How To Improve A Language If You Are Not Native

DISCLAIMER:

I will use English as an example as it’s the language I’m learning but you can change the name to best suit your situation.

Now, I’m from Greece and while I can communicate and write with ease in English — I hope so, I still have A LOT to learn. It’s a never-ending process of evolution and improvement.

But lately, I figured out I need to step up my game, Faster. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford any English lessons as I don’t even have a steady job, to begin with.

So, I sat down and thought of all the ways I used to improve my English over the years, the ones that I knew about, and the ones that I didn’t notice in the past. I wrote them down, figuring out what I could change further, or what I should add to my inventory of ways to improve.

Practicing in any given way possible will help you evolve, that’s self-explanatory. But understanding the tools you have to learn with, and how to apply them the best, helps to speed up the process.

Most people approach a language in a more academic way. What I mean is, they try to “study” the language instead of getting actively involved with it. It leads them to excessive repetitiveness, and in the end, they’ll forget what they learned. But that’s not you.

Think in English

When we do something, like cooking food or going to the market, we usually think in our native language, right? Next time you’ll do any of your daily activities, think of them in the language you are trying to be fluent with.

Start with simple daily activities, and then try to do it constantly. Can you spend the whole day thinking in another language? You’ll find it so much easier to write down or talk in that language after following this.

You’ll have to begin with plain objects, then add sentences in the mix, and in the end, complexity will be the variable to level up your thinking content. By leveling up the process of thinking you will ensure you won’t get frustrated from the start.

Have a conversation with yourself — not the crazy kind. Aside from being useful in organizing your thoughts, it also allows you to practice pronunciation. Talk to yourself about your day, or analyze something in your head. Ask yourself questions and give answers. Do it as much as possible. Your native language is already at its peak I assume.

Be critical with yourself though, as you will be the teacher in this journey. If you can record your thoughts, you can later check for mistakes and track your progress.

Read Books or Everything That You Can Read

I never had the chance to read a book in English, yet. But it comes to my mind as mandatory to develop your language skills. I’ll make sure I’ll read one soon though, pinky promise!

Find a forum in the language you are learning, and spend some time there. From reading people’s thoughts to writing comments, this is your learning-land. Be sure to take advantage of it.

I used to be active in a music group on Facebook back in the day. Tons of posts to read and write on, and about something I really love, music. Combine your love for something with the language you are learning. This will make the process much easier for you to handle, much more entertaining.

Watch Movies/TV Series

One of my favorite TV series is “Friends” — how original amirite. When I was a kid I used to only look at the Greek subtitles — sadly missing their expressions too. After many years I decided to rewatch it, only this time I would have the subtitles being in English. It all went well, I could even pay attention to how they were talking too, but I was ready for the next step. I turned the subtitles off and…vualá. A new world of freedom opened in front of me, I could finally understand them by hearing.

What made that thing easier? I was rewatching it. It wasn’t new to me so it was some sort of revision. I could digest the information without any problem. I could even pick different accents.

I don’t know what kind of movies/TV series you can watch if you are learning Latin for instance. I suppose you could search for something like “Fresh Prince of The Roman Empire”. Yeah sorry for that 😬.

Social Media

Oh, lad. The countless hours I’ve spent on the media…Talking with people around the globe, either by text or simply talking. It definitely is our most used way of learning English — in the era of the Internet, and I’m sure most of us here will agree with that.

You can find a hobby you have or something that you like and nobody around you does. For me, it was progressive rock. I couldn’t share my thoughts and likings with my relatives and friends, so I found a group to rant on.

Combine social media with learning a language and you’ll end up learning about a new culture too!

Translate Your Own Self

That one can happen in two ways.

You can write in your native language, and then translate it into English. Use any kind of words, not just the easy ones. Get feedback from people who are natives.

But also, you can write in the language you are learning, but try to think in the language you are learning while you are doing that. This will make you giggle(from the plainness of your essay) when you translate it. But you’ll get to a point where you’ll want to alter some words, experiment with phrases, and be playful with them.

Takeaway

You want to learn a language in a less forceful way. Make it a hobby and it will be easier for you to master them in no time.

There are four easy ways you can improve the learning process

1. Thinking in that language.
2. Reading articles, books, forums, etc. in that language.
3. Usage of social media.
4. Translating your own self.

The never-ending process of learning a new language is rough. But you can make it easier for you with simple everyday things you can apply TODAY.

Find my links here.

Originally published on Medium.