How many languages do you speak? Have you always wanted to learn another language? Maybe you have your answer in the listening-reading method.
Learning a new language is more than being able to communicate in another country. After all, a few smittens of English will normally get you very far in most countries of the world.
No, learning a language gives you access to the culture of a country in a way that only the locals can do.
The only problem is that learning a language is a hell of a steep learning curve. Many people throw the towel in early. It seems that you can only learn if you are forced to at school or out of necessity if you are already living in another country. Even then, your progress can be severely limited.
Do you remember that movie, Splash, with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah? I was always amazed at how Daryl Hannah’s character was able to learn English by watching TV for a day! Can it really be done?
Actually, there is a method called the Listening-Reading Method (L-R method) that some people have used successfully to learn a language within days!
What you need to go is grab yourself a novel in your own language, the target language plus an audio of the novel in the target language.
So, let’s take a real example: I want to learn Dutch so I’ve obtained an English copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I’ve also obtained a text and audio of the Dutch language version: Harry Potter en de Geheime Kamer.
- First read the English language book so that I can internalise the story. This way when I read or listen to the Dutch version, I will immediately recognise some things because I already have a knowledge of the story.
- Second, listen to the Dutch audio and read the Dutch text at the same time. You know how a foreign language just sounds like gibberish at first and whilst you might be able to separate out the syllables, you really have no clue how to separate out the words. This technique will help you to do that and by the end of the novel, people won’t feel like they are talking “too fast” anymore.
- Third, listen to the Dutch audio but read the English text at the same time. Apparently, this is when the majority of the learning happens. It is recommended that you read the text like this 3 times.
- Lastly, translate the Dutch novel into English yourself. By now, you should be able to do this.
You can read the original description of the L-R method here:
Language Learning Forum – Listening-Reading system.