Conjugation, subject-verb agreement, verb tenses…is there anything more clinical than learning a language at school? While these are all necessary elements of language learning, real fluency is born from listening to native speakers in their natural element.
I’m talking about the type of mannerisms and peculiarities even native speakers don’t know about themselves! Sure you can write a 10-page essay in impeccable french, but can you gab with the girls at the hair salon? Here are the five language nuances your teacher won’t teach you.
1. Inflections
Languages don’t sound the same. That’s an obvious statement. But even the inflections and vocal tones don’t necessarily translate. For example, in english, depending on the context, we don’t necessarily need to go up at the end of a question. But in french, its essential. I’ve even been told before that even though my american accent is often undetectable, I speak in an american rhythm. I’m not sure what that means but it just emphasizes how these subtle idiosyncracies can make the difference.
2. Interjections
I always thought interjections were intuitive. Actually, I never thought about them much at all until I moved to France. But I quickly realized that interjections are a learned part of language. If you stub your toe, you’re not going to say “ouch”. You should say “Ouïe”. If you eat something gross, you’ll get quite a few looks if you say “yuck” instead of “Beurk”. Even animals aren’t safe. Ducks don’t quack and pigs don’t oink. One of my classes (embarrassingly) had me imitate the entire animal kingdom because they found the differences so peculiar. At any rate, it’s definitely worth looking these interjections up because they’re a huge part of language.
3. Facial Expressions
The french are quite facially expressive people. It’s quite entertaining as an outsider and all expats notice this right away. My favorite expression is the dumbfounded look my students give me when they have no idea what I’ve said. They widen their eyes and puff their cheeks like a blowfish…it’s hilarious. You can see that look HEREat 0:49. But what struck me most is how uniform that look is, which indicates that is cultural more than it is individual.
4. Hand gestures
The french start counting with their thumb instead of their index finger, the “Ok” sign actually means “zero”, and rubbing your nose means you’re drunk. Hand gestures are definitely cultural. It’s recommended before going to any country to look these up because you may think you’re giving the thumbs up but instead you’ve just started a fight in public. Typically, you won’t find these cultural differences in a textbook.
5. Idioms
One day I asked a friend what she thought of this guy she was seeing.
Her response: “Il est sympa, mais il se regarde le nombril (He’s nice but he looks at his bellybutton).
My first thought: “….That’s weird”
What I didn’t know (and didn’t find out until a week later) was that se regarder le nombril is an idiomatic expression that describes someone as egotistical or narcissistic.
Idioms are a little harder to prepare yourself for because the possibilities are endless and often the expression holds very little indication of what it actually means. However, whenever you hear one try hard to remember it and challenge yourself to use it in another situation.
It’s no secret that french is hard to pronounce. From the throaty R to the nasally vowels, you can’t tell if you’re really speaking french or just a bad caricature of Pepe le Pew. I’ve taken french for 9 years and I still make pronunciation mistakes daily. Here’s a list of some words I’ve said incorrectly recently.
Canard(duck)can easily becomeconnard(a**hole)
Cannes (city in France) can easily becomecon(idiot)
Chat(cat)can easily become chatte(p***y)
Décidé(decided)can easily become décédé (deceased)
Gare (train station) can easily become guerre (war)
L’amour (love) can easily become la mort (death)
Pêcher (fish) can easily become pécher (to sin)
What happened when I mispronounced these words? Usually…nothing. Either the other person would politely correct me or I would realize later that their sheepish grin meant I probably said something slightly inappropriate. Its okay to make mistakes though! We’re human. And more than likely you will get a funny story out of it (:
I did it! Yesterday I convinced my boyfriend to learn a new language (thanks to endless talks about why learning a language is the best thing on earth haha). Actually I gave up on this but out of nowhere he was like “I’m thinking about learning French”. Hell yeah!!! So he took French. Well not my favourite language but probably useful when visiting France and I’m not going to complain about it because I’m happy af that he’s going to learn a new language. We’re living in Germany so France is not that far away, even though we’re usually in Italy for vacation (I guess things will change lol).
Learning languages as a couple, sounds like much fun but we’re not learning the same language, so it’s going to be a little bit different and also harder to help each other and study together. That’s why I’m writing this, how can we support each other the best way even if we’re not learning the same language and what are the advantages of learning two different langauges? Let’s do this!
Challenge each other. We both use Memrise as a tool to challenge each other. There’s a high score list and I’m very competitive and he has 2 hours of boredom every day because he’s traveling by train. Today I couldn’t believe how high his high score was after getting up. It was already a little bit hard to keep up with him.
Test each other. The thing with testing our vocabulary knowledge is… that he can’t read my vocab because of a different alphabet. The solution is easy: In my case he’s just asking the German words, I translate them and then he shows me the word. I can ask French and German words.
Play games. There are many multiplayer games where you can play together and just switch the language of the interface to the language you learn.
Be creative. You have so many options how to learn a language (just like my Tumblr post about “different ways to learn a language”), if you’re creative. For example: acting like you two do only speak your target languages but it’s important for the survival of humankind that you two talk to each other (about whatever). Just use Google Translate and type in what you want to say and show it your partner. You may think this is pointless but it’s not about learning what the other person says, it’s about learning how to make sentences on your own. No matter if they are correct, you should just try and think about what you want to say and how you could do that. Many language learners have the problem that they can understand a lot but are not able to make their own sentences because they rarely do that compared to studying their passiv vocab.
