Advice For Beginner Language Learners

Learning a language can be as equally fun as it is difficult.

All that initial excitement can quickly turn to dread when you actually realise how much work you need to put in and how much you need to learn to speak your new language, but don’t worry, you can do it.

As a beginner it can be hard to know what is the best way to do things or how to get the best results, so I will go through some of the top tips I wish someone had told me when I first set out on my language learning journey.

Hopefully this advice will help you out.

Immersion Is Key To Making Progress

Actively studying your language is really good idea, but you must not underestimate the power of immersion.

Pretty much everyone who has learned a language to a very high level will have spent a lot of time just immersing in the language, which means watching/ listening or reading the language.

Actively studying stuff can help you understand what is going on and teach you new words or concepts, but your brain needs to be exposed to many, many hours of the language to really make sense of it on a subconscious level.  

Sitting there watching stuff and not fully understanding what is going can seem pointless, but just keep doing it. This is the real secret to being successful.

You Need Comprehensible Input

It is also important to point that you should be able to comprehend some of what you immersing in.

You do not need to understand 100%, in fact having some gray areas is actually ideal as these will be words you do not know and can therefore learn.

Either way it’s vital that you can roughly understand what is going on. Your brain needs some sort of context so it can take what it does know from the material and make sense of it and strengthen your knowledge.

Finding material like this can be hard at the start and you will feel lost, but keep trying and you will start to understand more and more.

Try Not To Think Too Academically About Language Learning

If you have tried to learn a language before it was probably at school and let me guess, you can’t speak that language even though you studied it for a number of years.

The way schools teach languages sometimes just isn’t the right way to learn languages. At best you will end up memorising some phrases so you can repeat them back for a test. This isn’t learning a language and it certainly doesn’t help you have a conversation in real life.

It’s very common for people to think back to their school days and think about how they learned there and then try to repeat it. They end up doing boring grammar exercises or writing out lists of vocabulary over and over again, driving themselves crazy.

These types of exercises do have their place, but don’t get stuck in thinking this is the only way to learn. As I’ve already mentioned immersion is key. Watching tv shows in your target language is the total opposite from what you did at school, but you will also find you get the total opposite result and you will actually see results from this approach.

Learning a language is so much more than academic study, and the sooner you embrace the different (and more fun) methods like immersion, the sooner you will see results.

Don’t Be Over Whelmed By The Amount Of Learning Methods Available

Once you start looking at how to learn, you can quickly become overwhelmed with all the different methods that are available.

Tutors, courses, apps, textbooks or websites. …the list goes on and on.

Which one is the best? Which one will work the fastest? Which one is the easiest? …it doesn’t matter. They are all designed to just teach you the basics and if you give any of them enough attention, they will do that.

Just pick a method and try it out for a while. You will quickly know if you like it or not.

You also need to remember that language learning is a long journey and there is nothing stopping you from changing your method after a period of time or going back to one you tried before.

Maybe something you try today isn’t right, but in 6 months time it might been the best technique for you when you look at it again.  

Try and stick to just one method at the beginning and give it a fair go before you decide if you want to try and learn in a different way. If you try to do everything at once, you will just be overwhelmed.

Once you get the basics covered, you can move on to immersion, which is really the method you need for the best results.

(You can read more about –The Best Ways To Learn A Language)

Stay Positive

Once the initial excitement of learning a new language wears off you might be hit with the sudden feeling that you are in way over your head and that you will never get anywhere. This is normal, but don’t let this feeling it beat you.

You need to stay positive, even if you feel like you are making no progress or even getting worse at time. Just keep going. You will eventually have a breakthrough.

When you stop and look back and see how far you have come and how much you have learned, you will forget all about the bad times.

(You can read more about – Why Does it Feel Like I’m Getting Worse At My Target Language?)

Stay Consistent With Your Language Learning

Consistency is the key with language learning. You need to keep at it. Dipping your toe in here and there or leaving huge gaps in between learning will get you nowhere. 

If you stay consistent, you will see results. You just need to trust the process and stick to it.

If you can commit to studying and immersing every day, you will get there. Do this every day for a number of months and you will end up having the language. It can be hard to stay consistent, but it will be worth it.

Create Good Study Habits

Creating habits around your learning is going to be the best way you can stay consistent.

If you build language learning into your life, it’s going to be far easier to stay consistent with it over the long term. 

These habits just need to be little things, so you get into the rhythm of learning and doing it consistently every day. Treat your study like brushing your teeth, make it something you do at the same time every day and slowly it will just start to become a normal part of your life, exactly how brushing your teeth is.

(You can read more about – Language Learning Habits)

It Is Okay To Make Mistakes When Learning A Language

You need to understand that you will make mistakes and that is totally fine.

Don’t be scared to mess up. It’s one of the best ways you will learn your language. There is no shame in it and it doesn’t matter if you make the same mistake 500 times. It’s all part of the process.

You will learn from your mistakes and they can only make you better, even if they are annoying.

Keep Your Language Learning Relevant

It is really important that you keep your studies relevant to you, which means you need to be studying things that you are interested in, or will facilitate things that you are interested in.

The second you start getting bored, is the second you stop learning.

If you are interested in a certain hobby, focus on learning the words to help you talk about this. Listen to podcasts, watch videos or read about this hobby in your target language. The more you are interested in the topic, the more you will actually enjoy what you are doing and you will engage with it.

By keeping your language learning relevant to things you are interested in, it will also keep you much more motivated when times are hard.

Overall language learning should be enjoyable, so make sure you make it fun where you can.

Leave Your Comfort Zone

If you feel like you’re getting in above your head and are lost, that’s fine. Some of my best learning has been from being well out of my comfort zone.

I remember the first time my language partner told me they were going to stop speaking English for the rest of the day. I was so stressed out. I had to spend the next few hours only talking French. I was literally sweating from the amount of thinking I was doing. It was so uncomfortable, but wow, I learnt a lot that day.

This also goes for your immersion. As I’ve already said, you don’t need to understand everything you are listening to. Having that slight discomfort with not understanding everything will force you to grow.  

Don’t Compare Yourself To Other Language Learners

Language learning is a very personal journey. No one has lived the life you have lived and no one is going to have the same language journey as you.  

Everyone has different goals and dedicates different amount of time and effort to language learning.

Just because you started at the same time as someone else doesn’t mean you will be at the same level after the same amount of time. Some people will be way ahead of you and some people will be way behind you. Every one learns at different rates.

The same goes for people who are already way ahead of you. Just remember that they could have been learning for years. You are only at the beginning of your journey. Give it time and you will reach the same level as them, maybe you will even overtake them.

It just doesn’t matter where anyone else is. Just focus on yourself and your own journey.

Jump In To Your New Language And Push Yourself

Language learning is a world of discovery and can be a lot of fun.

You will find all sorts of opportunities, experiences, new cultures and friends from learning a language.

You should just jump in fully and embrace it as much as you can.

There are times when you will doubt yourself, but just keep pushing yourself and you will reach your goals and make your life a whole lot richer.

Conclusion

Hopefully this advice will help all you beginners feel a bit more confident about learning your language.

Just stay positive, have fun and work hard. You will reach your goals and you will master the language you are learning. Good luck and don’t give up!

(You can read more about – How Learning A Language Will Make You a Better Person)