I have learned three languages in the past: Chinese, English and Japanese. My mother tongue is Chinese Mandarin, and we‘ve been kept learning simplified Chinese since primary school. Ancient Chinese prose is definitely the most difficult part for me. Memorizing those ancient vocabularies and grammars, and translating sentences to simplified Chinese were great challenges. I started learn English when I was in grade 3, memorizing words, watching Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, playing games. It was fun and a good way for kids to find interest in a new language. English is my second language. From the experience of learning English, I find I really enjoy collaborative learning, discussing in a small group, sharing and discussing problems together. Learning English was fun at the beginning, but later on I found it is hard because there are so many vocabularies and slangs we haven't learnt in China. So I keep studying English when I'm in the United States.
In college, I took Japanese since I like Japanese culture and language. In grade 6, I discovered Japanese through animation, Japanese drama and pop-music. From then, I travel to Japan every year. China and Japan have very similar cultures and writing characters in some cases, so it is much easier for me understand Japanese culture and this similarity also helps a lot when I learned Japanese language in college. I enjoyed this learning experience. We had a conversation every class in Japanese and different people played different roles. Everyone needed to say Japanese in class that is a good way to practice even for students who are shy. We all got practice and had a great time learning Japanese.
So in summary, I learn best when learning begins with the big picture concepts and works toward the particular applications. I dislike working on details at the very beginning when I have no idea about its culture and language history. Therefore, when I start to learn a new language, I prefer to begin from the language culture and build broad background and get a sense of how the language formed in the past. I will listen to the new language and feel its pronunciation which would be beneficial for future study.
From the surveys, I learn the best from speaking. Listening real life examples, using hands-on approach and using pictures to illustrate are all good ways for me to study. Also, keep writing will help me to memorize the materials. I think I need to write down words and read journals to keep studying. In the study of Korean, I will watch Korean TV shows or dramas to get a sense of Korean pronunciation and some background about Korean language and culture. Also, I will try to talk to my Korean friends in simple sentences to practice speaking skills which is my biggest learning goal. Having a language partner will be definitely helpful to build the language sense in Korean. Writing and reading would be the hardest part in the studying process, so I might send some time on that but it is not my biggest goal for Korean.
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