5 Tips for Learning a New Language

No matter your age, it’s always important to keep your mind sharp and engaged. One way to keep your brain active is by learning a new language. Other than widening your linguistic capabilities and enhancing your memory, learning a new language can also deepen your understanding of a different culture, diversify your career opportunities, and even make you more confident in yourself and your decisions.

But acquiring a new skill like this can be daunting and is full of challenges. With that being said, we’ve listed 5 tips below that’ll help you in your journey to learning a new language.

Consistency is Key
When it comes to mastering a new language, consistent practice ensures that what you learn stays in your head. And if you’re just starting out, just an hour a day could do you a world of good when learning a new language. A guide to maximizing your lunch hour by Gala Bingo points out how you only need a language app or podcast and a pair of headphones to keep learning everyday. You can even ask coworkers or friends who are also interested to practice with you — this can make you even more accountable to your daily practice, and let you develop your skills together. To help you stay consistent, try to set goals and reward yourself when you reach a new milestone in your study.

Converse with Native Speakers
If you feel confident enough in your speaking and conversational skills, try to practice by talking to a native speaker. An article on Medium by Teach Me Please points out that practicing with a native speaker can help you pick up on pronunciation, understand idioms and abbreviations, as well as gain an insight into their culture. To connect with a native speaker, you can use language exchange apps like Bilingual which not only connects you with a native speaker, but also with people you share interests with. This feature makes sure that the flow of your conversation goes smoothly and that you won’t run out of things to talk about.

Learn Through Media
Be sure to consume media in the language that you’re trying to learn. This way, you can simultaneously hone your skills while enjoying yourself. For starters, you can try to find copies of books you like that have been translated into the language that you’re currently studying. Doing this can help you with your spelling and sentence construction. On the other hand, movies are also a great way to improve your listening skills. With the sheer amount of foreign content on Netflix and other streaming platforms, it’s incredibly easy to find movies to help you with your pronunciation and accent.

Enroll In A Program
While self-studying through resources like books, blogs, and apps is not a horrible idea, nothing beats enrolling in a class and being taught by experienced teachers. This is because language classes can help you with the basics, and an instructor will be able to provide you with good feedback that will improve your studying. Other than schools, language programs are also offered by non-profit organizations like Alliance Française and the Goethe-Institut, and these are also dedicated to promoting the culture of the countries they represent.

Immersion Through Traveling
There’s no better way to learn a language than traveling to the country where the language you’re studying is predominantly spoken. You’ll improve your skills through constant practice by speaking with locals and getting around without the help of your phone’s translator. Whether you decide to have a short trip to Japan or experience Paris with an unorthodox itinerary, traveling abroad will put your newfound language skills to test.