I am old enough that this was significantly more difficult in my time than it appears to be, now. Namely, lots of exposure.
Access to videos, even non-boring audio, not to mention to native speakers, was much more difficult and limited for the average language learner in the U.S. at that time.
For one foreign language, limited access to pop music that I rather enjoyed helped significantly. Listening to it repeatedly helped me absorb the sound of the language.
For another, a very early and successful foray into video taped lessons that had a running, dramatic and humorous story as a major component proved quite effective. SO much better than those dreadful, "repeter" audio cassettes. In addition to the language itself, the videos provided, without explicitly describing it all, a lot of cultural context.
Speaking and writing did, of course, also help. All the passive, listening and observing understanding does not fully form those neural pathways.
But when it did come to speaking and writing, I started off with a much better idea of how the language actually sounds, what the day-to-day idioms and colloquialisms are. I wasn't simply trying to translate my thoughts, word for word, into the other language -- something that often ends up sounding rather off and that, inadvertently, takes on different meanings from those intended.
When I arrived in one foreign city, acquaintances who eventually became friends told me that I sounded "like and old book". Because in my literature classes, that had been my primary exposure. With time in the "real", contemporary world of that language, this changed.
So, don't overdue or rely on "memorization". That conscious level activity has its limits. Take advantage of today's media-rich world to gain as much exposure as you can. And beware of the contexts of that media; just as in your native tongue, people speak differently in different contexts. Fortunately, e.g. in video, it's often easy to get some idea of what context is being portrayed.
Oh, and do read a lot, too. I have some exposure to a few languages orally, where I'd have a hard time writing down a few words much less complete sentences.
Nonetheless, you need the other exposure I describe to have a fuller sense of the language and to "sound right".
Comments
I am old enough that this was significantly more difficult in my time than it appears to be, now. Namely, lots of exposure.
Access to videos, even non-boring audio, not to mention to native speakers, was much more difficult and limited for the average language learner in the U.S. at that time.
For one foreign language, limited access to pop music that I rather enjoyed helped significantly. Listening to it repeatedly helped me absorb the sound of the language.
For another, a very early and successful foray into video taped lessons that had a running, dramatic and humorous story as a major component proved quite effective. SO much better than those dreadful, "repeter" audio cassettes. In addition to the language itself, the videos provided, without explicitly describing it all, a lot of cultural context.
Speaking and writing did, of course, also help. All the passive, listening and observing understanding does not fully form those neural pathways.
But when it did come to speaking and writing, I started off with a much better idea of how the language actually sounds, what the day-to-day idioms and colloquialisms are. I wasn't simply trying to translate my thoughts, word for word, into the other language -- something that often ends up sounding rather off and that, inadvertently, takes on different meanings from those intended.
When I arrived in one foreign city, acquaintances who eventually became friends told me that I sounded "like and old book". Because in my literature classes, that had been my primary exposure. With time in the "real", contemporary world of that language, this changed.
So, don't overdue or rely on "memorization". That conscious level activity has its limits. Take advantage of today's media-rich world to gain as much exposure as you can. And beware of the contexts of that media; just as in your native tongue, people speak differently in different contexts. Fortunately, e.g. in video, it's often easy to get some idea of what context is being portrayed.
Oh, and do read a lot, too. I have some exposure to a few languages orally, where I'd have a hard time writing down a few words much less complete sentences.
Nonetheless, you need the other exposure I describe to have a fuller sense of the language and to "sound right".