Some people struggle more than others when learning a foreign language, but often this is just the wrong approach. Learning a new language is an extraordinary experience, but the path to achieving this can be steep and fearful. The amount of information that must be memorized and the initial difficulty in speaking or understanding can overwhelm the student and create anxiety about the possibility of success in their learning process; everyone can experience the fear of speaking in English, or any other language they are learning.
Learning a new language is a truly rewarding activity, especially in the era of globalization, where it is much easier to get in touch with people from different cultures. Furthermore, speaking more than one language can make you more appreciated at work or can allow you to be hired for a job position.
However, there is a more or less generalized belief that learning other languages is difficult, that it is necessary to spend hours and hours on books or, again, that it is necessary to invest one’s money in expensive paid courses in the classroom. The difficulties we encounter in approaching a new language also derive from the method used in our compulsory schools which do not always provide us with the tools necessary to truly learn a foreign language.
Table of Contents
Why study a foreign language?
Foreign languages can be learned in a dynamic and fun way, just a little consistency is enough. Here are the online systems for learning English, German, French, Spanish or any other foreign language. Read below and find out why is important to study a new language.
Studying a foreign language is good for your future
You have most likely heard it too: if you want to be successful at work, you must necessarily know at least one foreign language. Just take a look at the major job posting sites to see it: around 8 out of 10 positions require at least knowledge of English. And 6 out of 10 even require knowledge of a second language (in addition to English).
Obviously, this is not true if we are talking about very simple manual jobs. But if you aspire to a prestigious (and well-paid) profession, you do not escape from languages. Knowing at least one foreign language is not important – it is essential.
Not only that: the employees who get promotions are mostly those who speak at least two languages. According to a study by the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), bilingual workers earn 3% to 7% more than their colleagues who speak only one language.
Studying a foreign language is good for your brain
According to researchers at University College London, studying foreign languages alters gray matter in the same way that exercise develops muscles. Studying a foreign language is a great way to train your brain: it improves memory and increases the ability to concentrate.
If despite this, however, even at this moment even the idea of repeating words and grammar rules seems to you the worst torture to which you could subject your brain – which between lessons and exams already has enough to think about – continue reading for find out how to plan the learning of a foreign language without any difficulty.
Traveling is more fun
Holidays change. In fact, it becomes possible both to travel outside the traditional tourist circuits and to mix with the locals, avoiding the usual hotels and tourist villages. Of course, this can be a source of anxiety and fear, but don’t worry because as soon as you approach and try to communicate with the locals, you will immediately realize how open and friendly they are, and you will immediately calm down. In this way, you will have much more interesting and exciting travel experiences.
Stay healthy and fit
It may sound a little strange, but it will help you stay fit and healthy. This is because, when the brain assimilates a new terminology and a complicated grammar, it strengthens: memory increases and better results are obtained in tests and exams. Additionally, a University of London study found that people who speak two or more languages are less prone to age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, than their peers.
Make better decisions
A University of Chicago study found that learning a foreign language helps you decide better and faster. Bilingual people are better at making decisions; and this would be because they have more self-confidence and think things in both languages before making a final resolution. A second language could therefore help simplify small and big life choices, making them more open and willing to take risks.
Speaking a foreign language is sexy!
UK marriage agencies have found that having a foreign accent makes you sexier! So if you want to impress that foreign boy you have a crush on, try to speak his language without fear of your accent! Don’t believe me?
Find new friends
By attending a language course abroad, you have the opportunity to meet new people from all over the world and often to establish friendships that will remain even after returning home, thanks to social media and by visiting each other’s countries of origin.
Give your career a boost
Nowadays, if you want to find a great job or are planning to pursue a major career, you need to speak at least two languages. In a globalized world, most companies increasingly operate internationally and require their employees to have extensive language skills to be able to communicate with people from all over the world. Furthermore, a survey of UK companies showed that employees with excellent language skills often have a higher salary than others. So speaking a foreign language is the way to success in work and in love! What more could you ask for?
Live, work and study abroad
You can go to live, work and study abroad. Have you, for example, ever dreamed of living on a beautiful island in the South Sea? Would you like to go to study at an American university? Well, knowledge of languages can open the door to these destinations. And along the way, you may even run into your dream partner or job!
Experience new cultures
Studying languages means not only memorizing words and learning grammar, but also knowing the culture of the country where the language is spoken, learning how the locals live, how they think and what their traditions are. This is very useful if you decide to look for your way abroad, but also to better understand your counterpart, if you want to establish business relationships across borders. A new language can truly open your horizons.
Become open and tolerant
You will understand others and you will see the world with different eyes. We are all conditioned by the culture we live in and behave accordingly. And so by analyzing your own behavior and comparing it with that of others, you may question the way your country thinks and does, and become more tolerant and open to others.
How to learn a language quickly?
