How do I start learning a new language?

Sound sorting image
Me doing a sound sort in Kikamba

A colleague just emailed me this question

I was intrigued with your confidence that one could train one’s ear to distinguish sounds and that would give a boost to enabling language development.  (Maybe you did not say that at all, but that is more or less what I heard…) So, how is it again that I would start?

So, here is a lovely list of links that answers that question! The last link is the one that is specific to ear training for distinguishing sounds, but you can’t start there, if you’re just beginning in a new language. First you need to lay the groundwork, as follows.

  • First watch these 2 videos to orient you to the big picture and to encourage you that you can make immersion happen anywhere.
  • Then enlist a prayer team and get a language parent
  • Prepare your  materials
  • Watch these videos to help you understand the games in the manual
  • After you’ve played listening games for about 30 hours, you start adding in this sound sorting game. You want to get your ear tuned into the language before you start this, that’s why we don’t do it from day one. If you’re interested, you can read more about it here.

Was this helpful to you? What questions do you have? I’d love to answer them!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.