Easy Ways To Learn A Language At Beginner Level
Learning a new language is not only practical and cultural, but it’s also quite fun and entertaining. There’s nothing more disappointing than being surrounded by people speaking a different language and not being able to put in a single word, not a single one. You feel sad and maybe even uneducated. Not to mention how frustrating it is to travel abroad without being able to communicate at all.
Weak translations and annoying apps are not solutions. Besides, wouldn’t it feel great to suddenly catch someone speaking Spanish or German even, and be able to actually engage in the conversation for at least a bit? It’s the most rewarding feeling in the world. So, if you’re up for a linguistic adventure, here are some easy ways to learn a language at the beginner level.
Find A Fun Tutor
Once we’re out of high school or even college the last thing we want to do is see another tutor ever again. But as long as you find a fun and entertaining tutor who understands that you’re going to be learning a language for fun and culture, not for grades or credit, you’ll be more than ok. If you’re at a beginner level and you don’t have the pressure of time and grades, the best idea is to join a fun group class.
This way you’ll not only learn from the books, but you’ll be able to actually put your skills to practice by engaging in entertaining group activities such as projects, presentations, day trips and maybe even little skits. There’s plenty of local colleges and universities that offer short-term language classes for affordable prices without having to be enrolled. But if you can’t find any or don’t really like this option, you can always search for your local language school.
Most metropolitan cities have entire schools dedicated to a single language, but if you can’t find any of these, you’ll certainly have access to some kind of language school that will offer a variety of languages to learn. Either way, whatever you decide to choose, whether it’s a fun group class or an intense but entertaining private session, you’ll be one step closer to finally knowing another language. This is the most academic and official way of learning a language at a beginner level without having the pressure of grades.
The key is finding a class that is as relaxed as you are so that you don’t go crazy and stress more than you’re actually learning. If you’re at the beginner level you have to take it slow and find a place that is somewhat flexible with their times and workload.
Language Apps
This is 2019, who needs a human tutor? If you’re not feeling the whole class thing and don’t have a lot of free time, but still want to explore the wonderful world of foreign languages, a language app is the best option for you.
There are millions of options out there! There are free apps, there are expensive apps, there are apps with subscriptions, there are fun apps, there are super demanding apps, there’s basically anything you need to quickly learn the basics of another language.
In today’s modern world, there’s no excuse. A new language is at the tip of your fingers, literally. Language apps are super trendy right now cause you know, it’s super cool to know another language. Everybody is doing it! You see people on language apps at the bus stop, on the subway and even in lines at Disneyland! It’s just so easy and fun that you can’t resist giving it a chance.
It’s basically an educational way of passing the time. You’ll find yourself having more fun learning a language than actually playing a video game on your phone. Some of the most famous apps are “Duolingo”, “Busuu” and “Babbel.” But if you’re leaning towards a more fun way of learning, you could resort to “Mindsnacks”, “Memrise” and “TripLingo” which are more on the educational game, flashcard and Q&A side.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to say oui and choose from these infinite options. Be careful though, don’t confuse a language app for a translation app. They’ll both be worthy, but you won’t get the same results.
Interact With International Friends Or Native Speakers
This option although fun is not as viable and easy as the others. If you’re still in college, or if you work at an international corporation, you might be able to come in contact with foreign-language speakers. However, the key here is not just being friends with someone from another country, but being fully immersed in another language itself. So, as long as you know someone that speaks a tiny bit of a foreign language, all you gotta do is spend a lot of time with this person, and be brave enough to ask him or her to only speak this other language.
No cheating. No English. It sounds crazy, but it’s actually a really good tactic to learn a language. It’s really efficient and if you are consistent, you will eventually learn a lot from your friend. You have to be brave, determined and patient. However, make sure you choose someone that does speak English, because if not you’re gonna hit a wall.
Just think about it, it’s like the survival of the fittest. If you were forced to live in another country all of a sudden, you’d had to learn the language with no excuses, and if you surround yourself with the locals and their culture, you will most probably learn their language in no time. You have to, there’s no other option. This idea is the same, but with a breath of fresh air, which would be the fact that you thankfully have not been thrown in a completely foreign culture.
Give it a try, start sending texts and ask all of your friends and contacts if they speak another language. If you find at least one, and the language somewhat easy, it’s time to immerse yourself in a new language. Don’t be afraid, it’s fun! Just spend a few hours of the day with your foreign-language-speaking friend for a couple of months, and you’ll be able to hold a short conversation in no time!
Carry a Good Ol’ Dictionary
Resorting to carrying a dictionary might be shooting far, but if you don’t have any spare time at all, this might be the only chance to slowly immerse yourself in a new language. Yes, you might not get the typical learning experience or you might not even know how to begin, but precisely because of that, carrying a dictionary with you at all times is a great and simple way of learning a foreign language at the beginner level.
You can first choose the language of interest, get yourself a tiny pocket dictionary, and then all you have to do is have it with you at all times so that whenever you have a few minutes off, you can sporadically start reading and learning new words and their meaning. It’s a slow but steady and easy process. You might not be able to engage in a full conversation anytime soon, but it’s certainly way better than doing nothing at all.
Coming in contact with new words each day is a steady and quick way of slowly entering a foreign language. Just think about it, it’s like the old-school version of those techy apps. Besides, a paper dictionary will guarantee access to it at all times, no matter if the battery runs out, the internet is down or the electricity got shut off. Your loyal friend will always be there to deliver you new words each day. Just read, translate and repeat. Read, translate and repeat.
Rosetta Stone
If you’d like to combine all of the options above, new style and old-school, Rosetta Stone might just be the most perfect option for you. Very well known and in the business for a long time, this option is a dynamic immersion® method that provides you all the tools in one. A few years ago Rosetta Stone used to be an old-school CD learning system that you could only use through a computer.
However, thanks to all the technological developments these days, Rosetta Stone has gotten completely revamped and is now cooler, practical and more technological than ever. If you decide to resort to this fun method as a way to learn a language many benefits come with it! You’ll be able to learn on any device including an app, as well make your own learning schedule.
Rosetta Stone is extremely interactive with fun contextual lessons and activities, as well as pronunciation exercises analyzed through speech recognition. It’s basically all the tools you could imagine for learning a foreign language collapsed in one single program. It’s a foreign language at your service.
