10 valuable tips from a well-known translator who spoke brilliantly in 16 languages
'26.05.2020'
Source: Bigpicture.ru
Kato Lomb is a professional translator from Hungary who spoke many languages. During her life (Kato died at 94) she mastered 16 languages - independently, working exclusively with textbooks and fiction. She outlined her method in the book "How I Study Languages", writes Bigpicture.
1. Learn your language daily. If there’s absolutely no time, then at least 10 minutes. Especially good to do in the morning.
2. Never bison, do not memorize anything separately, out of context.
3. Write out of turn and memorize all ready-made phrases that can be used in as many cases as possible.
4. Try to mentally translate everything that is possible: a flashed billboard, an inscription on a poster, fragments of randomly heard conversations. It is always relaxation, even for a tired head.
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5. If the desire to practice weakens too quickly, do not force, but do not drop out of school. Think of some other form: put down the book and listen to the radio, leave the exercises of the textbook and look through the dictionary, etc.
6. To learn firmly is only what the teacher corrected. Do not re-read your own uncorrected exercises: when reading it repeatedly, the text is remembered involuntarily with all possible errors. If you study alone, then learn only the right thing.
7. Ready phrases, idiomatic expressions write out and remember in the 1st person singular. For example: “I am only pulling your leg” (“I only tease you”).
8. A foreign language is a fortress that must be stormed from all sides simultaneously: reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching non-dubbed films, attending lectures in a foreign language, working through a textbook, correspondence, meetings and conversations with friends - native speakers.
9. Do not be afraid to speak, do not be afraid of possible mistakes, but ask that they be corrected. And most importantly - do not be upset and do not be offended if you really begin to correct.
10. Be firmly convinced that by all means you will achieve the goal and you have an unbending will and extraordinary ability to languages.
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Kato Lomb proposed a simple formula that determines the result in mastering the language:
time spent + interest = result
or, if you clarify it a bit:
(time spent + interest) / embarrassment (fear of making a mistake) = result.
Kato Lomba recommended starting the study of the language by reading fiction in this language, which should be started practically from the very beginning, as this allows you to immerse your consciousness in the language microclimate, and also allows you to learn the language with interest.
She began to learn some languages without even having a dictionary at hand (for example, Japanese), and sometimes, having only a dictionary, she could infer by logical reasoning the rules for syntax and morphology in the language.
And finally: once 86-year-old Kato Lomb met her 54-year-old friend and said the following sentence: “Steve, you are so young! So many years to come, so many languages you can still learn! ”
