If you are a linguistics student, read this article to gather tips on how to succeed in your program:
Use repetition, intensity, and immersion
Language learning necessitates a large number of referential experiences as well as a persistent time, and effort commitment. As a result, expanding vocabulary and establishing fluency in a language requires a lot of repetition and exposure.
Commit to regular study and practice sessions at home or on the go to make your learning plan more intensive. Carry a bundle of flashcards with you at all times so that you can review them if you find yourself waiting someplace.
Enroll in private lessons or small group classes as a supplement to your self-study methods to incorporate consistency and repetition into your language learning plan. This way, you may commit to studying the language on a specific day and time. Consider enrolling in an immersion language-learning program or seeking out locations or activities where you can be immersed in and practice your target language to get the most out of your level of exposure.
Supplementing your study with TV shows, movies, periodicals, newspapers, and internet materials that help you review language basics regularly is another option to increase repetition and exposure.
Visualize success in the language
Make an effort to think in your target language rather than your mother language. In your new language, how would your regular inner monologue sound? When you’re out and about, talk in your target language when you encounter diverse circumstances, especially ones that happen frequently. Consider what kinds of conversations you would have and the words and sentences you might use.
Visualize yourself conversing with native speakers and communicating exactly what you mean while also comprehending what others are saying.
Experiment with the language in a fun and engaging way
Seek out opportunities to converse in your target language with other students or native speakers. Language is a complex system that demands more than just memorization. Interacting with people allows you to practice linking what you’ve learned to practical uses. Only by connecting these words and phrases to social situations can they become genuinely embedded in the vocabulary. This is why an hour of face-to-face communication with another language speaker is equivalent to 10+ hours of online self-study.
Why not make your conversations pleasurable as well? Use your target language to do something enjoyable, sociable, and experiential. What things do you enjoy in your pastime? What are some of your favorite hobbies? Do you prefer to read business or health magazines?
Try practicing all of these tasks in the language you want to improve. You’ll not only have fun learning your language because you already enjoy these activities, but you’ll also be widening your language skills for a larger variety of entertaining scenarios.
Studying in a different program? Browse through our other articles here at MSM Unify for more tips.