Learning a new language is difficult, stressful, and at times downright impossible. And determining the best way to learn a new language. That appears to be near impossible. Different science, theories, and learning styles abound, and some languages are unquestionably easier to learn than others. Perhaps you can converse fluently in French but can’t write in Spanish to save your life. Despite the challenges, multilingualism is becoming increasingly popular around the world, and bilingualism is becoming a more desirable résumé item.
With so much information available on the best ways to learn a language, it can be difficult to choose which language learning strategies will be most beneficial to you. Here are some new ideas on how to learn a new language to rekindle and revitalize your interest in studying a foreign language or to improve upon the remarkable skills you’ve already acquired:
Best Ways to Learn a New Language
Keep some of these in mind and you’ll be ready to find an intensive language program before you know it!
1. Make New Friends
Start attending events if your city has a community of individuals who speak the language you want to learn. Friendship is one of the most effective ways to learn a foreign language, as well as the quickest way to become familiar with slang, accent, and mannerisms. You can start by simply conversing with your friends at local cafés, pubs, and restaurants to lay the groundwork for the language you want to study. Making friends who already speak the language (or are learning it alongside you) has the advantage of allowing you to practice without feeling self-conscious or on the spot!
2. Copy Elementary School Kids
Do you recall pen pals? It doesn’t mean you can’t participate now that you’re an adult! Find a pen buddy from another country and exchange language skills and knowledge. So you can see the correct format and spelling, edit each other’s letters (preserving what you both originally typed). You’ll assist each other learn, your writing abilities in a foreign language will improve tenfold, and you might even have someone to visit overseas when you’re ready to put your newfound knowledge to use!
3. Watch a Movie
Put on a foreign movie in another language —without subtitles if you can! — for those who wish to take advantage of one of the best ways to learn a language from the comfort of their own home. This is not only one of the finest ways to learn a foreign language, but it also gives you a better understanding of the culture of that language! Keep a record of new vocabulary words you hear and what you think they mean if you don’t know enough of the language to turn off the subtitles. Later, look them up. Let’s face it, looking up terms is a lot of fun! (As a side note, if you’re ready and want to “level up” your language skills, go to a movie theater and see a foreign film in public!)
4. Pretend You’re at a Restaurant
Read a menu in your target language and choose a dish you’d have on a daily basis, then check it up to see what it means. Your food selections’ names will stick with you! Plus, if you pick something that means “dog” or “sheep intestine,” you’ll know not to eat it when you’re in another country (unless those are your favorite foods). You’ll definitely have an appetite for both the food and the language by the time you travel abroad!
5. Seek Out Online Resources
The internet is an enchanted place. Look no further if you’re looking for the finest techniques to learn a foreign language. You could use Google Translate, but why not use Toucan, a useful browser extension? Toucan is a free browser extension that displays words and phrases in your target language while you explore the web. It doesn’t get any easier than that when it comes to learning a language! Languages such as Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and others are available.
What other options are there for learning a language online? You can join online chat groups, view YouTube videos, and read articles to connect with other language learners.
6. Try Online Courses (like Lingodeer and Italki!)
LingoDeer is a website that offers online language courses. LingoDeer will help you improve your language skills. Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, and other languages are available. Language teachers create their curricula, and the app has a built-in flashcard feature. Plus, because acquiring a new language necessitates speaking it, LingoDeer delivers stories for you to read and say so you can improve your skills faster! You might also try Italki, a language-learning platform that connects you with language tutors online.
7. Teach Yourself
Small steps of concentrated investigation are the key to this one, and while obvious, it remains one of the greatest ways to learn a new language. Take a few minutes each day to type out a statement in your target language that you’d like to know how to say. Look up each word/section and try to put the sentence together on your own. When you meet up with your language partner, have them double-check your sentences. This is an excellent technique for maintaining self-control.
