Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?

And since, essentially, this question is asking how to actually not be lazy and study, what are the best methods all of you have found to study a language (not just esperanto, either).

What I do with other languages to get out of that beginning stage is immerse myself in the language. Everything I watch on TV, everything I read, must be in that language. I also try to surround myself with native/fluent speakers in case I have questions.

It's more difficult in Esperanto because there are so few fluent speakers (relative to natlangs), so there are less viewing and reading materials to choose from. What I suggest is that you contact a fluent speaker in your area or someone here on lernu via skype just to get going on conversational skills.

I honestly stay in this sort of "eternal beginner/intermediate" stage with languages until I need to use the language. Otherwise there's nothing pushing me... I guess also until I use the language for real, there's nothing enabling further learning.

pinto:Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?.

I recommend a book which Marjorie Boulton in her foreword says should be "excellent medicine for the eterna komencanto": Don Lord's Conversational Esperanto. Marjorie Boulton's Faktoj kaj Fantazioj is also worth studying. Unfortunately these books are not free.

Razlem an Ceiger make the relevant points here.

It is indeed much easier to stimulate ones interest with the natural languages - wealth of interesting material and more motivating circumstances to improve.

From my own personal experience, I'd say that perhaps the biggest stimulus for getting beyond the 'eterna komencanta' stage is to jump in at the deep end, and go to an international congress - perhaps choosing a congress in a country whose language you have no knowledge of.

If that is out of the question, then perhaps choosing to read books in areas that interest you.

Do you like policiers? There are five recent translations of the Maigret series of books.

Does the area of language politics interest you? Then try 'Ĉu nur-angla Eŭropo?'

Are you a biologist? Then read Darwin's 'La Origino de Specioj'

pinto:Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?

And since, essentially, this question is asking how to actually not be lazy and study, what are the best methods all of you have found to study a language (not just esperanto, either).

What about trying to write in esperanto forum?

Altebrilas:

pinto:Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?

And since, essentially, this question is asking how to actually not be lazy and study, what are the best methods all of you have found to study a language (not just esperanto, either).

What about trying to write in esperanto forum?

A radical idea, there!! But, you're absolutely right!

Once you know the basics of Esperanto, you can easily try to write in it. Doesn't have to be perfect. Just search for unknown words in the lernu dictionary, check out ReVo, buy a copy of the Wells dictionary...

And reading the Esperanto messages of others is great practice as you can click on the words to get an instant translation. You will quicly learn to recognise who writes well in the language, and who doesn't. So, you just have to try to copy the good Esperanto that you come across.

Chainy:

Altebrilas:

pinto:Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?

And since, essentially, this question is asking how to actually not be lazy and study, what are the best methods all of you have found to study a language (not just esperanto, either).

What about trying to write in esperanto forum?

A radical idea, there!! But, you're absolutely right!

+1 It's a really good practice!

Chainy:Once you know the basics of Esperanto, you can easily try to write in it. Doesn't have to be perfect. Just search for unknown words in the lernu dictionary, check out ReVo, buy a copy of the Wells dictionary...

And reading the Esperanto messages of others is great practice as you can click on the words to get an instant translation. You will quicly learn to recognise who writes well in the language, and who doesn't. So, you just have to try to copy the good Esperanto that you come across.

That's completely true... you will soon learn whom to copy, and whom not... once you do it, you will have good examples of good writing (and maybe, people who can help you when you have questions)

If you don't find any thread with a topic that interests you, you can easily create one... You will be sure to be writing and reading about something you like

Amike,

Daniel.

pinto:Any tips on how to get out of the black hole of being an "eternal beginner"?

And since, essentially, this question is asking how to actually not be lazy and study, what are the best methods all of you have found to study a language (not just esperanto, either).

First, stop picturing it as a black hole of eternity. That ain't gonna help you. You're on a 'plateau', very normal for language learners. It takes, some say, 1000 hours to get good at a national language, and 10000 to be fluent. If Esperanto really is 10 times easier, 100 hours is what you need, and that sounds about right. (Some are quicker, of course!) It's a myth that it is 'easy to learn'. It's 'easier', but not 'easy, like playing with a yo-yo'.

Second, don't listen to scornful voices, If you happen to be scornful of yourself one day, try to ignore it. Faith will move mountains, cynicism can't take a stone out of the garden.

Third, go to congresses, as sudanglo said. The main thing is to make genuine, flesh and blood human connections thru Esperanto. This will inspire your motivation more than acing a test or reading a paragraph, though those will inspire you too, so do them as well.

As for methods, I admit that I had none till recently, so progressed slowly. Just reading things, writing, talking at a local kunsido, trying to pick it up gradually. Not too effective. I picked up 'Teach Yourself Esperanto' at a local congress last Sunday and it's tops. So: Get a textbook, follow it.

I didn't really start learning Esperanto until I started writing it.

I studied the vocabulary and grammar and whatnot, and could read it pretty well. But reading is definitely not the same as writing.

So, I started a blog, with the intention of forcing myself to write at least one paragraph each week. Just one paragraph. Per week. About anything; even boring stuff. The point wasn't to be interesting.

The first paragraph took me hours. Seriously. Hours, for what amounted to maybe four or five sentences. And this is after studying it for quite a while. I couldn't remember the vocabulary, so I was looking up practically every word in the dictionary. It was horrible. And I kept going back to it for the next week, asking myself if I had really "gotten" everything. Accusative? Check. Adjectives and nouns agree? Good. Am I using the right prepositions? Maaaaaybe...

The second post/paragraph took another hour or more. But I now knew a bunch of the words because I'd used them in the previous post, and so I didn't have to look up so many. Still had to look up a lot, though. And managed to find errors in practically every sentence as I examined the post over and over during the following week (making corrections as I found them).

The third post/paragraph didn't even take a full hour, I think. Had to look up lots of words. Made lots of mistakes. Found them and corrected them over the course of the week.

And so on with the following posts. The posts went faster, had fewer errors, and got longer. My improvement was visible and measurable (and, for what it's worth, public).

If you want to get to the next level, you have to start forcing yourself to write. It's work, but it works. And don't "dumb it down". Figure out what you want to write in regular adult English, and then turn it into regular adult Esperanto; looking up every word in the dictionary and every grammar point in a textbook if you have to. At first, even short bits will take FREAKING FOREVER. And that's alright, because this phase only lasts a short time.

I believe this is the best way to learn, if you are by yourself and don't have others to practice with (which is most of us). If you don't start using it, you will never learn it. And writing is the easiest way of starting to use it. Unlike when trying to speak with someone, you can take your time. You can look up words. You can resolve grammar questions. You won't freeze up.

That'll get you to the next level. After that, you'll probably have to start speaking regularly to advance farther. But at first? Write.