Here are some general tips on learning a foreign language. Soon I'll write some tips especially for Japanese for the people going on my Worldschool Travels to Japan in August or November but first some general tips. Here's numbers 1-5 and click through for tips 6-10.
I’ve become fairly fluent in German, Japanese, and Spanish mainly by travelling and living in the countries where they are spoken. From those experiences I think anyone can learn a foreign language they just need to:
- Jump in and be willing to make mistakes. To start with and pretty much every step of the way you’re going to need to just go and use the language if you want to learn and enjoy it. You are going to make mistakes: that’s one of the big ways we learn anything. The great news is that most native speaker will really appreciate that you are putting in the effort to learn their language and they’ll be very supportive.
And even though you will make mistakes you need to… - Be Confident. I remember when I learned my first Japanese words many years ago I thought I must be missing something, I must not be saying this right: but I was! Foreign languages are at first totally mysterious and we may imagine it’s not possible to learn it because we’re not a native speaker.
While you might not ever have a perfect accent or get everything, you can definitely become fluent enough to understand, be understood, and even enjoy inside jokes! Which brings me to the next tip: - Have fun! Even if you do need to learn a language for work or school, you’re going to find it a lot easier to learn if you make sure to have some fun with the language. The reason you’re usually using your native language is you enjoy it and are having fun with it: it can be the same with learning a new language. Very much related to that…
- Remember it’s about connectin’ not about perfectin’. People are way more interested in connecting and getting the general idea of what you’re saying than they are in correcting or judging whether you’ve said something grammatically correct. You can really interrupt the flow of a nice conversation by worrying too much about perfection.
- Learn about the culture. Read about the history of the country or countries from whence the language came. Watch movies. Listen to music. You can learn a lot of language directly from those sources and you’ll just be aware of the culture, which is polite, helps you understand the context of the language, makes it more meaningful, and motivates you overall.
Now check out tips 6-10 here!
Eli Gerzon/Worldschooler is the Worldschooling Editor for Wandering Educators.