Can You Master a New Language by Just Listening?/能否完全靠听掌握一门新外语？

Drawbacks of Learning through Listening: When It Works and When It Doesn’t/使用听力来学习外语的注意事项：何时奏效，何时无济于事

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Recently, one of my group members, after reading my articles about “how did I managed to speak 5 foreign languages in one year,” asked me some questions:

1. Can adults learn a new language solely through listening? is it a good practice?
2. can one learn vocabulary purely by listening?

So, I’ll answer these questions from my personal experience, and it might be a bit different than what you thought.

Prerequisite and Foundation:

A base language

A base language serves as a foundation or reference for learning a new language. It’s often one’s mother tongue, but not necessarily. It can be any language you’ve learned and mastered very well, close to a native level.

For example, when I was learning European languages such as Spanish, French, or Portuguese, I used English as my base language because of their similarities. Using Chinese as a base language wouldn’t have been practical in this case.

Adults and infants are different

All my articles target an audience of adults who already speak one language fairly well and have passed the age where they can learn languages as infants do, solely through immersion.

The purpose of learning a language

The only reason to learn the language here is to communicate effectively, especially for dating, while minimizing the time, effort, and money spent.

My Approach to Learning European Languages:

1/ Glimpse the Sound System:

• You should be able to mimic the pronunciation, including vowels and consonants, to a level of distinguishing different sounds, but there’s no need to be perfect in each sound.

For example, you should know that “L” and “R” have different sounds in Spanish, even if you have difficulty with the “R” sound, making them sound the same. As long as you’re aware they should be different, that’s enough.

• When it comes to learning European languages, they typically use Latin or Cyrillic letters. In most cases, the sounds are very similar, with a few exceptions, like the ‘R’ in Spanish, German, or French.

Try your best to mimic the sound, but don’t be discouraged if you can’t make it perfect right away. I have met tons of Germans pronouncing ‘R’ as in hochdeutsch instead of ‘R’ in Spanish. It’s okay.

• Also, don’t bother too much to memorize the names of each letter; you can use English names of letters as a reference. Like ‘Y’ has different names in different languages, who damn cares!

For Instance:

Based on my experience, if you’re learning German/Modern English/Spanish/Portuguese/French and you already have one of them as a base language, you can pretty much skip this part. But if you’re using a completely different language as your base, like Japanese or Chinese, you must go through this process.

2/ Skim What’s different:

• Learn new concepts, such as grammar rules or unfamiliar phenomena that differ significantly from your base language. For example, consider the concept of “cases” in German for Chinese speakers or the phenomenon of “tones” in Mandarin for European learners.
• This process becomes simpler if the new language shares similarities with your base language because you can simply copy or guess it out.
• You don’t need to master these new concepts perfectly, but it’s essential to acknowledge their existence. Only by doing so can you gradually become proficient and accurate in using them.
• Failing to recognize these new concepts means missing out on opportunities for improvement. You’d end up relying solely on rote memorization, which demands more time, effort, and resources.

For instance, in German, there are three genders with four variations each. Making occasional mistakes when using certain nouns is acceptable. However, entirely disregarding these rules and giving up is not acceptable.

Similarly, when learning Chinese, mastering the challenge of its four tones may take time. It’s acceptable not to get it right immediately, as long as you acknowledge your room for improvement. However, it’s NOT acceptable to disregard this aspect entirely and refuse to learn it.

Knowing grammar and knowing the terminology of grammar are different; the latter is for professors and linguists.

For Instance:

Based on my experience, if you’re learning Modern English/Spanish/Portuguese/French and you already have one of them as a basic language, you can pretty much skip this part.

But if you’re using one of those languages as your base and learning German, then you must invest time in understanding the significant grammar differences in German, like cases and verb position changes, etc. This also explains why mastering fluent German usually takes about 50% more time than those aforementioned languages.

Fun fact: Although English is classified under the Germanic language family, modern English is closer to Latin-based languages like French, both in grammar and vocabulary. Of course, Middle English is another story.

If you’re using a completely different language as your base, like Japanese or Chinese, you must go through this process.

3/ Learning by Listening:

Listening is undeniably the most critical skill in language learning. This approach involves passive input.

