How to learn a different language?

@Rhombus (356)
South Africa
June 17, 2017 3:01am CST
My husband is Greek, as well as some of my own ancestors. I've tried a couple of YouTube videos etc, but need some advice. I ideally would rather learn to read and write the language. Any schoolteachers here with the steps to take? How do you teach someone to read?
10 people like this
10 responses
@annierose (21588)
• Philippines
17 Jun 17
Oh, learning a different language is challenging but enjoyable. I am trying to learn Korean. It takes time. And we need to be consistent on studying it or else we will forget what we learned.
2 people like this
@annierose (21588)
• Philippines
17 Jun 17
@Rhombus Do you have someone to practice to on those languages?
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
@annierose yes, my husband is fluent. I'm more interested in the Reading part. Although presume they go together..
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
That's so true. I tend to forget really quickly. I also battle with languages, here we have eleven official languages....
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
17 Jun 17
I've heard good things about the language learning system Assimil. I have no direct experience with it. But you can check it out and find out yourself if it suits you.
Day 02 of my Greek in 30 days project. I have been doing well and time passes quickly. I work with the Assimil series Greek with Ease as they have all I need...
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
17 Jun 17
Assimil is a French company producing dialog-based language courses. Their materials are generally considered excellent, but require more self-discipline than the FSI Courses. Many people alter the "official" Assimil instructions slightly to fit more into
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
Thanks so much for the link, will check it out.
1 person likes this
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
17 Jun 17
If i want to learn something from other language i also search it on youtube.
1 person likes this
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
18 Jun 17
@Rhombus Italian and French
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
18 Jun 17
What language are you interested in learning?
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (139400)
• Philippines
17 Jun 17
I am not sure. But I learned Russian language and read words by myself. I just took the time to know the characters first and how the construction of sentences. For the speaking part, I talked with the local people.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (139400)
• Philippines
17 Jun 17
@Rhombus It wasn't difficult compared to the Chinese language.
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
I have heard Russian is also difficult. It would really help if the letters were the same.
@lillywriter (1143)
• Lithuania
17 Jun 17
I love learning foreign languages, and now I can read, talk and write in three languages. For me it was enough easy, and I need to say, writing was easiest part of learning and I always start from writing. Now I am leaning Turkish.
2 people like this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
What languages have you learnt?
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
17 Jun 17
Word association is usually how you start off then gradually build up your vocabulary. Sadly the Greek Alphabet is quite difficult to master before you have even started. It is similar to Russian but once you have mastered the alphabet you actually begin to read in Russian rather than in English!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
17 Jun 17
The Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet was invented by two Greek monks, Cyril and Methodius. (Wikipedia): Saints Cyril and Methodius (826–869, 815–885) were two brothers who were Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries. Through their work, they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. I had to study this when I studied Russian at uni.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
17 Jun 17
@Rhombus Glad to be of service!
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
17 Jun 17
@MALUSE I never knew that. Very interesting!!!
@youless (112481)
• Guangzhou, China
19 Jun 17
Practice makes the perfect. You shall learn it easily than others because your husband is a Greek. He can talk more to you and soon you will understand it.
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
19 Jun 17
I learned Han Gul, the Korean language, while I was there for 22 months. I did it by starting with basic phrases and studying the pronunciation of the characters in the Korean alphabet.
1 person likes this
@bluesa (15022)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
17 Jun 17
@Rhombus , maybe you could see if there is anyone near you that could help you with Greek lessons. I had a friend that used to teach Greek free lance, but I have lost touch with her.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Jul 17
I teach Hebrew and NT/Lxx Greek-my advice is start with simple phrases, you will pick these up faster then trying to read and write it by itself, and when you do, it will aid this as well. As well listen to music in Greek, any kind of music be it pop rock or traditional folk-this will give you repitition and will be an aid to memory. Another thing you can try, is if you read wikipedia, read an article in English, and then read the Greek page for it as well. The biggest thing is, and you are able to do this, is try and surround yourself with it via music online, Greek shows (youtube does have entire episodes), hear it, even if you don't understand it all, it will become more normalized.
1 person likes this
@Rhombus (356)
• South Africa
1 Jul 17
Some great advice, thank you. Sounds a bit more fun than staring at quiggles.
1 person likes this