Rewards. You probably know about rewarding yourself when reaching a goal, but now you can make a deal with your partner. For example the person who has a higher high score on Memrise can make a wish. Maybe there’s just a difference for very competitive people to “normal” rewards you give yourself but for me, this is so much more fun because I WANT TO WIN THIS SHIT! Also, there are way more option for your price because you’re not alone anymore (hello massage, I’m coming for you).
More support. I know you can get support from friends (if you can get them to learning a language lol, I gave up there) or your language exchange partner but it’ll never be like getting through this with your partner. Also, if you’re living together your partner is always there for you, if you feel like giving up or want to celebrate (even very small) goals you reached your partner is just around the corner.
It’s hot. Let’s be honest, speaking another language makes people more attractive (proven fact) and seeing the person you already love speaking another language (which you don’t understand, so it’s a skill you don’t have) makes him/her even more attractive.
More opportunities. Because both partner learn a different language, there are double as much opportunities for vacation and where to travel, away from these tourism places.
More cultural diversity. If you learn a new language you (mostly) also learn about their culture. So with a partner who’s learning another language you don’t just have one new culture around you but also another one.
Do you know these times when you’re sitting in front of your textbook, trying to learn these boring af vocabs you’ve seen 1000 times but still can’t remember and just wish to do something different (or hoping that the world explodes so you can at least stop)?
Well, there are more ways to learn a language and I think because we just learned how we “should” learn a language at school, we’re limited in creativity. Thanks to school it’s hard to think outside of this “textbook, vocab lists, tests, etc.” stuff but there are ENDLESS things you can do to learn a language.
Remember: everything you do in your native language, you can try to do in your target language!
This is for all the people who are tired and exhausted, who are thinking about quitting or don’t have fun with their target language anymore.
DON’T YOU DARE TO GIVE UP! YOU’VE COME SO FAR!
_____________________________________________
Examples for different ways of learning a language:
write a diary
summarise an article about a topic you like (cooking, fitness, etc.)
listen to a podcast/radio
listen to music (while reading the lyrics)
try to sing along with music
read out loud while reading a book/magazine/blog/etc.
watch movies/series/videos
record videos in your target language or about how studying is going (progress, problems, etc.)
write a blog (well hello there :))
use apps that make it more fun (duolingo, memrise, lingodeer)
chat with native speakers
actually talk to native speakers ( I know what a crazy idea)
read websites about things you’re interested in
use social media only available in your target language
change the language of your smartphone
change the language of your pc
change the language of your life
play games in your target language (like not necessarily for learning it, I mean just playing a normal game IN your target language)
take online lessons with teachers that make you forget you’re learning
do a challenge! (I love this one so much)
find a learning group
be active in forums (no matter about language learning or a forum in your target language)
find a language exchange partner. (You should, seriously.)
watch lessons on youtube
read a (children-)book (with audio)
talk to yourself
think in your target language (a fun way is to tell a story about your life while it’s happening like “I went down the road with a stranger always behind me, who could it be? What does he want? It got quiet… too quiet. I tried to keep calm but was it really a coincidence? All in the middle of nowhere?” I know I’m bad at this but I hope you get what I mean, think of it like reading a book.)
learn vocabs with pictures, type in the word you want to know and ONLY look for pictures, try to feel the word. If you google for “strawberry” (in your target language and don’t know what it means) look at the pictures, the colours, how could it smell? Make a sentence with the new word. When was the last time you ate it? How was it?
Write a story/book online or just for yourself.
Make a mindmap
Use a topic jar (a jar where you put in notes with different topics on it, you take one every day and write/talk about it)
use social media to find groups interested in learning a new language or your target language
translate texts and act like you’re a famous translator who’s the only person on earth who can translate your target language (for example if you’re reading articles about historical stuff, act like you’re the only one who can find out what happened back then and the whole world is counting on you!)
try to solve random online tests
listen to a song/audiobook/whatever and write down what you hear
search for words you want to learn and build up (funny!) sentences with them or even whole stories
read comics/mangas/etc.
search for receipts in your target language and pray to god you’re doing it right… if not, well you won’t forget the vocab again. Win-win situation. :p
search for language learning groups near your living place and actually meet them (stay safe and check everything before)
listen to children songs (I still remember the first children song I learned in English lessons… like… 11 years ago in 5th grade) these songs are supposed to stick… *cough* head shoulders knees and toes knees and toes *cough* sorry where was I?
connect with language learners over Skype (useful groups of course like German trying to learn French, Frenchman trying to learn Turkish, Turk trying to learn German)
write a list (you know… like I do right know so I don’t forget English)
describe things you see (more fun with a partner)
teach your target language to others
listen to audio while sleeping
take notes in your target language (I don’t mean for grammar rules or something like that, I mean notes you would take in your native language anyway)
write a letter (so much better than an e-mail)
write an e-mail (who has time for letters)
learn rimes
learn jokes (it’s also useful for social interaction)
talk to your pets (at least if they listen to you, if I start to talk to my cat she starts yelling into my face)
translate songs and learn the vocab of it so you have more fun listening to it later
think about a topic and write down every word you can think of and then translate them into your target language
Before I begin: sorry for my long break. I’m back and changed my profile picture (in case you have no idea who on earth you are following here) and my template… and also my header for my posts so… you know… everything. But now let’s start. :)
This time I want to make it short, so here are 26 study tips for learning a foreign language.
Study every day. Even if you just study 5 minutes, that’s important for your progress. 17 minutes every day is FAR BETTER than two hours on one day of the week.
Learn the most important 100-300 words.
Use good apps/websites for your target language. Take the time to find out which apps and websites work best for you.
Watch movies, series and videos in your target language. If needed turn on subtitles.