8. Break it Down
No, we’re not talking about break dancing; unfortunately, such wild moves won’t help you learn a language (but everything is possible!). Instead, each week concentrate on vocabulary for one location or topic (e.g., transportation or food items), then move on to a new topic the following week. This planned process, similar to how you teach yourself new sentences and passages, will make learning vocab and other crucial keywords more doable, and you’ll start to be able to group things together.
9. Listen to the Radio
Try listening to a radio station in your target language in the vehicle, via a podcast, or online, similar to watching a foreign film. Try to see how much you can understand, and note down any words you recognize but don’t understand so you can look them up (pro tip: listening to the news in another language is a fantastic and intense method to acquire vocab and conversational patterns quickly!).
10. Go Abroad!
Visiting a location where your target language is spoken and living with a host family who does not speak your native language is one of the greatest ways to learn a foreign language. When you don’t have a choice, you’ll be shocked at how much information you can communicate and how rapidly you can pick up a language. This intensive immersion program will have you speaking effectively in only a few months. What could be better, really? If you choose your country carefully, you may be able to learn multiple languages.
Last-Minute Ways to Learn a Foreign Language
There are an infinite amount of ways to study a foreign language when it comes down to it. Because everyone’s learning patterns are different, there will be some things that will work particularly well for you; yet, here are a few general last-minute ideas that will help all language learners:
- Be patient with yourself. Nothing is more aggravating than feeling trapped in a rut and unable to move forward. It’s critical to remember that learning a language is like to walking into a totally new universe, and it’ll take time (the nasty truth of studying languages overseas). Trust your previous experiences and expertise, and use them to move you forward in your foreign language learning.
- Commit to speaking in the target language. Whatever method you use to learn a new language, make a vow to yourself from the start that you would only speak/write in the target language while you are studying. This step will ensure that you are doing all possible to fully engage yourself with your target language, especially if you are unable to go overseas right away and fully immerse yourself in the language. Don’t underestimate yourself — you’ve got this!
- Make friends with native speakers. While having friends or study partners is usually a good idea, if you know someone who is a native speaker of the language you’re learning, take it a step further and become involved with them! Native speakers make excellent teachers (and are the greatest way to learn a language) because they are intimately familiar with the language, are specialists in conversational speaking, and can teach slang, jokes, and references that you would otherwise be unaware of.
Awesome Language Learning Programs
We’ve scoured our directories for the best language learning programs available because we *THAT* much adore you. Aside from some useful and creative language learning techniques, you should be aware that there are a plethora of tools accessible to assist you in your language learning attempts. The most popular languages to study abroad, as well as the top language learning programs to achieve fluency, are listed here.:
Chinese
Chinese is studied largely in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Variety (and Sichuan peppers!) are, as they say, the spice of life.
Spanish
Living in a native-speaking nation, whether in Spain or Latin America, is the finest method to learn Spanish. The language of love can be learnt on all five continents, but we know that Europe and Northern Africa have the best French language programs.
Arabic
Studying Arabic in a foreign country is no easy effort, but it is highly rewarding for those who persevere! Poetry, rhythm, and ancient texts: learning Arabic in a foreign country is no easy task, but it is incredibly rewarding for those who persevere!
In Israel, you can study Arabic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Take advantage of Lankey’s Moroccan Arabic Summer Courses.
Portuguese
Where will YOU study Portuguese, a Romance language spoken in locations like Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Portugal?
With ESL Language Studies Abroad, you may learn Portuguese in Brazil.
Iberlinguas offers intensive Portuguese courses in Lisbon.
English
As of 2003, estimates claim that nonnative English speakers outnumbered native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. Huzzah!
Join the Accelerated English Language Program at New Hampton School, a New York Language School in Midtown.
Knowing another language, regardless of where you study or how you learn a foreign language, is a fantastic opportunity to engage with the wide network that is our global community. While it may appear to be an insurmountable undertaking, nothing is difficult if you incorporate a few little tips and tactics into your daily routine. This voyage will be full with learning opportunities, but don’t let that discourage you! Accept the educational journey that lies ahead of you, try out new and inventive language learning techniques, and get ready to expand your linguistic horizons!
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