How did you learn your first language? You probably learned it through a combination of immersion, trial and error, and people telling you definitions. If you’re here, though, it means you’re trying to learn a second (or third, or fourth…) language.
As adults, it does get a bit harder to learn a new language, and there’s a certain point where our brain gets sort of locked in to speaking the languages we know. This means that we can’t learn a language with the same full depth as our first language or any we learned as a child. Don’t lose hope, though. It’s still possible to achieve a great level of proficiency and even fluency in another language in spite of this.
Here’s the thing many people don’t realize: the strategies for learning a language don’t change much from childhood to adulthood. Let’s go over some common misconceptions and the strategies you should try to use. And don’t worry, I have some experience. I have been learning Spanish since my first year of high school and speaking it since graduating high school. I also studied linguistics and anthropology in college, focusing on language acquisition in my final thesis paper for my Bachelor’s Degree. (If you’re curious about linguistics as a subject of study, check out this article I wrote that delves into it.)
The Problem with Language Learning Apps (and How you Should use them)
If you’ve shown interest in learning a language before, you’ve probably come across various language learning apps. They promise courses that can teach you a language quickly and effortlessly. Others might promise to make the experience more fun, attempting to gamify the process.
The issue with these apps is that they can only get you so far in the language-learning process. You’ll learn vocabulary, but you won’t ever actually achieve fluency. Also, if you’re trying to learn anything besides the most popular languages, such apps might not provide good quality lessons.
I myself have been trying to learn Irish (AKA Irish Gaelic) for the past couple of years. It started with downloading Duolingo. I knew it wouldn’t be perfect or teach me the language, but it would be a good jumping off point.
So, if language learning apps aren’t good for language learning, how should you use them? Well, they are useful for one reason: they keep you consistently engaging with the language and interacting with vocabulary and grammar. You won’t ever learn the language from it, but you can learn some vocabulary if you engage with it consistently.
If you’re learning a language, these apps can help you because of their consistency, but it’s a bad idea to rely on them entirely, since you can use one for years without ever becoming fluent. Here’s some other things that can help you even more:
Language Learning Workbooks
I’m sure that header sounds pretty boring. Workbooks are kinda dull, and can be tedious to work through. But in my experience with Irish, workbooks (like Learning Irish by Micheal Ó Siadhail) can help you get a more detailed understanding of the rules of a language than a language learning app could. Plus, the exercises are more tailor-made to the lesson you’re currently on.
While a workbook might not be the most entertaining way to learn a language (I have only made it through about a third of the lessons in my book), they can be immensely helpful. If you combine them with immersion, you’ll pick up a language pretty fast.
Dictionaries
When you’re traveling or doing anything with a language, really, it’s important to have a dictionary or phrasebook with you. I try to get a dictionary on my phone if possible, but it isn’t always your best option so do your research.
Having constant access to a dictionary lets you look up words you don’t know very easily. Sometimes I find myself looking up a word in my target language just out of curiosity. I don’t know it, and I’m trying to learn the language, so why not just see what it is?
Immersion for Language Learning
Like I said before, the fastest way to learn a language is immersion. It’s how you learned your first language as a child, and it will help you just as much with any other. So what do I mean by immersion? Immersion means you’re fully exposed to the language you’re learning and little else. If you want to learn Spanish, you only see and hear Spanish around you while you’re learning the language.
This process helps you to learn the language because it forces you to constantly interact with it in new and unique ways every time you use it. In the last several years of my Spanish classes, for example, we were required to only speak Spanish while in class. I didn’t realize it at the time but this helped immensely with my learning.
In fact, there are immersion schools out there for many languages, where everything around you is written, spoken, or otherwise set in the language you’re trying to learn. This gives you as much exposure to the language as possible.
Another easy strategy to try is putting sticky notes all over things around your house, with their names in your target language. This gets you seeing the names of familiar objects in another language. Over time, you’ll memorize the words and what they mean.
Travel
One of the easiest ways to immerse yourself in a language is to travel to a country where it’s widely spoken. Being around the language all the time will make you interact with it more and more. Of course, if you go there and only speak English or any language besides the one you’re learning, you won’t get far.
On top of that, if you don’t take the time to translate words and phrases you don’t know, you won’t get anywhere. Make sure you interact with the language as much as possible and bring a dictionary, phrasebook, or some other tool with you to translate. (Avoid Google Translate though, as it isn’t always accurate and could mislead you.)
If you’re going to travel to learn a language, though, know that it will take far longer than a week or two to fully learn the language. You will need to plan for either a long trip or multiple short trips, but language learning is a lifelong process.
Culture and History
This somewhat ties in with travel, but taking time to learn about the culture and history of the group(s) that speak the language you’re learning is important.
This can mean several things. For one, every language will have multiple dialects, so it’s important to make sure you know which one you’re studying. Pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary can vary between dialects so the more consistent you can be, the better.
Secondly, languages are more than just words. By learning the culture and history of the group, you can better understand their worldview. This will help you to better understand the language and the ways it explains the world.
Media
It isn’t always easy to travel if you want to learn a language. Luckily, in our modern world there are many ways to immerse yourself in a language without traveling. Of course, they won’t be as effective since you’re still seeing and hearing your first language everywhere else, but it’s way better than nothing.
Here’s some things I do:
- Listen to music in my target language
- Watch TV shows in my target language. Netflix has a “search by language” option that is super helpful for finding shows. Also look around online for any TV channels you can access in your target language.
- Find an online radio station or podcast to listen to.
- Look for online chat rooms or forums in your target language. For example, I found a server in the online chat program Discord that is designed for people looking to learn Irish. You’re expected to speak Irish and only Irish in every channel except one, which is only for questions.
Conclusion
If your goal is to learn a language, and I mean truly learn it, it takes a lot more than just memorizing vocabulary and grammar. Languages are more than just words, encompassing a different way of looking at the world. Learning a language teaches you a new culture, a new worldview, and new things about yourself.
When you fully know a language, you won’t even have to remember definitions. You’ll be able to look at something and know its name in another language without even thinking about it.
I hope this guide was helpful. If you have any questions or comments, make sure to leave them below! I will update this guide if there is anything I think everyone should know about.