Language Learning Strategies & Resources

scriptures are a great source for learning another language as you can compare verses side by side, and a divine wind will blow behind your back helping you as you make priority on God’s word.

Interlinear audio books are excellent but hard to find.

interlinear text books are also hard to find but not as hard as finding interlinear audio. You can just buy a book in another language and hold it side to side with the English version, this is particularly accessible via scriptures.

movies in foreign languages helps you see the real speed they speak, etc.

grammar charts (“Rosetta Stones” I call them; compact guides) posted in the home/school room or laminated for frequent access have always helped me. Memorize these for stage 1 of learning, but practice translating without one after that. Make the grammar chart understandable to you even if that means you recreate it.

Quizlet is an electronic flash card program (for free) where you can build decks of your own or use those of others, and even print them in table or flashcard format.

teach English to foreigners. You don’t need to be fluent in the foreign language to teach the foreigners your native language. With aids of pictures and gestures you could even get away with knowing nothing of their language but you should be working on learning theirs as you teach them yours.

Apps: Duilingo, Mondly, Babel, etc. Comparisons: https://www.languagecourse.net/mobile/comparison

Bahador Alast’s YouTube channel has side by side speaking 2 languages comparing similar ones. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCupKOOnfBOhdwhBLYjYH4RQ

-Langfocus is an excellent YouTube channel on history and grammar of languages https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNhX3WQEkraW3VHPyup8jkQ

-Teen polyglot challenge videos https://www.youtube.com/user/PolyglotPal/videos

-Breaking the language barrier | Tim Doner | TEDxTeen 2014; speaks of learning languages not by keeping careful detail of numbers of languages but enjoying studying languages, and they why of learning them, not just as a cheap trick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNmf-G81Irs

-Teen (Tim Doner) speaks 20 languages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km9-DiFaxpU

– Miles V Van Pelt – language books and flashcards

 

Now some resources for specific languages, alphabetically:

 

Arabic

 

-here’s an example of a very inexpensive bilingual/interlinear Arabic English New Testament https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1563208865/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

-Arabic Songs with English Subtitles a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRIBq2LsN82TDwcNOxh3_rg many of the songs are transliterations of Arabic but some have the actual Arabic script (which is preferred).

-Hebrew is like Arabic but easier to learn, so you may want to start there.

 

Chinese

 

-Chinese are 1/5 of all people on earth. Chinese is the most common spoken language on the internet. More people speak Chinese than any other language. Chinese has been around about 4500 years.

-President Spencer W. Kimball urged the saints to learn Chinese.

-Several theories on Jaredite history being related to the Chinese, or some who went from the near east stopped there at the far east instead of sailing to the new world.

-God in ancient Chinese (script reflects Genesis ideas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA-AkJzpKmg

-Chinese do not generally embrace Christianity, and by Orson Pratt’s teaching, that would put them in the category which the scriptures call the heathen nations. The D&C says the heathen nations will receive the gospel in the last days after the Gentiles and house of Israel. Remember, anyone can be adopted into the house of Israel. It’s also possible that Chinese are a branch of the house of Israel when you look at the Jaredite Chinese connections.

 

English

 

-English with Lucy YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz4tgANd4yy8Oe0iXCdSWfA

 

Greek

 

-interlinear New Testament is an excellent source

-a few grammar charts can give you most of what you need to know (declensions, tenses, etc.)

-Hansen & Quin textbook is a classic attic Greek language text. I just it studying at BYU with Professor Stephen Bay.

 

Hebrew

-interlinear Old Testament is an excellent source

-HebrewEnglishBibleRead YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ImcLPpqZojFf_yDNRG-lA has English then Hebrew audio reading of the Hebrew bible. This is the perfect resource, but unfortunately the entire Old Testament is not available from this guy, and a purchase/download audio format is not available. I’ve searched for such high and low to no avail.

-Modern Hebrew differs slightly from Biblical Hebrew, but learn modern via news music movies etc. and you’ll have much more handle on Biblical.

-Arabic is like Hebrew but harder, so you may want to venture there after you have some basic Hebrew down.

-BYU Hebrew Club (149 members) https://www.facebook.com/groups/BYUHebrewClub/about/

-BYU Students of the Ancient Near East (163 members) https://www.facebook.com/groups/145944202102817/about/

 

Hindi

 

 

 

Japanese

 

-Learn Japanese 101 YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ox9NuTHYeRys63yZpBFuA

Spanish

 

-the grammar is quite simple, make sure to use grammar charts

 

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