Learning a Language – Will It To Happen!

Learning a new language could certainly present a challenge for a lot of us but there is definitely nothing better than being able to express yourself in more than just your mother tongue. It gives you the chance to communicate with people with various nationalities and to get to know their cultures better. Moreover, it helps you develop your perspective on a wide range of topics as you would have access to an infinite number of people's stories. Therefore, you will be able to acquire a a variety of views on numerous topics.

A lot of us want to learn a new language and I am aware that there are a lot of people who at some point struggle with becoming fluent in a foreign speech. So I decided to share my tips on how we could improve our language skills. I have found from experience that each of them plays quite a significant role. Having an interest in learning a language or having difficulties in enhancing at it? Then just keep on reading.

1. Believe you can do it!

The first and in my opinion, the essential step is to actually be confident enough that no matter how hard it might get on occasions (and trust me, it will), you should never back down. If you set it as your goal and you trust that with your persistent effort you will get over the difficulty that stands in your way, then you are one gigantic step closer to improving your foreign language skills. For example, I have been "trying" to learn Swedish for about 4 years but my whole process so far has consisted of the phrase “I have to do it. I will need it.” Yet, I never fully devoted myself entirely to that goal of mine until a few months ago. I am still quite far from being fluent at it but I spend most of my free time studying – learning new words, reading, listening, and even trying to put together a few lines in Swedish to my best friend. Thus, I could tell you with certainty that once you actually start believing in yourself and how capable you are, you will be willing to go the extra mile to achieve your goal.

2. Know your reasons.

Being aware of why you want to learn a certain language is perhaps the greatest motivating tool that you could provide for yourself. Are you doing it because you need it for a job and studies or because you want to live in a country where it will be necessary for you to use it? Or is it because you would like to add the new language to the other ones you have managed to learn through the years? Or maybe it is simply because you like it and want to be able to speak it?

Whatever your reason might be, it is your personal responsibility as a learner to know it and then to use it every time you feel uncertain about how good you are doing. It is the key ingredient to remind you of why this matters to you and why you should not give up on it.

3.Don’t take it as an obligation.

The moment you start believing that you’re learning the language simply because you have to, then you have taken a gigantic step backwards. Yes, eventually you might succeed (doubtfully if you ask me). But think about how more efficient it would be if you turned it into one of your hobbies; into something you consider pleasurable and to what you would devote as much of your free time as you could. Surely, for some of us the reasons for learning might not have originated from our own ambition. However, take it as an opportunity. You have been granted the chance to learn a new language. And the only necessary ingredients are your will to do it and your persistent effort. So my piece of advice is, don’t waste your time on complaining and whining about how hard and impossible it is to do it. It definitely isn’t going to help you. Nothing is impossible if you really want it. So instead, spend your time inhaling as much of the opportunity that has been presented to you as you can. A language could never be a drawback. It can only be a massive strength.

4.Manage your time

Once you have fully set your mind on learning the language, time management immediately turns into one of the most challenging tasks. Dedicating at least fifteen minutes of your free time on revising the new vocabulary or reading an article, for example, is a perfect start for those whose daily routines are cramped with work and house chores. In addition, if you manage to find one day of the week when you could spend at least two hours on learning, then you have created a perfect schedule for yourself (that’s extra to the classes you might be taking).

Of course, I realise that sometimes that could be too ambitious for those with limited free time so then a quarter hour for beginners would be a suitable solution. Nevertheless, the most important thing to keep in mind when you start making your learning timetable is to not make excuses. If you start claiming that you can’t do anything related to studying because you are way too busy, then you are fooling no one but yourself. From personal experience, this is probably the last excuse you want to tell yourself and others. It certainly will not help you. On the contrary, it would make you question your motive for learning and will undermine the whole process.

5. Outlining

I would say that how one memorizes grammar, vocabulary and a variety of colloquial phrases is entirely individual. However, what has proven consistently to be most effective for me is organizing and outlining everything in a way that would help me remember it just by looking at it. Therefore, I always try to use colours in my notebooks or highlighters to emphasize on the things that I struggle to understand.

Having one notebook for classes and then another “cleaner” version at home is also a good way to organize your thoughts. If you are not very good at writing down and highlighting everything while being in class, then you could just sort it out at home when you are studying. By copying it, you will not only be able to visualize it better, but you will also be repeating all the important information and hence it will be easier for you to memorize.

The same thing goes for your personal dictionary. In class, you would write a wide variety of words that if not revised frequently, would remain forgotten. Thus, my suggestion is to keep track of the new words and phrases in a separate dictionary notebook, where you can organize everything by dates, or even text titles so you could remember in what kind of context those words had been used.

6.Practice

Finally, it is essential that you practice all four of the skills – reading, listening, writing (with the addition of grammar) and definitely, the speaking. All of them need constant revision. Try to use all the new phrases and words from the listening and reading of the unit into your own speaking and writing. As mentioned above, fifteen minutes a day could be more than enough for a while. As long as it's persistent. Reading articles and listening to the radio and different podcasts in the particular language will certainly come in handy too.

Overall, motivating yourself and your persistent effort are the main steps that would help you achieve your desired result. Just remember to maintain their balance and before you know it, you will have started speaking a new language. Just don't ever doubt whether it's worth it or not. Every language is a gift, or as Ludwig Wittgenstein has said, "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."

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