5 Simple Steps to Learn a New Language
Happy New Year!
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions this year to learn a new skill, such as a foreign language?
Learning a new language provides multiple benefits, including improving your executive functioning, ability to switch between tasks and encouraging you to learn about another culture, country or way of life.
(See more about the benefits of bilingualism here.)
It also allows you to look at the world from different perspectives, which can help to maintain a sense of wonder and well-being in a busy world.
So, now you’ve decided to learn another language, where do you begin?
The amount of language learning courses, resources and apps can be overwhelming, so much so that many people who start with the best intentions find themselves losing steam after just a few weeks or months.
Follow these five simple steps to get your language learning journey off to a great start, regardless of which language you will be learning this year:
1. Brush up on your English grammar
This may seem counter-intuitive, but many language textbooks assume that you have a strong grasp on grammatical terminology and this can quickly become impenetrable when you are already grappling with learning a new language. You don’t need to go into very complex grammar, as many will be unique to the language you will be learning. However, a quick refresh on the basic word classes/parts of speech will put you in good stead!
(Anecdote on the side: When I studied Italian at university, the first book I checked out from the library was called ‘English Grammar for Students of Italian’ after becoming completely confused in one of my first lectures when the teacher talked about the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. They’re not quite as scary as they sound: Transitive verbs need an object, i.e. something that is acted on by the verb, whereas Intransitive verbs don’t necessarily need an object. Some verbs can be both depending on the sentence!e.g. He opened the window -transitive – the verb open only makes sense in this context if we explain what he is opening. The window opens – intransitive – there isn’t a person (subject) involved so we don’t need an object.)
2. Choose one resource and stick to it
I would recommend thinking about how you’re most likely to learn and starting from there. For example, if you often listen to podcasts or music on your way to work, why not download some podcasts in your target language to listen to?
This alone will not be enough to take you to fluency in a language, but it is very easy to buy tonnes of textbooks, flashcards, language courses, etc, then get bogged down in too many resources.
There are also lots of great resources available on the internet, many of them free, but it can be easy to spend so much time researching various resources that you leave yourself very little time to actually study the language.
Choose one resource and stick to it – then you’re ready for Step 3!
3. Increase your study gradually
It is easy to go in with all the guns blazing and tire yourself out. ‘New Year You’ is still the same you as ‘Last Year You’, with all your pressures from work, chores, etc. You do need to set aside time if you want to see an improvement in your language level or to learn a new skill, but it’s unrealistic to go from doing nothing one day to studying for three hours the next. Instead, you’re more likely to create a sustainable language learning routine if you start small and achievable:
For example, you could start off with your podcast, three times a day. Then, when that’s become a habit, add in 5 flashcards every morning, lunch and evening. Then add a chapter from a language textbook, a game on a language-learning app, a song in your target language etc.
This way learning a new language becomes an ingrained habit and it stays (mostly!) enjoyable, rather than becoming a stick for you to beat yourself up with when your language-learning resources start to gather dust in March.
4. Study what interests you
It’s great to start off with language you can use straight away (like these Top 25 phrases in Korean or German), but there is equally no point in spending a long time learning about topics that do not interest you and that you’re unlikely to use in your target language.
After learning the most common 200 words in a language (enough for some basic conversations), then the first 1000 (enough to give you a fair understanding of a wide range of media), study words about topics that interest you. If you want to visit Italy to visit art galleries, learn about Renaissance Art in Italian, if you endeavour to try everything on the menu in Sichuan, learn about foods in Chinese (and be prepared for some very poetic names which bear no resemblance to the ingredients!)
(For me, I studied archaeology, ancient history and mythology in Japanese and art history, manuscripts and printing in Italian – and loved it! I am still learning new words in both Italian and Japanese, due to hearing them in the news or coming across them in books, but I am also still learning new words in my mother tongue, English, a process which I never expect to end. So, don’t try to learn ‘all the words’ but, instead, the words you need and will use!)
5. Cut yourself some slack
Learning a new language is alternatively exciting, frustrating, fun, arduous and many other things. Some days it will feel impossible, while on others, you will be able to see the progress you have made. Don’t give up, just keep going, even if you miss a day!
Learning any new skill takes time and patience. Some languages you will be able to pick up faster because of similarities to your mother tongue or exposure, while others will take more time. Learning a language is also a skill which is never truly finished – you will always be learning new words and phrases – but it is a skill which could take you far, either by travelling, in work or by making new friends. Don’t give up before you’ve even begun because ‘fluency’ feels unattainable; instead focus on just how much even a few words could help you in various life situations, or simply in the enjoyment of learning something new.
Ready to learn a new language?
Why not start by checking out some of my links to free language learning resources?
Or, perhaps, if you’re learning one of these nine languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, German, Chinese, Polish or Irish), check out my multilingual flashcards to get you started with a few new words or plaster your house?
Learn about how you can harness Music and TV for Language Learning and don’t miss these 5 tips for fitting more language learning into your day.
Good luck and I would love to hear from you about your language learning journey!
Which language are you planning to learn?
What are you using to study it?
Do you have any tips for someone learning a language?
What have you found most interesting or toughest about learning a language so far?
Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!