Write a little text every day. For example a diary entry.
IMPORTANT: Practice speaking right from the BEGINNING!
Try to live your language as much as you can. You should do everything you can in your target language. Think about what you do in your native language and then try to do it in the language you want to learn.
Change the language on your social media websites.
Change the language on your smartphone.
Read books for children if normal books are too difficult for you.
Study vocabs you just can’t keep in mind with apps extra for this problem.
Find a chat group in your target language. More people, more fun.
Try to think in your target language, even if you’re quite new to it. For example learn the numbers and use your target language for counting.
Make a plan for learning. (Yeah that came a little bit late lol)
Find out which learning type you are. Seriously don’t skip this. You really, really, really should know that! It will make things so much easier!
Use new words as soon as you can. For example when chatting with your language exchange partner: replace every word you can with your new vocab.
Write a list with big and (IMPORTANT) small goals (!!!)
Listen to music while reading the lyrics, even if you don’t understand it.
Read a book and listen to the audio version of it.
Write a diary in your target language.
Talk to yourself. Who could be more interesting? :p
Write a list with rewards for reaching your goals.
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS! You will need this when hitting a plateau.
Search for apps/websites that are only available in your target language and use them.
Use a calendar with your goals and progress on it.
Use image search for hard vocabs. Try to get a connection to this word.
Done. I hope some of these tips help you. :) PS: Sorry for mistakes but my new notebook marks every English word as wrong.
That’s a question I asked myself many times. So I spent a lot of time on blogs and websites telling me that you can’t name an exactly number. Of course you can’t but I was just searching for an “around this” number. Everyone knows that there is no magical number like 1000 and then you’ll speak your target language but with 999 you wouldn’t. I just wanted “around this” numbers to be motivated, to have a goal, to have a direction I can keep in mind. It was a pain in the ass to get an answer to this. And I want to share it with you guys, so you don’t have to waste your time on several blogs and giant textwalls to get just a little bit closer to this answer. Don’t forget these are just “around this” numbers and it’s very(!) important that you also use them and SPEAK your target language. _______________________________________ 100 most common words make up 50% of conversations.
300 most common words make up 65% of conversations.
2.000 most common words make up 90% of conversations. _______________________________________ What are the different levels of a language?
A1: 500 words A2: 1.000 words
B1: 2.000 words B2: 4.000 words
C1: 8.000 words C2: 16.000 words _______________________________________
And here a little bit detailed:
250 words - without these words, you can’t make a sentence.
750 words - is needed for everyday conversations.
2.500 words - will allow you to say most things you want, but sometimes in an awkward way.
5.000 words - is an active vocabulary of a (not high educated) native speaker.
10.000 words - is an active vocabulary of a (high educated) native speaker.
20.000 words - is needed in your passive vocabulary to fully understand work of literature by a notable author.
You decided to learn a new language? That’s great! But you don’t really know how to start? That’s totally normal, especially if you never learned another language before. But here are some tips how to get started. :)
1. Read about your language. Before you actually start studying your target language you should google it. At least the Wikipedia entry. That takes about 15 minutes but will help you a lot during your study process. It makes it easier to know how your language “works” before starting it. Is it similar or very different to the language you know? How’s the basic grammar? Do they use the same letters? Does it use genders? What’s special about your target language? Do you speak the language just how you read it? So you won’t be confused while studying Spanish when the word “hablo” suddenly changes to “hablas” because you read before that they conjugate verbs in Spanish. That way you will understand it faster.
2. Break sentences or even words down. Maybe there is a pattern. For example in German we call a sloth “Faultier”. If you break it down you have “faul” (lazy) and “Tier” (animal). So while you learned the word for sloth you also learned the word for “lazy” and “animal”. In this case you can learn that we Germans don’t really have endless long words, we just like to put words together that already exist to describe something new. And suddenly “Studentenkrankenversicherungsmeldeverordnung” doesn’t look like a word straight from hell anymore because it’s just “StudentsHealthInsuranceReportRegulation”. And you know it because you broke other words down and discovered that Germans just put words together.
3. Learn the most common words. The most common 100 English words make up about half of all written English.
4. If you don’t know a word in your native language, you don’t need it in your target language. For example “Grommet”. I heard the German words for it but never used it or will use it. So why would I need to know it in English? Unfortunately schools don’t care about that.
5. Try sticky notes.
6. Make a plan what you want to learn.
7. Search for good resources like textbooks/Apps/websites/videos/etc. That’s also a way to get started. I prefer getting a textbook for beginners and combine it with tip number 9.
8. Find a teacher. I’m not really a fan of learning a language sitting in a classroom because you won’t talk much. But if you want someone leading you while you do your first steps in your target language, you should definitely check out italki.
9. Find a language exchange partner. Think about what you normally would chat about, search for the vocabs and use them! You will instantly practice them, learn the words you need to know and have fun while learning your first words in your target language.
10. Get help from the Studyblr or Langblr community! :)
So I found myself struggling these days because of a loss of motivation. Of course that’s normal, especially while learning a new language. First you’re like “I can learn this language in one night!” motivated but that can change into “How the f*ck could anyone remember all this sh*t?? Why am I doing this…”. I already saw that coming because it was the same with the language I learned before. That’s why I made a list for my future-me to look at when I feel like giving up. Now it’s time for it and I thought I could share it with you. Hopefully it helps some of you! :)
1. Drink water or juice. Yes I know, this is something people like to skip, because they want to get to the “real” tips, but please don’t do that! If you’re feeling tired, exhausted, down or even depressiv this can help you!
