Learning a new language can be a lot of fun! It is also helpful for your brain. When you learn languages other than your mother tongue, it affects your brain positively. It makes you smarter and makes you think better.
Learning a new language can be very difficult. But there are some ways in which you can learn effectively and have fun throughout the process. Although going to the target-language-speaking country or learning directly from a native speaker are the best ways to learn a new language, all of us can’t do either of these.
But the good thing is, we can learn any language we want, such as Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean etc by ourselves; using the internet.
Just willpower, consistency and smart efforts will make you earn your goals.
Some tips to get you ahead in your bilingual/multilingual journey –
LEARNING SOME BASIC WORDS/PHRASES –
First you should learn about simple words and phrases we use in everyday life. For example – “My name is *A*”, “How are you?”, “I am sorry”, “Thank you” and many more words and phrases in your target language.
This will build a good understanding of a completely new language, for the beginner mind.
GET USED TO THE SOUND OF THE LANGUAGE –
This is the most crucial and effective part. When you expose yourself to the contents of your target language, you start to eventually get used to the sound of the language.
You can do this by consuming a lot of content in your target language.
Some ways to do this —
* Listening to podcasts of the target language regularly and seeing how conversations happen in that language.
* Watching movies and series with the subtitles on. First it would feel awkward as you won’t understand a thing, but when you keep doing it regularly, eventually it starts to make sense.
* Watching YouTube videos, speeches in target language. You will get to know how native speakers usually speak in formal and informal settings.
LEARN SOME BASIC RULES OF WRITING –
Different languages have different rules and ways of writing. You need to get familiar with their writing style and the alphabets and letters.
For example, Spanish has a rule of putting an upside down question mark in the beginning of the question along with the normal one at the end.( i.e- ¿Qué dia es? )
LEARN THE SIMILARITIES OF THE LANGUAGES YOU ALREADY KNOW-
When you start to connect the new language vocabulary to your known languages, you might find some similarities. These similarities make the process easier to understand and to retain.
For example Spanish has a lot of the same words as English, with just a bit of changed pronunciation.These similar words makes language learning easier.
MAKE THE PROCESS FUN BY USING SOME APPS –
There are some very helpful apps which give you regular lessons and games to learn your target language. This gamified experience makes you believe that the task is fun and exciting, which makes the whole process a lot easier.
Some famous and fun language learning apps are- Duolingo, Busuu, Babbel, Memrise etc.
Applying these ways regularly will result in a good habit eventually. Then you will be able to learn your target language easily in no time!
So, start your bilingual or multilingual journey today!
Writer:
Ramisa Shamrin Chowdhury
Intern, Content Writing Department, YSSE