How to learn a language faster?

The languages are very interesting. Each of them have something wonderful and unusual. Sometimes we have a perfect phrase for something in some particular language, but the other one doesn’t have it. Some of them are easier, some of them are more difficult.

While learning a new language can be a challenge, it’s good to create a passionate journey from it.

Let’s think why do you want to learn another language?

Do you like it?

The people in a country that you dream about to live in, speak only in that language?

What are the opportunities of knowing it?

Or are you doing it only because you love learning new languages?

From my side, English was a language that I had to know.

Since I was a child, I liked it and enjoyed listening to people speaking English. I just feel that it had to end up like this.

If you already know which language is the one you want to know, let’s begin.

What were my things and tips to learn it fast?

– Reading books in English (even if I didn’t know the half of words written in them),

– Watching and listening to lots of videos and songs,

– Finding friends who were speaking only in that language,

– Writing down random words which I couldn’t understand and then translating them also into English (that one is a very nice thing to do – especially if you are interested to know some difficult words),

– Learning how to think in English and talking to myself (that one I love),

– Writing articles and short stories.

The other things which are important when you have no idea where to start yet:

#1 – MAKE RESEARCH AND CHOOSE THE BEST RESOURCE

It’s a good one to start with. Decide which resource is the best for you.

How do you like to learn a new language?

I figured out three types of learning – it includes:

YOU – the biggest enjoyment for you is to learn by yourself:

– Find books, podcasts or articles in a language you want to learn,

– Write down all words which you don’t understand,

– Talk with yourself (this one helps to create basic conversation and exercising while speaking),

– Try to be all around this language (stick some sticky notes on tools or things which you have at home, listen to music in that language or e-books, videos, etc.)

PARTNER – you enjoy to have someone with whom you can practice:

– Find a friend who speaks in this language and instead of talking in language you know in common, speak in this one which you want to learn),

– Practice not only talking but also writing and messaging,

– If you have a friend who is the native speaker of a language which you want to know – get to know about the culture, habits, and history of people living in that particular country.

COURSE – this one needs some cash input, it’s a good way to learn a language fast – especially if your teacher is a native speaker of the language you want to know:

– It’s easier to get some resources, usually, teachers are preparing all materials to practice (they also know a fast way to learn it),

– The language market is offering a whole range of different courses (online, individual or group courses, and some traditional with books, materials prepared by a teacher).

#2 – CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH WILL SOAK YOU UP WITH THAT LANGUAGE

That’s an interesting one. When we choose to learn a language at school or a course, the time of getting on a high level will take more time if we don’t put enough of effort into it at home as well.

Let’s think about how did we learn our native language:

– Since we were born, our environment was full of our native language – we were listening to it, trying to learn it while picking up basic tools and naming them,

– Our first words were in that particular language, and the beginning was also not that easy, our pronunciation was not perfect and we were making grammar mistakes.

That’s how it works when we learn a language – little steps and practicing every day.

What can we take out from it?

Listen to conversations or YouTube videos in the language you want to learn every day,

Try to speak and name basic things,

Listen to music in that language,

Dig into the culture, or history of that language and find something that you like in it.

#3 – DON’T BE SCARED OF MISTAKES

When we learn the new language, we instantly want to be perfect – but it’s not easy nor possible.

It’s new for us and getting used to the sound, phonetics, and accent of it can take some time.

Some of the multilingual people who can speak more than 5 languages fluently claim that the best way to learn the new language is to start speaking since the day one. It can sound very difficult, but on the other hand – why to not play with that a little bit? Have fun while learning it and even if you think that you sound ridiculous while speaking that language just do it.

The other thing is the language barrier which is stopping us from speaking. You probably know this state when someone is coming to you and speaking in a foreign language (which you know). And even when you understand and are able to respond – you get this blockage and just stand still and don’t know what to say? That’s this feeling.

What to do with it?

First of all – breathe and instead of trying to translate every word into your native language – try to instantly convert your words and creating sentences in the foreign language.

The other thing is that we don’t have to be perfect. If some foreigner is asking you for something, he/she will be very happy if you will reply even with some mistakes.

Remember that the language is for communication – you don’t need to be a master to be able to talk.

#4 – HAVE PATIENCE

If you have found your resources, books, or a partner to learn with, build strong patience all around it.

Learning a new language is a long way to go. It has obstacles and hard times as well.

The most important thing is to do something every day. You don’t need to do tons of exercises, just try to listen to at least one video per day, read or learn new words. The most important is to have contact with it daily. Then you will get used to it much faster.