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Study Abroad Advice

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sunshinegal

Guest
I will be studying abroad and want to make sure I learn and retain as much of the language as possible. What techniques and strategies have you or heard about to aid the process? So far I have taken a Coursera course and done a little bit of work on Rosetta Stone. Thanks in advance :)
 

bmcd16

New member
This is awesome! Where are you studying? I went to Peru the summer after my sophomore year of college, and it was an incredible experience. I wasn’t as intentional with language retention as you are (which is probably why my Spanish has tanked), but as far as learning the language, I would recommend just getting out of your comfort zone as much as possible. In school, we tend to learn a bunch of (in my opinion) useless phrases that don’t quite string together in day-to-day conversation so having the opportunity to get a sense of the cadence and daily phrases used firsthand really helps. If possible, I also would try to volunteer or work somewhere that will give you the opportunity to practice. In Peru, I volunteered at a preschool so I was able to practice very simple phrases with the kids and challenge myself to limit my English with the teachers as well. Immersing yourself in the culture will really speed up your language retention, but the hard part is not losing it all when you return back home!
 
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sunshinegal

Guest
These are great suggestions! I will be in China. I have had similar experiences in language learning classrooms where the grammar and vocabulary felt so stiff or wasn’t helpful in conversation. Thanks again!
 

neoninfinity

New member
These are great suggestions! I will be in China. I have had similar experiences in language learning classrooms where the grammar and vocabulary felt so stiff or wasn’t helpful in conversation. Thanks again!
It's awesome that you are going to China. I'm kind of old school, but when I was abroad, I simply carried around a notebook, and whenever new vocabulary popped up, I would write it down. Simple, but effective. If you remember the context or the sentence that heard the phrase in, make sure you right that down, too. I find that helps with memorization. Unfortunately, I'm not up on all the good Chinese apps, but perhaps you already are. I was really impressed with some of the apps the other students were using in a class I recently took. With one of the apps, you could draw a character on your phone using your finger, and it would automatically find the character and look it up for you. Also, when in China, make every opportunity to take the initiative and speak to people in Chinese. Most will be very willing to engage you in conversation if you take the initiative. However, if you don't, you'll find that some will avoid you, assuming that you don't speak the language. Going abroad is always a wonderful adventure, best of luck to you!
 

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