uh..(whatever) the effect be simulated without actually meeting a native I wonder. For example, if I put a photo of English speaking person on the wall and try to talk to it all day, do you think I might have better chance of success than without it.
What if I imagine that the person on the teli is actually speaking directly to me, then do you think that would make any difference..
I know they sound like whacky ideas but I'm willing to try anything.
All those things help a lot Paul M, but your end goal is to eventually communicate with others in an English speaking setting where the feedback is instantaneous. (unlike that of a poster on a wall) So it's only normal that the stimuli would be far greater in a real situation than with your imaginery person. Put another way, it's easier to relate to something that's real than to something you know is virtual.