Can you learn a language just by listening?

While it can be difficult to learn a language purely through passive listening, it's definitely a legitimate (and sometimes effective) way of learning a language. In particular, languages that are similar to each other can be particularly easy to learn if you already know one.
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Can you learn a new language by listening?

It's a shame that many overlook its importance in the language acquisition process. Because the thing is, listening is the first and most important strategy in language. It is at the very core of learning a new language, so when making time to study, you need to make time for listening.
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Can you become fluent just by listening?

The shocking truth is that passive listening is never going to get you to fluency in a language. What's even worse is that it won't even help your ability to understand.
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Is it better to learn a language by reading or listening?

Reading and listening are both very important. I gain more vocabulary through reading, but I still gain a lot of vocabulary through listening, and listening also helps you pick up the rhythm and tonality of a language and improves your listening comprehension.
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How long does it take to learn a language through listening?

FSI research indicates that it takes 480 hours to reach basic fluency in group 1 languages, and 720 hours for group 2-4 languages. If we are able to put in 10 hours a day to learn a language, then basic fluency in the easy languages should take 48 days, and for difficult languages 72 days.
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Time It Takes To Learn Languages | Comparison



What's the fastest way to learn a language?

Top tips from experts to learn a language quickly
  1. Take risks and speak the language whenever you can.
  2. Read children's books and comic books in the foreign language.
  3. Consume foreign language media.
  4. Immerse yourself in the local culture.
  5. Make use of free foreign language podcasts and apps.
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What is the hardest language to learn?

15 of the hardest languages to learn, for English speakers - ranked
  • Russian.
  • Hindi.
  • Vietnamese.
  • Thai.
  • Korean.
  • 13. Japanese.
  • Mandarin Chinese.
  • Arabic.
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Why is listening better than reading?

Researchers have found that reading generally is faster than listening. While the average adult can read 250 to 300 words per minute, the ideal talking speed for efficient comprehension is 150 to 160 words per minute.
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Should you learn to speak or write a language first?

Reading and speaking are two of the essential ways for you to learn a new language. There is no right or wrong way to learn a foreign language, much so which comes first.
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Are audiobooks worse than reading?

While listening to an audiobook may help more with empathy and making the story come alive, she says reading is a better bet for retaining the information. She points to one study showing that reading was better than listening for actually holding someone's attention and remembering the information.
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Can you actually learn a language with Duolingo?

How does Duolingo work, and how can you use the app effectively? Here's your quick answer: Yes, you can learn a language with Duolingo.
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Can you passively learn a language?

And while it's worth questioning the assumption that language learning has to be laborious, we might as well get this out of the way right at the beginning: there is no such thing as truly passive language learning.
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Can I learn a language in my sleep?

Your brain can establish links between words in two languages while you're asleep. That means sophisticated learning is possible while you're snoozing.
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Can you learn a language just by watching TV?

Surprisingly, television has played a relatively small role in the language learning classroom. Our research has shown that students learn new words and phrases through watching television, and the amount of learning may be similar to what is learned through reading.
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Why can I understand but not speak a language?

This is because understanding a language involves the brain's ability to infer things from phonemes — distinct units of sound that help us differentiate between words — which the brain then segments into phrases or sentences. The rest is worked out by our ability to infer what the other person means.
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At what age does learning a language become difficult?

They concluded that the ability to learn a new language, at least grammatically, is strongest until the age of 18 after which there is a precipitous decline. To become completely fluent, however, learning should start before the age of 10.
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Does reading improve speaking?

In addition to developing vocabulary, comprehension and writing, reading can also improve speaking ability by augmenting vocabulary, increasing familiarity with different language registers and with the use of online tools, improving intonation and pronunciation.
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Do we need to be able to read in order to speak the language?

Do we need to read in order to speak English? The short answer is no. Some native speakers cannot read or write but they speak English fluently. On the other hand, reading is something that you can do on your own and that greatly broadens your vocabulary, thus helping you in speaking (and in listening and writing).
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Do audiobooks make you smarter?

Audiobooks can help improve your comprehension and vocabulary. Hearing new words — independent of or in combination with reading them — can significantly help with comprehension and vocabulary, especially for kids and second-language learners.
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Do audiobooks stimulate the brain?

Audiobooks Have the Same Benefits of Reading

Looking at the brain scans and data analysis, the researchers saw that the stories stimulated the same cognitive and emotional areas, regardless of their medium.”
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Are audiobooks cheating?

Listening to an audiobook might be considered cheating if the act of decoding were the point; audio books allow you to seem to have decoded without doing so. But if appreciating the language and the story is the point, it's not.
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What is the easiest language?

15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - ranked
  • Frisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ...
  • Dutch. ...
  • Norwegian. ...
  • Spanish. ...
  • Portuguese. ...
  • Italian. ...
  • French. ...
  • Swedish.
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What's the easiest language in the world?

And The Easiest Language To Learn Is…
  1. Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. ...
  2. Swedish. ...
  3. Spanish. ...
  4. Dutch. ...
  5. Portuguese. ...
  6. Indonesian. ...
  7. Italian. ...
  8. French.
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Can I learn a new language at 40?

But research shows that learning a second language offers proven benefits for intelligence, memory, and concentration, plus lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer's. So what if you are over 40 and want to learn a second language? The good news is, it can be done.
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How do CIA agents learn languages?

The Defense Language Institute (“DLI”), located in Monterey, California, is where the CIA, members of the U.S. armed forces and various other government agencies go to learn foreign languages. This is the premier (and only) language school for military and government personnel.
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