How long did it take you to learn tlhIngan?

[nugneH]

posted on 5-15-2003 at 10:49 PM

How long did it take you to learn tlhIngan?

I'm thinking of learning the Klingon language. How much time did it take you guys? (Hours a day/week, years)

[ngabwI]

posted on 5-16-2003 at 01:06 AM

How long did it take you to learn English?

Originally posted by nugneH I'm thinking of learning the Klingon language. How much time did it take your guys? (Hours a day/week, years)

This is probably the second-easiest language I have tried to learn (easiest was Japanese. Speaking it's VERY easy, reading and writing will turn you grey very quickly)

Like any language, a good starting point is about 20 mins a day. Beyond that, and things start to fall out of your brain, so to speak. Start with 20 mins a day, and do it for about 6 months. If you're still passionate about it at that point, continue, and go as deep as your brain will allow. If it becomes a chore, STOP! If your heart's not in it, neither is your mind.
And one word of advice: Flashcards, my man. Flashcards.

--ngabwI'
HovpoH 700039.8

[qurgh]

posted on 5-16-2003 at 05:12 PM

Originally posted by nugneH
I'm thinking of learning the Klingon language. How much time did it take your guys? (Hours a day/week, years)

I've been learning Klingon for nearly 10 years now and I could never guess how many hours of that were spent in actual studying. I've had some periods where I was involved in other things and I didn't study, but I've always come back to it.

I have a hard time with languages. Learning grammer is easy, but getting the vocabulary to stick in my head is very tough for me.

I definatly agree with ngabwI's flashcard comment. There is a program (for the Windows/DOS PC) out there called KLIFlash that is a very nice flash card program. It slowly adds more words into the vocabulary until you are doing them all. It even prints out a certifcate as you move through the different levels of difficulty. If you are tied to a computer for large amounts of time, I heartly suggest it.

URL for KLIFlash: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/2...1/kliflash.html

[Kesvirit]

posted on 6-9-2003 at 01:57 AM

Another suggestion...

One other suggestion, which may or may not be obvious: practice saying the words of the text aloud as you read them. Even if you do not know what they mean, the syntax will settle in more quickly. The more parts of the brain you can involve, the more likely the information is to "take" in one of them.

There are many different learning styles. Every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses. I for one find flashcards to be more irritating than helpful, and prefer spreadsheets and data groupings for the dreaded rote memorization tasks. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans show that different areas of the brain are more active while receiving different kinds of sensory input. Speaking and reading each involve different paths of sensory input and information processing. (Details available upon request.)

That includes interactive learning: actually speaking with someone, as opposed to just reading and repeating what you hear on an instructional tape. This is, after all, most peoples' goal in learning another language. Unfortunately fluent speakers of the tlhIngan Hol are difficult to find. Especially native speakers. Escpecially if you do not live near a big city. If you can swing it allowance-wise (those long-distance rates can add up), it may be worth your while to use the net to locate speakers who would like to practice with you over the phone.

I do not know the specifics of incorporating somatic-based cues such as the touch-reading used in Braille. To my knowledge none of the current official tlhIngan learning aids has incorporated it because there is no profit to be made. I would be interested to hear any speculation...

I also suspect that utilizing as many different funcional areas as possible may help to break through temporary aphasias. (The more minor and benign of these are sometimes referred to as "brain farts".) This is, however, an hypothesis based on observation and experience; I have not found a practical way to test it, or read of anyone else doing so.

- Kesvirit
 

[kmtal]

I"vbe never really decided to learn the language. I just use it. And by that, i have been able to remember sum the rules. But never really made lessons out of it. i still think itz ok. i use the TKD.

[Klythe]

My life is too full to memorize a thousand random words that mean exactly the same as other words I know in English.   I study the Klingon grammar, and morphology to understand how to use the valid words and to build valid but unused words(respectively).  But when I need a word, I must look it up...   I also will memorize the words that do not gloss back to a single word or prase in English.  

   This way I can sound smarter than I am, as long as I have time to look the words up in the dictionary...  I've been studying for over 12 years, but significantly less densely than ngabwI' or qurgh.   And after all this time, my name doesn't even parse in tlhIngan Hol.



[Edit: This thread has split off into the Transliterating names thread.]