How to Study a New Language

Learning a new language can be overwhelming especially if you are starting from the basics. As a monolingual, an ab initio (starting from the beginning) German and a past French student, here are my study techniques that are applicable to other languages.

Repetition

I find that with vocabulary especially in a foreign language, it’s important to always practice your basics. If you don’t know your vocab you will be extremely limited in what you write and speak. In academics when writing you want to show off all your knowledge, and to do so vocabulary is essential. What I use for vocab is Quizlet and I take out a whiteboard and practice. If it’s a new set of vocab I like to go from the language I’m learning first then to English so I know the translation. Then learn how it is spelt in the other language.

While I primarily use this for new vocabulary it can be used to learn and practice noun gender, verb conjugation, expressions, plurals, and any aspect of words you want to learn. It also gives you options! Writing it out helps me, however, you can use verbal repetition if that works better for you.

Another resource I use for practicing is Conjuguemos. It is a great resource, as it has practice sets and games available for free. Keep in mind it only has Portuguese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian, and a little bit of Latin.

Immersion: At home with songs, shows, films,

I struggled with listening and speaking and the main tip I have been given was immersion. Immersion is very important, however it’s more effective when you’re enjoying it. Not everyone can go to a language camp (if you can this is highly recommended). What I do at home is listen to songs in the language I am studying. If you want to take it a step further you can write down vocab that you don’t know and translate it. If music is not your thing, then watch shows in the language you’re studying. As a beginner, I found watching Disney movies in the chosen language very helpful or having subtitles. I find that when you listen to shows you’re already familiar with, you can pick out words that you know.

In terms of speaking, what I do is I often sing along to songs (embarrassing but it can work) and compare my pronunciation to that of the song. Or I just google easy passages in that language and if I don’t know a word or am unsure of a pronunciation I use deepL or google translate to figure out the pronunciation. Overall, immersion is such a little thing that’s often forgotten when studying a language for academic purposes, but it really can make a big difference, especially in your speaking and listening skills.

Consistency and practice

You just need to consistently practice. A language is not something that you can memorize and cram. If you want to do more try going on Youtube for lessons. Sometimes it's better to get that verbal lesson multiple times before you understand it fully. Another common resource is Duolingo. It is a great tool, but for practicing the basics, I would not use it as a primary resource. It lacks grammar explanation, it's more of a vocabulary tool than a grammar tool. So would I spend hours on Duolingo? No, but will it be a good tool to do 10-15 minutes every day, yes. An alternative app for Duolingo is Drops. It has the main vocabulary themes that are learned in school for free. Primarily focusing on vocabulary through listening, matching, and spelling.

Studying for a test

In terms of studying. For a test, it’s just the application of all that work you put in. If it’s grammar, know your grammar concepts and understand them fully. Make sure you know your vocabulary and take some practice tests. If it's an oral presentation make sure you practice and you know how to pronounce the words you want to say. If it's listening, try to do listening tests. Practice mentally filtering the audio to make sure you’re looking for the answers, rather than completely understanding what they’re saying because you won’t get marks for comprehending every word they say, it's about answering the questions, this statement is especially true for beginner courses.

In conclusion, those are my study habits that I use for my language acquisition class. To sum up everything it’s about consistently practicing and making sure you have a good understanding of concepts.