Language learners from time immemorial have been finding shortcuts and tools for helping them remember the rules and nuances of their target languages. Often it will be the little connections between languages that will get you through a tough patch or over the hump of a subject you are struggling with.
One such instance for me was when I realized that almost every French adverb was just like the English ones with an "ment" ending rather than the English "ly".
Exactement - Exactly
Simplement - Simply
Rapidement - Rapidly
Différemment - Differently
I would encourage you to look for similarities between your native language and your target language, and use those as sign posts and foundations to help you learn. Of course this will help best if your native tongue and your target language are in the same language family, but even if you speak an Indo-European language and are studying an Asiatic language or a Uralic language there will be similarities in the broad strokes, because humans generally need to communicate similar things.
I have been studying Norwegian for about a month now, and just the other day I had an epiphany. I was working on Duolingo as my 2 year old daughter was in gymnastics class, and I started to connect something I had only half-way noticed about Norwegian to what I know about English.
Hva du en kopp vann?
Han har ikke en hund
Jeg skal gå for å kjøpe mat til middag.
Translated, these sentences are as follows:
Do you have a cup of water?
He does not have a dog.
I am going to the store to buy food for dinner.
However, if you go word-for-word they are like this:
Have you a cup of water?
He has not a dog.
I shall go for to buy food for dinner.
I don't know about you, but that sounds like Shakespearean English to me, or as it is sometimes called "Ye Olde Timey English"
You see, English prior to 1066 was very much a Nordic language, or at least a Germanic one. I think probably this old form sentence structure we see in medieval literature is a throwback from before the French influence on English became a thing.
So how does this help?
I am not to the point that I can simply think in Norwegian, so my brain has to decide what to say, translate that into Norwegian and then send that to my mouth where it comes out in a messy heap.
However I can think in some "Ye Olde Timey English", and if I go from that to Norwegian instead of Modern English to Norwegian it cuts out a step!
These kinds of mental shortcuts are all over the place, but don't rely too much on them because every language has exceptions. There is no good substitute for dedicated study.
Have you ever found an unexpected connection between languages? Did it help you? How?
Comment below or let me know on Twitter @TiedBlog!
Remember, You are awesome! You can learn your target language! You've got this! Never give up!
