Time. There’s never enough of it, is there? If you’re trying to learn something new like a foreign language, it can be hard to find the time to practice.
Managing your time better can help you use your study time better, and this could help you master that foreign language faster.
1) Look And Listen
If you don’t have a lot of time to study, you should be looking at opportunities to fit in more study during a normal day – load your MP3 player up, and listen to your language as much as you can.
Read the language as much as you can too; find things you like, things you mostly understand or even things you can partly understand. If you keep listening and reading you will build familiarity with the language, at times when you wouldn’t usually be studying at all.
2) Focus On Phrases
Look at how words and phrases come together, and try to use this to enhance your vocabulary. Use the listening and reading time to try to learn these words and phrases, while slowly including new words that you come across elsewhere.
Little by little you should be able to start using these words confidently. By continuing with this method rather than trying to learn the entire language at once, you should find yourself building up a strong core of knowledge that is rapidly expanding.
3) Be Your Own Teacher
You have to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don’t want to learn a new language, you won’t be able to. This goes back to the listening and reading exercises earlier – choose things that interest you to learn about – and target your learning around that so you can understand the things that interest you.
If you find you have a real passion for the language, indulge it! Do extra learning around your lessons, speak it when you can, read it when you can. While you can become familiar with the language in a classroom, to attain true fluency you need to put your heart into it.
4) Relax
Learning a new language can be daunting. Many people worry it’ll be too hard, or they’ll make mistakes and that shakes their confidence completely. Everyone makes mistakes when learning a foreign language, but that’s okay – you’re still learning, and every mistake just means you’re learning something new.
Rather than focussing on the negative, try to turn this into a positive – as you continue to learn the language it will eventually become clear and before too long you should be find yourself steadily becoming more proficient with the language.
What Now?
All it really takes to be successful in learning a foreign language is determination. From having the determination to practice all the time, to the drive to keep going when you make a misstep, just keep practicing until you’ve spent enough time with the language.
The schedule for learning is out of your control, the language will eventually become clearer in your head. Until then, just make sure you spend as long as possible with the language, to ensure yourself the greatest chance of success.
About The Author
Amie is a foreign language expert. Working for sites like Linguarama – Foreign Language Training – to find out more click here.