2. Clean your desk. If it looks like world war 3 just passed your table, it’s too messy and you will feel like it.
3. Read the list. Yes I mean THE list. Oh wait… you don’t know what I’m talking about? I mean the list you wrote down with reasons why you want to have good grades, why you started this new language, why you have to study the stuff you have to study right now. What do you mean you don’t have a list like that? Write one and then read it!
4. Look at your goals. What do you mean you don’t have a list with small goals that will keep you motivated? What are you doing the whole day? Write one! And be sure you write down small goals you can reach in like a few days or weeks. Everything else will be too far away.
5. Look at the list with rewards you will get/do/buy yourself if you reach a goal. Yes… I’m sure you have a list like that. I’m sure because you know you need one. Who doesn’t like rewards?… Of course you have one. Of course.
6. Anything is better than nothing. Watch a movie in your target language, listen to music the guy you have to learn about composed or watch a Youtube video of this stupid maths stuff you don’t get. Also if you sit down and just study 5 minutes it’s better than nothing.
7. Start a challenge. There are challenges for everything everywhere on the internet. Find one you like, set your goals, choose your rewards and start. This coffee you want to drink at this cool new Coffee shop won’t drink itself!
8. Teleport yourself into the future and skip studying. Of course that doesn’t work! Do I look like a wizard? No. But just close your eyes for a little bit, relax and imagine how you feel after reaching your goal. For example if you are studying a new language, imagine how you visit the country where your target language is spoken. You wake up and go outside for breakfast. You order what you want in your target language, while people look at you, impressed on how good you speak their language. You sit down and drink your coffee/tea, while a cute young man asks if he can sit next to you, because all other seats are taken. He starts a conversation and you have no problem to speak in your target language. He tells you how cute your accent is and asks you for a date. Oh, that won’t happen? Of course not if you don’t study.
9. Go for a walk. I know, just like “drink water” you probably want to skip that, but just don’t. If you really don’t want to go for a walk open all windows. Breath.
10. Meditate. Maybe you’re just too stressed. Calm yourself down for a moment.
11. Exercise. Your body will produce happy hormones. Yes I said happy hormones and yes they exist. Probably not with this name but who cares. The chance is higher to feel motivated to study after a workout.
12. Write a To Do List. Yes I like lists because they work. Write down what you HAVE TO DO today. If nothings helps you should at least do these things and just take a nap. The world is brighter after a nap.
Day 4 / 365 days of productivity and language learning. ☕
20. Nov. 2017
I had trouble with my internet the past days and don’t know which productivity day I have now… so I’m using a date on my post from now on haha. I’m not the best Studyblr or Langblr so far.^^ This is a Bujo entry I made yesterday. It’s a to do list for this week. Like studying Korean, making a Tumblr post, new vocabs, meditation and stuff like that. Sorry for the chaos but… you know… I’m a chaotic person. ^^ I hope everyone is having a productive day while studying or language learning or whatever. :)
There is NO hard language, just different ones. Even the hardest language is just average difficult.
As many of you know there are 5 groups of languages for English native speakers based on “how hard” a language is.
With group one being the easiest (languages like Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) to group five including the hardest (like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.).
But to which group a language belongs can change drastically based on which languages you speak or are interested in.
So let’s take a look at “how hard a language is” when you actually don’t know a single language at all.
When learning their mother tongue, it’s all the same, all around the world. Kids can express themselves in an easy way at the age of 4 to 5. At this point they can tell you stories about what happened during the day, follow commands that include multiple steps (like go brush your teeth, then change clothes, go to bed, etc.) and also strangers should be able to understand what the kid is saying. So the kid is at a level what we would consider fluent but not at a high native speaker level, because it can’t understand complex topics. A kid is starting to actually try talking when it’s around 6 months old.
So as a result we can say if you don’t know any language at all you need around 4 years to learn it in a way, to be conversational. And you have to keep in mind that for the first language kids have the URGE to learn it, because otherwise they don’t “belong” to the group and humans are social animals. They can’t just switch to their native language if they don’t want to learn anymore. If they want to talk to ANY person, they HAVE TO learn their first language. It’s socially necessary and back in time an important step of survival.
So let’s say if you don’t know any other language and have a very important reason for learning one AND are surrounded by it non stop with people trying to talk to you ALL THE TIME, you will need 4 years to be on a decent conversational level.
So if we take a look at the 5 groups of languages, even the hardest ones don’t take adults THAT long.
And adults have the opportunity to have social contact without their target language.
Even if you don’t “need” your target language, people of this language aren’t trying to talk to you all the time and you’re not surrounded by it non stop, adults are able to reach an even higher level as “conversational” in this time span.
So it’s not like the “hardest” group of these language rankings is actually hard, it’s just closer to “learning from scratch” because it’s not closely related to the language you know. And even then you’re still faster than having to learn a language totally from point zero because you already learned how a language in general works.
The result is, the hardest group is more like the normal group and everything else is just “how much faster and easier will it be based on what I already know”.
So don’t scare yourself with stuff like “oh my god, everyone says it’s such a hard language… can I even learn it?”. Yes, you can. You will even learn it faster than native speakers without having the language surrounding you 24/7. If 4 years olds can learn it, every adult can learn it. And it’s NOT(!) a hard language! It’s just harder than the other ones and ONLY(!) because you already have a great advantage when it comes to the other languages. But the level of difficulty, even for the hardest language is actually just “normal”.
And it’s annoying that people keep talking about such called “hard languages”. Theres just an average difficulty and everything else are just extra points you gained through your native language that makes specific languages EASIER for you.
Let’s look at it like that:
With every language you start at 0% (what every kid no matter which language they’ll learn as their native language does).
