I've always enjoyed Italian opera and their
cuisine as well as culture Dante Alighieri to Umberto Eco which caused me to
create this article on 10 tips for learning a
foreign language. This is why I
decided to sit down and learn a new language. I made many mistakes, but I also got some
very useful tips on learning a new language that I would like to share with
you. These tips can be applied to most western languages. So here they are.
1 Spend a good deal of time on pronunciation
This is where most people get it wrong, and
even though they become proficient in a foreign language they still sound weird to the natives. You will look like a fool
and it will be a bit weird, but learning to pronounce the words correctly and
hit the right intonation. Audio books are a great help, but you will need to
spend a few hours a day repeating the same words over and over, so be prepared.
2 Open the dictionary and learn the most
important words
Most textbooks are pretty useless at teaching
you conversation skills – I mean who cares about Mario’s trip to the library or
Antonia’s adventure at the doctor’s office. Find the things that you would
actually like to ask someone about, or the simple little things you come across
every day. You can write down some of the most common phrases as well, and
practice them every day.
3 Focus on basic grammar
Your grasp of the basic grammar rules will
mean the difference between sounding normal and sounding like an alien. Learning
when and how to use the appropriate tenses will save you a lot of trouble, and
combined with the most important words and phrases will help you string
together coherent sentences and express yourself.
4 Start off slow, don’t do too much in one day
You can cover half the grammar textbook in one
day, but you won’t retain any of the information – it’s like reading a hundred
jokes one day and then not being able remember a single one when your friends
ask you to tell them a joke the next day. Devote 2-4 hours a day on a few
pages, a few words and phrases and then take a break to let it all sink in.
5 At the beginning of each session revise the
previous lesson
Don’t be too eager to jump to new lessons,
take some 10-20 minutes at the beginning of every session to recap the previous
session. At the end of every session incorporate the new material with all the
things you have learned previously and try to use it in few sentences about a
particular subject.
6 Speak to a friend in a foreign language about
things relevant to real life
It doesn’t matter if your friend doesn’t speak
the language. When I was learning Italian I would have short conversations with
a friend – he would ask me something in English and I would try to answer in
Italian. You need to practice putting your thoughts to words and utilizing
proper sentence structure. Devote at least half an hour a day to this little
exercise.
7 Movies and YouTube clips are a great way to
learn conversation skills
You don’t get too much slang or different
accents in official language courses. Once you start watching movies, TV shows
and YouTube clips in a foreign language you can pick up a lot of the fine nuisances.
Just be patient, a lot of western languages, especially the romance languages
like Italian, tend to be spoken at quite a remarkable speed as the syllables
flow easily of the tongue and the people generally have a stronger temperament.
8 Use social networks to find people from that
country
The best thing is to have a friend, or several
friends who are fluent in the language you want to learn – this way you will be
constantly exposed to it. The next best thing is finding a friend from that
country online and have a chat with them from time to time. This can be a fun
way to learn a few things about the culture as well.
9 Start reading a book in that
language/translate something into that language
This technique is a bit more advanced, so make
sure you have all the basics covered before moving on to this step. It is a
great way to get some deeper insight into the language you are learning and
will require a lot of patience and focus, but it will put your knowledge and
skills to the test. Reading a book will mean frequent breaks and dictionary
searches, and translating will be very taxing – you won’t be able to do more
than 2-3 pages in a sitting when you first begin.
10 Take a trip to the country to hear the language spoken in its
natural environment
The ultimate learning tool is submerging
yourself in the culture, language and being forced to use the language every
second of the day to communicate with people and get things done. I would
advise at least 6 months of home study before going on a trip abroad to get the
best results, attempting this if you don’t speak a single word of the language
can be frustrating and contra productive.
