General question about learning languages

how long for me? a lifetime

i dont mean how long for all of them combined just an estimate for each one (whichever ones you can comment on). also forgot to mention to assume the person learning only knows English if that makes a difference.

also a follow-up question: how much more quickly would someone learn these languages with a tutor as opposed to using Rosetta Stone or whatever?

FWIW, I hear that past the age of 7 or 8, a person can not become completely fluent as a native speaker, but again I digress.

I have heard amazing things about Dwight Gradin Method..(PILAT) and some deep intent. Immersion whenever possible; that is, to find a community where English isn't spoken but your target would be to go there and spend as much time as possible. Also recommended is
Rosetta Stone.

I would think one year would be reasonable based on your 10 hr per week estimates. I understand that Mandarin and German are harder than other languages wheras the easiest is Spanish, relatively speaking.

Anyone that claims to be able to give a more accurate answer could be fairly inaccurate as this is VERY individual. It depends on the level of immersion in the language. I would think you might get the answer by directing this question to a college or HS language teacher.

My native language is German.

Well, to speak the language grammatically correct, it can take you a few years. I say that, because many of the foreigners I know, still make mistakes after using German every day.
But you will be able to communicate soon. I estimate, it will last just a few months until you can take part in a common discussion without having troubles to understand. If yoo want to go abroad for learning German, I suggest Germany. Don't try to improve your skills in Austria or Switzerland. In both countries a dialect is spoken, that differs much from "original" German.

Hope you will have fun, while learning German. :wink:

Hmm, I always had the impression that German was the easiest of the ones I listed and Mandarin or French was the most difficult.

I've heard reccomendations for both Rosetta Stone, and Tell me More. I haven't tried either, so won't endorse them.

In the US, spanish is probably the easiest to learn just because you can find it in every day life.

The European languages will probably be easier than Mandarin just because they share many word roots and language structure as well as the alphabet.

I thought English came from a proto-Germanic language, so it might be the easiest to learn.

Re: General question about learning languages


6 months to a year per language at those rates assuming average ability to learn languages.



Depends on the tutor and other variables. See, software can be used outside of classtime so can speed things up as there's no limitation of tutor time.

As to which is inherently more effective I would say that at the very basic levels software can outperform a human and often does. After the very basics software's ability to teach is limited.

In short, teachers tend to teach language in ways that are not the best. They explain grammar and use a language you understand to translate to you. Humans don't learn their first language this way and more rote-based teaching is needed. However rote-based teaching is not always easy for a human teacher but some software (like Rosetta) do a good job.

But once you get past a couple hundred words a tutor is much better.

I go to class 3 hours a week, tutor center a hour a week, play with online programs sometimes, listen to cds in the car, study a few hours a week at home ( writing+ memorization), and I am still not fluent in French. Been doing this for 3 weeks, Mark Twain says it takes the average person 3 hours to learn English, 30 days to learn French, and 30 years to learn German. lol

Hi

I have studied both French and German, also five other languages not on your list. I would say French is easier than German, because German is an inflected language. That is to say, the articles and the noun/adjectival endings change according to the grammatical function. Also there are three genders in German (masculine, feminine and neuter) while in French there are only two.

So if you want to say 'I hit the big ball' or 'The big ball hit me', in English 'I' changes to 'me' when it moves from subject to object. But in German, 'the' 'big' and 'ball' will also change. And they don't necessarily all change in the same way. There are different declensions to memorize. But as the native German speaker mentioned, you will probably be able to make yourself understood even if you mess up the case endings. Just as you would understand a foreigner who said, 'I'm hitted big ball.'

There are many Latin cognates in English, which means that a lot of our long latinate words are very similar in French. For example, 'bureau' in French means 'office', thus our word 'bureaucratic'. So 'suffiser' means 'to suffice'.

German and English, however, both come from the same root 'Gothic' language, so there are certain similarities there, too, usually with the shorter, simpler English words. So 'Erd' in German is 'earth' in English, and that helps, too.

Ten hours a week isn't bad, but it's really impossible to predict the length of time you'll need to be reasonably functional in a foreign language. So many things influence one's progress. Do you have native speakers handy? Are you in the language environment? Do you have other students to practise with? How dedicated are you? Why are you studying the language--are you highly motivated?

I should imagine Mandarin is the absolute hardest for foreigners to study--isn't it a tonal language? And then, no alphabet, just all those signs to memorize. In Arabic, it's the verbs. Greek verbs, too, are (ahem!) not easy, shall we say? I guess every language has something to trip you up. But for a first outing, I'd go for French. Provided it interests you.