Hello, Marhaba, Hola, Bonjour, Buongiorno, Hallo! As you can perhaps tell, I’m truly a culture vulture and I love languages, with all of the multitudes of sounds and beautiful diverse scripts that reflect cultures from over thousands of years. So if you are the same, here are my all-time top-secrets to learning a language that I’ve picked up on my journey.
Secret No. 1: Meet up with friends who speak the language!
One of the hardest things when starting out in a new language is the fear of feeling silly. Even the most extrovert of us may suddenly be overcome by a crippling shyness. Talking to friends is a fantastic way of trying out a few words in an informal way, and they are usually really excited to help. Even if they do laugh every now and then, that’s what friends are for! After all, languages are all about being sociable.
Secret No. 2: Make it part of your routine
It’s so important to learn as you go, and keeping on top of vocab and grammar really helps. The language uses building blocks. If you can’t remember the numbers in Japanese, for example, you are going to find telling the time in Japanese tough! Focus on 5-10 words or 1 rule at a time, in small chunks that way our brains like it. With language, little and often really works.
Secret No. 3: Carry a little notebook of your vocabulary with you wherever you go
A pocket-sized notebook is really handy, or record vocab notes/take pictures of lists on your phone. We all always have our phone with us these days! It doesn’t matter how good your grammar is if you don’t know what any of the words mean. Language is about communication. In the metro, in the passenger seat of a car or taxi, waiting for a friend/colleague to arrive – all these minutes can be used to get ahead and gain a few more words. The more words you know, the easier and more fun a language gets, we promise you!
Secret No. 4: Play with the Language
Play with the language. It’s supposed to be fun! Create post-its for objects around the house to learn nouns, try word searches or crosswords, record words/rules on your phone and play while going to sleep. Hangman, snap, Boggle, the Alphabet game, guess the word; whatever floats your boat and interests you. Make it a part of your life.
Secret No. 5: Making mistakes is part of learning a new language.
Remember that mistakes are part of learning a new language. Better to have a go and use the language as much as possible, than hold back because you are afraid of making a mistake. Even native speakers make mistakes. It’s how we learn and process new information. If you say “I goed to the cinema” instead of “I went to the cinema”, it means you have learned that regular verbs in the past simple end in -ed. Great news! Now it’s time to learn about the irregular verb patterns. Have a go, and apply what you know in theory to see how it works in practice.
Secret No. 6: Listen Up!
Remember that mistakes are part of learning a new language. It’s 100% better to hear a word before you see it so that you get the pronunciation right. Trust us, you can end up saying some very strange things otherwise. For example, Wednesday with its silent “d” is a classic example. Getting used to the way a language sounds and its stress and intonation is part of learning how to produce it yourself. The more you listen to the language being used in authentic, real-life settings, the more likely you are to sound like a native speaker yourself. Songs and movies are both are a fantastic way to see hear and then see the language, using subtitles.
Secret No. 7: Keep it simple at first
Learn simple words and common phrases before you start diving into grammar. Try out the language and take it for a test drive. Make sure it is the language for you and you love the way it sounds and how it makes you feel. Speaking a new language is like slipping on a new coat – you need to love it if you are going to wear it.
Secret No. 8: Tailor your learning to your interests
We are all different people with different ways of learning and different interests. If you are into social media, then follow networks that promote languages or download language apps such as this cool free multi-language app: langu.ag. There are plenty of online resources out there, if you naturally spend a lot of time online, where you can try a language for free. If you love eating out, find restaurants for that culture or country and try to use a few words. If you are a news buff, then check out the online news sites in that language. You get the idea. Learn a language the way you live your life and you are going to stick with it.
So, it’s time for us to say merci, grazie, danke, gracias, shukran and thank you for reading our secrets about learning a language. If you know of any other great tips, please leave them in the comments below and we will make sure to update this post.
Andrie Steliou
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