April 4, 2008

Any language but Japanese maybe

5 Tips for perfecting your Foreign Language fluency

These tips and insights were created to help you start speaking in your target language fluently in less time. As they say, “It is all in our minds.” This seems to hold true just as much in language learning as it does in any other field. The limits we impose on ourselves are our only obstacles to obtaining anything we desire.

Tell yourself always that you will be a more efficient speaker and in no time your SL2 speaking skills will be better than you ever thought possible. Your success in second language acquisition should you accept the challenge and attempt to gain one, is dependant on how much you are willing to commit yourself to memorizing words part3, understanding and applying the basic grammar principlespart4 (as outlined in Part 4 essential grammar )and how much you can adjust physically and mentally to a differing culture and mindset. What are you waiting for? Begin your journey toward Japanese mastery today.

The following is just one way \ example, that any person of average intelligence could realistically accomplish the language goals which they themselves set up for their own betterment and challenge. These language learners set goals which are challenging enough to keep them interested, but not too difficult as to stifle enthusiasm or to wane in the interest of the language. This discourages younger learners from wanting to press forward with their language study and pursuit of fluency.

Let me tell you something about learning a language in less than a year. If it is not your primary or your native language and you are not living in the country where that language is spoken, the chance of you becoming fluent are very minimal unless you possess 3 qualities of the worthy steward of the gift of tongues, or the ability to speak and understand two languages.

You need:
1. An unnatural amount of enthusiasm,
2. Overpowering motivation and desire to learn the language,
3. And the potential learner of Japanese or the second language must be zealous to the point near madness.

To Reiterate, YOU MUST HAVE ENTHUSIASM, MOTIVATION and ZEAL when learning a language because without those 3 traits/qualities, there will develop a lackluster attitude which tends towards fruitlessness.

The tendency for the learner to become complacent, lazy, and uninspired, is always greater than the tendency to succeed in the pursuit of Japanese fluency. You have to want it bad enough else it will not come. If you are older than 13 -14 years of age some say that your tongue and brain areas that process the stuff that languages are made out of are by this age hardened and cannot be retrained to accept different input. If you have those three qualities above and really desire the ability to speak however you can obtain it.

I must say however that true pronunciation and true mastery may never be attained for anybody at any age that studies any language, there is just too much information to absorb and too short a life span to absorb it all. Therefore determine now that you want it! You must want it (the ability to speak in another language. You must want it more than any other earthly thing. You must want it severely else stop reading this page right now. You have not a desire strong enough to obtain fluency and the training will do you no good. However, if you desire this thing to obsession you can have the object of your desire (fluency).

Any old grammar translation teacher of old can say, “Listen and Repeat, or the immortal, "Ecoutez et Repetez” or any Joe Dirt could have learned how to say, “My name is Dirk.” or “This is a pen.”, but not many people can sit down and jam out a whole sew of sentences and rap like a native in a conversation with the natives and in similitude as one, with proper pronunciation, diction, inflection, meaning, or sharing a common message and communicating.

Determine within yourself now that you want to be one of those that possess superior fluency and work on it until you can say it truthfully. Determine within yourself now that you will find a way to harness zeal and enthusiasm and motivation to the betterment of your second language acquisition. Quitters never win, and Winners never quit. Plug away little by little and you will eventually get there. Here is just one set of possible goals that help me acquire that ever elusive second language (In this case Japanese).Convince yourself by saying, “I’ll be speaking like a native in no time!” and really believe it else all is for naught. Here are some example goals that you might set up for yourself if you really wanted to become fluent in another language.

Once you grasp the idea about how much of your passion and desire is involved you will begin to realize this axiom stated by someone, "The more one knows… the less that one can possibly ever know.

So what exactly is fluency anyway?

How do we measure fluency? Rest-assured, there are lots of ways to measure fluency in a language. The one that I am considering here is the amount of vocabulary one has under one’s belt. The amount of words that you know and are able to translate into and out of your native tongue can be a measure of your fluency. . Know the meaning of words so thoroughly that you can interchange them instantly. Also the use of mnemonics I suggest as helpful ways to memorize words, especially in Japanese. Those two techniques are all to be had in my other two lessons Mnemonics and Circumlocution, how to use and apply them in both directions this is taking for granted and assuming that at least one language is known. This could be considered a unilateral understanding.

Just as one can word or phrase or apply any manipulation to the language so that its suits our purpose and the main purpose and reason is to get our meaning across. Sharing a As long as the method we use suffices to get our message across it doesn’t even matter if we can speak Japanese or not. In any language, if you look like you got to go ‘pee’ you don’t have to say a word people will understand you. If you look tired or motion your hands as if you are sleeping, our knowledge of Nihongo lets body language assume the role.

What is the shortest distance between you and getting what you want? You are allowed to use any and all means necessary to get your meaning across. Please see my article on circumlocution for sure fire ways to get your meaning across even if you don’t know the Japanese words for it.

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An individual's own natural or native tongue, just in mannerisms and the exact vocabulary, grammatical structure which is employed by the speaker gives way to mis-understandings and a certain amount of missed meanings will infiltrate the conversation, clouding the meaning. Japanese could be spoken in any number of differing ways; intelligently, suave, brave, naive, sophisticated, charming, honorifically, stately, manly cunning, feline like, drunk, legendary, moody, kosher, and all sorts of ways to speak like and just as we have the ish to make a noun into -- having the likeness of - You do the same thing in Nihongo(Japanese) the word becomes ~ppoi. Beautifully, wonderfully or bold or any other way you can think of

Noun+ ppoi = noun ‘ish’

The levels keigo kokugo must know how to manipulate verbs, while memorizing and strengthening your store of Japanese words to put into your goal oriented language arsenal. With that arsenal and using all of your faculties to summon together the ability to speak inside of another tongue, and also to be able to open the ears to such an extent that they become even more sensitive to different words, consonants, vowels, any phonemes.

Along with your noun memorization oath, (see appendix) noun don't take for granted any place names that are presented to you on your Japanese quest. You have to commit yourself to a reasonable yet challenging goal.