How To Learn a Foreign Language
You can enjoy greater personal power in a foreign country when you speak the language. Without leaving your own home town, you can enter into the literature and culture of another country when you can read a foreign language. You will feel greatly empowered asking for directions, inquiring about places to visit, and making new friends and acquaintances in the language of your host country. You will also expand your business and employment opportunities.
ANYONE CAN LEARN
Like many complex skills, learning a foreign language is much more a matter of daily effort than ability. In fact, scientists that study the human brain have discovered that parts of it are specialized for learning and using language. Except for a few people in special circumstances, virtually every adult human speaks at least one language.
BASIC PRINCIPLE
The most important principle to learning a new language is regular use. It is much easier to learn a spoken, living language than a "dead" language. You can study a foreign language in many ways and the more the better, but the best way is by immersion. Practice with native speakers as often as possible. If you can't find native speakers, then find others who are trying to learn like you. Your local university or college may have a language house, such as a Spanish House, a French House, or a Russian House. If you attend the school, you can ask about living there. If you don't, you may still be allowed to visit and practice the language with the residents. The internet also provides access to groups for people who want to practice a foreign language. Check newsgroups, Yahoo Groups, or MSN groups. You can practice listening to the language by watching a film or DVD in that language. Foreign films are also a great way to learn more about the culture that speaks your chosen language.
STUDY MATERIAL
In addition to practice, you need to have a source of study material. The source can be a textbook or one of many language-learning books sold in bookstores and online. If you take a course at a school, the textbook will be designated by the instructor. You may also choose to hire a native speaker who will teach you one on one. It is also possible to find language courses taught online, although these may not be able to replace hearing a native or proficient speaker live in person. Your local library has many language learning books that you can use for free. The great importance of study material is a progressive guide that leads you from most basic concepts to more advanced skills in a language.
TALK WHAT YOU WANT
A French instructor once said about participation in her class: "It's okay to lie, as long as you're grammatically correct." This is probably not a good idea in most situations, but it works great as practice in the right setting. Whenever possible, learn about words and sayings that have to do with your own interests. If you like sports, learn the words for 'team,' 'ball,' 'player,' 'score' and so forth. If you like cooking, learn the words for cooking. This is also a good idea for any field of business you would like to undertake in the chosen language. Practice conversing in the language about the subject that interests you.
READ WHAT YOU LIKE
In addition to spoken language, you can practice reading the language. Beginning books can be found that will allow you to cut your teeth on the new language. As you become more advanced, you should try more difficult reading materials. Many bookstores and larger libraries offer newspapers and magazines in foreign languages. If your chosen language is written with a non-Roman alphabet, like Greek, Russian, Arabic, or Chinese (characters), you will need to devote a good deal of effort to learn the writing system which will include a good deal of writing it. It is possible, however, to learn to speak a language without learning the writing system. For example, many people learn to speak Chinese and write it in pinyin which simply adopts the same alphabet as the English language (Roman Alphabet) to spell Chinese words.
FEEDBACK
Feedback enables you measure your progress and correct any errors in pronunciation or grammar that you make. Formal instruction in a class or a private tutor will provide you with feedback. You can also examine your own progress by quizzing yourself with tests in books. If you wish to improve your pronunciation, you can even record your own voice and play it back to yourself. Listening to a recording of your voice allows you to focus on what you hear more than when you hear yourself as you speak.
VERBAL and WRITTEN
Verbal
Speaking, understanding, and otherwise conversing in the language are all skills that pertain to the verbal area. Most people find the passive ability to understand a language easier than speaking it, although this is not always so. Typically, your passive vocabulary is much broader than your active vocabulary in any given language. In other words, you understand far more words than you actually use to express yourself.
Written
Reading and writing the language are both skills involving the writing system. Reading is the passive aspect, while writing is the active aspect. Again, reading is easier than writing the language. A good way to practice spelling and your ability to hear the language along with writing is to do a 'dictation.' For this activity, you write down what you hear in the appropriate language. High School and college courses often use this technique.
BASIC PARTS OF A LANGUAGE
This is very simplified and applies to all languages. Of course, some languages do not have a writing system.
Pronunciation (Phonology)
Words (Vocabulary)
Word Forms (Morphology)
Grammar (Syntax)
Spelling (Writing System)
Pronunciation is the way you use your mouth to speak the language. Hearing is an important component with pronunciation. A foreign language will have some sounds that are familiar to you and quite few that are unfamiliar. German has rounded vowels made in the front of the mouth that don't sound anything like English. Arabic has different forms of 's,' 'd,' and 'th' that require learning a new pronunciation skill. Chinese has tones. Remember, the distance between two languages is the same in both directions. The English 'th' sound is a breeze for most Arabic speakers but challenging for speakers of German. Become familiar with all the sounds of the given language and realize that some will take ongoing practice to say correctly.
Words are the building blocks of a sentence. Most people find learning lists of words boring. There are words basic to any language that you need to learn. For example, it is impossible to speak standard English without words such as 'I,' 'and,' 'to,' 'the,' and 'a.'
Word Forms are the ways in which words are made in the language. This is how pieces of words are put together.
Grammar is rules for putting words together to express the language. Many people find grammar a challenge. Like arithmetic, grammar builds upon basic skills. Speaking a language is a particularly good way to help learn proper grammar.
Spelling or more properly, the writing system, is the way the language is written or printed. Some languages do not have a writing system at all. These languages are generally not spoken by a large group of people.
Related Tags: education, learn a foreign language, teach yourself another language, language learning
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