Now, after completing the preparation mentioned earlier, you can begin listening to basic words and phrases, aiming to learn them by imitating pronunciations. While pronunciation is essential, it’s acceptable if you don’t immediately perfect every sound.

For instance, it took me a month to master the ‘R’ sound in French, but during that time, I continued learning vocabulary, grammar, and other aspects of the language.

4/ Talk about What Interests You:

This approach is about active output

Learn to speak by discussing topics that genuinely interest you. When encountering a difficult word or expression, take the time to rephrase it or look it up in a dictionary for more explanations.

By following this approach, you’ll find that these once-difficult words gradually become a natural part of your active vocabulary.

5/ Listening More

As you have built a certain foundation, focus more on listening. Learn more vocabulary through listening and let it become part of your passive vocabulary.

At this stage, you can go out and talk with people in this language and even go on dates with girls who speak only this language.

From this point on, that language becomes yours, and learning it becomes really fun.

Repeat Steps 3 to 5

Now, let’s address my friend’s question

1/ Can one learn a language purely by listening?

The answer is simple — it depends. It depends on how similar the language you’re learning is to your base language.

If you come from a Portuguese background, you can easily learn Spanish, French, Italian, or modern English and vice versa. However, this method won’t work for languages like Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, or even German.

I personally learned Portuguese without using any books, applications, or courses; I relied solely on Google Translate. Why? Because it’s so similar to Modern English/Spanish, and yes, I learned it through listening alone, which was sufficient. That’s why it only took me two weeks to learn Spanish and one month for French — they share enough similarities with Modern English.

However, when I learned English as my first foreign language, I couldn’t rely solely on listening. Because back then I only knew Chinese and I was already 15 years old.

2/ Can one learn vocabulary by listening?

The answer is yes, at least for passive vocabulary, which, in my opinion, is the most crucial for effective communication.

While we can control what we say and how we say it, we can’t predict or determine what other people will say.

But to learn active vocabulary more effectively, you need to output, either be speaking or writing.

能否完全靠听掌握一门新外语？

使用听力来学习外语的注意事项：何时奏效，何时无济于事

最近，我的一个小组成员，在阅读了我的有关“我如何在一年内学会5门外语”的文章后，提出了一些问题： 1/ 成年人能否完全通过听力学习一门新语言？这是否是一种好的实践方式？ 2/ 是否可以仅通过听力学习词汇？

所以，我将从我的个人经验回答这些问题，它可能与您想象的有些不同。

先决条件和基础：

基础语言

基础语言作为学习新语言的基础或参考，通常是母语，但不一定。它可以是您已经学会并精通的，接近于母语水平的任何语言。 例如，当我学习西班牙语、法语或葡萄牙语等任何欧洲语言时，英语是我的基础语言，因为它们非常相似。在这里使用中文作为基础语言没有意义。

成年人和婴儿是不同的

我所有的文章都针对那些已经能够相当流利地说一门语言，并且已经过了能像婴儿那样通过沉浸式学习学习语言的年龄。

学习语言的目的

在这里学习语言的唯一目的是为了有效地进行交流，尤其是在约会方面，同时尽量减少时间、精力和金钱的投入。

我学习欧洲语言的方法：

1/ 快速理解声音系统：

• 您应该能够模仿发音，包括元音和辅音，以便能够区分不同的声音，但不需要每个声音都达到完美。

例如，您应该知道在西班牙语中“L”和“R”发不同的声音，即使您在发“R”音时有困难，导致他俩发音一样。只要您已经意识到它们应该不同了，就足够了。

• 当学习欧洲语言时，它们通常使用拉丁字母或西里尔字母。在大多数情况下，声音非常相似，只有少数例外，比如西班牙语、德语或法语中的“R”。

尽力模仿声音，但如果您不能立即完美发音，不要气馁。我遇到过很多德国人把西班牙语里小舌的“R”，发成标准德语里面大舌的“R”一样。这没问题。

• 此外，不要过于费心地记住每个字母的名称；您可以使用英文字母的名称作为参考。比如，“Y”在不同的语言中有不同的名称，谁在乎呢！

例如： 基于我的经验，如果您正在学习英语/现代英语/西班牙语/葡萄牙语/法语，并且您已经以其中一种作为基础语言，基本上可以跳过这一部分。但如果您只能以完全不同的语言作为基础，比如日语或中文，那么您必须经历这个过程。

