How to learn?
There are many ways you can learn a foreign language. If you have a smartphone, you can do this for free and from the comfort of anywhere you want to learn. Duolingo is an app that many like. I tried it and it is a great tool for beginners to any language it supports.
Duolingo – A Free Foreign Language Learning AppRosetta Stone, A Great Tool – If Used Correctly!
My go-to suggestion for digital learning is Rosetta Stone. If you are truly dedicated to learning a language then you will have no trouble learning while using Rosetta Stone. I first used it back in 2008 when I was in University studying French. It helped me a lot!
There are also many websites and communities on social media that are dedicated to learning foreign languages. These would be great to use for practicing after you have grasped the basics. Who knows, you may even make new friends from around the world as you continue on your multilingual journey!
** Click the photos below to see the products
Watch Movies In Foreign Languages
I highly recommend watching films and television in foreign languages for practice. You must pay attention as you watch the film and I recommend turning subtitles off, as they hinder your learning since they act as a distraction more than a learning tool.
Intouchables is probably my favorite French film next to Amelie Poulain. I have linked the Blu-ray below for those of you whom are learning French. Buy it, you will be very happy when you see this film. Americans made a remake of this film recently and it was terrible, the original is the best!
By doing this, you will be testing your listening skills. If you pay close attention, you will begin to pick up new words and grammar as you pay attention to the context of what is going on as well. Trust me, this works if you put time into it! That brings me to the next part of learning…
Practice Your Foreign Language With Music
Hop onto Amazon Music or iTunes and download some songs you like. I listen to many French and Spanish artists, in fact, my iPod is probably fifty percent full of foreign music because I use it for listening practice so much.
If you can understand this entire song in Spanish like I can, you’re well on your way to learning Spanish!
Read The News In a Foreign Language
I pretty much get all of my news from foreign-language news organizations. It is great practice and you can pick up a ton of advanced vocabulary by doing this. Try to read an article before you sleep. I try to read one or two articles before I go to sleep because when I do it at that time of day I retain new words a lot easier. I started reading France 24 ten years ago or so. They offer their website in French, Spanish, English, and Arabic if I recall correctly. Here are the links to the French and Spanish versions of the site to get you started…
How Much Time Do I Need?
How often do you need to study in order to have steady progress each week? I would recommend a half hour per day that is fully-dedicated to learning the language you desire. Do this six times per week at minimum and you will progress rapidly as long as you are focused and have the desire to learn.
The most important part of learning a language is desire. You need to be dedicated and have a reason for wanting to learn the language. Just like anything else, if the interest is not there, you simply won’t progress very far.
Lets say someone wants to become a doctor. Do you think they would succeed at passing medical school by only studying or practicing for one hour per week or less? No! You need to have a desire to learn and you need to dedicate adequate time to whatever you are trying to do. This is the same with anything really, no just learning a foreign language.
Conclusion
Like anything in life, you will get what you put into it. With hard work and perseverance, you will succeed in becoming fluent in another language. I will likely update this article with more details, products, and tips as time goes on. But for now, I hope some of the information here will help you in your language-learning-goals!
