Thread: Question about "subconscious learning"

This might sound silly, but does anyone know if listening to another language repeatedly for long periods of time while sleeping helps with learning that language... even just with accent/pronunciation? My son and I were having a conversation about this not long ago. He just finished his second year of high school German.

While I'm here... I'm also trying to figure out the best way to learn Russian (if there is a best way). Pimsleur says that the best way is strictly listening and speaking and not learning the written part of the language at first (even the alphabet). I'm thinking that since people have different learning styles, what works for one person might not work the best for another. Thoughts?

Привет. Все постигается в долгом и упорном труде. Чудеса бывают только тогда, когда знаешь материал )). Еще есть эффект 25-го кадра. Я сейчас изучаю английский, и когда только начилал его изучать, то у Меня были подобные вопросы, как и у Вас; и Мне подсказали..... Я живу в Донецке и у Нас в 1970 году (тогда еще был СССР) существовала (школа подготовки агентов), где изучали английский язык за 2 месяца; и этих агентов отправляли затем за границу, нести советскую власть. Этой школы уже давно нет. Но, есть ведь такие быстрые методики освоения и изучения языков... )))

Originally Posted by Amur

Привет. Все постигается в долгом и упорном труде. Чудеса бывают только тогда, когда знаешь материал )). Еще есть эффект 25-го кадра. Я сейчас изучаю английский, и когда только начилал его изучать, то у Меня были подобные вопросы, как и у Вас; и Мне подсказали..... Я живу в Донецке и у Нас в 1970 году (тогда еще был СССР) существовала (школа подготовки агентов), где изучали английский язык за 2 месяца; и этих агентов отправляли затем за границу, нести советскую власть. Этой школы уже давно нет. Но, есть ведь такие быстрые методики освоения и изучения языков... )))

Привет again... I tried to translate this the best I could, but I don't think I figured most of it out very well. I agree with you in that there is no magical way of learning anything and that it takes hard work (hopefully that was translated correctly), but I was wondering if anyone knew if it was helpful. I am a medical transcriptionist (transcribe physicians' medical notes/reports), though I'm not working right now, and "developing your ear" is very important to becoming better with that. I was thinking about trying this idea with my transcription to see if it helped and I am wondering if it would help at all in learning another language. I might try it.

Brain absorbs everything while sleeping, but accumulated data are typically relayed to the next reincarnation. There may be exceptions though, related to accidents, etc. Still, if you want to enjoy reaping the fruits of your language labor during this lifetime “for sure”, I suggest choosing something more traditional.

Sleep-learning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by diogen_

Brain absorbs everything while sleeping, but accumulated data are typically relayed to the next reincarnation. There may be exceptions though, related to accidents, etc. Still, if you want to enjoy reaping the fruits of your language labor during this lifetime “for sure”, I suggest choosing something more traditional.

Sleep-learning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh, I definitely agree with you... everything needs to be learned when we're awake; however, I do think anything you can add that might be helpful is just a plus. Thank you for your input!

Learning a language is a hard work. You need to accept this and then you need to decide if you want to sacrifice your free time to learn a language
If you are not ready for sacrifices then you shouldn't consider learning a language - it will be wasting of time at then end
looking for shortcuts won't solve a problem with time sacrifice, unfortunately

First thing you need to do is to learn alphabet, there are lots of materials on the Internet but many rely on your knowledge of Cyrillic
After the alphabet you can either switch to grammar or start learning language based on examples. Either way is good for a beginner

Try this for the very beginning - http://www.memrise.com/course/78454/...basic-russian/

Originally Posted by Doomer

Learning a language is a hard work. You need to accept this and then you need to decide if you want to sacrifice your free time to learn a language
If you are not ready for sacrifices then you shouldn't consider learning a language - it will be wasting of time at then end
looking for shortcuts won't solve a problem with time sacrifice, unfortunately

First thing you need to do is to learn alphabet, there are lots of materials on the Internet but many rely on your knowledge of Cyrillic
After the alphabet you can either switch to grammar or start learning language based on examples. Either way is good for a beginner

Try this for the very beginning - Learn Basic Russian - Memrise

Привет, Doomer... I completely get what you're saying. I think I'm being misunderstood though. I'm not looking to get around the hard work of learning this language or for any shortcuts. I am, however, willing to try anything that would be helpful to me. Just like with any other studies, most people try to find a way (or ways) to learn/study that would be helpful to them. For example: Overview of learning styles. When I trained for medical transcription it was difficult, challenging, and took a lot of hard work, but if I could find anything that was helpful to my learning of medical transcription I would use it to ultimately get the same result... to be the best transcriptionist I could be. Does this make sense?

Thank you for the website... I will definitely check it out!

I do not know about listening while sleeping but In my oppinion listening to Russian audios when you are awake really help but it will not help you understand the case system, adverbial verbs or declension of the verbs etc. You will just get accustomed to the sound of the language by just listening it. So IMO you must spare enough to to learn everything in a technical sense.

Originally Posted by impulse

I do not know about listening while sleeping but In my oppinion listening to Russian audios when you are awake really help but it will not help you understand the case system, adverbial verbs or declension of the verbs etc. You will just get accustomed to the sound of the language by just listening it. So IMO you must spare enough to to learn everything in a technical sense.

I agree, Impulse... I think it takes a combination of many learning techniques. I am concerned about learning Russian grammar (parts of speech and all that fun stuff). I can speak and write perfect English and I know how to use proper grammar/punctuation very well, BUT knowing the technical aspect of it... like knowing parts of speech, etc... I'm lost. I obviously know what a noun, verb, and adjective are, but when it gets really deep into the grammar it goes over my head. :/ In college I had two composition classes... the first was strictly writing essays, reports, and stuff and I got an A in that class. The second comp class was all about grammar and I almost failed that class. Now how does that happen? lol

Originally Posted by Doomer

Try this for the very beginning - Learn Basic Russian - Memrise

I really like this site, Doomer... Thanks again!