So it’s not completely a matter of “use it or lose it” after all. You have an improved ability to pick it up once again (over those who haven’t been exposed to the language previously). The fact that you’ve dealt with the language in the past is a huge plus. You could be up to speed faster than you think. This means that when relearning a language, you don’t really have to start from square one, and a single word can trigger a flood of memories. It may not be 100 percent recall, because there are things you truly forget with the passage of time, but there are also those that remain, even when you’re unconscious of them. They’re the vocabulary, grammar and usage rules you learned that are just awaiting reactivation. Well, the good news is, research indicates that lurking in your brain are the memories of the language you thought forgotten. Compound that with the passage of time, and those vocabulary and grammar lessons seem irretrievably lost.Īnd so we now arrive at a linguistic crime scene-that of a dead language.īut is it really dead? Or can it still be brought back to life? You forgot a language because you didn’t use it. In short, the target language has so lost its communicative relevance, you stopped using it. But believe it or not, they all lead to the same problem: disuse. There are many reasons for forgetting a language. You now have your English, in lieu of your first language, Japanese. when you were five, and you became so Westernized you forgot what real wasabi tastes like. Or perhaps yours was a situation of immigration, where your parents decided to move to the U.S. Maybe you finished your French course, so you nonchalantly chucked all those flashcards in the trash as soon as you got your grade. Maybe the girl you’d been pining after turned out to be so not into you. Your motivation is so important because once you lose it, well, it’s really downhill from there. Or maybe it was the hopes of a promotion or an assignment overseas. Maybe your heart suddenly skipped a beat after seeing this Italian girl, and all you could think of was to pawn yourself off as a suave Italian lover. So, what was your motivation for learning the language in the first place? It might be as strong as a passion for German film, or as flimsy as a required French course in college. Let’s look back to when you asked yourself, “ what language should I learn?” It’s the engine revving under any language learning journey. When it comes to language learning, this one’s a biggie. And not just for kicks- this will tie everything together, make us see the bigger picture and help us understand why and how things unravel.įirst, let’s talk about motivation. You know what, why don’t we go back even further and look into some reasons why you started learning the language at all. (Download) To Revive a Language, Understand Why You Lost Itīefore we dive into the super practical things you can do to revive a forgotten language, let’s talk about why you lost it- when it was already in your hands. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Teach others, so you won’t forget yourself. Prevent demotivation by focusing on your passions. Read, watch and listen to children’s content in your target language. Reach out to other language “relearners.” Create a language diary/journal (and read it often). Use flashcard apps for language flashbacks. Find a language exchange partner or tutor. Create a relearning schedule and stick to it. Complete a language assessment to establish your starting point. 13 Practical Tips to Remember a Language You Forgot.To Revive a Language, Understand Why You Lost It.We’ve got 13 practical tips that can help you remember your target language and get back on the road to fluency. You’ve got to resurrect those zombie language memories while also preventing the problems that made you forget the language in the first place. Remembering a language you forgot isn’t the same as learning a language from scratch. Got a language zombie kicking around in your memory? DecemHow to Remember a Language You Forgot: 13 Super Practical Tips
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