Say you’re planning on visiting another country and are looking forward to mixing with the locals. Or your company is expanding into the international market, and you want to understand your customers better. Or perhaps you wish to watch foreign movies or anime but are sick of poorly translated subtitles.
There are many reasons to learn a foreign language. Apart from enhanced communication, bilingualism has been linked to superior concentration skills, better mental flexibility, improved problem solving and multi-tasking abilities, and higher resistance to dementia.
Picking up another language, however, can be tricky, especially if it’s very different from the one you usually speak. Here are seven tips to help you pick up a new tongue effectively. You’ll be a polyglot in no time!
1. Set learning goals
Mastering the whole scope of a language can be overwhelming for new learners. To counter this, separate what you’re learning into short, distinct parts, and give yourself a reasonable amount of time to master each of them.
For example, “I will learn 20 Spanish words related to food by next week”, or “I will be able to write a simple story in Japanese by next month”. Go for it part by part, and eventually you will have absorbed your whole syllabus.
2. Identify core words
In every language, certain words are used much more frequently than others. In English, for example, 300 words make up 65% of most written material.
The web has lots of core word lists from many languages; look those up and master them.
3. Use sensory associations
People remember things better when their senses are engaged. When studying, make mind maps with vivid colours to stimulate your sight, and say (or sing) new words out loud to involve your sense of hearing.
Visualise each word clearly in your mind as you learn them.
For words that involve gestures or actions, perform them. For example, for “shirt” or “watch”, mime putting on a shirt or looking at your wrist while saying the corresponding word out loud. You’ll be surprised how effective this can be.
4. Learn about the culture
Learning about how certain people live can be very helpful when trying to master their language. Cultural knowledge will come in especially useful for words pertaining to food, traditions or relationships, and will boost your understanding of idioms and proverbs.
5. Enjoy media in a foreign language
This is the most fun step! Consume books, music, movies, television shows and so on in that language, then compare them with their English equivalents.
For example, put on a foreign show, watch it first with English subtitles, then watch again without, and see how much you understand.
Fun fact: Rap Monster (aka RM) from the Korean group BTS famously learnt English from watching “Friends”. Could that show BE any more useful?
6. Get real-life practice
This is perhaps the most effective step: go out and get as much real-life experience speaking that language as you can.
Join language clubs; visit expat or migrant communities in your city; find native speakers and converse with them as much as you can. Or travel to the country of origin, if you can afford it!
Alternatively, here’s another challenge: change your phone’s settings to a different language and live with it for a week. When you have no choice but to speak or think in that language, your brain quickly adapts.
7. Don’t give up
Learning a new language can be tricky. You will definitely make mistakes, which is a completely natural part of the process.
So don’t be too embarrassed. Most people will appreciate you taking the effort and will forgive your errors. Keep persevering and you’ll be speaking fluently in no time.
This article was written by Terence Toh of ReSkills.com, a local online education platform aiming to make education affordable and accessible for all.