I feel like I have to stay on one lesson until I can remember all the words. Is this necessary?

I think you can move on to the next lesson when you can understand about 90 %%% =) or a lil bit less

I agree with lingqqqenglish.
Trying to remember everything is not realistic : sometimes you will have an hard time to remember a word, but this should not slow down your studies.

I dont move onto the next lesson unless I have fully understood all relevant grammar points and as stated above at least 90 percent of the vocabulary.

The first rule of language learning is to do what you like to do. This way you are more likely to continue, and put in enough time.

Having said that, I strongly recommend not staying with one lesson until you feel you have mastered it, and can remember all the vocabulary. I find that some words will stick, and others won't no matter what you do. I find that some, if not most, new patterns in the langue are simply not possible for us to absorb until we have had lots of exposure. Trying to master these things is, in my opinion, very inefficient. It is far better to keep moving on, getting as much exposure as you can. I move on when I understand 70% and sometimes as little as 50%. I review my vocabulary a few times before and after a lesson, especially in the beginning, but I don't worry about the words that just wont stick. If you keep listening and reading, you will come across them again and eventually they will stick.

I think the desire to nail things down is what holds most people back in language learning. It is simply too difficult to do, and I believe contrary to how the brain learns. The result is that many learners get frustrated at what they cannot remember. I am driven more by the desire to cover more and more content, and by the desire to get to authentic content as soon as I can.

I think there is a balance to be struck between repetition, which the brain needs in order to form new neural connections, and novelty, which the brain needs in order to remain focused and motivated.

I believe that Krashen has even done research to show that deliberate instruction in grammar has little effect on learning. I don't necessarily agree, but feel that you need a lot of exposure, experience and familiarity with a language before the grammar explanations have much effect, beyond of course the most basic concepts.

Marianne10 stop talking bullshit the easiest part of language learning is grammar. To learn 20 pages of gramamr is esiear than learn 30.000 words.

I was talking about me and not you nor any other learners. I do not understand why you feel the need to insult my experiences. They are worth just as much as yours.

lingqqqenglish Please do not use vulgar words on our forum and also try avoid being so intolerant of the point of view of others. Just express your own views on the subject at hand and let others to the same.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Lingqqenglish - However, you raised an important point. I actually prefer to study thousands of words as I have a good memory. But my shortcoming is the grammar hence I have to (choose to) spend a disproportionate amount of time on it (probably more than other people). However,I could wait, as Steve advocates, for it to fall in place later (which it should do). But I do not want to wait. I want to know early on what the grammar is. Some languages has a lot more grammar than others.

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a) We should do what we enjoy doing
b) I often refer to grammar rules to confirm what I am experiencing. I am not sure it does me a lot of good but I do it.

Thanks for you answer. I feel more comfortable moving on to the next lesson now.

Sorry, what I interput, but I have one question:
Mr. Steve, what do you think about serial "Castle"? Is this serial is properly for beginer?

I do not know this serial.

datbase, I think Castle may be useful, but like many police-type series, there is a lot of sarcasm and slang in the dialogue (and some choice one-liners) that may be a little frustrating. But if you like that type of thing then perhaps it will work well for you? My first insight into the fact that this kind of learning works is that I became hooked on a local (South African) soapie when we first moved here. It's in Afrikaans (I didn't speak a word of the language) but with English subtitles. I followed it religiously for months (I was a stay-at-home mom at the time) and although I knew I could recognise and reproduce some of the phrases, I was stunned when I entered the work environment and found myself capable of rudimentary conversation in the language!!! I would usually have bought piles of grammar books and sought out a tutor. That has made me adamant never to be taught a language again. Realtime subtitles made all the difference for me though. Helps that the translators did a good job of the sense translation.

Hi Steve, replying to your answer, we should understand about 90% of the lesson, before we open another. Understanding is no question to me. I've more troubles, when I 've to translate German text back to the english version. I like the TED records, where I can use German and English versions. I understand the sense of the story and have no problems to translate it to my language. But on the other hand, German to English I miss the proper vocabularies, I just have read and known. I know that it is a matter of usage and experiences to the foreign language and I make a lot of skype lessons too.
My question non: Is it really enough to understand the sense without to know exactly every new vocabulary. Or should I try to be able to translate or retell the story in my own words? Somehow I know your answer, I can imagine that you will tell me *the more the better*?!?! But is it good to stick to one lesson soooo long? Wouldn`t it better to feed my brain with new lessons to get used to the english typesetting technology without to know exactly each word.

I'm listening to Pimsleur and Michel Thomas in addition to doing the courses on this website. I find that These 2 courses are definitely weak on vocabulary, but strong on teaching basic grammar rules, Michel Thomas especially. So I find that with the combination of these courses (with flashcards), and Lingq, it's more of a well rounded learning experience.

So when I do lessons here, I don't really focus on what word comes first or what ending does that verb have, but on actually building my vocabulary. You may want to consider Pimsleur or Michel Thomas as a supplement to this website. I recommend MT more as he offers really good explanations that are easy to remember.

Hope this helps.

Dean.

what if I know my words but when I read the passage I still can't understand do I then stay on that lesson?