2/ 理解不同之处：

• 学习新概念（不仅仅是语法），比如语法规则或与基础语言存在显著差异的新现象。例如，考虑对于中国人而言“格”概念在德语中的使用或对于来自欧洲学习者而言普通话中的“声调”现象。
• 如果新语言与您的基础语言有相似之处，这个过程会更简单。因为你照抄或者猜就可以了
• 您不需要完美掌握这些新概念，但必须承认它们的存在。只有这样，您才能逐渐熟练并准确地使用它们。
• 不承认这些新概念意味着错过了提高的机会。您最终将仅仅依赖死记硬背，这需要更多的时间、精力和资源。

例如，在德语中，有三种性别，每种性别有四种变化。在使用某些名词时偶尔出现错误是可以接受的。然而，完全忽视这些规则并放弃是不可接受的。

类似地，当学习中文时，掌握其四个声调的挑战可能需要一些时间。只要您承认自己有改进的空间，不必立即做得完美是可以接受的。但是，完全忽视这个方面并拒绝学习是不可接受的。

另外了解语法和了解语法术语是不同的；后者是教授和语言学家的任务。

例如： 基于我的经验，如果您正在学习现代英语/西班牙语/葡萄牙语/法语，并且您已经以其中一种作为基础语言，基本上可以跳过这一部分。

但是如果你以上述语言为基础语言，学习德语，那么必须话费时间学习德语显著不同的语法现象，比如格和动词的位置变化，等等。这也解释了为什么掌握流利德语所需要的时间通常要比上述语言多50%的原因。（小知识：英语虽然归类于日耳曼语系，但是现代英语更近于法语之类的拉丁语，无论是语法，还是词汇。当然中古英语是另一回事。）

如果您只能以完全不同的语言作为基础，比如日语或中文，那么您必须经历这个过程。

3/ 听力学习：

毫无疑问，听力是语言学习中最重要的技能。这种方法涉及被动的输入。

现在，在完成前面提到的准备工作之后，您可以开始倾听基本的单词和短语，试图通过模仿发音来学习它们。发音很重要，但如果您不能立即完美地发出每个声音，也是可以接受的。

例如，在法语中掌握“R”音花了我一个月的时间，但在那段时间里，我继续学习词汇、语法以及其他方面的知识。

4/ 谈论您感兴趣的事物：

这种方法涉及主动输出。

通过谈论你真正感兴趣的话题来学会说话。当遇到一个困难的词汇或表达时，请花时间重新表达它或查词典以获取更多的解释。

遵循这种方法，您会发现，这些曾经困难的词汇逐渐变成了您积极词汇的一部分。

5/ 更多的听力：

一旦您建立了一定的基础，重点应放在听力上。通过听力学习更多的词汇，并让它们成为您被动词汇的一部分。

在这个阶段，您可以出去和会说这种语言的人交谈，甚至与只会说这种语言的女孩约会。

从此刻起，这门语言就成为了您的语言，学习它变得非常有趣。

重复步骤3到5

现在，让我们来回答我朋友的问题：

1/ 是否可以仅通过听力学习一门语言？

答案非常简单 — — 这取决于情况。

它取决于您学习的语言与您的基础语言有多相似。如果您（巴西人）来自葡萄牙背景，您可以光靠听轻松学会西班牙语、法语、意大利语或现代英语，反之亦然。然而，对于阿拉伯语、日语、中文甚至德语等语言，这种方法不适用。

我个人是通过纯粹依靠Google翻译学会葡萄牙语的，没有使用任何书籍、应用或课程；我完全依赖听力，这已经足够，因为我的英语非常好。这就是为什么我只用了两周的时间学会了西班牙语，一个月的时间学会了法语 — — 它们与现代英语有足够的相似之处。

然而，当我将英语作为我的第一门外语学习时，我不能仅依靠听力。因为那时我只会中文，而且我已经15岁了。

2/ 是否可以仅通过听力学习词汇？

答案是肯定的，至少对于被动词汇来说是如此，而在我看来，这对于有效的交流是最重要的。虽然我们可以控制自己说什么和如何说，但我们无法预测或确定其他人会说什么。

但要更有效地学习积极词汇，您需要进行输出练习，无论是口语还是书面表达。