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From: dlg@philabs.UUCP (Deryl Gaier)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Learning/Retaining a Language
Message-ID: <208@philabs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-Jan-85 17:25:00 EST
Article-I.D.: philabs.208
Posted: Thu Jan 10 17:25:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 13-Jan-85 07:49:30 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Philips Labs, Briarcliff Manor, NY
Lines: 27

During the short time that I have been reading net.nlang (approx. 3
months), I have not seen much discussion regarding this subject.  If it
has been thoroughly covered before, could someone bring me up to date.

For those of you who decide to learn to speak and write another
language, how do you go about learning it?  At present, I am working
full time, and working on a master's degree in the evening.  However,
the school I attend does not offer foreign language courses.  My
question therefore is: What are the various ways to learn a language
that some of you have used (or haven't used, but think might be good),
and what types of success have you had with them.  I am looking for the
unusual methods (ie. other than classroom) since I do not have a large
amount of time, but I would be interested in some type of self-study
course where I could adjust it to my schedule.

Also, once a language has been learned, how do you get enough practice
in the language to retain your familiarity with it.  This has been a
difficult part for me.  When I graduated from college 5 years ago, I had
a minor in German, but over the years, I have not had enough chance to
practice it, so I am gradually forgeting most of what I have learned.  I
realize that with some serious study I could bring most of it back, but
I would be interested in some way of keeping my knowledge of the
language fresher.

So, how about it?  For those of you who speak several languages, how did
you learn them in the first place, and how do you keep in practice?  If
there is sufficient interest, I will do a short summary.