The closer your target language is to the languages you know, the higher your start percentage is.
For example if you’re Korean learning Japanese, the grammar is quite similar so you already start with 20%.
If you’re Spanish and learn Italian you even have many words in common, so you start with 30%.
(Btw the percentage numbers are just random numbers to show what I mean, they are not fact numbers.)
If you’re Russian you’ll start with 10% when learning German because you already know how cases work.
And so on. It works with EVERY language. If you know genders, cases, conjugation, etc. and your target language includes that, you don’t have to figure out how it works, you already know it. Sure you often have to learn new words for that but it’s not like you have to figure out the system behind that.
So the absolute WORST case could only be to start at 0% (what you probably never will because in the very basic every language is the same, for example trying to talk about a subject, etc. You already know the purpose of a language.) BUT you will NEVER(!) start with minus percent. So stop freaking yourself out. There is no hard language, just a more different system you have to get used to.
It’s not hard if everyone, literally everyone, can learn it. Especially millions of 4 years olds. Don’t give up just because you make mistakes or don’t get the hang of something right away.
Every kid needs around 4 years to speak the absolute same stuff, no matter which language (not including writing system in later years). So all languages have the absolute SAME difficulty when it comes to learning them. It just depends on what you already know, which can make it easier/faster.
Do you know these times when you’re sitting in front of your textbook, trying to learn these boring af vocabs you’ve seen 1000 times but still can’t remember and just wish to do something different (or hoping that the world explodes so you can at least stop)?
Well, there are more ways to learn a language and I think because we just learned how we “should” learn a language at school, we’re limited in creativity. Thanks to school it’s hard to think outside of this “textbook, vocab lists, tests, etc.” stuff but there are ENDLESS things you can do to learn a language. Remember: everything you do in your native language, you can try to do in your target language!
This is for all the people who are tired and exhausted, who are thinking about quitting or don’t have fun with their target language anymore. DON’T YOU DARE TO GIVE UP! YOU’VE COME SO FAR!
_____________________________________________
Examples for different ways of learning a language:
write a diary
summarise an article about a topic you like (cooking, fitness, etc.)
listen to a podcast/radio
listen to music (while reading the lyrics)
try to sing along with music
read out loud while reading a book/magazine/blog/etc.
watch movies/series/videos
record videos in your target language or about how studying is going (progress, problems, etc.)
write a blog (well hello there :))
use apps that make it more fun (duolingo, memrise, lingodeer)
chat with native speakers
actually talk to native speakers ( I know what a crazy idea)
read websites about things you’re interested in
use social media only available in your target language
change the language of your smartphone
change the language of your pc
change the language of your life
play games in your target language (like not necessarily for learning it, I mean just playing a normal game IN your target language)
take online lessons with teachers that make you forget you’re learning
do a challenge! (I love this one so much)
find a learning group
be active in forums (no matter about language learning or a forum in your target language)
find a language exchange partner. (You should, seriously.)
watch lessons on youtube
read a (children-)book (with audio)
talk to yourself
think in your target language (a fun way is to tell a story about your life while it’s happening like “I went down the road with a stranger always behind me, who could it be? What does he want? It got quite… too quite. I tried to keep calm but was it really a coincidence? All in the middle of nowhere?” I know I’m bad at this but I hope you get what I mean, think of it like reading a book.)
learn vocabs with pictures, type in the word you want to know and ONLY look for pictures, try to feel the word. If you google for “strawberry” (in your target language and don’t know what it means) look at the pictures, the colours, how could it smell? Make a sentence with the new word. When was the last time you ate it? How was it?
Write a story/book online or just for yourself.
Make a mindmap
Use a topic jar (a jar where you put in notes with different topics on it, you take one every day and write/talk about it)
use social media to find groups interested in learning a new language or your target language
translate texts and act like you’re a famous translator who’s the only person on earth who can translate your target language (for example if you’re reading articles about historical stuff, act like you’re the only one who can find out what happened back then and the whole world is counting on you!)
try to solve random online tests
listen to a song/audiobook/whatever and write down what you hear
search for words you want to learn and build up (funny!) sentences with them or even whole stories
read comics/mangas/etc.
search for receipts in your target language and pray to god you’re doing it right… if not, well you won’t forget the vocab again. Win-win situation. :p
search for language learning groups near your living place and actually meet them (stay safe and check everything before)
listen to children songs (I still remember the first children song I learned in English lessons… like… 11 years ago in 5th grade) these songs are supposed to stick… *cough* head shoulders knees and toes knees and toes *cough* sorry where was I?
connect with language learners over Skype (useful groups of course like German trying to learn French, Frenchman trying to learn Turkish, Turk trying to learn German)
write a list (you know… like I do right know so I don’t forget English)
describe things you see (more fun with a partner)
teach your target language to others
listen to audio while sleeping
take notes in your target language (I don’t mean for grammar rules or something like that, I mean notes you would take in your native language anyway)
write a letter (so much better than an e-mail)
write an e-mail (who has time for letters)
learn rimes
learn jokes (it’s also useful for social interaction)
talk to your pets (at least if they listen to you, if I start to talk to my cat she starts yelling into my face)
translate songs and learn the vocab of it so you have more fun listening to it later
think about a topic and write down every word you can think of and then translate them into your target language
So a friend wanted to practice German with me and started to speak in the polite form.
I told him that it’s not necessary to use it with me because 1. we’re about the same age and 2. we’re talking over the internet.
He asked me what the second thing has to do with it. I told him that I would use the polite form to speak with a 50 years old in real-life but not if he is messaging me over the internet.
