This book is pretty good. Its full of some good ideas and interesting trivia.
http://thpt-luongthevinh.com/dulieu/ebook/HowtoLearnAnyLanguage.pdf
Thanks, Geoff, for posting the link. I just finished the book and I liked it, too. One feels inspired to take on any language after this: be it Farsi or Finnish or French. My only problem with it was the fact that the author didn’t like Latin!!! He missed day IV of his Latin learning and got lost and decided he didn’t like the language, but managed to keep his linguistic appetites intact. And learned an awesome total of 17 languages (over several decades, but still). Further, I cannot really come to terms with his stance on grammar: he doesn’t like it!!! Well, learning as many languages as he did, he has not really been able to avoid it, but it always serves as a means to an end. But I do realize that not many people love grammar or study languages for that reason alone . . .
I have just started reading this and already I’m hooked! (Unfortunately I am also at work and they do expect me to do stuff other than learn languages while I’m here!) I am also pleased to see that he agrees with me about using all those odd minutes to learn things, but of course I didn’t agree with the parts about Latin.
Can’t wait to finish this book.
I’ve read lots of what he has to say. Though I disagree with his dissing of Latin (uae ei! uae mihi!), I’ve come to agree after almost a year that he’s right about the grammar (he’s not saying don’t know it, just don’t let it take you over, let it do its work implicitly). ‘Multi-track attack’, definitely. Just a couple of exceptions to what he says overall for the ancient tongues but that might be my own learning style.
Anyway Kynetus (where have you gone mi Kynete? I owe you very many thanks!) implored us to record ourselves at least and really listen to what we were saying. This truly works (I had something against the Latin passive until I heard myself saying it repeatedly and then it just clicked). Aural conditioning is remarkable. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who can hear. And if you’re deaf, start signing and taping yourself doing it. All I can say is it comes alive.
Lucus was right, there is no better way to learn than through engaging and moving context (you can do it the other way but why learn so harshly when there’s something so much more painless if you have the drive?) As Pound said, and I’m sure I’m repeating myself from an earlier post, we can read the page blindly if we don’t really know what the other person is talking about.
Also I think that this point is only semi-correct:
Profanity and Vulgarity
Forget it. Whoever uses foul language even in English among people he doesn’t know well loses standing. When you go out
of your way to use bad language in a foreign language, it’s much worse.
Sure, the other guy’s garbage is fun to know, but it’s tacky, so leave it alone. It’s all right to get command of their
unacceptable terms for defensive purposes only-so you’ll know what not to say and be able to exercise caution when using
words dangerously similar to the no-no words.
It’s a good idea to follow Maimonides on this one: "What is lofty may be said in any language. What is mean should be said in none.
I personally needed a list of as many of the nasty words in Latin as I could get my hands on to really make the language human. If it’s interesting, then learn it. One should know better than to use it among people you’re not fully comfortable with, I mean it’s very situational. But to avoid learning it (if it thrills you, if it attracts you) is wrong.