Studies have shown that how you learn a foreign language impacts whether or not you will actually follow through it. Obviously, if you get bored before you’ve put in the required time and effort, you’re not going to learn much of the language at all. So let’s address the facts that help determine whether you’re going to stick with your goal of learning a foreign language or not.
First things first, you are going to need positive feedback. That means you need a way to measure your goal of learning the new language. Whether this includes tracking your progress or actually trying to speak the language with someone fluent in it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you have a way to gauge that you’re really learning. Otherwise you may get frustrated and give up long before you get anywhere at all.
Secondly, you need to follow a step-by-step course that progresses from easy to hard. It should also do this slowly. Again, the reason you want to learn a foreign language in this manner is so you do not get too frustrated.
The problem with early frustration is that it steers people toward giving up. If you don’t see any progress in the early stages, you may not feel like you can accomplish your goal at all. Obviously, if you don’t think your goal is achievable after all, chances are good you’ll give up.
So minimizing the amount of frustration (especially early on) is a big part of learning a foreign language. On another note, you want to make learning a foreign language as interesting as possible.
As I’m sure you’ve experienced, learning from a textbook can be monotonous. Not only is reading from a textbook boring, but your chances of sticking with it are slim to none. Besides, merely learning vocabulary and grammar is not going to prepare you for a real-life conversation in a foreign language.
Interaction is the best way to learn anything. You can’t just passively read, listen or watch as someone explains everything to you. You need to get involved.
By turning learning a new language into a game, you’ll stick with it and actually remember more of what you learn.
You need to actually listen (not just read from a book) and then speak lots of foreign words and phrases. Turn the words into something familiar by associating them with their actual meaning.
You need to practice the new language with fluent speakers, all the while listening to it as it’s properly spoken. Many foreign languages are spoken very quickly, therefore you need to make sure you can keep up with the pace and actually hear it spoken correctly.
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