Then he asked what I’m talking about, because I once sent him a screenshot of a weird old men. And I used the polite form while talking to him.
The thing is, this 50 years old man tried to hit on me and I was using the polite form to make clear (for him), how much older he is. So he would stop with this bullshit. But he was like all the other old men who try to hit on me and said “oh you don’t need to use the polite form with me, we’re basically around the same age”. Sorry b*tch, we’re what? I’m 22. Even if you double my age I’m still younger!
I kept using the polite form, which makes them angry every single time because it basically means “You’re so much older, don’t even dream of sleeping with me. It’s disgusting.”
And I think it’s really funny how you can use a polite form to be rude af and make people angry by using it with them.
If you know which type of learner you are, you are able to learn much faster! Everyone learns in another way. Just because something works good for person A, doesn’t mean it will work good for person B. Many years ago I found a blog written by a guy who learns languages really fast. So I tried to use the same methods but for some reason it didn’t work AT ALL. I just moved on trying to find “the best learning method ever”. Of course I didn’t find it, because there is non that works for all. If I think about it now, all his methods were for people who learn through listening. And I’m to 90% a visual learner. No way it could have worked for me. But there are still people trying to use the newest, best and most trending language hack. In the end most of them will be disappointed.
Let’s look at it like it’s a superpower. If you can remember stuff someone told you months ago, then your superpower is your listening skill, because many people couldn’t even remember it, if their life depends on it. And if you saw a photo as a child, and still know how it looked like, then congratulations, your superpower is your visual learning skill.
So to learn as fast as you can and especially to remember it later, it’s important for you to find out which superpower you have and USE IT!
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Time to find out which superpower you have! There are several tests on the internet but they will more or less all tell you the same.
Here’s a test I chose with 20 questions you have to answer. You will find out if you learn best through listening, seeing or doing. There are other tests that even divide it into 7 learning types or more, but in the end it’s still one of these 3.
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Here are learning methods you should try, depending on your result.
Visual (learning through seeing):
Use colors.
Take photos
Look at pictures.
Use well organized layouts.
Make mindmaps.
Use/Make diagrams.
Make a visual journey in front of your inner eye.
Use flashcards
Draw pictures
Visualize things you hear
Try to make everything look pleasant to your eyes
If you learn a new word picture the situation. When could you use it?
Write with native speakers.
Watch movies.
Auditory (learning through hearing and speaking):
Listen to music while reading the lyrics.
Podcasts
Radio
Try rhymes.
Use the right sounds/music playing in the background while studying.
Record yourself and listen to it.
Change the lyrics of your favorite song and sing along of a karaoke version.
Talk to yourself.
Talk to native speakers.
Read everything out loud.
Speak out loud what you are writing.
Tactile (learning through doing):
Use your touch sense.
Walk around while studying.
Imagine how it would feel like to do the things you learn. For example the word pizza, imagine how you make one.
Describe things. For example if you learn the German word “Kaffee” (coffee), describe the warmth, how the cup feels, were you put it, etc.
Use physical objects as much as you can (flashcards, etc.)
Draw pictures.
Build things with your hands.
Write stuff down.
Use role playing while you act like you’re in a specific situation.
Pay attention to your breathing.
Chew a gum.
Trace words with your fingers.
There are many more things you can do, depending on your superpower. You just have to be a little bit creative (or google what learning methods work best for [insert your superpower here] lol). ^_^
Before I start I want to mention a few things about this post.
The easiest language will always be the one you like learning, because if you have fun, it’s not really hard. Also, if you are motivated you will learn much faster.
This post will show you how long it will take to learn a language based on their difficulty. That just means, how DIFFERENT it is to the English language. More different = “harder”. It does NOT take into account if you are interested in a language or not. The condition of these groups are that your interest in these languages are ALL THE SAME!
The numbers I will give you are “just around this”numbers.
Based on which other languages you already speak, some languages will be easier (means faster) for you.
There are many factors that can change the pace of your language learning journey. (I will also make a post about this topic soon)
So first we will take a look at the groups. Which language are the easiest and hardest for English speakers?
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Group 1 (575-600 hours): the easiest languages because they are very similar to English. This are languages like Italian, Spanish, French, etc.
Group 2 (750 hours): still similar to English. In this group is just one language. German. (I guess because our articles are a pain in the ass. Seriously, I have friends that came here 10 years ago, don’t even have an accent anymore but still switch up some articles.)
Group 3 (900 hours): different to English. In this group are languages like Indonesian or Swahili.
Group 4 (1100 hours): significant differences to English. In this group are languages like Bulgarian, Croatian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and many more.
Group 5 (2200 hours): very different to English. In this group are languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
I made a post about many more languages, so if your target languages is not mentioned here, you can look it up on my other post here.
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And why did I tell you about these groups? Because the thing we care about are the hours it takes to learn a language from one of these groups!
But that’s not all, we also care about the amount of words you have to learn to be fluent in a language. I also made a post about this, so if you want to know more about how many words you need to be conversational, fluent, etc. or if you are A1, A2, B1, etc. then you can check it out here.
So based on this post we want a vocabulary of 5.000 words. You also have to keep in mind to study listening, speaking, reading and writing to cover everything up. If you just learn a language from a textbook you probably won’t understand native speakers at all and you will also won’t find words when it comes to speaking it. The following numbers are for people who want to be fluent. Like REAL fluent like a (low educated) native speaker.
Me: Okay, today I will get shit done. I will study at least 2 hours after work.
Brain: Or you could just take a nap.
Me: What? No. Yesterday you told me you are motivated and we will do this today.
