Have you always wanted to learn another language? Are you trying to learn one now but find yourself struggling? Or perhaps you have been studying for awhile and just want to make the process go by faster. Whatever your reason for learning a language – there is one common thought that almost everyone has at some point in their language studying experience – How can I learn a language quickly?
Well unfortunately there is no magic trick to learning a language overnight, but I have found that many people get stuck learning a language because they fail to see the dynamic qualities that make language learning so unique. Studying a language isn’t like studying any other subject, attending a class or picking up a book and self studying on its own isn’t going to lead to a whole lot of progress.
Why is that?
Language consists of four major qualities: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Arguably though, one could say that language also consists of culture. While studying in a classroom is definitely going to help you a lot with language learning, you need to create a more dynamic approach to language learning in order to truly develop all five of these skills.
I am going to share with you my approach to language learning, some of it may seem like common sense to you but surprisingly there are many folks who try to skip many of these steps and focus on just one or two skills at a time, usually reading/writing or speaking/listening. However, my approach is centered around using all four qualities of a language and engaging with the culture from day 1. If you’re interested in how to incorporate more than one language into your studying routine check out my article on studying multiple languages, otherwise let’s just dive into it!
1. Learn the alphabet.
If you are learning a language that uses an entirely different script than your native language than this is something you need to focus on from the beginning.
If you are learning a purely alphabetic language like Russian, Korean, Arabic, etc. you need to take the time to learn this alphabet early on. Learning via romanized script is going to lead to serious problems later on. A romanized script is formed based around the sounds of the English language NOT the language you are learning. If you rely on it as a crutch your spelling and pronunciation is going to suffer terribly.
However, in the case of Chinese I would not focus on knowing EVERY character from day 1, because this would just be impossible. But if you are studying a language that makes use of characters, you need to make sure to incorporate the study of these characters from day one, as it will take quite awhile to master them. In the case of Japanese you should learn the two alphabets immediately, as you would any other alphabetic language and then make sure to set aside time to study the Kanji throughout your language learning journey.
2. Listen to the language.
I cannot emphasize how important this is and yet many people decide to skip this early on and then later wonder why they are so terrible at holding a conversation with a native speaker. If you just began learning a new language or you are about to start studying, I highly recommend you look for a TV show, movie or some Youtube videos in that language. The key is find content that you are generally interested in. Find something with subtitles because at this stage you are not meant to understand them but you are meant to HEAR them. What sounds do they use? Do they use sounds that you aren’t familiar with? Can you imitate the sounds they make or are they hard to imitate? How do they use intonation, pitch, and stress? You don’t necessarily need to know the exact answer to some of these questions but you should be listening and trying to observe how the language sounds to you.
Doing this from day 1 will make studying so much easier, because you will gain a sense of how native speakers should sound, what sounds and intonation the language uses, and in turn this will help you build better pronunciation and you will train your ear to hear the words you have learned when they are spoken aloud.
Especially if you are not immersed in an environment that uses your second language, exposing yourself to the language via TV, or Youtube is really going to help you develop your oral comprehension.
3. Memorize the basic expressions.
Once you know the alphabet, and spent some time listening to the language it’s time to dive in! But where do you start? The basics of course. It’s best to start any language off by learning how to say Hello, Goodbye, Thank you, You’re welcome, Please, Excuse me, My name is ___, Nice to meet you and so on. This is pretty much common sense.
For someone who is trying to lose weight it is always that last few pounds that takes the longest. Language is similar, we learn quite quickly in the beginning, so don’t worry if you feel like you are starting out really simple just remember to pace yourself so that you don’t get burnt out.
4. Choose a language learning source.
This tip actually goes somewhat hand in hand with tip 3 but, yes, you need to find some sort of reference source for learning your language. What I mean by a “language learning source” is that you need to find a way to study grammar, and vocabulary. Once you get your grammar to an advanced level you can probably branch out and read books or have conversations with others to gain new vocabulary. However, from day 1 you need to put in the time to learn grammar, I personally love studying grammar but I know for many others it feels like a chore. Sorry but this CANNOT be skipped. Think of your grammar knowledge as your foundations, once you get it down it should be ingrained in your mind and you can move on to more exciting tasks.
