Summer is almost over… These words are a bummer in any language. But with the end of summer, for many, comes a new school year, and new opportunities for learning. Even those of you who aren’t headed back to school might have a bit more time to spend on indoor activities. One of these – in school or out – can be learning a new language.
For those who are about to embark on a new language learning adventure, we thought we’d revisit some of our Living Language general tips for learning a language and apply them to tips for studying language in school so that you can get over your anxiety before the learning even starts.
- Find Your Pace
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should always proceed at your own pace. Don’t feel pressured into thinking that you only have one chance to digest information before moving on to new material. You might only get to hear things once or twice in class, but if you’re struggling to understand that vocabulary or grammar, spend some extra time with it outside of class. Read and listen to the lesson you’re studying as many times as it takes to make you feel comfortable with the material. Regular repetition is the key to learning any new language, so don’t be afraid to cover material again, and again, and again! In school, this might mean spending more time on homework or review outside of class, but it will be worth it; we promise.
- Take Notes
You’ll do this naturally in class, but you should also be sure to take notes outside of class when doing homework or just listening to the language in the language lab. You’ll learn much more quickly and effectively if you write it down, or rephrase it in your own words once you’ve understood it. That includes vocabulary, grammar points and examples, expressions from dialogues, and anything else that you find noteworthy. Take your ntoes with you to review wherever you have time to kill – on the bus, while dinner is cooking, in the hall before your next class, or whenever you can find the time. Remember – practice (and lots of review!) make perfect when it comes to learning languages.
- Make a Regular Commitment
Having a regularly scheduled class will help get you in the habit of studying, but try to make a habit of finding time to study outside of class on a regular basis, too. The concept of “hours of exposure” is key to learning a language. When you expose yourself to a new language frequently, you’ll pick it up more easily. On the other hand, the longer the intervals between your exposure to a language, the more you’ll forget. It’s better to spend less time several days a week than a large chunk of time once or twice a week. In other words, spending thirty or forty minutes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will be better than spending two and a half or three hours just on Saturday.
- Don’t Get Too Hung Up on Pronunciation
Your teacher might not like us for saying this, because they will want you to speak the best most correct language possible, but “losing the accent” is one of the most challenging parts of learning a language. If you think about celebrities, scientists, or political figures whose native language isn’t English, they probably have a pretty recognizable accent. But that hasn’t kept them from becoming celebrities, scientists, or political figures. Really young children are able to learn the sounds of any language in the world, and they can reproduce them perfectly, but once you get older, this ability becomes reduced, so if you agonize over sounding like a native speaker in your new language, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment. That’s not to say that you can’t learn pronunciation well. Even adults can get pretty far through mimicking the sounds that they hear. So, listen carefully to the audio several times. Listening is a very important part of this process: you can’t reproduce the sound until you learn to distinguish the sound. Then mimic what you hear. Don’t be afraid of sounding strange. Just keep at it, and soon enough you’ll develop good pronunciation.
- Don’t Be Shy
Learning a new language inevitably involves speaking out loud, and it involves making mistakes before you get better. Your teacher will be good at correcting you, as long as you’re not afraid to speak up. Don’t be afraid of sounding strange, or awkward, or silly. The more you speak, and the more you interact, the faster you’ll learn to correct the mistakes you do make. And ask questions if you’re confused! Sometimes the most complex-seeming grammar points have pretty easy explanations.
Good luck, students!
Photo by Hidrafil, via Wikimedia Commons
