Resources To Help You Learn a Language

When setting out to learn a language it can be hard to know where find the information you need.

Languages are huge and knowing where to get started and where to get the basics from can be overwhelming. Luckily there are a lot of great resources you can use to help you and to give you some guidance.

I will go through some of the main ones you can use that should help cover your needs at any skill level.

Language Textbooks

Learning a language from a textbook may seem like a very traditional method, but it can still works wonderfully well.

You probably remember using text books in school and maybe this brings back terrible memories, but don’t let this put you off they can actually be useful. They will usually give you enough information to get started.

Of course each textbook will be slightly different and can contain various levels of information. Some may just quickly cover the basic while others may go into extreme depth.

Textbooks are usually reasonably priced and easily bought. If you are a total beginner they can be good place to start.

They will not give you everything you need, but you can certainly gain enough information from them to get started and get a basic grasp of things, which is often what you need.

Native Books For Immersion

Textbooks are not the only books available. You can of course get just normal books that are written in your target language.

These will not “teach” you anything, but you will be able to just read them as a form of immersion and have exposure to the language.

You can usually get these types of books very cheap second hand and they will cover any topic you are interested in, whether its fiction or non-fiction.

You will need to have grasped the basics of the language before you can move to just reading in the language, so this not something a beginner can do, but you can quickly build up to this level.

(You can read more about – How To Practice Your Reading Skills In A New Language)

Online Language Courses

The internet has changed a lot of things in life for the better and that includes language learning through the introduction of online courses.

You can find hundreds of different online courses teaching a vast array of different languages to different levels.

You could argue that you do not actually need these as you can find everything you need on your own. I would agree, but you have to admit courses can be helpful. They do generally bring everything you need into one place and it can just make the whole process a lot easier.

If you have no idea where to start a course is going to give you the fundamentals you need. I don’t think you can learn everything through a course, but they are certainly good starting blocks.

A lot of the courses are paid, but you still find some very good free ones that will give you enough to get started.

These courses are also usually available as apps, so you can learn from your phone, anywhere you are, at any time, at your own pace which is always good.  

You will also find that if you compare them to the traditional courses where you physically go to a classroom, the online versions are usually a lot more affordable and a lot more flexible with your time.

Language Learning Websites

Language Websites are like a mix of textbooks and online courses. Basically all the information you will ever need is just out there if you know what you look for.

The internet is full of helpful websites that cover how to learn languages. Even this website has a guide to basic French Grammar that will get you started.   

If you want to quickly recap a topic, or just look something up that you are not sure about, a quick internet search should bring up plenty of websites that cover the topic that you need.

Websites are so much more efficient than textbooks. A textbook only has what it has, if it doesn’t cover something, then they are useless. They also might just explain something in a way that you can’t grasp it. Whereas there are multiple websites you can look up and immediately have the information you need all written slightly differently …so you should be able to find an explanation that makes things click.

If you didn’t want to follow a set course to get the basics, you could easily use in the information found on websites to teach yourself everything you needed.

Native Websites – Immersion

You also need to remember that there are going to be endless websites in your target language that you can just go to and read and immerse in the language.

It doesn’t matter what you are interested in, there will be a website for it. Once you get the basics out of the way you should spend more and more time using the internet in your target language.

You want to get to a point where you are using it more than your native language. You probably visit multiple websites a day, so doing this in your target language will really increase your exposure to the language.

Language Learning Videos

The best place for language learning videos is YouTube. You will be able to find countless channels that will teach you the basics of the language you are trying to learn.

These videos are going to cover all sorts of topics and go into various amounts of details. I really think that you could really learn everything you need to know just by using YouTube and you could avoid buying courses or books.

The basics and general information about the language will all be on there on YouTube as well as a lot of “exercises” for learners. There will be plenty of listening practice videos and even immersion videos specifically for learners.

These types of videos are going to keep the language simple and at a slow pace so you can follow along easily. These can be extremely beneficial in the early stages.     

