Learning a new language?

[Strychnine]

Apparently, to build native-like fluency in a language you should learn it by age 10. Before 18 you still have a good shot too, but after that it just gets harder as time goes on.

Having said that, has anyone used Duolingo (or similar) to learn a new language?

[BradM]

I would really like to learn Spanish. I'm thinking about taking a class and making my wife go too so I have someone to practice with.

[Darren M]

Immerse yourself in the langauge. Seek every opportunity to use it. Eat at the restaurants that serve the food and speak the language. Get to know the staf and ask them to only speak in their tongue and correct you when you say something wrong. Go to that country and make the mistakes a child would make.

[cobrajet69]

I hacked a version of Rosetta Stone and worked on learning Italian for a while I found it incredibly easy to use but as said, if you don’t use it every day, you won’t be able to speak fluently or comprehend the same.

David

[BradM]

Go to that country and make the mistakes a child would make.

I kind of did this at an all inclusive in Cancun but it was the alcohol that made me child like. I did learn to say lo siento a lot.

[black2002ls]

I'm slowly learning spanglish...... When I first started building houses, I tried to learn a word a day. I would ask random trades how to say "bucket" in spanish. (Insert random word for bucket). That faded pretty quick, though the longer I have built houses, the more I have tried to use it every day at work. I have gotten quite a bit better, though most all of my spanish vocabulary, if it is actual spanish, is construction related. It has helped immensely with my sub contractors. They tend to work better for me when they see I am attempting to communicate with them using spanish.

[Strychnine]

Without immersion, or at least regular opportunities to verbalize, how much harder do you think it is?

I'd like to try to learn a new language. The one I'm surrounded by every day, and could nearly be immersed in if i wanted to be, is generally regarded as one of the very hard ones (Finnish) and is not on Duolingo yet. I have a French coworker who moved to Helsinki and he's trying to learn, but he's also in-country and taking classes at least once a week.

Or there's always Spanish, but mi Español amigos are few and far between these days.

¿Como se dice 'crash and burn' en Finlandés?

[Gasser64]

"nay fluent in gay lisp"

[JC316]

I can remember the most ridiculous crap you can imagine if it involves a password or numbers, but I have one hell of a time trying to learn a new language. I tried with spanish, failed miserably. The brain is a hell of a thing.

[Ruffdaddy]

I've "learned" Spanish twice now. It's amazing how perishable that skill is if its something you learned late in life.

I guess my recommendation is that if you can and will actually use it, it's a great idea. If you wont ne using it...your time is better spent learning a different skill that you will enjoy more or profit from (maybe both?!?!)

[Grape]

married my wife to learn Viet, however all i know after 5 years is when they are talking about fat white people.

[BradM]

married my wife to learn Viet, however all i know after 5 years is when they are talking about fat white people.

Damn, you REALLY wanted to learn.

[Ratt]

Apparently, to build native-like fluency in a language you should learn it by age 10. Before 18 you still have a good shot too, but after that it just gets harder as time goes on.

Having said that, has anyone used Duolingo (or similar) to learn a new language?

I started learning Mandarin when I was 24, after I met my wife, because her parents don't speak English at all. I took 9 hours of continuing education courses at a community college, and have been trying to learn it going on 7 years now, and some of the concepts still elude me to this day. I remember learning other languages in high school and it was so much easier.

[Baron Von Crowder]

married my wife to learn Viet, however all i know after 5 years is when they are talking about fat white people.

I learned it's been five years since we had lunch.

[CWO]

check out the Duolingo app, it is cheap and works quite well.