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How to Learn a Language

How to Learn a Language

By MrPiePublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Learning a language doesn't have to be putting your nose in a textbook and getting extremely bored, this is a very inefficient way of learning a language. In this article, we will go through the most effective ways to learn a language.

1. Flash Cards

Flash cards are an amazing way to learn the vocabulary of a language, it helps you memorise the words more effectively. Some apps such as ANKI are specifically designed to target your most weakest words; if you get a word wrong, it will be more often you will see that word, rather than a word you get most of the time, this is an effective way to help drill the vocabulary in your head, making it harder for you to forget. Furthermore it is much quicker to learn vocabulary with flash cards than with any other learning tool, so by using a deck of flash cards, you know you are getting the best way of learning that vocab!

2. Immersion

You don't necessarily have to travel to the country of your target language, although that will help, immersion helps you converse with native speakers, who can help improve your speaking, immersion is one of the most effective ways of learning a language, especially if you travel abroad, as you will have to use your target language to get by, as not everyone will speak your first language, if you don't want to travel to another country to immerse yourself, you can use websites such as Italki, which provides lessons with native speakers in your target language. Furthermore, lessons are very affordable, therefore making language learning cheap compared to buying lots of textbooks.

3. Websites

Duolingo is a very good tool for language learning, it helps you to learn grammar, vocabulary, and speaking, all while maintaining fun. Having fun is a very effective way of learning a language, Duolingo also has a discussions tab, where you can ask questions about your target language to other learners of that language, or native speakers. Duolingo also provides a story mode, where you can listen to stories in a language, and you will have to answer questions on what words were said, or what would be appropriate. However Duolingo alone will not make you fluent, however if it is being used with other tools, it can be a very good weapon in your armoury. Memrise is also a very good website, it has videos of native speakers pronouncing words to help your pronunciation, and has lots of vocabulary to learn too. Members in the community can create their own courses, which may have more advanced words for more advanced learners.

4. Audio

Music is a fun and effective way to learn a language, music can help you stay interested in that language, music can help you memorise words, and how they are used in a sentence, music can also help you immerse yourself into the culture of that country, which will give you a boost when learning the language. Podcasts are also a very great way to learn a language. Websites such as Duolingo have a Spanish podcast where learners can listen to audio of everyday topics. Podcasts will help you understand most everyday conversations, and even advanced topics such as business or politics. Or just listening to a native speaker speak can also change your experience drastically, as listening to a native speaker will help you improve your pronunciation, and make you sound like a native speaker.

5. Don't be scared to make mistakes.

This is probably one of the most important tips for any language learner, making mistakes will always happen, no matter how advanced you are, but learning from your mistakes, rather than being discouraged by them can make or break a language-learning experience. Instead of letting mistakes demotivate you, they are a window to improve yourself, not just for learning a language, but for life as a whole, as people who experience setbacks usually are demotivated and lose interest, while learning from mistakes can actually be beneficial to you and your language learning experience.

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