Brain: Just think about it. You worked 9 hours and now you want to study? That seems stupid to me. Think about pizza, watching a movie, eating chocolate and taking a nap.
Me: Why are you like this to me??
Brain: Nap… What? Nap. What? Nap! I can’t hear you. TAKE A NAP!
Me:But…
Brain:Nap.
Me: You make me angry.
Brain: You know what would help you to relax? A nap.
This time I want to talk about “How to live your target language”. While learning a language through textbooks, grammar rules and vocab lists we often forget what a language actually is for: using it as a social tool to live! Learning a language is like exploring the world a second time (or third, forth, fifth… I guess you know where this is going lol).
I know many people (mostly introverts) have a problem with actually speaking their target language (I know it’s embarrassing if you don’t know what’s going on and feel like an idiot, especially when you knew how to say things before starting the conversation, I feel the same!).
But it doesn’t matter if you make tiny mistakes (I mean if you learn the language because you want to use it for what a language is for and not because your school forces you to get through a stupid test) because a language has only one purpose: communication. And if you can communicate in your target language, who cares about switching up articles or stuff like that?
It’s time to live your language, that’s the best way to learn it. Usually I would make a list, but it’s nonsense if I do that now. Everyone lives a different life so you have to try this the most suitable way for you. I will just give you an example how a day COULD look like if you try to live your target language.
Ps: this does NOT require to live in the country your target language is spoken. This is all about pretending, to live in your target country.
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My example on how a day could look like (based on what I did when I was in school):
It’s Friday, 6 am and your alarm goes on. You hear music but have no idea what on earth they are singing, until you realize you set a radio in your target language as your alarm clock. You sit up and grab your phone. First you are irritated because everything seems to be in another language… oh right… you started your “live your language” journey yesterday and changed the language of your phone and PC to your target language. It’s time for breakfast so you eat while keep listening to the radio, where people are talking about a topic… but you only understand every third word. You’re late for the bus (like seriously that happened every day to me) and run. The bus ride is 35 minutes long, so you start listening to your favourite music in your target language.
At school you find out that the second lesson will be free because the teacher is sick. So you use this time to read a comic in your target language, because last time you tried a book, it was a little bit too hard to understand. In your last lesson you have to research a topic and give a short presentation but you are allowed to use your phone so you search for the things you want to know in your target language.
After school you walk to the bus station while a drunken person bumps into you and tells you to f*cking go out of the way. You think about all the insults you know in your target language while keep walking to get the bus. Sitting in the bus you tell your language exchange partner about this idiot (of course in your target language) and start listening to music (YES in your target language!). You’re feeling good.
Back at home you throw your bag into the corner and yourself on the bed. You think about what to do next. Homework? No, you do that before school because you’re always an hour too early thanks to the stupid bus plan. You grab your phone and watch your favourite [insert target language here] youtubers. After eating you use your PC to play Sims 4. You remember why you chose this game… an easy game about everyday life to learn simple words like “work, food, shower, table, etc.”. After playing you read some blogs about how life in your target country is like and what the most beautiful places are. In your target language. I know I probably don’t have to keep mentioning it but I just want to be clear. Everything IN YOUR TARGET LANGUAGE (I will stop mentioning it now but everything I talk about is in your target language). After playing Sims you watch the new episode of your favourite series. There was a really interesting plot twist so you go online and find a discussion about it and you join it. While exchanging about it you get a Skype call from your language exchange partner. You two talk about how your day was and try to get him to watch this new series. After the call you read about a new social media site, only available in your target language and sign up. Many native speakers message you, asking why you learn their target language and offering you help. You record your progress with a camera and upload it on youtube.
The day comes to an end and you write everything that happened into your diary. You get ready for bed, lay down and start listening to an audio book. You fall asleep while listening to it and the people in your dream are talking the things you still hear from the audio book. Good thing you are listening to a romantic story, so you meet a handsome guy in your dreams. Sleep tight. :)
So, quitting happens because of missing plans, structure, goals and rewards. I’ve been to Italy quite a few times (around 30 times to be honest) and I’ll be there in 2 months again. I want to make the best out of these 60 days, so I can use the language as much as possible. But first, I need a plan!
I should mention I’m not a fan of exact numbers like 10 minutes this, 40 minutes that, a 15 minutes break here. Simply because I never stick to it, then I’m getting frustrated, stop for the day, forget it on the next day, want to start new next week, don’t do that and quit it completely. Not just for learning languages, I’m just like that in general. If I want to start at 6 pm but start at 6.15 pm I’m already mad at myself.
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What are my resources?
Babbel - it doesn’t make as much fun as Duolingo, but I’m NOT going to use Duolingo. Like I said I want to get the most out of these 60 days and I like that Duolingo is fun but… it’s not really productive. First because the sentences are often non sense (what I usually like because it’s funny), second the progress is slow (the slowest I know) and even if you’re done with a tree you don’t really get far with it compared to the time you put in and where other apps get you with the same amount of time. Babbel is not nearly as cool as Duolingo because it’s way more like “sit down and learn this shit” but in the end this method is faster. I studied 2 different languages with Babbel and the structure (especially for grammar) is the best I know when it comes to apps / websites.
Memrise - I think I don’t have to say much about it… build up vocab as fast as possible.
Beelinguapp - It’s an app with audio books. You choose your target language and a book. While reading it you listen to the audio version of it and if something is unclear you have the translation in your native language below.
Italienische Verben - a collection of Italian verbs and their conjugation. And if you didn’t notice by the name it’s a German app but I’m to 99,99% sure there is something like that in English (or other languages).
