I have a very talented friend who currently speaks nine languages. He also understands a heck of a lot more. I’m always amazed by how fluent he is at speaking these different languages. The way he switches from one language to another at the drop of a hat is mesmerising. When it comes to learning languages, he’s worth listening to. In this article, he gives his top 10 tips for learning a new language.
I spoke to this friend a while back about my personal struggles with getting to grips with a new language. The advice he gave me really stuck – and I want to share it with you here.
1. Understand What Motivates You
We all learn new languages for different reasons. Some learn them simply because they love learning new things, others learn them to improve their brain’s plasticity, while others learn them because they want to visit or even move to another country.
Before you commit to learning a new language, you need to understand your Why. It’s this Why that you can fall back on whenever you’re feeling unmotivated. For example, I learned Spanish because I was planning to live in Malaga for six months. Whenever I felt like giving up, I googled pictures of sunny Malaga and reminded myself why I had to keep going. This is number 1 on the list of top 10 tips for learning a new language!
2. Buddy Up With a Partner
I don’t know about you, but I find it so much easier to learn a new language when I’m learning alongside someone else.
Partnering up with someone who speaks the language you want to speak, and who wants to learn your language, is so much fun! All of a sudden, you’ve got someone to chat to and test out your language skills in real-life.
You can enjoy jokes together, play online games together and socialise together. There’s so much you can do, plus you can also engage in a bit of healthy competition and try to outdo one another. It’s honestly one of the best ways to master a new language.
3. Hold Your Own Conversations
If you can’t buddy up with someone, why not hold your own conversations? I promise it’s not as weird as it sounds!
When you speak to yourself in a new language, you get the chance to practice everyday conversations. It might not be the same as chatting to another person, but it’s a very good second option. There are no rules dictating how many words you need to know to be fluent in a language, but conversations will help you get there faster!
4. Make Sure It’s Always Relevant
Make conversation an objective right from the start. That way, you won’t waste as much time studying textbooks. Chatting to people is one of the top ways to master a new language. The whole time, it ensures that the process is always relevant.
Remember, the whole point of learning a new language is so that you can use it. It’s all well and good learning words off a screen, but at some point you need to be a bit creative and put your new language into practice in everyday settings. That’s not to say you must go to Spain to learn Spain and put it into practice; you could, for example, go to a local tapas bar and engage the waiters and waitresses in Spanish.
5. Make Sure You Have Fun
Having fun is another suggestion in from the top 10 tips for learning a new language. I can’t over-stress this one enough. If you’re to stay on track with your language learning goals, you must make it fun!
I’ve seen people practice a new language by writing funny songs. Others create comic strips. Some even write sitcoms in their new language!
Do whatever works for you; do whatever you know for sure will motivate you and make you smile.
6. Be Childlike
No, I’m not suggesting that you learn to throw a hissy fit in Spanish. But what I am saying is that you should approach language learning each day with a beginner’s mind – the mind of a child, in other words.
Why this approach?
Because children know they don’t know everything. They approach everything with a beginner’s mind, and therefore there’s no ego involved. Not just that, but children tend to be less self-conscious. They’re more willing to make mistakes and take risks (until adults eventually teach them that making mistakes is bad, boo!).
Children expect to commit errors. But instead of saying to themselves “that’s it, I can’t do it,” they get back on the horse and try again. This is especially true of five-year-olds. As we get older, we’re far likelier to just quit instead of trying again.
Don’t be like an adult – be like a kid!
7. Get Used to Discomfort
In other words, get out of your comfort zone! Be willing to put yourself in an awkward situation. Don’t be afraid of ordering tapas in Spanish. Don’t be scared to try a joke out in German. The more you get out of your comfort zone, the more you’ll train your mind to be accustomed to this sort of thing. This might be the toughest one to master from the top 10 tips for learning a new language.
Moreover, it’s by leaving our comfort zone that we learn and grow. How do you know you’re pronouncing certain words wrong unless you take a chance and pronounce them in the first place?
8. Learn To Listen
Before you speak, practice the lost art of listening. So many of us are in such a rush to speak our new language that we forgot to take a few moments to actively listen to it first. There are also lots of online ways to listen now, such as checking out YouTube language channels.
If you don’t listen to the language you’re learning before speaking it, you will inevitably make more mistakes than is good for you. When I learned Spanish, I noticed that some words contained a hard R. If I hadn’t listened to these words being pronounced, I wouldn’t have spoken them correctly myself. Remember, speaking words properly requires us to use specific parts of our throat and tongue, so it’s really important that you listen and understand what’s required.
9. Pay Attention To How Others Talk
The thing with pronunciation is that it’s a mental and a physical thing.
This might sound really odd, but whenever you’re talking to a native speaker, spend a bit of time really watching how they talk. How do they roll their tongue? What do they do with their lips? It’s by doing this that you can get a feel for how to properly pronounce words.
This doesn’t mean that you should stop a stranger in the street, ask them for directions and then watch their lips! What you can do instead is watch foreign movies and TV shows and spend time really zoning in on the actors.
If possible, you could – of course – visit a restaurant and engage the waiters a bit while watching the way they talk. Just don’t be too weird with it!
10. Dive Right In
Now that you’ve made the pledge to learn a new language, the next step is to make a start.
But how?
I am a big fan of what’s known as the three-hundred-and-sixty maximalist approach. This means learning and practising the language every single day. There can be no excuses!
I totally immerse myself in the language straight off the bat. When I learns, I really go for it. If I’m in the shower, maybe I’ll sing in a different language. If I have a ten-minute break at work, maybe I’ll use it to get some practice in.
It’s all about putting what you’ve learnt into practice as soon as possible, and “showing up” each day.
Ultimately, you know you’re making advances in your new language when people actually start speaking back to you. Having the ability to hold a conversation is hugely rewarding – believe me. And when you reach these kinds of milestones as soon as possible, your motivation will grow. You will be encouraged to keep going!
Try not to focus on the negatives, too. Don’t fret that you might annoy people by making mistakes or by using their language incorrectly. If this sort of thing truly bothers you, you could preface each conversation with “I recently started learning your language and would love to practice …” You’ll find that most people are friendly and obliging. They will give you little tips, too.
That’s all for my top 10 tips for learning a new language. Remember why you’re doing this. Understand what motivates you and keep reminding yourself why you’re learning a new language. If you would love to travel and live abroad, make sure this is always front and centre in your mind. It will ensure that you keep going whenever you feel like giving up. If you want to read a bit more, there are longer lists elsewhere on this site.
Leave a comment below to let me know which of these tips has worked for you.
