Getting To Grips With Languages

Many people find the prospect of learning a language difficult. But it needn`t be! After all, we all learnt our mother tongue without even trying, so we all have the skills to do this.

I`d say there are two approaches, and depending on what you are trying to achieve, either may be a good place to start, but if you can do a bit of both, you`ll probably make the quickest progress.

The first is the way we all learnt our mother tongue. Listening and copying what people say. We all started with the most basic vocabulary - the words that we come across every day - and repeated that over and over again. We practised copying the family and friends around us, without worrying about making mistakes, and gradually we improved. In a learning situation as older children or adults, we can do the same. We can listen to tapes and watch videos, and practice repeating things. It`s best if someone is listening (even if it feels embarrassing) because that way we get corrected and are helped to improve. Online apps like DuoLingo can really help with practice away from the tutor. Any chance to practice with a native speaker should be jumped at, and of course travelling in the county (not staying in an all inclusive resort) is the ultimate in terms of immersing yourself in the culture.

The second is a more structured approach - learning the building blocks of the language and learning to analyse and build sentences. This means spending some time learning verb tables, vocab lists, and getting to grips with the grammar. Once you understand the basic grammar, if you have a dictionary, you`ll be able to read and write almost anything.

If you want to master all four communications skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), you`ll really need a combined approach. And the more time you spend doing it every day, the quicker you`ll learn. If you can put aside half an hour a day of practice, you should be able to communicate effectively in any language after about 3 months. You`ll make mistakes and won`t understand everything first time, but that`s okay! People are always pleased when they can see you`re making an effort to communicate with them, and they won`t mind mistakes.