Learning a New Language Doesn’t Have to Be Hard: A Beginner’s Guide
Index Of The Blog
Your boss selected you to go on a business trip overseas to sell a product. While you’re excited to go, you’re also more than a little bit nervous because you don’t speak the country’s national language.
Of course, your boss is going to provide you with a translator. You would like to be able to do some of the talking yourself, though. We’re here to tell you that you can.
Learning a new language isn’t as daunting as you may think. As long as you get plenty of practice before your trip, you’ll know how to use some basic phrases.
We can teach you how it’s done. Grab a pencil and write these steps down. Here’s a list of ways that you can learn a second language fast.
Find Your Motivation
Before you sign up for classes or pick up your first textbook, you need to figure out why you want to learn a language in the first place. If you only want to impress your English-speaking friends, that might not provide you with enough motivation to keep going.
You’ll burn out before you learn your first few phrases. You don’t have to be planning to pack up and move to another country to practice another language. Something as simple as being fascinated by a nation’s culture is a perfectly good reason to get started.
Set Concrete Goals
Now that you know why you want to start language learning for beginners, it’s time to set some goals in place. If you don’t, you’ll lose track of what you’re working toward, which can cause burnout.
Try to go as specific as you can with these goals, instead of just telling yourself you’ll be fluent in a few months. If you do that, you’ll have the daunting task of figuring out what being fluent means to you.
Do you want to be able to introduce yourself? Hold a basic conversation without slipping up? Get the grammar down to a science?
There’s a lot of things that can fall into being fluent.
Communication Is Key
You can take this beginners Spanish online class from Kasa De Franko, but if you don’t hold conversations the information won’t stick. There’s a couple of reasons for this.
The first one is that you’ll be more invested in recalling back to your education when you’re talking to someone face to face. You don’t want to embarrass yourself, after all.
The second is that using a word or phrase over and over again will help you memorize it way easier than using a textbook or studying with flashcards.
Repetition and Practice
Classes are a good way to gather basic information on another language, but there’s an issue with them. You’re only in class for a few hours each week. If you only use the language during this timeframe, you’ll never learn.
It’s all about repetition. You’ve got to be willing to put in some extra study time when you’re not sitting in a classroom. If you don’t, you’re wasting your time, energy, and money.
Learn 100 of the Most Common Words
You would be surprised at how many sentences you can string together by knowing the 100 most common words of a language. You might not be able to tell someone your name or order food, but there’s some merit in being able to ask someone where the library is.
It’s a start, anyway. It provides a good foundation that will make becoming fluent a little bit easier.
There’s No Shame in Carrying a Pocket Dictionary
When you’re learning a second language, there’s nothing wrong with carrying around a pocket dictionary. You can’t be prepared for everything that a fluent speaker has to throw at you.
When you’re feeling a little lost and confused about what to say next, you can pull out the dictionary and use it to come up with a response. By using the words you look up in a sentence, you’ll be more likely to recall them next time.
Throw Embarrassment Out the Window
The number one thing that stops people from using their language skills in a public setting is the fear of messing up. You don’t want to slip up and say something stupid like I put hotdogs in my shampoo.
We’re here to tell you that this is all a part of the learning process. It’s better to use the language and accept that you’re going to mess up than to never apply what you learn. So, go ahead and embrace the silliness.
Team Up With Someone
It’s much easier to learn another language if you’re doing it with another person. You can keep each other motivated when burnout sets in. You’ll also have someone that you can hold regular conversations with.
It’s great practice! If you can’t find someone to study the language with, you should still practice speaking it out loud. Hold a conversation with yourself in the mirror.
You won’t have someone there to respond to you, but it’s better than nothing.
Learning a New Language Isn’t Too Hard
There are many benefits of learning a new language. It will look great on your resume, and you’ll learn some fascinating things about a nation’s culture by picking up on their language.
Many people are under the misconception that getting started is difficult. They would be wrong. The hard part is sticking with it until you’re fluent.
By using the tips that we’ve laid out for you here, you’ll be on the fast track to learning a second language without getting stuck. Sign up for classes and begin your studies today.
Are you looking for additional ways to learn a new language? Check out the Education section of our blog for more articles like this one.