What Is The Best Way To Learn A Language By Yourself?

Learning a language is pretty tough, especially if you try it on your own. It’s certainly not impossible, but it will take a lot of work.

If you implement the advice below you will stand a very good chance of reaching your goal and learning the language you want. 

Make A Language Goal With A Plan

It sounds pretty obvious, but you really need to know what you want and how you are going to get there, or you will get nothing done and make no progress. Setting out a goal and working how to reach it is pretty daunting, but you have to do it.

It doesn’t really matter what your goal is, or how you plan to do it. So long as you have some direction it will help you massively.

It doesn’t need to be complex and this can even be as simple as just following someone else’s plan. If someone has set out the path you need to follow, then just follow it. You can always adjust or change the plan whenever you feel like it.

(You can follow my plan – The Only Study Plan You Need To learn A Language (For Complete Beginners))

Pace Yourself, Language Learning Is Slow

You need to know that this is a long term project. I repeatedly see people start with all guns blazing and then fizzle out after a few weeks or months. I am even guilty of this myself. Burnout is real and it can really ruin your language learning journey and is usually the reason most people give up.

If you pace yourself and just go slow and steady you will be able to go further. Consistency is the key to learning a language. You need to just keep chipping away at it and over the months; even years you will see progress.

It’s actually ideal if you can make studying into a habit, so it just becomes a apart of your life and something you do regularly, everyday.

Take Steps Back, To Go Forward In A Language

It is also very easy to always be focused on learning new things. Trying to read the next chapter, or do the next lesson. It’s like a never ending ladder that you want to climb.

While this is fine, it is sometimes better to go back to the start and go over the basics again.

You will be surprised at how much you can remember, and this type of revision is great.

However, you might also find a lot of the easy stuff has slipped away if you haven’t been using it or studying it in a while. It’s good to back and make sure your foundation is still solid and patch up any holes that might have formed.

This can seem a little boring, but it’s a good way to also stop burn out. You can usually smash though your old lessons again at twice the speed and it isn’t as stressful on your brain.

This is still great practice. So although it’s a step back, it’s still a step forward in the bigger picture. Think of some of the easy stuff you learn at the start, like saying “hello”. It doesn’t matter if you are new to a language, been studying for years, or are a native, you will need these types of basic phrases and elements of the language, so it is perfectly fine to go back over them from time to time to make sure you still have them locked in your memory.

Immerse Yourself In The Language

Really the best way to learn a language is to be exposed to it a lot. You really wanted to be immersed in it. Of course the best immersion is going to be achieved by moving to a country that speaks your target language, but that isn’t always possible.

You can still do this from home. You should try and get as many different small exposures to your target language as possible throughout your day. You should do things like watch the news; listen to some music throughout the day or read some posts on social media as well as just generally try and watch as much content as you can.

All these little bits of extra language exposure all adds up. All this extra immersion is great practice and can really help you build your level of input and comprehension on top of your studies.

(You can read more about – Learning A Language By Immersion)

Find Good Resources To Help You Get The Basics

If you want to be able to learn a language by yourself, you need good recourses. You need to be able to take the information and make use of it. You can’t teach yourself things if what you are using is not adequate enough.

I have a French dictionary and in a small section at the back there is maybe about 2 lines about verbs and how they work, then a bunch of verb tables with examples. For me, this is nowhere near enough information for me to work out what is going on.

I can read this as much as I want; it’s not going to teach me anything. I really need more details and more information. I need a better resource. My dictionary is of course a great resource for other information, it’s just not good enough for learning how verbs work, for that I need something else.

You can use anything to get this information; you can watch videos, read text books, look online or even do a course. The better information you have the quicker and easier you can understand it and then actually learn and use it.

There is also nothing stopping you using multiple resources to cover the same topic. Sometimes getting information from different places can show you different angles and really help you get a full understanding.

Use The Language As Much As You Can

You need to remember why you are learning the language. I hope this is so that you can communicate and actually use it.

If this is why you are learning it, then actually do this. It too easy to get focused on just learning form your textbook (or however you are learning) and just studying how the language works.

To really get good at the language you need to start using it. Actually try and communicate with people or watch TV and movies or read books in the language. Even trying to think in a different language is going to help you.

Actually use it to enjoy things and although you may not be perfect at the language, you can hopefully find some content that you can understand and enjoy.

As you improve you can start to really embrace the culture and be a part of the community of people who speak the language, not just some book worm who knows how the language works.  

Be Patient

Language learning is going to take a while. If you can stick with it, you will get there. 

It will take a lot of patience as you are going to struggle, you are going to make mistakes and you are going to have times when you really don’t enjoy it.

The struggle is really worth it and if you are patient with yourself as you fight through the seemingly endless confusion, you will be rewarded with the language.

(You can read more about – Can You Learn A Language Fluently Through Self Study?)

Put The Effort In To Your New Language

This may be a ridiculous thing to say, but you really need to put the effort in. I see too many people give up as they are not getting anywhere after a long time, and when I dig deeper into what they had been doing, it’s basically nothing.

You need to work at this consistently and with the proper amount of effort. Only spending 2 minutes on Duolingo everyday of a year is consistent, but it’s not proper work. You need to actually sit down and put a solid effort in and actually study.

It doesn’t need to be much, but a good solid 30 minutes or even an hour will really make things happen. If you do this level of study consistently, then you will see results.

(You might also be interested in reading – Studying Your Own Language To Help With Learning A New Language)

Conclusion

Studying by yourself is hard, but you can do it. Set a goal, get a plan and get some good resources. If you pace yourself and put in the effort you will start to see results. Just keep being patient and try and use the language as much as you can while immersing yourself in it and you will really start to see results.

This is a long term project, but you will reach your goals and learn the language!

(You can read more about What Is The Hardest Part Of Learning A Language?)