Learning a foreign language can seem like a daunting task at first. There seems to be so much you don’t know, and so much that you have to learn.
Confidence
Something that I feel we must keep in mind while learning a foreign language is, everybody learns differently. Because of this, everyone will learn at a different pace, in a different way. And this applies to learning in general, right?
Keeping this in mind can help with confidence at every step of the way. From my experiences as a language instructor, many people are striving for confidence in the target language. Based off my own foreign language learning experiences, cultivating and maintaining confidence should probably be done from the start of it all. I view language learning as a practice that allows me to also focus on my interpersonal skills — a skill that is indispensable as a social species.
Pronunciation
Although I personally don’t feel that pronunciation is the most important aspect of language learning, it can be a fun challenge to undertake.
Some important questions you may want to ask yourself when learning a language are:
- Why am I learning this foreign language?
- How important is pronunciation to me?
- People perceiving me in different ways when speaking the foreign language is inevitable: Do I want to at least try to sound like a native? Or do I not really care and I simply want to order food on my 2 week long vacation?
One of my favorite ways of tending to my pronunciation is by reading out loud. Of course, in order to do this you need to have already been exposed to the language enough to be able to remember the sounds of the language. If you’ve already got this under your belt, you’re ready to play with those vocal cords your momma (and I guess daddy) gave you.
If you don’t already have the sounds of the language memorized, you can always try shadowing.
Shadowing is a technique that works like this:
- You play audio in the target language by a native speaker
- You try to mimic the sounds of the native speaker
- You sound like a native (you probably won’t sound like a native right away…but never say never!)
Context
Getting to a point where you can begin to learn new words from context is such a gratifying feeling. How do you do that?
Well, most of us capable of reading a book in our native language know what this is like. You know many words in your native language, so learning new ones becomes a lot easier, because of context!
Work towards understanding from context first, if you aren’t already at that point.
Rereading, rereading, and rereading are three great ways to learn and make meaning from context!
Try using new words and “bits” or “constructs” you understand from context in personalized ways, too! I’m a firm believer that, the more you apply words to your own personal life, the better you’ll be able to remember that word or expression in the future.
Confidence, Pronunciation, and Context. There is a lot more that goes into language learning than just these three points — but they’re three points that are worth reminding ourselves of and reflecting upon. Reflect on your own learning and trust yourself — getting new ideas from articles and “experts” is great, but don’t underestimate your own inner compass on where to go next on your language learning path.
Did you enjoy this article? Give me some feedback, or ask me some questions — I’d love to write more and share my own experiences as both a language learner and instructor!