Today you will find out how to learn a new language from scratch with ease and have fun. Read below and learn how to study a new language.
You must know why you are doing it
It may seem obvious, but if you don’t have a good reason to learn a new language, you will be less motivated to carry out your mission. Wanting to learn French to show off in front of your fellow countrymen is not one of the best reasons. If the purpose is instead to have a conversation with a native French speaker that you would like to know better, you will already have an edge. Whatever the reason for your interest, once you have chosen the language to learn, the essential thing is the commitment that you will put into it: “Well, I have decided that I want to learn this language well, so I will do everything possible to use it, read it, speak it and listen to it every time I get the chance. “
Dive!
Once you’ve made the decision to get serious, how do you go about learning a language quickly? Matthew recommends the maximalist approach: no matter what tools you use, the key thing is to practice the new language daily. “I usually tend to want to absorb as much as possible from the start. Day after day I try to think in that language, write, or even speak to myself. For me it’s all about really practicing what I’m learning, whether it’s writing an email, speaking, or listening to radio or music in that language.
It is very important to immerse yourself as much as possible in the culture of the new language. ” Keep in mind one thing: the best training ever is to speak the new language with other people. Being able to conduct a conversation, no matter how simple it is, it’s already a great reward, as well as one of the early milestones that help you stay motivated and keep a commitment to practice continuously.
Keep interest alive
If from the beginning you set yourself the goal of being able to make conversation, you will not risk getting lost in textbooks. Talking to people will help you keep your personal interest in learning alive: “You learn a language so that you can use it with other people, not to speak it alone! The creative part of learning is the ability to put the language you are studying into a more useful, general, everyday context – to say, write songs, or even just want to talk to the locals, use it when traveling outside abroad. But you don’t have to go abroad: if you study Greek, you can go to the Greek restaurant downstairs and order in Greek. “
Don’t focus your study solely on grammar books
Knowing the rules of grammar is key, but no one says it has to be the centerpiece of your study. Think about it, when you started talking as a child did you immediately start with a book or, hearing your parents and grandparents, did you start forming the first more complex sentences? What we want you to understand is that grammar must be an essential support, not the central pivot, otherwise you run the risk of being an ace of grammar rules, but not being able to communicate, understand and be understood by others, which is the thing that really matters.
Make an ear
The best trick to learning a new language is to listen to it, you will find yourself learning many things without even realizing it. A great way to learn conversational language is through television series. That’s right, you can finally make the most of the many hours you spend in front of Netflix watching Tv series or Amazon Prime video. Obviously, you have to set the language you intend to learn as the language and give yourself additional support with subtitles (start with something simple!).
Change the homepage of your browser
A recurring good purpose among all those who set out to learn a new language is to improve their writing skills and their vocabulary by reading articles in the language. However, very often all this remains on the level of intentions. A trick to help you stay consistent is to set the web page of a foreign newspaper as the homepage of your internet browser. In this way, every time you open it, you will almost be forced to read at least one article. If you still don’t feel like reading a newspaper because you think it is too complicated, know that there are many sites that offer you the opportunity to read various current and cultural texts according to your level of command of the language.
Find a partner for a language exchange
Have you ever thought that you could offer your knowledge of the Italian language as a bargaining chip to learn a new language? As you wish to learn a foreign language, many people are eager to learn Italian. This method is called Tandem and allows two people to meet, talk and learn each other’s language.
Multicultural aperitifs
Multicultural aperitifs are another great opportunity to test your language skills. Surely in your city they will organize several, just check on the internet. The strength of these events is that having a little alcohol (without overdoing it) in circulation will help you be more casual. It is well known that the fear of making mistakes or being judged is a strong inhibitory brake when you find yourself expressing yourself in another language, especially when you are at the beginning. Dissolving yourself a little can only do you good!
Go ahead
Going back to what has been said about the fear of being judged or making mistakes, the best advice you can get is to jump in. If you have a chance to strike up a conversation, just do it. Never let the fear of making a mistake keep you from improving. Never mind the fact that your pronunciation is not perfect or that you may need more time to express a concept, your interlocutor will certainly appreciate your efforts.
Lessons on YouTube
Now that you’ve taken all these steps along your learning path, you can consider paying more attention to grammar. A great way to learn the rules without getting too bored is to search YouTube for channels that deal with just that: teaching grammar to newbies. Among other things, those who try their hand at this enterprise of opening a channel dedicated to foreign grammar, rest assured that they are experienced and gifted with strong communication skills (to say, you don’t know how many nice, slightly geeky professors have their channel on YouTube).
Speak for yourself
If you don’t have anyone to speak the new language to, there’s nothing wrong with speaking it yourself: “I know, it sounds a bit weird, but speaking a foreign language alone is a great way to practice when there are no other occasions to use it. ” Talking to yourself is a great way to keep new words and phrases in mind and gain more confidence the next time you have a chance to talk to other people.
