Guest Blogger – Katie Wilson – 4 Effective Ways to Learn a Foreign Language on Your Own
April 25, 2009
The following article was written by Katie Wilson, a writer for Online Universities.
There are times when I’ve often wished my parents had different mother tongues. Admittedly they would have found it difficult to understand each other unless one or both of them were multi-lingual, but we kids would have had the benefit of having two mother tongues and growing up learning two languages. It’s easiest to learn a language when it’s spoken at home, when you’re surrounded by people who speak it all through your childhood, and when it’s part of your growing up process. Although it takes more time and effort and much more motivation to learn a foreign language when you’re all grown up and leading a busy life, there’s no reason why it cannot be done, even when you have no one to help you out. All you need is the interest, the determination, and the means to do it. So if you want to master a new language, here’s what you need to do:
- Experience it: The best way to learn a new language (the spoken version) is to live amongst people who speak it on a daily basis. So if you’re moving to Spain, you’re definitely going to pick up more than a smattering of Spanish in a few months. Necessity is the mother of invention, and when you need to communicate, your brain is motivated to learn. The more time you spend with people who speak the language you intend to learn at home, the faster you’re going to pick up this new tongue.
- Sing it: Have you ever realized how easy it is to memorize songs when the melody is catchy? It’s something you do unconsciously; you don’t really focus on learning the words, but when you listen to a song again and again, the lyrics become embedded in your brain. If you want to learn a new language, listen to songs written in the tongue. It’s a slow learning process and not complete in itself, but it is an effective linguistic learning tool.
- Watch it: Movies and television programs, especially those that come with subtitles are great ways to pick up a new tongue. You could tape your favorite programs, watch them, see if you understand, and then use the subtitles to learn what the characters are saying to each other. You can pick up common phrases, slang usage, and the local flavor of the tongue when you learn from movies and television programs. Formal learning materials teach you the right sentences without injecting any of the local flavor into it (the way the sentence is spoken by natives).
- Use it: And last, but certainly not the least, you must practice what you’ve learned. You must speak the language on a regular basis if you want to develop your vocabulary and remember it. Yes, you may make mistakes and even be laughed at, but that’s all the more reason for you to persist with your efforts. Practice makes perfect, so use every opportunity you get to show off your newly acquired skills.
This post was contributed by Katie Wilson, who writes about the online universities. She welcomes your feedback at KatieWilson06_at_gmail.com.
If anyone wants to know more about guest blogging opportunities at Aspiring Polyglot, please email me at aspiringpolyglot_at_gmail.com. 
Entry Filed under: Guest Bloggers, Language Learning, Tips & Tricks. Tags: Language Learning, Languages, Tips & Tricks.
1.
Aidan | April 26, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Many times I have wished the same thing myself. At a certain point at the end of the nineteenth century countless Irish people abandoned their native tongue in favour of English. I think that my great great grandparents were Irish speakers while the next generation were bilingual and made the shift to English.
The reasons for that language shift are complex but ultimately it means that I grew up speaking English and only acquired Irish as a second language. I would love to be bilingual Irish/English but my family history scuppered that.
2.
Nomadiccurrysenshi | May 9, 2009 at 5:32 am
Here, here. Although native to the USA, my parents had a chance to learn a foreign language or two. My mother studied French in high school, and my father, while staying in South Korea for a year, learn some. But they loss those tongues and how my siblings and I wish that they would’ve stuck with them so that we may be trilingual. I guess while at it, I wish my ancestors had pass down their native tongue. I would be speaking Cherokee, an African tongue or two, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, Gaelic, and only God knows what else.
3.
Kelly | May 9, 2009 at 7:52 am
Aidan – I feel the same way about my upbringing. My mother only spoke English to me as a child and while Spanish is the second, unofficial language of Gibraltar, I never became a truly proficient speaker. I only spoke Spanish with my late grandmother and her vocabulary was a little limited as she only had a few months of schooling in her entire life. Then there’s always the fact that most Gibraltarians speak a local dialect of Andalucian Spanish, which is itself a dialect of Castellano (some people consider Andalucian Spanish to be more than just a dialect but that’s another story).
So while I can read and understand Spanish perfectly, I have always had trouble speaking it. I still stumble over grammar and struggle to remember certain words. I’m a very passive user of the language and living in a non-Spanish-speaking environment doesn’t help. Perhaps I should sign up for classes at the Instituto Cervantes…
4.
Kelly | May 9, 2009 at 8:18 am
Nomadiccurrysenshi – That’s quite an interesting mix of cultures! I’ve noticed that a lot of Americans tend to place a lot of importance on their ethnic heritage…which is not necessarily a bad thing. I only consider myself to be Gibraltarian and British, even though I have ancestors from southern Spain and Ireland.