Learn a Language Fast & Easy....and Free!
Learning a language can seem intimidating, impossible, daunting, time-consuming, and the list goes on. This article will ensure you that it doesn’t have to be! Here are 4 simple tips that can help you to learn a language fast, efficiently, easy, and of course, for free!
1. Learn what is relevant to you
This is probably the most important thing to know to accelerate your comprehension of a language. Humans tend to be selfish in the way we act and think. Focus on learning vocabulary, phrases, questions, etc about things you are interested in and the different subjects that you are exposed to everyday.
Let’s imagine you are living in Portugal and you plan on learning Portuguese. Plan your day and look at each individual task you plan on doing. For example, you have to pick up some groceries, go to the gym, work at a local cafe, and then go to a general store to buy some cleaning supplies. Now break down each of those tasks and imagine you will have a conversation with a person at each of those locations. Learn some vocabulary, questions and phrases that are relevant to each task. Greetings is a great way to start. Asking for specific items in a grocery store will force you to look up how to ask “where is the milk?”. At the cafe, it would be helpful to know how to order a coffee and piece of cake, and then later asking for the bill. Imagining conversations or trying to predict scenarios is great exercise to force you to learn relevant vocabulary, verbs, questions, etc.
Now this exercise can intimidate some people because you are throwing yourself out in the wild and trying to survive with limited and basic language skill.s Remind yourself that you will make mistakes and your pronunciation will most likely be terrible, but it’s ok! The locals will always know you are a foreigner, even if you have lived there for 10 years. As long as you are making an effort to integrate and speak the local language, you will be appreciated for your motivation to speak.
2. Start with Why
Simply ask yourself, “why am I trying to learn Spanish?” for example. When you break down the motive behind your goal to learn a language, it will enhance the learning experience. The best selling book, Start with Why, concludes that the more people and organisations that start with why when learning something, the more people and organisations feel fulfilled in their work or actions. If you are learning for fun, then incorporate as many fun activities and ways of learning. Do you need to learn a language for a specific job role? Remind yourself why you are learning during the process and it will keep you focused and motivated to continue learning.
3. Just start speaking
Practise speaking out loud as much as possible. You are able to retain more information when you are forced to repeat words and phrases out loud. Speaking will give you confidence in learning much sooner than focusing on grammar towards the beginning. I’m not saying to ignore grammar, basic grammar should be incorporated in your learning routine. Many free language learning apps, like Duolingo, offers features where you can read the phrases out loud. Sending voice notes on messenger apps to a language partner can also be great practise.
The most important objective is to try to be understood. At first, don’t worry about speaking in the proper tense and using the “perfect” word to explain or ask for something. The more you speak and make mistakes, the more confidence you will end up having. You will realize that making mistakes isn’t the end of the world and the listener doesn’t care. Also, the listener can make subtle corrections which is a great help.
4. Immerse yourself
Surround yourself with the language you plan to learn. One helpful tip that can sound scary is change your default language on your mobile to the desired language. This will force you to figure out some new vocabulary real soon. Listen to Spotify podcasts, watch Netflix or other streaming services, read a short text, listen to music, all in the language you want to learn. The more minutes and hours you put in throughout your day, the more your brain will be able to process all these new sounds, just like learning a musical instrument.
If you are fortunate enough to live in the country where the language is natively spoken, then you have endless opportunities to immerse yourself 100%. Start by making local friends with similar interests. Meetup is a fantastic tool to connect you with other groups with similar interests. Language exchanges are excellent to meet many new people and practise the language as well. These can be found on Facebook and Meetup. Simply being out and about in the city will help you subconsciously. The signs you are reading, background chatter, radio stations, and most conversations with locals will be in the language you are trying to learn. Just try and avoid spending most of your time with other foreigners that don’t speak the local language. It can sound tempting because it’s the most comfortable thing to do, but do the uncomfortable! You will end up learning so much more about the culture, cuisine, customs, values, and so much more.
Remember these other useful tips!
- Try and make the process fun
- Don’t try to speak grammatically perfect, try to be understood
- Limit your learning sessions to short increments so you don’t overwhelm yourself
- Change your phone settings to the desired language settings (just remember how to change it back if you are completely lost!)
- Consume content (tv, radio, articles, etc.) in the desired language
Now get out there and test these practises in the real world!
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