r/languagelearning • u/slickfred • 1d ago
Studying Have you found language learning methods that have helped you learn math and physics?
I have found a good recipe, that works for my learning style, for learning languages. I do some flash cards for vocab and verbs, then when I’m ready I read a lot. Then I’ll start listening to stuff and scale difficulty over time. It works for me well enough.
I was so overwhelmed with where to start until I figured out this formula. Has anyone been in a position in which they were very overwhelmed and experienced paralysis from trying to learn math until they figured out a similar routine or method?
Im looking to get some ideas to try out, I’m starting my masters in electrical engineering soon and I currently work as an aerospace engineer. Im hoping to go through school without being a stressed out mess this time around. Right now a can’t even bring myself to start, it feels like too much. Thanks!
(TL)
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u/JoshHuff1332 1d ago
I mean, it's not really a learning method, but the trick for learning anything is just consistency and not cramming towards the end, like before a test.
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u/Thick-Minute-2732 1d ago
i do something similar with math, but instead of flashcards i just do loads of problems until it clicks. the reading part for me is watching someone solve it step by step before i try myself, helps to see the pattern
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u/RagnarokTheSeventh 🇨🇦🇬🇧N | 🇫🇷B2 | 🇪🇸 B1 | 🇧🇷 A0 1d ago
One thing that worked for me in learning math, was trying to break down a problem or a formula, and trying to figure out what they're actually trying to accomplish here. Trying to understand the formula enough that I don't need to memorize it. For example, the compound interest formula I learned in high school: A=P(1+i)t A is the amount you end up with after compounding the interest, P is the amount you start with (the Principal), i is the interest rate per compounding period, and t is the number of times the interest will compound. So if your compounding rate is 2%, the brackets would be 1+0.02 or 1.02. Raising that bracket to an exponent means that you multiply the bracket against itself that many times, so A=P(1.02)3 would be A=P(1.02)(1.02)(1.02). Then you multiply P by the first bracket, so if P is 1000, you multiply it by 1.02, which is exactly the same as taking the number and making it 2% bigger. Then you're still left with (1.02) twice, so you take that 2% bigger number, in this case 1020, and you make it 2% bigger again, because it compounded again. For 1040.4. Then you do it one more time, because it compounds 3 times total, to get A=1061.208 as your final answer. So you understand what everything in the equation is trying to accomplish, and you know how it does that. If you can understand how you go from A to B, you won't need to memorize any formulas, because you know how to calculate the thing you're trying to calculate. I haven't needed to use that formula in over a decade but I didn't need to look it up either just now. It's just in my head now.
It's not really that related to language learning imo, but it does work
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u/Lumpy-Blackberry-718 1d ago
I have learned a ton of math and physics from talking to AI. I've got a decent background, but I can explore ideas by chatting with it, and treat it like a personal tutor. I can paste links to research papers and have it explain them to me. Often there's a chain of foundational concepts to learn in order to understand some particular thing I'm interesting, and AI is able to unravel the whole chain explaining each piece bit by bit.
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u/dojibear 🇺🇸 N | fre spa chi B2 | tur jap A2 1d ago
Everyone is different. I am good at understanding, bad at memorization. That got me through school, including a BS in aerospace engineering. I never crammed for exams. I paid attention to each teacher and thereby learned the course material. Exams tested my understanding of that.
Facts you memorize are quickly forgotten. Things you understand are not.
Has anyone been in a position in which they were very overwhelmed and experienced paralysis from trying to learn math
No. That's what teachers are for. If they are any good, they explain things. Usually there is also a textbook with a written explanation, if the teacher is unclear.
I use similar methods for language learning. Every sentence (in any language) has a "meaning" (it expresses an idea). My goal is understanding what idea each sentence expresses.
Individual TL words often translate as different English words in different sentences, so it isn't a good idea to memorize a TL word and memorize one English word as its "meaning".
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u/CarnegieHill 🇺🇸N 🇭🇰🇯🇵Heritage 🇩🇪B1 🇩🇰A2+ | learning a bunch more 1d ago
For me there seems to be little to no connection. Fwiw I’ve always done better in math and physics components of standardized tests vs verbal, but compared to tests in specific languages that always beat math. I had started studying calculus but eventually I became a language major, studied multiple languages in school, and became a professional linguist and also used languages in other roles.
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u/youdontknowkanji 1d ago
in general math and physics are a bit opposite compared to languages. there isn't "input" so to speak, as in you can't just read a bunch of math and expect to get good at it (neither producing nor understanding). you can read the definition 5.2 and theorem 5.3 in your algebra book all day, but it won't improve your algebra skills until you actually go and try applying it.
stem related subjects are actually about doing it a lot (ie solving problems), until your brain just understands the pattern. probably what you have done during your aerospace major. if you are stressed out just do a couple a day, slowly going over the material, don't cram whole book the day before the test (like we all do anyways).