Four Ways to Boost Your Language-Learning

Language Learning always works best from the perspective of curiosity, creativity, and interest. The greatest students are those who engage in the things they want to learn outside of mandatory classes or study times. Instead, they learn by chasing information at any opportunity. This passion is evident as a great advantage to anything we try to learn, from instruments to sports to languages. The first step as you read this article is to prioritize: find a way to incorporate language into everything you do.

1: Find an Operable Hobby in Your Target Language

Sneaking your target language into a hobby can be incredibly rewarding for a variety of reasons. Not only are you expanding your vocabulary by using common words, but you’re also learning new specialized words that are relevant to you. You’re also using your target language in a natural way.

It can be surprising to learn about the different communities around the world within your hobby. Miniature makers in Spain, German sculptors, Japanese train enthusiasts: with the worldwide availability of the internet, finding your way into these super-specific communities is easier than ever. It’s even a great idea to pick up a new hobby, perhaps one relevant to the language you’re learning or that is popular with members of a specific country. Of course, the one exception is that in language-learning groups, as you’ll likely be asked for language exchange more often than you would have the opportunity to practice your own target language.

2: Don’t Waste Time Trying to Find the Best Methods

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of different methods, resources, and combinations of each. It sounds counterproductive, but one of the biggest ways people waste their study time is by trying to find out the best way through research rather than trial and error. The best way is the one that you can and will do. Pushing yourself to burnout is not going to learn a language any faster than researching in your native one about how to learn languages.

Instead, try picking one or two resources you like and practice them every day. Then, replace them when necessary or even if you find something you think would work better for you. The important thing is not as much how you study, just that you are consistent.

3: Consume New Media

One of the most popular ways of winding down for the day include watching something, be it a TV series, movie, or even video game, video and audio media are as relevant as ever. It also happens to be an incredible way to incorporate your target language into your daily life without moving to a new country.

Language is often attached to specific cultures, and consuming media from those cultures can help speakers feel more confident in their understanding not only of the language but the context surrounding it. Not only that, but it can help with learning certain dialogue cues or norms in conversation. Of course, some things can be dramatic or unusual in daily life, but hearing similar responses across different forms of media in your target language can help strengthen bonds of understanding.

4: Study in New and Different Ways

What is it that interests you in language learning? Is it etymology? Root words? Alphabets? Delving even deeper into these points of interest is a great way to learn more about a language. It may seem like it isn’t very helpful for daily language use, but studying these things helps one to more easily gain a “feel” for a language.

For instance, learning different root words in European languages can expand one’s ability to learn vocabulary through inference. Studying the parts of Chinese characters will help you to understand and retain their meaning rather than just memorizing the words themselves.

Learning a language is a long process. In fact, it may never end. After all, none of us know every single word that exists in even our native languages. That’s why it’s even more important to continuously utilize and incorporate your target language into your life. More importantly, it’s an incredibly enriching skill to know multiple languages, and an admirable thing to try. Don’t let the long journey discourage you, and make language learning a lifestyle. Best of luck!

(Originally posted on Teacher BooMie Blog 1/8/2022)