“Learn English/ Spanish/ Russian in 15 days!” ” 15 minutes Chinese / Dutch / any other language”
Hahaha it makes me laugh every time I see book named like that! Is that possible? Well, If you are not Daniel Tammet ( link below), then it might be quite hard to do it, I must say!
http://youtu.be/XXPTLNVAIfc
Really, watch this video, it’s amazing what this human being can do!
Anyway, lets go back to original topic. In my twenty- something years on this planet called Earth I had a great chance to meet people who can talk two, three or even four languages – fascinating! I always amazes me how simple new language always means a new undiscovered word and most important – new people in your life. There are lots of tips and tricks that can help you to fasten learning progress and I am just about to to share some of them with you!
Not all tricks will suit everyone, but hey ho, you won’t lose anything to try them.
Below you will find a set of tips that helped me a lot in past few years. I am going to start to use them again as I just started my BSL course! (happy)
Set a goal & sometimes don’t keep it!
Before you start to study something new, you need to know how much you need it in your life. Is it enough to you to know just basic sentences like: ‘Hello, my name is … , How are you?’ or you need something more?
Don’t always stick to your plan. If you are studying new language for yourself and prefer to learn colours or kitchen’s stuff to things what you should do… do that! Fly with that and enjoy your time while learning! Don’t make yourself to feel like these all new words are like punishment!
When you study new language just for yourself ( not for school or UNI), don’t be afraid to change your goals as much as you want.
Speaking and keeping conversation
To start to speak in different language usually is very uncomfortable and many people avoids it as much as possible. DO NOT PRESS YOURSELF too much.When I came to live in England I used to (and still do sometimes) make a little monologue in my head before I start to speak with other people. No stars without practice! Until then try just to listen… A LOT. If you have chance try to watch movies, listen to music or radio to get use to new language.
You will see, after some time words will start to come out of your mouth all by themselves…without any effort.
Learning style
Everyone has it even if you think that you are absolutely dumb person who can’t learn anything. Maybe you are the one who prefers to listen learning CD, making notes, or maybe you are the one who needs something like evening classes, other people around to learn… My learning style? I love singing new words, love doing charts and highlighting words.
Once I get into the new language I try my best to get to know about people who speaks that language culture, history their living style.
What I really want to say is you must do what you think will be helpful for you to learn. Don’t be afraid to try new things and learning methods.
Makes mistakes!
YES! The more mistakes you make – the better. It’s not a school where teachers marks your grades. You learning for yourself and you are the only judge here! Can you imagine what kind of power do you have in your hands? Yeah yeah, I know, most of us are perfectionist and absolutely hates any kind mistakes, but if they help you to step by step reach your goal to learn new language? You must let yourself to do some mistakes. Then to do a good research WHY you made these mistakes.
Celebrate your language day
So you’re learning French? Do a French day! Listen to French radio, watch French films, cook French food, read a French newspaper and search for your newest vocabulary on google.fr. Don’t worry if you only understand a fraction of what’s going on
by Anne Matthies
Top 100 words
Every language has most use words. For example, there is a list of top 100 Spanish words . Look at them. You can make lots of sentences with them and have simple conversations with other people. Don’t be ashamed to be a beginner. Remember: even children starts to speak only word by word! Patience and effort are the key words here.
And last, but I think the most important:
Never give up
It is hard to learn new language. You must to learn not only language… but also customs, culture, different sentence structures. Do not let mistakes to get you down! One day you will have a good giggle of all these mistakes and will be thankful for your own patience to reach goal. Yes, maybe you will want to throw learning book in the bin or scream, but never give up. NEVER!!!
Language is like a door to the new undiscovered world. Never forget that!