Easiest way to learn a language?

Question

My fiancee is chinese and speaks cantonese I've picked up some words from his family over the years but I want to learn to speak it fluently does anyone know any courses with cds or tapes so I can hear it? and do these work?

I speak english german and spanish fluently but I grew up speaking these in my family is it alot harder to learn when your older?

Answer 1

Yes, it is generally more difficult for adults to learn a new language than children, because children do it automatically while adults usually put in some kind of thought. Adults also usually don't get to be as proficient as children. Nevertheless, you can learn.

In general, get as much exposure as possible to the language that you are trying to learn. Translation or reading subtitles doesn't usually work well because if you have a translation available your mind doesn't have to pay attention to the Cantonese to learn it. I'm not aware of any good courses with CDs or tapes but I would avoid any course that gives you the English translation of the sentences it is trying to teach, and so forth.

I personally believe that a regular language course with a well-trained teacher might give you the best chance of success. But you can even learn a lot from your fiance and his family just by spending time with them and listening carefully.

Have a great time with language learning!

Answer 2

Perhaps the best way to learn is to go to China and just speak and listen in Chinese. Cut off all your access to English. This is vital. The language centres of your mind will then focus more acutely on the Chinese language. Also another trick is to listen to words that you hear repeated a couple of times write them down in a notebook that you carry with you and learn them. These will be the most common words. When you have learned all the most common words the other words can be filled in more easily later on.
As you get older you have a vast knowledge bank and this can get in the way of learning a new language, especially the specific sounds of the new language (the phonemes)

Answer 3

Well, I always tell people to marry a person who speaks the language you want to learn. The second (first?) best way is to go to the country. The other way which normal people have to do is to get Pimsleur Cantonese and listen to it EVERYDAY.

Answer 4

You can use the "Crazy Chinese" which is edited LI Yang.李阳

Answer 5

Firstly , have the basic knowledge of that language.