9 votes

How the French Foreign Legion learns languages fast

4 comments

  1. [2]
    Adys
    Link
    So I finally watched this video — funnily enough I hadn’t watched Olly Richards until a couple of months ago when I started learning Russian. As a French person you kind of know about the FFL and...

    So I finally watched this video — funnily enough I hadn’t watched Olly Richards until a couple of months ago when I started learning Russian.

    As a French person you kind of know about the FFL and the immersive French learning technique; it just ends up being something you’ve heard about at some point in your life.

    Also reminiscent of this other video: https://tildes.net/~humanities/11n9/how_mormon_missionaries_learn_new_languages_in_6_9_weeks

    I find myself having implemented a lot of the principles they talk about in the video; especially the advice: watch movies in your target language, always have a podcast running, keep your ear trained for it even if you don’t understand the words.

    The environment has got to help so much: being surrounded by people you don’t actually have a way of communicating with other than French, huge motivation to keep studying.

    I can actually relate to how incredibly satisfying it is to finally being able to communicate with someone you already know. I have a story to tell, but it is too long for the contents of this comment section.

    4 votes
    1. 0d_billie
      Link Parent
      Hopefully you can let us know in the next language learning thread!

      I have a story to tell, but it is too long for the contents of this comment section.

      Hopefully you can let us know in the next language learning thread!

      2 votes
  2. [2]
    Eric_the_Cerise
    Link
    This is very interesting for language learning (Nutshell: really, really hardcore immersion technique ... anyone caught speaking anything but French, ever, gets a beatdown) ... but it's also quite...

    This is very interesting for language learning (Nutshell: really, really hardcore immersion technique ... anyone caught speaking anything but French, ever, gets a beatdown)

    ... but it's also quite interesting just as a peek into the modern-day French Foreign Legion.

    2 votes
    1. Adys
      Link Parent
      True immersion, it’s just like back at home in France!

      anyone caught speaking anything but French, ever, gets a beatdown

      True immersion, it’s just like back at home in France!

      4 votes