Native Videos – Immersion

Videos really become invaluable once you have grasped some basics and want to start immersion.

There will be millions of videos made by native speakers of the language you are trying to learn on YouTube and you can indulge yourself for hours with these videos.

You can of course use other video streaming websites too, but YouTube is right there and it’s free.

Focusing on watching endless videos in your target language is really going to make the difference in the results you get. This will be the best “resource” you will ever get.

 (You can read more about – How To Use YouTube To Learn A Language)

Podcasts

You can get podcasts that are like audio lessons for beginners, you just need to listen to what is being said and follow along as they explain things to you. These types of podcasts can be excellent for your listening skills and they also usually try and get you to copy what you are hearing so it can be good for your speaking ability too.

The problem is that there is usually not many of these styles of podcasts. Really the vast majority of podcasts are just going to be ones aimed at native speakers.

This makes them an excellent resource to help with your listening immersion. I am a big fan of them as you can just listen to them as you go about your day and still focus on them. You can listen to them while you are out walking, or sat on the bus staring out the window.

Basically they can make your free time more productive and help you squeeze in some more language exposure throughout the day.

Traditional Classrooms / Tutors

Although the internet is now the main way people learn languages, the traditional classroom method still exists.

You can still attend a course and have a teacher stand in front of you and explain things. The annoying thing is that you have to show up at a certain place at a certain time and be taught whatever the teacher is teaching on that day.

The structure is a little more rigid compared to the flexibility that you get by learning by yourself online.

Tutors

You can also still hire a personal tutor and have one on one lessons. This can happen in person, but really now the vast majority of this is done online.

It’s extremely easy to book a video call with a tutor and they can be a great way to really boost your language skills.

Having another human being in front of you (even if it’s on a screen) that you can interact with still is one of the best resources you will ever get for learning a language.    

(You can read more about – Should You Use A Language Tutor?)

Flash Cards

Flash cards are one of the best ways to help with your  vocabulary retention. You will come across new words when you are listening and reading and saving them to study later on flashcards is a great way to help you remember them and introduce them into your active vocabulary.   

You can make your own hand written physical ones, but you will find that digital flash cards can make your life so much easier. Apps like Anki are free to download and use. 

You can also download pre made decks, which are usually going to be lists of the most common words in the language. These can be extremely useful to get your initial vocabulary off the ground, then when you are starting out, then you can move on to create your own flash card decks.

(You can read more about – Are Flashcards Effective When Learning A Language?)

Dictionaries

Everyone needs a dictionary. I am looking up new words daily so I know what they means before creating a flashcard.

If you want you can buy the old style book type dictionaries, but as with everything, technology will make your life so much easier and more efficient.

Online dictionaries are also free to use, both on web browser and phone apps, so really there is no need buy one. You will also find being able to copy and paste from the media you find the new words is so much more versatile than using a physical dictionary.  

Social Media

Social media is interesting. It’s not really a place you go to learn a language, but you can use it for short little bursts of immersion and it is pretty good for getting more acquainted with the culture of the language.

You can easily follow creators on twitter or intsagram and every time you log in you will get some exposure to the language. It can be quite nice to see a short caption and try and work out what it says, it’s like a mirco exposure of immersion.  

Its small things like this that can help you feel like the language is a part of your normal life, rather than something you sit down and focus on with intent every evening.

You will also get a lot of exposure to how natives actually speak and you will see it is a lot difference to what the textbooks teach.

(You can read more about – Why Do Natives Speakers Seem Different To The Text Books?)

Conclusion

As you can see there are lot of different resources available to you and it doesn’t matter what level you are at, you should be able to find something useful.

You do not need to use all of them and maybe some of them will not be ideal for you, but they are worth trying out and seeing how they fit with your goals and style of learning.

(Now you have the resources you need, you can read more information on – How To Make Your Own Study Plan For Learning A Language)