My Language Experiment Based on Luca's method (It Can Be Used with LingQ)

Interesting. Could you explain in greater detail what you are doing with these texts, Vonk?

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Yeah, I’d have to agree, Imyirtseshem. The whole thing seems rather unclear from the blog posts I’ve seen. For example: Luca talks about translating small texts from the target language into his native language and then back again one week later. Yet he also talks about using Assimil courses as a basis for doing this…but…Assimil ALREADY HAS translations (both literal and free) from the target language into the learner’s native tongue with each lesson, so…? ¦:-{o

Or is he perhaps using the French (rather than the Italian) versions of Assimil? In this case the whole thing would be rather more complex - a bit like a kind of ā€˜triangulation’ between the target language, a well known foreign language (French) and Luca’s native language (Italian).

However, if this is the case then he needs to be a little more precise - because the blog posts really don’t make it at all clear…

BTW
Whatever he is doing, it sure seems to work well! Luca is definitely one of the more impressive polyglots on Youtube, IMO.

fair enough guys

part one

part two

on the other hand, based on those womenlearnthai’s posts I wouldn’t say ā€œLuca’s methodā€ but assimil’s one

I can only say that Luca speaks Russian very-very (really) well. I was impressed, and definetely want to know more about his method of language learning, and to try it. Thank you for sharing this, Vonk!

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I confess that I started translating the words and phrases in my discussion report in Czech. I was able to do it for about five minutes and then stopped because it was too much work. We all have our own path. Mine is the path of least resistance.

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I’ll say that I kinda came across Luca’s method first in my language learning efforts. It’s more or less how I learned all of the French that I know. In fact, I set it aside almost as soon as I joined LingQ to hone in on Spanish, but I have to say it was a great method for me. For weeks, I was a translating fiend - Aesop’s Fables, the Tao Te Ching, my own thoughts - and I handwrote all of it in notebooks - first taking the English, then the Spanish, and finally the French. I haven’t seriously touched French in 6 months and I’ve probably retained 65-75% of the 3000+ words I learned and probably 95% of the grammar rules I’d yet come across.

@steve ā€œMine is the path of least resistance.ā€
man, you are lazy xD… btw, en las pruebas que vi del nuevo perfil de lingq seria interesante que ademas de la posibilidad de subir videos (vi esa opcion habilitada al menos) se pudiera enlazar videos ya existentes en youtube y sitios similares…

Yeah, I kind of always want to get back to the interesting content I am reading. I am more motivated to read and listen on, than to try to ace what I have covered. This is just me.

No eran pruebas sino cosas que estamos preparando. Pero todavía no estamos listos, y esta aparición en nuestro servidor fue un error. Tienes que esperar un poco mas.

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Imyirtseshem, so are you aiming for CEFR level C2 in every language you want to learn? :-0

That’s one heck of a goal! (Even Steve, Richard, Luca, etc don’t have this level in every one of their languages!)

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Imyirtseshem, you wrote:

Translation, dictation and shadowing (audio only) seem to be the three things will will take me to that C2 level. Luckily, I find all 3 of them interesting.

That is exactly where I will soon be w/ Russian, as soon as my listening abilities become just a little better. . . . I’ve been exclusively listening (for study purposes, although I read quite a bit just for information/relaxation), and I feel the need to ā€œstudyā€ more, to deepen my knowledge/command of the language. My ability to hear Russian has improved so much here at LingQ and listening to audiobooks, and I’ll keep concentrating on this a while longer, as I’m not where I want to be yet with it.

But what I meant to ask was, do you practice shadowing as Prof. Arguelles described it (the odd gait, etc.)? I haven’t tried it yet. Please don’t hesitate to refer me to a prev. thread, if there is one where you discuss this.

@IMY - I look forward to following your progress. You seem to have the next 50 years of your life planned out, now we just have to wait and see :slight_smile:

As a side note, something which I think is overlooked at times, a C2 level doesn’t necessarily mean you are ā€œnative-likeā€. I know people who have passed C2 exams, and they don’t necessarily have the depth in the language (expressions, jokes, literature, cultural understanding etc.) that someone else might have. However, they usually don’t make many (if any) mistakes (excellent grammar), they are able to discuss a variety of topics quite comfortably (advanced knowledge) and they don’t hesitate (ability to ā€œthinkā€ in the language).

I think one could, with a lot of time and effort, be able to pass a C2 exam before arriving in the country, only to discover that the real learning begins then!

@Steve - ā€œMine is the path of least resistance.ā€ - That’s my ā€œmottoā€ as well, as per my profile :slight_smile:

The translation is a way to auto-correct yourself and absorb the language if you’re learning a language without a teacher.

The time-period varies depending on what you’re doing.

But in the end, I suggest you play with it and you’ll figure out a schedule that fits with you.

I’ve found this very effective so far. Writing really helps me, but I don’t really want to keep submitting my writings to someone all the time, so when I do the translation, I can write while also seeing the mistakes I make.

Like Steve said, do what you enjoy doing and you’ll succeed, because the only way to get better is to play with the language as often as possible.

(P.S. I’m currently taking lessons from Luca and I really, really enjoy them.)

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@henrij

You’re studying with Luca? So are you living in Paris right now?