Habitica - a to do list in rpg style. Actually I use this anyway, even without learning a language haha ^^ but I’m a really competitive person and you can join guilds (groups for everything you can imagine), so I joined a few language learning guilds to attend challenges. There’s also a guild chat for exchange and many more things you can do. :) Warning: if you don’t do things on your to do list, your character will lose health. :p
Deezer and Pi Music Player - music players for… well I guess you know.
Tandem - an app for language exchange, finding an exchange partner or even a teacher. If you click on “community” you see native speakers of your target language learning your native language. Already with the topic they want to talk about. You can decide between (video-) call or messaging them. Warning: you maybe have to wait to get in, because they want to keep it balanced between different countries. GIGANTIC plus point for girls: this way it’s impossible to get hardcore spammed by men from… specific countries asking you to marry them or who are sending you photos of their tiny wiener. I’m serious this app is PERFECT for girls. Almost all people are just there for language exchange and not to find a girl of the country they want to move to.
HelloTalk - also a nice language exchange app but I prefer Tandem.
Google Translate - well… duh. Why do I even mention it.
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What are my study plans?
find a language exchange partner as friend (with Tandem and HelloTalk)
learn as much vocab as possible (with Babbel and mainly Memrise)
much practice of listening skills (Memrise for the native speaker option, Babbel for the dialogues between people at real life situations, Beelinguapp for audio books, Deezer and Pi Music for listening to music in Italian)
practice writing (Babbel, Memrise and chatting with native speakers on Tandem/HelloTalk)
practice speaking (a little bit with Memsie and Babbel but mainly with native speakers from Tandem and HelloTalk)
practice reading (Beelinguapp, chatting with native speakers on Tandem/HelloTalk, Babbel)
learn basic grammar (with Babbel)
study as much as I can do per day but at least 30 minutes every day NO MATTER how busy I am
have a small basic conversations with my language exchange partner (who will probably speak extra slowly and clearly, because they know your language level) after one month
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What are my goals?
have small-talks with native speakers in Italy
get around without using German or English at all. The worst part about this will be that they always start speaking German or English with me (I guess I don’t look Italian at all but you can see my profile picture soooo yeah I don’t know) and I have to tell them to stop trying to have a normal conversation with me so I can make the situation awkward and hard to understand for everyone with my broken Italian. :D Embarrassing moments I’m coming for you!
set my smartphone on Italian and actually understand the most of it
get a diary and use it in Italian without a dictionary
understand a few songs I like (going to learn a little bit vocab from my favourite songs to make it easier)
play a game like Sims and understand most of it (I wanted to use Skyrim but I guess everyday life vocab will be more easier to understand than the vocab about potions, killing dragons, magic spells, being a dragonborn, etc.)
The best way to keep your motivation is to reward yourself for reaching your goals (even the small ones!). :) But first you need to set goals… if you have no idea what you could do on your language learning journey you can check out this postfrom@lovelybluepanda. It’s a really cool post about “100 Goals you can have as a language learner”. There are daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. So, if you’re done choosing the goals you want to reach, it’s time to choose the reward you want to get after completing it. __________________________________
Here are examples for rewards you can give yourself. :)
go to a café with your friends
watch a movie at the cinema
make a trip to another city
buy stickers, pencils, markers, washi tapes, etc. everything you’re using for your language learning entries
buy yourself something big for reaching big goals ( like even a car, yes I’m talking about REALLY big goals)
new shoes
an app
a monthly subscription for a language learning app/website like Busuu, Babbel or Memrise
food from your target country
beauty stuff from your target country (yes I’m looking at you Korean and Japanese learners, there is much you can buy)
order food to your house
nail polish, lipstick, beauty masks, etc. (just small things you can buy at the next drugstore)
massage
new hairstyle
eyelashes extensions
take a day off
visit a museum
buy yourself a new book (maybe even one for language learning)
make a Netflix day
candy from the next grocery store
buy something that’s trending in your target country
a trip to your target country
go to a restaurant with friends or your family
a new outfit
get a pedicure/manicure
buy yourself flowers
take a course (like cooking, drawing, etc.)
visit a comedy club
tickets for a festival/band/singer you want to see
go golfing with friends
paintball (like seriously… try it with friends it’s fun haha :))
spa day
join a sport club
gym membership
go camping
a new laptop bag
look online for something you want and take the first thing you see (that’s especially for people like me who usually need days to decide if they want something or not)
visit a bookstore or library
make a picnic
take a hot bubble bath
buy a magazine or even subscribe to one
buy a plant for the room you’re usually studying
new headphones to have a better quality while listening to songs in your target language
Study repeatedly - Overlearn. Take advantage of life’s little intervals (i.e.- riding the bus, walking, waiting in the grocery checkout line)
Spend time actively thinking about material - Exercise weak memories with rehersal and critical reflection. No skimming!
Make material personally meaningful - Write notes in your own words. Form as many cue associations (i.e.- images, experiences) as possible!
Use mnemonic devices for lists - Associate items with peg words, create a vivid story involving the items, or chunk items into acronyms
Refresh your memory by activating cues - Mentally re-create situations/moods where you orginally learned the material or physically return to the location
Minimize interferences - Study about an hour before sleep. Don’t study similar subjects back-to-back (i.e.- Studying Spanish then French right after)
Test your knowledge - Don’t be overconfident about recalling the material. Test yourself with the learning objectives. You can outline sections, define terms/concepts, create practice tests, or explain the topic to a friend without using your notes
Psychology: 8th Edition by David G. Myers, Chapter 9 - Memory