Leverage technology
Babbel
If you are looking for a more traditional method in addition to or in place of those proposed, you can consider the idea of creating an account on Babbel, the first online platform entirely dedicated to teaching foreign languages. The great fortune that Babbel has met in recent years is due to the fact that it offers you complete courses – at reasonable prices – (you can find both grammar and sections dedicated to writing, reading and listening comprehension) calibrated on European reference levels ( A1-A2-B1-B2-C1-C2).
Among other things, Babbel is not exclusively usable from the computer but from every device in your possession, be it a tablet or a smartphone, thanks to the apps that have been developed for both iOS and Android. This allows you to take a lesson even while you are in line at the post office. Over the years, the courses available have increased: if you want to learn Norwegian, Indonesian, Swedish, Russian or Turkish you can try your hand at this undertaking from scratch and being followed step by step.
Duolingo
Halfway between a game and a course, Duolingo is the app that allows you to learn a new language, having fun and totally free (you just have to skip some advertisements every now and then). One of the most noteworthy aspects of the app is that it allows you to really learn any language, starting with Modern Greek, going through Chinese and Japanese, and ending with Klingon.
Once the language has been selected, the app allows you to choose how much time to dedicate to learning, starting from five minutes up to forty-five minutes per day. If you think about how much time we spend on social networks that in the end, we can very well say it is wasted time, why not engage in something that can enrich us?
How to learn a language effectively
Pay attention to how you learn and find your method
There is no safe and valid study method for everyone. To achieve maximum results when studying a foreign language (but also any other subject), it is important that you are aware of your learning style. If you learn more when you listen, for example, it will be easier to memorize rules or new words with nursery rhymes or songs, because in this case it stimulates the memory linked to hearing. On the contrary, if you need to read to understand what you are studying, sketches, summaries and many readings can help you. If you have a good photographic memory, different colors can help you remember different information.
Always learn new words in context
It is useless to memorize a list of words by heart; your brain will tend to have a hard time remembering the meaning of new words if you persist in learning them this way. While creating flashcards can be useful for memorizing words for an exam, it’s even better to insert new words into a sentence, creating a context of use that will help you remember what that precise word is for – and therefore also what it means.
Learn without stress
The negative emotions can affect learning slowing, because our brains tend to remember information more easily linked to positive emotions and avoid unpleasant ones. Don’t set unattainable goals and don’t get down on yourself when you don’t understand something. Try to learn only what really interests you (what are you learning this language for?) And to value every little progress.
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes
This advice is directly related to the previous one. The fear of making mistakes creates anxiety when we have to speak a foreign language, and as a result we become slow, clumsy and often communicate less than we would be able to.
To understand how to learn a foreign language, you need to understand that mistakes can be your greatest teachers – and this is not a cliché. Being corrected by someone when we speak, for example, can mark our memory: the next time we will remember the correction and we will not make the same mistake.
This is why it is important to try to express yourself even when you are not sure how to say something. Try the same; go for it: the worst that can happen is to find out how to say what you can’t express. If you think about it, it means learning something new right away (if you don’t even try it, you will be left with the doubt!).
Practice the language as much as possible
Whether in chat or with a language tandem in person or online, practicing the language in real communication can make a difference – even once a week. Don’t rush though: if you don’t feel ready or you have just started studying the language and you are still in the first few months, respect your period of silence. Even young children don’t learn to speak right away; first it is necessary to listen and understand, only then to formulate sentences.
Better a little every day
It may seem strange to you, but it is “useless” to go crazy on books for three or four hours only once a week: your memory works better if you learn with small daily doses, even if you seem to do little. When you study, start with a quick review of the latest things you have learned and then move on to something new. One hour is more than enough, if you apply yourself consistently!
Don’t lose motivation
If you are at the beginning and everything is new and difficult, it can seem demotivating, but you have to remember that it is only a phase. Take your time to familiarize yourself with new sounds, grammar structures, words and perhaps even new alphabets. Slowly things that seem impossible to you will become natural, almost automatic, and you can learn with more serenity.
If, on the other hand, you are at an advanced language level and you feel like you are not improving anymore, remember that when you learn something new it is normal to see great progress at the beginning and then less and less, but only because at the beginning you have a lot more things to learn.
Find alternative ways to learn
You can fully immerse yourself in the foreign language even in moments of relaxation, helping your brain to become familiar with the language. For example with apps, podcasts or audiobooks to fill the dead moments, or watching TV series and movies in the original language to relax at the end of the day.
Travel
Of course, if you can, travel. Go to the country where the language you want to learn is spoken, no matter if for tourism, a study holiday, an Erasmus, volunteering, an internship even to work. Clearly, the longer you stay there, the greater the possibility of learning the language in the most spontaneous and effective way, that is, using it every day for everything. But be careful: if you surround yourself with friends, everything will be more difficult!