5 Tips To Learn Languages

What does it take to learn a new language? I've asked myself that question many times, and here are a few tips I've written down along the way.

1. Understand what you read and hear. Find yourself a dictionary and start to look up words, especially the words that are most commonly used in that language;-) Try to remember those words and their meaning! And, if you're into that sort of things, punish yourself if you don't. For example you can use a pencil to mark every word that you're looking up in the dictionary and then make a rule that you have to do 50 push-ups or run 10 kilometers if you have to look up the same word more than three times.

2. Focus on the most important words. In languages, and especially in vocabulary training, the Pareto principle that 80 % of the value comes from 20 % of the causes, is truer than ever. Have you ever wondered how many of the hundreds of thousands of entries in an advanced learners dictionary you actually have to study and understand to have a chat in a given language? If 80 % of everyday talk is done using only 20 % of the lexica, then you're clever if you do everything in your power to master those vital 20 % of the words, saving the rest for later.

3. Find books, movies, music etc. that you genuinely enjoy. Textbooks can be helpful and instructive, but if it's a drag even to just open them, other sources can be more inspirational. Even translated versions of things you already like in their original language can be great for your motivation to learn. So if you enjoy reading comic books, then try to find those comic books in your target language. Recently I rediscovered the joy of reading Donald Duck cartoons after buying one at a gas station in Germany, so I found a place online where I could buy a whole year in one click and changed the pretentious fat volume mammuth of contemporary German literature on my bedside table for a couple of light weight Lustiges Taschenbuch with its abundance of Grrrr, Arghhh, and Glurk in the vocab.

4. Repeat repeat repeat. Don't be shy to repeat the same things over and over again. To watch the same movies again and again. To study the same boring verb tables again and again. In the end, some things will stick, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to feel like a virtuoso, after some hard work has been done. I often hear about people who almost miraculously learned a whole new language in only 3 months without any studying whatsoever. Well, I believe that some people can learn a language in only one week, while others have to struggle for two years or more, but somehow your brain has to meet the same words and sentences a couple of times, before you can confidently use them in real life.

5. Have fun! You learn way better when you enjoy, what you're doing. Find study mates or tandem partners that you can have a laugh with (tandem partners are people who can teach you their own language, and to whom you can teach your own language). Learning languages can be serious business, but motivation, I believe, is stronger when you're looking forward to spending time with the people you're learning with. In primary school, English and German were my most feared subjects. My teacher was splendid, but for some reason I didn't enjoy those classes at all. So I went on to study mathematics in high school. But during my 1½ years as an expat in England and Germany 10 years later I discovered how knowing a language can open up a whole new world - and that the more fun I had while learning a language, the less fearsome it became. So, in short, and to avoid more clichés and personal stories for now..