How do you choose a language learning source? Well there are a variety of options. If you are not good at making time for things taking a class is a good way to force yourself to study on a schedule. But, if you do not have time or money for a class honestly just choosing a quality textbook in a format that vibes with you is perfect. There are also plenty of online resources for language learning, so if you are super broke and not sure if you want to spend on a textbook right away you can easily find material online for free.
For example if you want to study Korean there is talktomeinKorean.com and howtostudyKorean.com
If you want to study Japanese you can also download the GENKI Japanese books for free online (email me at saraflara010@gmail.com if you would like a link)
5. Find a language partner.
This is probably the hardest thing to do in language learning – because you have to rely on others – whether due to inconvenience or personal fears interacting with others is something people often avoid doing. However you really need to push yourself to find a language partner if you truly want to master a language and communicate with native speakers. If you are attending a class you probably get a decent amount of speaking practice, but a major issue with that is that you don’t really get to practice with a native speaker. It’s striking how much that can impact your language ability.
For example I spent 3 to 4 years in university studying French, I am American, my classmates were American, and my professors were American. So despite having all that speaking practice I never interacted with a native speaker. Later on this was an issue for me. I could read at a near native level but I had a hard time being understood in conversation.
On the other hand, I learned Korean primarily while living in Korea. I have had infinite opportunities to speak Korean with native speakers so my pronunciation has developed alongside my studies.
So whether you are taking a class or you prefer self study you NEED to find someone, somewhere, somehow who is native in your target language who you can converse with whether in person, on the phone or in a Skype call etc. There are a lot of phone apps out there where you can connect with people around the world, a popular one where I live in Korea is “Hello Talk”. Now like any internet chatroom there are a ton of weirdos to sift through, but it is possible with a little effort to find people who are serious about language exchange. There are plenty of online tutors as well, you could find an online tutor and focus your sessions on conversation.
The reason it is so necessary to practice with a native speaker is because whether you realize it or not you gain a lot of knowledge from them. You get opportunities to see how words are naturally pronounced, how grammar structures are naturally used. You get positive feedback when you realize that you are being understood, and negative feedback when your partner struggles to understand a word or expression you may have said or used incorrectly. This actually builds on some of the skills that you gain from tip 2. Combining this tip with tip 2 is really going to make a huge difference in your ability to communicate naturally.
6. Learn about the culture.
Once you get into your own rhythm of study, its important to spend some time getting familiar with the culture where your second language is spoken. So if you are studying Korean, learn about Korea, look up some of their cultural traditions, familiarize yourself with some of their history, current events, music, television, etc. If you are studying a language like Spanish, where many countries actually speak this language try to focus on the culture of the country you are most interested in, or if you are interested in several countries spend some time to understand a few different cultures.
If you take the time to learn about culture you will begin to understand better why the language is used a certain way and find it easier to connect with people from that culture. While no two individuals are exactly the same, people of a certain culture will be able to understand and relate to one another over these shared values and experiences.
When I lived in the United Kingdom I began to substitute a lot of words I normally used with alternatives that were more commonly used by the people around me; football instead of soccer, queue instead of line etc. It’s not that I wanted to sound like a local, but it became frustrating to have a conversation about the differences between American and British English on a daily basis. In the end it was a lot easier to understand the words they would commonly use and just use them myself for the sake of more effective communication. If you are going to interact with people from another culture its worth spending some time to be open to these differences, and be flexible with how you communicate. Sometimes we have to adapt how we communicate so that we are more easily received.
7. HAVE FUN!
The most important part of language learning is enjoying it! There are many people who consider learning a language because it will help them further their career or because it will be useful to them in someway. It is really easy to lose interest in a language though if this is your only reason for learning. Like anything, it is easy to start but hard to keep at it. If you are genuinely excited to learn and use your second language you are going to have a never ending pool of motivation and drive to push you forward.
Never lose sight of why you began to study this language, don’t give up, and be consistent. It can take years to master a language, as long as you enjoy learning you can’t go wrong!
Check out my channel on Youtube for more language learning tips!
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