I was fortunate enough that my family are bilingual, they spoke Arabic and Malay. They didn’t use Malay enough around the house for me to speak it perfectly, but I think the language is still somewhere in my subconscious mind and with enough practice I can get it back.
English was my third language, but like many people the formal education wasn't good at all and I had to learn it on my own through movies, books, online courses and talking with people.
French was the fourth language which wasn’t “imposed” on me, I decided to learn it because it was really interesting. Having francophone friends made it definitely easier.
Spanish, German and Mandarin Chinese are also on the list but I'm still scratching the surface.
I learnt so much in my journey of languages which took several years. I wish to share with you 5 tips that can be useful if you are thinking about learning a new language.
1) Develop a passion:
It’s one thing to learn a language, it’s another thing to have a passion for the learning proccess itself. If you are passionate about something then everything else will be much easier because all your hard work is really a source of pleasure and enjoyment.
It’s passion that will you give constant motivation. it’s passion that will empower you against all the struggles and difficulties.
The good news is you don’t have to have it from the beginning. Believe it or not I wasn’t very excited to learn any language. I was just interested, but the more I got into it the more interest I developed. It’s a cycle and it’s something that can be built over time.
Passion is an emotion that will keep you motivated, positive and focused.
- Write down your goals and why you want to learn the language, write down as many reasons as you can.
- Think of the advantages you can have when you can finally speak fluently, write down as many advantages as you can.
- Keep these lists with you as a reminder and review them every once in a while
- Find people with similar interests. Meetup.com is a popular website for language exchanges and more.
- Be curious, enjoy the learning and the sense of achievement that comes with it!
2) Set goals:
It’s important to know where you’re heading, otherwise you won’t be able to track your progress. It’s easy to say that you want to speak perfectly in 1 year, but actually setting milestones can make a big difference.
- If you’re taking a course online then put a plan on how many lessons to finish each day or two.
- Set a number for how many vocabulary you’d like to learn each day.
- How many podcasts to listen to each week?
- Are you planning to meet people, finish a book, or watch a movie in your target language? make sure to write that down as well
This is all different than just putting a date on the end long term goal, you’re also putting the frequency of your actual work to achieve the short term goals. Put some time into setting your goals then record your progress in a diary, It will be worth it! Because no matter what you choose to do, if you stay consistent with it you will get great results.
3) Live the language:
When you learn a new language you're not just learning words and grammar you are learning to live a new life. The sooner you adapt the sooner your results will be. This obviously will be much easier if you’re already in the country of the spoken language, but if you’re not there yet you can still live your life as if you’re there.
- Learn about the culture, the traditions and the people.
- When you get to a comfortable level, change the language in your phone, computer, and try to get used to that. It will be difficult in the beginning but it will get easier with time.
- Next time you want to listen to the radio, or read the news do it in the target language
- Next time you’re googling something, also try doing it in that language.
- Next time you have a thought, form it in that language
- Next time you eat something… well, you get the idea. Immerse yourself!
He who learns another language acquires another soul ... - Luca Lampariello
4) Find an inspiration:
One thing I always do when learning a new language is to find someone I aspire to be like and can learn from.
These are some hyperpolyglot youtubers that I used to watch daily. They may not be active at the moment but they were highly inspirational.
- Luca Lampariello (Italy)
- loki2504 (Belgium)
- Steve Kaufman (Canada)
- Richard Simcott (UK)
- Benny Lewis (Ireland)
5) Do what you enjoy:
Finally, people have different methods of learning, we all start differently, and end differently. If you find something that you enjoy doing the most, then don’t let anyone tell you that there is a better way. This of course means ignoring everything I said if it doesn’t suit you.
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