The Best Way To Learn A New Language Fast

At first, learning a new foreign language is a daunting task; It doesn’t matter how skilled your study guide is.

Why is it so?

Because you’ve got so much to learn and there are so many ways of doing it. It’s easy to get confused and feel overwhelmed by the whole thing.

Maybe you’re desperate to learn a new language to fit in the place you recently moved to. You don’t want to feel out of place any more. Maybe you need to learn a new language so that you can take on new job opportunities, or so that you can read your favorite storybook in its primary language.

 Whatever your reasons are for learning a new language, you’ll appreciate that it’ll be a good deal to learn it fast.

However, the idea of learning a new foreign language, especially from scratch is anything but fast.

The good news is that learning a new language doesn’t have to be tedious or a slow process.

You’ll agree with me that even though nothing will ever replace the effort and the hard work it demands, you can learn a new language fast if you stick to the right strategy and commit yourself to the process.

Follow these five steps, and you’ll master the art of learning a new foreign language faster than you ever envisioned!

1)      Set learning goals for the language

 The first step to learn a new language is to set new goals for what you need to achieve. Think about it and see it makes sense. If you never set goals, you can’t tell what you want to achieve and you can’t evaluate whether you have attained it.

You may be overwhelmed by the idea of learning a new language because you’ll have a lot to learn, and there are so many ways of learning it.

If you set your goals, you’ll be able to narrow your focus and not worry much about the details, and you’ll get down to business.

If your goals are right, you’ll get the kind of results you want. Set both long term and short term goals. You have to focus on tangible, specific outcomes.

For instance; if you’re studying French as your new language you could promise yourself to learn 50 vocabularies in French related to studying or food in a week. Break your target goal into smaller bits and then set these smaller goals for each month or week.

2)      Associate yourself with a native speaker

One of the best ways to learn a new language fast is to speak it. Don’t spend your time to study grammar and memorize a dozen words. Instead, go out there and put into practice what you’ve learnt.

Speak with a real live person who is a native and you’ll be more motivated to learn the new language than just staring a book or a computer screen.

Find a colleague or a friend who speaks the language you want to learn, and would be willing to help you practice it.

If it’s hard for you to find a native in your locality, you can connect with someone via Skype. You’ll be amazed to find someone willing to exchange an hour of speaking in their native language for an hour of speaking in Spanish.

Commit yourself to learn it for a few hours a day.

3)      Always be armed with a dictionary

Always carry a dictionary with you in case you need it. It can be a dictionary app on your phone or just an ordinary physical dictionary. It’ll save you loads of frustration and time. So, it’s a good idea to invest in one soon.

A dictionary will come in handy for you when you’re having a conversation with a native speaker, and you don’t want to interrupt the flow of the discussion. You’ll just look up the word and use it immediately in a sentence. It will help you remember the words.

Also, you can peruse the dictionary randomly several times throughout the day; like during a coffee break at work, when you’re waiting in line at the supermarket or when you’re sitting in traffic.

This way, you’ll learn other 40 or 50 new words.

4)      Watch, listen, read and write in your chosen language.

Immerse yourself in the new language you wish to learn and do all the activities you would do in your native language.  Watch TV shows and movies in the style you desire to learn.

Avoid subtitles because you’ll rely on them. To make it easier, watch the movies whose plots you’re familiar with or dubbed versions of Spanish film.

If you already know the context, you’ll be able to decode the meaning of phrases and words. Make attempts to write and read in your new language. Grab a magazine or a newspaper and read one article or two every day.

Look up the words you didn’t understand in your dictionary. Tune in to radio stations or download podcasts in your new language.

 Listen to songs in your new language too. It will help you to comprehend and hear the right pronunciations of common phrases and words.

Listen to all the songs you can in that language. Learn the lyrics, and then see what they mean. This way, if you hear it again, you will be able to tell what the conversation is all about.

In your journey to learning a new language, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you do, you won’t go very far. Learning a new is both fun and daunting, but in the end, you’ll be proud of yourself that you’ve achieved something magnificent, your new foreign language is.