If you are going to be a world-class adventurer, it is a good idea to be able to speak the languages of the countries you travel to. You don't have to be fluent, but knowing 100-200 basic words will allow you to communicate. As adventurers, Dan and I have found that knowing the language of the country we are traveling in helps in asking directions, making purchases, making friends, and may just save our lives.
The languages of most use to us on this trip are going to be:- Hindi (spoken in India and Nepal)
- Nepalese (spoken in Nepal)
- Chinese (spoken in Tibet)
- Tibetan (spoken in Tibet)
Dan already speaks Nepalese and some Hindi having lived in Nepal. He is learning Chinese for the expedition. Dan is gifted at learning languages. Jim found learning languages difficult until he discovered a method used by top language experts. This method appears in more detail in Jim's book, Memory Smart. Here's a beginner's introduction on the fastest way to learn a foreign language.
The Say, See, Stick Method for Learning a Foreign Language
The technique Dan and Jim have been using to memorizing foreign languages is called the Say, See, Stick method. A version of this technique is used by Barry Faber, a man who speaks 25 foreign languages fluently. Here’s how you would use the method to learn the Hindi word for water, pronounced PAN-ee (The actual spelling in Hindi is different, because there are different characters in the Hindi Alphabet. The spelling you see here is a phonetic spelling, in other words, we are using English letters that approximate what it would sound like in Hindi).|
SAY
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SEE
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STICK
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Say PAN-ee out loud several times. Say it slowly and break it down into syllables—PAN-ee. As you say PAN-ee, listen for syllables that sound like English words.
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The first syllable of PAN-ee is the English word pan. Visualize a pan. The pan is something that you can see. Close your eyes and imagine a pan.
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Now stick the image you have created, the pan, to the meaning of the foreign word. The meaning of PAN-ee is water. Imagine water in a pan.
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Remembering the Word You Just Learned
To retrieve a foreign vocabulary word from your memory, first go to the image that the word represents. If you are looking for the Hindi word for water:
- Imagine water.
- Then ask yourself what image did we stick or associate with the water? In this case, the image is a pan holding the water.
- The image of the pan prompts you to say, Pan-ee, the correct pronunciation for water in Hindi.
Does This Seem Like a Lot of Work?
If this seems difficult, think about this. Two groups of students were taught a foreign language. One group used the conventional method of learning. Another group used the Say, See, Stick method. Conventional techniques improved the students by 24% while the Say, See, Stick method improved students by 69%. You be the judge.
If you'd like to learn more Hindi, go to the next page.