Learning a new language is always challenging. Understanding all that grammar rules, memorizing hundreds of new words, and practicing speaking takes time, patience, and effort. But, it opens you up to an entirely new world, so it’s worth it.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should stop looking for ways to speed up the whole learning process. It’s in our nature to want to get things done quickly, and learning a new language is not an exception.
Luckily, this is possible and a lot easier if you just follow a few tips.
How to Learn a New Language – 5 Tips to Follow
It’s not that following these tips will magically make you fluent in the new language, but it will make learning much easier for you. In fact, according to many polyglots, it’s the fastest way to learn a language.
-
Set Realistic Goals
Setting goals that you can achieve when learning a new language will keep you organized and focused instead of overwhelmed. In fact, this is the first thing you should do on your language learning journey.
Start with simple and attainable goals such as “learning 20 new English words related to food this week.” When making the plan, don’t focus on how much time you plan to spend on a certain task, but on the task itself.
And, don’t forget to write down these goals as that helps you to actually commit to them.
-
Learn The Most Common Words
Did you know that 50% of the English language consists of only 100 words? And, 90% is made up of 1000 words. This means that learning the 50 most common words in one language is a great way to begin.
This allows you to know a decent amount of words that will help you understand the information in that language. Try to use these words in people and then gradually pick up the grammar.
-
Get Exposed to the Language
Wondering how to learn a language quickly? Use every chance to get exposed to it. The more you’re exposed to a foreign language, the more your brain will understand that you’re surrounded by it and that you have to use it.
Effective ways to expose yourself to the target language include watching subtitled movies, listening to music, or reading kids’ books in your target language. Even though you may not understand everything that you hear or read, you’ll get to know the sounds of the language.
Also, you can use flashcards with new vocabulary and scatter them around your house or take them with you while commuting.
-
Speak, Speak, Speak
If you want to be capable of making conversations in your target language, you have to spend time acquiring the language. Learning grammar rules and new words is not enough to be fluent in the language.
You have to use it in real-life situations where you can talk to people and express your thoughts intuitively instead of making sentences in your head before pronouncing them.
Studying or traveling abroad is the best way to gain real-life practice. But, there are many other ways you can get plenty of language practice.
For example, you can join a conversation club in your school or city to meet and talk to language students. Or, you can volunteer with immigrant and refugee community organizations where immigrants’ native language is the one you want to learn. Also, you can meet with a language partner every week or use an online tutoring site.
-
Use Online Tutoring Sites
With the help of the Internet, you can now learn a language online with the help of a native speaker or a professional teacher. Private lessons with your best tutor could be the best way for you to learn a new language. There are many great platforms for learning languages such as LiveXP, Preply, Italki, and Verbling.
You get to choose a tutor that will help you learn the foreign language, improve your pronunciation, increase your vocabulary, and be more confident in speaking the target language.
Tutors are planning and conducting lessons according to each student’s requirements and needs to make the learning process as easiest as possible for them. It’s a really helpful way to learn and be more fluent in a foreign language.
In Summary
How to learn a new language fast and easily? Set realistic goals, learn the most commonly used words in that language, use every opportunity to get exposed to the language, use it in real-life situations, and let online tutoring sites help you out.
