My motivation for learning isn't an exam or a holiday. I want to follow the jokes and ordinary dinner-table conversations when visiting relatives. Textbook lessons have given me tidy sentences about hotels, but I get lost as soon as several family members talk over one another. I'm thinking of asking one patient relative for short voice messages about everyday things and replaying them. For anyone learning a heritage or family language, what helped bridge that gap between lessons and messy real conversation?
Learning a language for family conversations rather than exams or travel
- language-learning
- language
- family
- conversations
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4 replies
Voice messages are a great idea, but I’d keep them very short at first. Family talk is messy because it’s fast, clipped, and full of half-fi...
Voice messages are a great idea, but I’d keep them very short at first. Family talk is messy because it’s fast, clipped, and full of half-finished thoughts, so you want small chunks you can replay without melting.
I’d actually say don’t only use one patient relative. The problem with one friendly speaker is that you get used to one voice, one accent, and one speaking speed, then real dinner sounds like a stampede.
I see the point, but one voice can still be useful at the start. It gives you a stable target before you try to untangle a full family table...