A few weeks ago I decided to try out a system for accelerated language learning that I’ve been musing  about for years.  The results have been pretty amazing – so much so that we’re considering creating a course around this structure, but you don’t need to wait for us to do that – I’m going to tell you how you can do it for yourselves without spending a penny…

Years ago I was a member of an amateur drama group and we did a production of On The Razzle by Tom Stoppard.  There was one line for a waiter in Italian.  It was gobbledegook to all of us initially except the stage manager who was Italian and helped with the pronunciation.  When  the play was over, not only the actor playing the waiter, but every single one of us knew that line perfectly, including exactly what it meant, the correct pronunciation and cadence and I still recall it perfectly twenty years on.

That was just one line, but what about several scenes or even a whole play?  I know it’s possible to learn a mathematical proof by rote without understanding it, but I have a hypothesis: you can’t do that with language.  Unlike maths it’s instinctive – learn the dialogue, know the language.  So, this was my experiment – creating a language course based around a script.  I’ve pulled together a group of friends to practice with – we’re just performing to each other, but even after just one session we all learned a huge amount of dialogue, shared language knowledge with each other and most importantly we spent the whole three hour session laughing and having fun.

Here’s what to do:

• Remember my article How to Learn a Language Matrix-style ? Start by raiding your DVD or Blu-ray collection.  You’re looking for DVDs that have many language options for both audio and subtitles.  If you can’t find one in your current collection, you can always go online and order something specific.  I chose L’Importanza Di Chiamarsi Ernest – the 2002 Miramax film which I have dubbed in Italian with both English and Italian Subtitles available (“In una borsa?!!”)
• Get a group of friends who also want to learn the same language – it’s going to be easier if they’ve already covered the basics and are not complete beginners.
• Pick a scene with interesting dialogue between two characters (or more if it suits your group – you’ll each understudy multiple parts).
• Watch the scene first with no subtitles in Italian to see how much you understand (probably very little).
• Play it again with Italian subtitles to see how much more you can understand this time.
• Next play with English subtitles so that you get the whole sense of the scene.
• Now, it’s transcription time!  Play the scene again with Italian subtitles, stopping at each line.  Everyone transcribes the dialogue.
• Compare notes, get your dictionaries out and ensure you’ve understood the all the vocabulary and idioms used.
• Finally, pick parts and spend the rest of the session taking turns at recreating the scene until you’re comfortable with it.
• Your homework is to learn the lines by the next session.
• Next session, perform the scene and start a new one!

If you want to go a step further and are feeling techie, you can do what I did and rip the audio and the subtitles to help create the scripts in a tidier form.  I put the resulting MP3s on my phone and listened to them constantly to help the dialogue sink in.   This is entirely legal so long as you own a genuine copy of the original film, and vital if, like me, you need to be a little creative finding the time to practise.

I promise you, you won’t find a quicker or more fun way to improve your language skills!

Gareth