Speaking several languages is now a necessity for those who want to develop professionally internationally or discover other cultures. After nearly twenty years of experience and counting on the knowledge and skills of nearly 2,000 coaches, we share our seven tips for learning a language with you.
Set achievable goals
Learning a language is a process that can be long, intense, and absorbing. It is therefore essential to be able to hold on to the reasons that drive us to undertake this project. For what purpose do we want to learn a new language? Acquire new skills essential for work? Communicate with a friend? Move to new horizons? Once the reason for our learning is established, it is necessary to define intermediate objectives. These must be achievable. An overly ambitious objective will create frustrations and make us lose sight of our final objective. Progressive intermediate objectives can be: knowing 50 words; learning how to explain our profession; and understanding the television news; … The more we can hold on to achievable objectives, the greater our motivation to progress will be.
Inviting the language into your home
How to continue learning a language after school? In our daily lives, at home, we can name things. To start with, the rooms in the house. To follow, their contents. We can talk to ourselves, name the room where we sit, name what we see, and describe what we eat. Gradually, language invites itself into our daily lives and we slowly develop our skills.
Technologically Change language
Small changes in our habits can have a big impact on learning a new language. The technology around us is often multilingual, it knows the language we want to learn before we do. We can thus change the language of our phone, our computer software, our GPS, our running watch, our home automation, etc. We then integrate many words essential to communication.
Combining pleasure and learning
It is easier to learn while having fun. Moreover, a language cannot be dissociated from its culture. So let’s take advantage of what it offers us. Reading novels, watching films in the original language, attending planned ays, and listening to songs, are all ways to combine pleasure and learning. But before we can follow at this level, we can read children’s books, watch cartoons, watch the TV news recorded for this purpose several, times, or listen and re-listen to podcasts.
Making friends
Learning a language means wanting to exchange, share, and communicate. It is essential to set up regular opportunities to put what we have learned into practice. We can practice the language with friends who have mastered it, meet new people, or set up exchange and learning sessions with professionals. My Sherpa offers group or individual courses that align with the learner’s availability. But it can always be useful to supplement this training by continuing informal exchanges. And if our friends are abroad, let’s not forget that many technological tools allow us to stay in touch, to exchange written, ora,l or videoconference communications.
Making mistakes
We have to get started. We will not have complete mastery of a foreign language for a very long time, if ever. So, is it worth waiting? Making mistakes is the best way to learn. Let’s speak as best we can, get by with the few words in our new vocabulary, and not give too much importance to grammar, syntax, and other complications that we will have the opportunity to develop later.
Pronounce local
Rolling your orr” in Spanish, mastering the stress in Italian, or forcing yourself to take on a British accent in English are all attitudes that will put you in the shoes of the character. Pronouncing local will allow you to feel more in control of the language and will make it easier for your interlocutors to understand you. It is essential to make this effort.