How to Learn a Foreign Language

You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.
-Czech proverb

Why learn a language?

So, you want to learn a new language? Great! But why? Well, if you're not already persuaded, here are a few good reasons:

A new language can open business opportunities. More sales mean money.
You can travel to other countries and communicate and learn about other cultures.
You can make new friends or even find a future husband/wife.
You can talk about secrets without others finding out.
You can enjoy foreign movies, books, and food.
You can improve and keep your mind healthy and even help avoid dementia.
You can understand your own language better and tune your mind to learn better.

What language should you learn?

You should learn a language that you are most interested in or that you can practice most. If you're not enthusiastic about learning the language, then you will end up quitting or dropping off. Pick a language that you can use or practice often. For example, if you have several Spanish-speaking neighbors Spanish would be a good choice because you could practice it often and you would be motivated to learn it so you could communicate with them. Or maybe you really like Japanese anime. If you studied Japanese you could practice the language just by doing what you enjoy anyway. If you want a good list of popular languages check out the languages page at How-to-learn-any-language.com

How should you learn a language?

Should you take a class at school, study abroad, or just learn it on your own? The best way to learn a language is to live in a country where they speak it for a few months to a year, but that's not usually an option for most of us. Fortunately it is a simple process to learn a language by yourself so here we will review some of the best ways to study a language on your own. If you get a chance to take a class or travel then go for it! It will only strengthen what you learn on your own.

Where should you start?

A good place to start is with an audio course. It's very important that when you're learning a language, you are able to hear what a native speaker of that language sounds like. Really, the best audio course available is Pimsleur, a system developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur. The courses are comprehensive, interactive, and designed to make the most of your time. A word or phrase is repeated enough times for you to remember it and right when you're forgetting how to say a word, the speaker will ask you to remember it again, so it resurfaces in your memory. It really works, and you can feel yourself making progress rapidly which is very encouraging.

You should do a lesson every day. You will continue to build on what you learned in the previous lesson. If you don't study everyday, it'll be harder to motivate yourself to get back into it. It's best to make it part of your daily routine, such as on the morning commute, or during your evening walk. The Pimsleur courses can be expensive, but here are a couple places to find them: CheapPimsleur.com or Lingo Shop.

You might also consider using a software package to start studying a new language. Two of the best options are Rosetta Stone and Transparent Language. Each course is different but they generally include dialogues, audio, exercises and tests. Some also include phrasebooks, dictionaries, videos, and games.

Reading

Do not underestimate reading. Read in the language as much as possible. Read children's stories first, moving on to newspapers and magazines as you build your vocabulary. Reading will dramatically improve your vocabulary, your spelling, your grammar and your knowledge of the language culture. It is practically essential for good writing.

Find books at your local library in the language you want to learn.
Get a textbook to study grammar with. It is important that you understand the grammar of the language however the grammar becomes more meaningful after you have read and studied the language for a while.
Find interesting websites or download free eBooks in the language at Project Gutenberg.
Buy a newspaper in the language.
Get a subscription to an interesting magazine in the language. Sometimes you can find some really great deals on magazine subscriptions on eBay. A subscription encourages you to keep reading because it keeps coming to house every month.
Have a dictionary nearby when you read and make a list of the words you don't know so you can practice them later. If you don't write down and practice the words that you don't know, you'll likely have to look them up again the next time.
Watch movies in your native language but use subtitles with the language you are learning. If you have movies on your computer you can download subtitles from places like MovieSubtitles.net, Subscene.com, or other places on the internet.
Set your computer language to be the language you are trying to learn. This usually won't change everything to the new language but certain dialogs and programs will be. This will force you learn in order to use the programs.

Vocabulary

Using flash cards is one of the best ways to learn new vocabulary. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and take them with you wherever you go and use practice them whenever you find extra time during the day.
Using computer software to study flash cards is an excellent idea because gauge how quickly you learn each card and show the cards you know a lot less. This will make your learning time more effective. You can use free software like FlashcardExchange and Mnemosyne or pay for software like SuperMemo.
Eventually try to think in whole phrases and with emotions and not just single words. For example, if you were learning Spanish you could imagine you are eating delicious bread while saying 'Como pan con mantequilla.' (I eat bread with butter)
Similarly, visually imagine the word or action you learn. Can you see the bread with butter in your mind's eye, even for just a second? This is a sign that your cerebral hemispheres have synched and the newly learned word will be available without conscious recall. Include other senses too. Smell the bread, feel the bread crumbs, taste the butter, etc. Make those sensations extreme. Try making the butter rotten, smell the bread burnt, have the toast painfully hot.

Writing

Writing is essential to solidifying what you have learned and being able to communicate in your new language.

Find a penpal! It's best to start off writing in an environment that lets you think and fix mistakes or even look up words you don't know. And with e-mail it's super easy to write to people in different languages. So where do you find a penpal? You can register here at LanguageMentor.com and search our penpal database by language or age or use one of the other penpal sites including My Language Exchange and FriendsAbroad.
Chat with a penpal! This will help you to think faster in your new language because you won't have as much time to lookup new words.
Practice writing on a website and get feedback! Some sites allow learners to practice a new language and get feedback about their errors. There is even a whole website for learning and practicing a new language at Tabonga.
Once you know the language really well, you can strengthen your knowledge by translating things from one language to another. You can find a group or forum that translates movie subtitles and start helping out.

Speaking and Understanding

Find people who speak the language. Using any of the instant messaging clients like MSN messenger or Skype and a cheap microphone you can talk in real time with your friend just like on the telephone, and for free.
Watch movies in the new language. You can better understand the culture of where a language is spoken by watching foreign movies. With DVDs you can even watch most movies with audio in another language. You can start by watching with subtitles in your native language so you can still understand what's going on.
Play games in the new language! Many video games for PC allow you to install it in any language you want. This is another fun way to practice the language.
Listen to the radio. If there are radio stations in your area in the language you are learning, listen on your way to work. Or you can always find foreign language stations on the internet at Shoutcast or Yahoo Music. News broadcasts or talk shows are especially helpful. It also helps to look up the lyrics of your favorite songs so you know what they're really saying.
Find audio books in the new language or subscribe an audio magazine.

For specific language lessons and resources check out our Links section.

If you have any other tips for learning a language that you would like to share or if you want to share your success story in learning a language please post in the Language Learning Tips board in the forum.

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