If you’re interested in foreign language learning, at some point you’ve probably wondered how to learn a foreign language faster. We all know high school classes and even some professional language courses can drag on for several years and still leave just barely able to communicate in your chosen language.
And yet, with the right techniques, it is possible to get the strikingly fast results of intensive and immersion-style language courses even if you never set foot in a classroom. Here’s a little more about how you can do that.
Focus on the Essentials
Lack of focus is one of the main reasons many people aren’t able to learn a foreign language faster than average. When you’re deeply interested in a language, every word and every aspect of grammar seems interesting and useful. It’s easy to overwhelm yourself with long vocab lists and copious grammar notes. In attempt to get the basics of everything in general, you end up learning very little thoroughly enough to actually use it in a conversation.
In a Hubpages Hub on learning a foreign language in eight weeks I laid out a plan for getting conversant in any language in just a month and a half.
It will help you with two things: 1) choosing exactly the vocabulary you need and 2) choosing exactly what grammar features you need. By tightly restricting your focus to the absolute essentials and mastering those, you’ll get conversant (or reach the next level in your studies) much faster than if you browse around for “interesting” words and grammar features.
Choose Learning Material That’s Right for You
There is no one best language learning method. No matter how many people out there love Pimsleur or the Teach Yourself series or any other given language learning method or program, that doesn’t mean that method or program is the best one for you.
If you’re an auditory learner and need to hear the foreign language in order to learn it, you’ll do great with Pimsleur. If you the kind who wants everything laid out in need tables and charts, the Living Languages, is probably a good bet for you.
It’s equally important not to limit the amount of study material you collect, especially when it comes to workbooks and authentic material (newspapers, songs, etc.). While you want to choose a good course for you main learning resource, any extra practice and input you can get will both build your knowledge and skills and prevent boredom.
Use Memory Techniques
Memory “tricks” are the ultimate in what sets fast language learners apart from average learners. To some extent, this is also a matter of knowing your own learning style. Another thing holding a lot of people back from learning a foreign language faster is that. Unfortunately, language classes rarely teach you how to learn a language. They just give you the material and expect you to learn it somehow.
That means beginning language learners are left to discover what works and what doesn’t through trial and error, wasting years trying out ineffective techniques before they (with luck) stumble across the effective ones. For instance, beginning language learners often try to learn vocabulary by listing the foreign words alongside their translations and “reviewing” this list several times a day. It’s hard to think of a less effective way to learn vocab.
One better way to get vocab words to stick is the link-word technique. If you want to remember the Spanish tijeras (scissors), you might link it to the English words “tea” and “hair.” Make up a story like, “My sister was using scissors to cut her hair at the the kitchen table while I was making tea, and now there’s a hair in my tea.” Now that is far from a perfect example, but check with yourself tomorrow and see if you don’t remember how to say “scissors” in Spanish.
Often all you need is just a slight push to jog your short term memory enough times to get the words in your long term so you no longer need a trick to remember it.
Another good practice technique is the diglot weave—mixing two languages in one sentence. This helps you practice words you know even before you know much grammar. If you’re learning Arabic, you might look at a crowd and think, “There are a lot of nas [people] on the shari [street] today.”
“Tricks” list this exist for grammar, too. And there are literally dozens of these so you won’t have any problem finding ones that are effective for you.
All three of these elements—focus, study material, and memory techniques—are vital to being able to learn a foreign language fast. In the Faster Foreign Language Learning book, I’ve covered each in depth so you can skip the years of trial and error and become one of the “fast learners” now.
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