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January 31, 2011
Aside from the obvious (you’ll acquire a new language), training to learn a second language has taught me several things I wouldn’t have figured out otherwise. Here are five of them:
- Our mind naturally learns language. A foreign language isn’t some alien concept beyond your abilities. In fact, even the least effort can net you some, albeit marginal, improvements. Any language is learnable — our minds are naturally built for it.
- Anything worth pursuing is worth giving up your time for. Language learning requires a good amount of time investment, both for lessons and practice. Just like any skill worth developing, giving up some time to learn it is mandatory.
- An adviser (i.e. someone who knows the language that you can rely on for feedback) is a priceless resource. If you can get in touch with one, try to get them onboard. Regular meetings with your adviser (even once or twice a month) can do wonders for your language skills.
- Practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the better you get. Even if you feel silly and awkward using a language, push through it. Nothing helps ingrain lessons as good as regular practice does.
- Your ability to learn will depend, in part, of the quality of teaching you get. Not all language software are alike. That’s why it pays to do your research before settling on a product to use or a class to enroll in. Me? I went through one class and two software titles, before settling on a French language program that I actually found useful.
January 28, 2011
Want to build a bigger vocabulary and improve your spelling in any language? Doesn’t matter if it’s English, French or Spanish, the best path to take is usually the same: read more.
Assuming you can already read at an elementary level in a foreign language, this is one of the most powerful tools you can add to your arsenal of language learning activities. Just integrate reading as a regular activity, even for only short periods of time (a page a day from a book probably wouldn’t impinge much on your time).
The more you read work written in a language, the more commonly-used words and phrases you are exposed to. Even if you’re encountering a word for the first time, you can infer some of its meaning from the context expressed in the rest of a sentence. Being exposed to it several times, you begin to get a clear picture of its usage, allowing you to slowly integrate it in your own use of the target language.
You don’t even need to look far for evidence of this. Consider your group of friends. Which one of them has the best vocabulary and spelling skills in your native language? Chances are, it’s going to be the one who is the widest reader of the bunch.
To put it simply, integrating reading as a supplement to working with your Dutch, Portuguese or French learning software will yield tremendous benefits in the areas of vocabulary building and spelling. Who knows, you might even end up discovering a good book while you’re at it?
January 27, 2011
Getting ready to learn a new language. Like any new endeavor, it pays to be ready. Here are some groundwork to lay down before starting work with your language training software.
- Set aside ample time for your lessons. Language lessons need not be so time-consuming. Scheduling sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes a day, 3 to 5 days a week, should be more than enough.
- Set aside a separate time for practice. It’s usually a better idea to separate lessons and practice time. Doing so will help you stay fresh for each activity, allowing you to commit more of the learning to memory.
- Create a comfortable study environment. The more comfortable your study area is, the better your language lessons usually go. Plus, sticking to a regular spot for study helps ingrain the daily sessions as a habit.
- Get a notebook. Keep detailed notes of new words and phrases you learn, as well as fresh insights you gain from your lessons. This will give you a handy reference when you need to review where you’re at in your language acquisition efforts.
- Be prepared to work hard. Fun fact: most people who study a language think it’s going to be fun. It’s not. At least, it won’t be all fun. You won’t just sit down with your learning language software and magically acquire the ability. In fact, learning a foreign tongue is just like learning any other skill — it requires hard work and plenty of practice.
January 26, 2011
Sometimes, the smallest adjustments are all you need to raise the effectiveness of your language learning efforts. Here are some little tweaks that can pay off for you:
- Get your lessons first thing in the morning. According to some researchers, your memory retention is at its peak at this time. If that’s true, then the stickier your lessons will likely become. On top of that, your mind is typically fresh in the morning, allowing you to take to your language software with a clear head.
- Add five extra minutes of practice time. Instead of wrapping up your daily session after 30 minutes, add an extra five minutes for practice. While that may sound like an insignificant time investment, that extra effort might be what helps you commit new knowledge to memory.
- Read one book in the target language. Just one. You can read it for as long as it takes, provided you promise to read at least one page a day. Use the tools you have at your disposal — language software, translation program, etc. — when certain passages confound you.
- Learn a song in the target language. Apart from potentially being fun (and a nice break from the straight-up lessons of your language learning software), doing this will help you learn new words with native-like pronunciation. The music should also make new words easier to remember.
January 25, 2011
When you’re in a foreign country, it only pays to learn the language. That process, of course, takes time. As such, those who find themselves immediately thrust upon an unknown locale often need to make do with a crutch, while they continue their work with their foreign language software.
Crutches can come in many forms. Some of my favorites include:
- Survival phrases. Keeping a memorized set of survival phrases is one way to get by in a foreign land. Start with ten critical phrases (e.g. “Where can I get a cab?”) and build up your stock one at a time. This way, you can get around freely while still working on the rest of your language skills.
- Written phrases. Before a trip to South Korea, I printed up a bunch of survival phrases I found on the web and pasted them on small index cards. At the back, I wrote the translation in English. Every time I needed to ask someone on the street, I simply stopped them and showed them to card. It worked…most of the time.
- Picture books. I’ve found some books and fold-out posters that have drawn images of common activities for foreigners to use when they’re abroad. Instead of phrases, you just point at the pictures to communicate. It sounds even sillier than written phrases, but some people swear by it.
Of course, nothing beats learning the foreign language. That’s why we encourage people to find, purchase and use the best language software available to them. In the meantime, however, the crutches above should let you stay afloat.
January 22, 2011
Learning a foreign language efficiently usually requires spending some money. You pay for lessons, software, books and other materials that are designed to aid in your language acquisition. If you’re serious about your learning, the costs can pile up.
During the last few years, we’ve been seeing more and more free resources for language learning. There are now many free websites devoted to the endeavor, as well as free language software and other materials. The question is: are these free language tools any good?
I won’t discount the value of free language software and similarly cost-free materials. After talking to some people who have used them, I do believe a lot of them are useful to a certain extent. In fact, I’ve met language learners who rely solely on freely-available learning tools and they look like they’re doing well.
Given the choice, though, I’d always go for a paid tool than a free language software. Why? The paid stuff are usually much more thorough, more organized, more complete and have undergone more rigorous testing. Having been developed for commercial sales, the publishers invested more time, research and money on them. As such, commercial language software typically produces better results, compared to those offered as free downloads.
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