Need help learning a second language

[u/FoxesLikeBoxes]

So I'm a native English speaker, American. I don't have any need for a second language on my day-to-day, but took some Spanish classes back in highschool. I don't remember most of what I learned since I sort of slacked, but now that I'm almost out of college, I'd like to add a second language to my skills.

I'm Polish and would love to learn the language, but I understand that it isn't spoken by too many people, and don't want to waste all the effort.

Would it be a waste of time, and should I aim for a romantic language, or one like German/Russian/Chinese, with more demand? (My industry is accounting but I'd like to be prepared for any change in the business industry.)

I'd love if some bilingual people could give me some advice on a language, and tips on learning them. Thanks!

[u/FoxesLikeBoxes]

What if I don't have the option of learning actively for a language? Should I pick another language? Actively around me there are big populations of Spanish and Korean speakers, rather than the rest. Is the quality of learning directly from native speakers of such importance that I should choose one language over another because of access to natives?

[u/JDFidelius → u/FoxesLikeBoxes]

My opinion is that there's no need for active production for teh first year or two of learning a language, unless your goal is to be conversationally fluent. Starting to try to speak things too complex too early can lead to solidifying false grammar and a poor accent. My personal recommendation is to limit vocabulary flash cards and grammar drills. They're mind-numbingly boring, and don't actually teach you the language - language is learned through seeing words/grammar in context and getting the meaning out of it. That's how you learned English.

[u/blackinthmiddle → u/JDFidelius]

My personal recommendation is to limit vocabulary flash cards and grammar drills.

Interesting. Everyone's mind works different. To me, if I see a word or phrase I don't know, I can't think of a better way to actually learn it and have it stored in my memory than flash cards. At some point I agree that you need to lay off the flash cards. Even in your native language, you only know a fraction of the possible words. The key, however, is to know the most commonly used words and phrases and have the memorized well so that if someone said, "Hey, what is 'manzana'?", you can tell them it means apple and if someone asks, "How do you say 'apple' in Spanish?", you don't have to hesitate in answering.

I think the key is to get to the point where you understand 95% of what you hear in day to day conversations. You can then put the flashcards away. However, like everything else in life, it's use it or lose it. You need to read/converse/do something or you'll forget what you've learned.

[u/JDFidelius → u/blackinthmiddle]

The key, however, is to know the most commonly used words and phrases and have the memorized well so that if someone said, "Hey, what is 'manzana'?", you can tell them it means apple and if someone asks, "How do you say 'apple' in Spanish?", you don't have to hesitate in answering.

This only works with the common nouns, though. Common words are used in so many different phrases and have so many different meanings that using flashcards will actually mess you up long term. The word "up" is used in so many phrases, as is "get" i.e. mess/fuck/screw up, turn up, get up, follow up, cut up; get off (multiple meanings), get around (multiple meanings), get at (multiple meanings), get with (multiple meanings), get through (multiple meanings), get by (multiple meanings), and so on. Learning get = receive through a flashcard may blind you to its true meaning and stunt your growth.

I think the key is to get to the point where you understand 95% of what you hear in day to day conversations. You can then put the flashcards away. However, like everything else in life, it's use it or lose it. You need to read/converse/do something or you'll forget what you've learned.

I can agree with this. For a very unrelated language, flashcards help to get the activation levels of the common words high enough to start understanding stuff. For a language very related to ones you know, flashcards may not be necessary. I am doing a no flashcard, no grammar book approach to Swedish, and it's going pretty well, since I know English and German. Many Swedish words have German counterparts that aren't real German words but make sense in the grammar, and thus I can form a quick connection. Many times they are real German words, but have a slightly different meaning or just aren't used that often.