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Learning to Learn

(kevin.the.li)
320 points jklm | 1 comments | 22 Oct 24 00:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.229s | source
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dinobones ◴[22 Oct 24 03:39 UTC] No.41910980[source]▶
I've been wanting to try this approach for learning a language.

In English for example, learning the 800 most common words, you can understand 75% of the language: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44569277.

I'd love to start fresh on a new language, take 800 new words, try to learn 10 a day, and see where I get after 3 months. Can I really understand 75% of text if I have perfect recall of those 800 words?

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1. AlchemistCamp ◴[23 Oct 24 13:36 UTC] No.41924943[source]▶
No. Just memorizing words won’t get you there. Looking up the definition of “go” and memorizing it won’t teach you that “go over” means review, that “go under” means to go out of business, that “go on” means to continue, etc, etc, etc.

You need a lot of input before you’ll understand 75% of the text in a language. Vocabulary flashcards (preferably with audio) can help make some very simple dialogues or stories comprehensible at the beginning but flashcards are not enough for learning a language.