The Only Tips You Need to Learn a Foreign Language
To be honest, this article isn’t entirely original. I watched a video about a guy that learn Italian in 7 days, and his tips are the thing I need to hear. Basically… this video is a summary of his video. If you want to watch the video, this is part 1, and this is part 2. The point of me writing this article is to make a note to myself, and as a place where I can refer and read it anytime in a simple format, to aid me learning language.
Top 1000 Words
- Learning random vocabulary is an inefficient strategy. Having tons of random vocabulary is useless in the beginning because it is not needed to have general conversation.
- Learn the 1000 most common words instead. This way, you’ll remember the most common words you’d use in a general conversation.
- We like to think that we are busy and don’t have any free time. But, often times we like to watch Netflix and scroll through social media. Replace this habit with listening language podcasts or voice recording of vocabulary.
The Glue (Tenses)
- Just having vocabulary is useless if you don’t know how to use it. Learn the most common verbs, also connecting words like of, in, and on.
- Having basic verb conjugation is better than having an extended vocabulary
Create a Connection
- From memorization and verb conjugation we’re going to hit a wall. When that excitement starts to fade, so too does your consistency and amount of effort that you’re going to put into learning that language.
- Watch a movie with a subtitle you’re learning (not English) and try to follow along. Try to translate song lyrics as well. This is an amazing way to see how people speak in the language.
- Basically, start consuming culture and find stuff that excites you about the language and the people who speak it.
Make Mistakes
- You have to make mistakes to test what you’ve learned to correct and adjust and improve. It’s the best way to improve.
- Some people might laugh at you for making mistakes, laugh with them!
- The point is not to never make mistakes, the point is to speak and connect with somebody and exchange ideas.