Language Learning – What to Do When Learning a New Language

When learning a new language, some people can end up impatient. I’ve known more than a couple of people who tried skipping lessons, jumping immediately to more advanced stuff. Needless to say, they failed miserably, actually taking them longer to learn than their peers who followed the course religiously.

Fixed Sentences

One of the lessons I’ve seen a lot of beginning students try to steamroll through are memorizing fixed sentences. When you’re starting out in a new language, it’s common to integrate it into your patterns by memorizing sentences, such as how to say things like “Good evening” and “Thank you for help.”

Almost every language training software I’ve seen required students to memorize a lot of these types of common phrases. Many students find the process inane, thinking it’s much better to teach them to formulate sentences than to memorize pre-made ones.

Actual Learning

While it is, indeed, better to learn to string your own statements than spout them off memory, language learning just doesn’t work like that. The reality is that memorized phrases, for the most part, are all that anyone who’s new to a language can handle. Vocabulary is best assimilated through this process, as well as certain amounts of grammar.

Instead of shocking you with grammar constructs you don’t have a clue of, language courses are designed to build off from these memorized phrases to teach you actual sentence construction. Without them at the foundation, you’ll have little to refer to, making the process of learning all that much more difficult.

Put simply, never underestimate the value of memorized phrases in language learning. It can help you in more ways than you probably expect.

Each of us learn in a different manner. Some pick up material easily when they listen to an instructor talk in front of the class. Others manage best using the solitary convenience of a book or a language learning software.

When it comes to traditional classes, kinesthetic learners usually end up at the tail end of the pack. They’re not dumb – just challenged with keeping their concentration when forced to sit through lectures and demonstrations. The difficulty typically lasts past school well into their adult life, making it difficult to pick up information from meetings, seminars and other classroom-style teaching methods.

Such is the plight of tactile learners, who would not fare so badly if learning involved much more hands-on activities. For this reason, it’s important to determine the kind of learning you excel at when you decide to go into language training.

If you’re a kinesthetic learner, you’ll need to find alternative ways of study than what the typical language class will get you. What are some ways to get your hands-on experience in language learning?

1. Some cities have local clubs where members can practice their newfound language skills.

2. When you use reference material – like a book or a language software – try rewriting the lessons in your own words. Since you’ll likely have a hard time just taking it in from instruction, working to explain it will likely garner you better results.

3. Practice online. There are many avenues to practice language mastery on the web, from reading blogs in the target language to joining forums where the target vernacular is the primary form of communication.

Learning does become a tad more difficult for those who prefer more tactile approaches to instruction, but it’s not impossible. Many have done it and so can you.

Easy Language Learning Techniques

When researching about language learning, you’ll inevitably hear some folks refer to the language you want to study as “simple”. They’ll say things like, “Oh, that’s a simple language compared to Mandarin, you’ll pick it up in a month.” But, as anyone who studied a second language knows, you don’t pick up an entire vernacular in a month.

English, for instance, is a very “simple” language. The English alphabet only has 26 letters – certainly much less than that of many other international dialects. Yet, is it really that easy to learn compared to other languages?

According to many language experts, the difficulty of learning a particular vernacular will depend more on its relationship with your native language as opposed to any other innate challenge. If it features sentence structures and grammar constructs that resemble your native tongue, it will undoubtedly be much easier to familiarize with.

Even though you’re studying what is supposed to be a “simple” language, never expect to cruise through it. You’ll still have to go through the same learning phases – mastering the vocabulary, picking up syntax and working through nuances. Chances are, you’ll have just a difficult a time with spoken Korean as you do with spoken French, regardless of which language learning software you use.

Simply put, don’t let appearances fool you. While a language may seem simple, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ll have to work through every facet of it to integrate it into your skillset. Simple is not always easy.

There are a thousand techniques for studying a new language. Remember how many strategies people came up for their studying back in high school and college? Almost every single one of those can be applied to language learning, with potentially similar results.

Personally, I encourage students to develop study techniques based on their personal strengths. Even the best techniques can get you mediocre results if it’s not a good fit with the way you naturally learn. The following items are some things you can do to ensure a better experience of learning a new language, whether you’re working on the skillset using an audio course or a language software.

1. Acquire an ear. Even before starting your lessons, try to listen to songs or watch videos in your target language, without attempting to decipher or speak it. That will help you develop a familiarity with hearing it – an invaluable tool as you progress towards your overall skill development.

2. Think phrases. The best way to learn a language is to work on phrases, instead of individual words. That’s the reason why early language practice usually involves common phrases, instead of single-word lessons. Phrases give the words context as well as start you on the path to adopting the nuances of grammar.

3. Imagine stories around words and phrases you learn. As humans, we learn better when there’s an emotional component to anything we try to master. Stories crafted around your target language can make learning all that much easier – not to mention more fun.

4. Involve your life. If you can find a way to involve the target language into your life, the faster the learning will be. If you are living in a foreign country where the target language is the local vernacular, this becomes a default part of your everyday studying. Under different circumstances, though, you’ll have to be creative and find out how you’ll best be able to integrate it into your daily activities.

More Language Learning Articles

Language Learning Strategies: Better Strategies for More Effective Learning

Language learning strategies do not imply overall plans, but rather methods using which you can comprehend and remember the language while you are learning it. Language learning strategies would include such things as bringing flash cards into play, watching movies in that language, and making use of example phrases for relating to the grammar rules. In order to the most compatible collection of such strategies for yourself, you would need to look at the entire process of leaning a language from different angles.

1.    First, start with evaluating the strategies that you have been currently using. Look back to analyze things that have worked and haven’t worked for you using these strategies. For instance, check whether flash cards actually helped you grasp new words more effectively than writing those words.

2.    Identify other potential strategies. Go online or get hold of some nice language learning books that will help you to note down many tricks, tips, techniques, and strategies for learning that language. Minus those that you are already sure won’t work well for you. No strategy along can help you best in learning the language, so jot down whatever you feel might do good to you.

3.    Find out if you are more of an auditory (speaking and hearing), kinesthetic (physical movement), or visual (writing and seeing) learner. In case you are not sure, select some words and apply certain learning strategies on them related to hearing, moving, and seeing, till you become aware of what works best for you.

4.    It is also advisable to pick strategies to enhance memorization. Select strategies that will best suit your learning capabilities and preferences and that will help you memorize grammar and vocabulary rules. For instance, in order to memorize new words, you can repeat those words aloud, act them aloud, or create their mental images.

5.    Choose some fluency language learning strategies that will help you learn express yourself fluently and accurately. Such strategies would include conversation practice, processing thoughts in that language, and doing some free writing.

6.    Analyze your belief system. In case you have certain feelings that continue to hold you back while you learn the language, then it is important to look for strategies that will address them. For instance, if you are not speaking because you are afraid of making mistakes, then try practicing in that language with foreign speakers in the beginning to boost your confidence.

7.    Identify some fine social strategies. Making use of that language in your real life is an effective strategy for increasing your knowledge, but there might arise the need to make efforts to find different ways for using it. You could get in touch and communicate with native speakers, travel to some other country, or volunteer to do work that would require using that language.

Remember, if a popular language learning strategy hasn’t worked well for you, then this does not mean that you do not have any aptitude for that language. If you have given a particular strategy your utmost attention and honest try but it still does not seem to be working in your case, then just scrap it and go ahead to try another.