Six Simple Secrets to Mastering a New Language

With the growing demand worldwide to learn a foreign language, especially Spanish in our region (Latin America and the Caribbean), and with Spanish being the second most highly spoken language globally – 500 million native speakers and about 636 million speakers total – here are some simple tips you can adopt when learning a foreign language.

1. Learn some basic greetings and learn how to introduce yourself and others. If you are in an environment where you interact with native speakers, being able to greet them in their native language opens the door for further communication (i.e. we must be able to say more than ‘hola’). Speaking to someone in their language makes them feel acknowledged and welcome and they may be more receptive to you.
   
2. Build your vocabulary. During class, take note of any words or phrases you may have heard for the first time. Have a notebook dedicated to vocabulary and grammar. Review your notes after each class and, as far as possible, learn all of the new vocabulary after each class. This is how you build your vocabulary and increase confidence during conversation.
   
3. To further develop your vocabulary, create an immersion environment in your home or office. Make cardboard or paper signs and use only the foreign language to describe furniture, rooms, appliances, articles of clothing and so on. In other words, do not translate or use both languages. Train your mind to see and understand the foreign language without translating it into your native language. You can also use the language feature in the settings on your mobile device and on your social media.
   
4. To support your immersion environment, listen to music and watch movies in a foreign language. Most cable television and on demand programmes have subtitles which you can set to the desired language. To practice your listening comprehension, listen to the foreign language audio and set the subtitles to your native language; to practice reading comprehension, set the subtitles to the foreign language.
   
5. Do not be afraid to speak and make mistakes when practicing or speaking with native speakers. You will learn by making mistakes and most people are patient and will even correct and encourage you.
   
6. Finally, plan to visit a country where the language is spoken. This adds a cultural dimension and you will learn how the language and cultural dynamic go hand in hand. In addition, there are regional variants in languages, so visiting such countries will help you to understand and apply vocabulary specific to the country.

Take the opportunity to learn a new language today. Language is a gateway to a whole new world of opportunities. It opens the door to new experiences and being able to speak a foreign language makes you more marketable.

Are you learning a foreign language or are you already competent in any foreign language(s)? What tips would you add to the above? Let us know in the comments or email us at pm@rmclanguages.com if you are ready to start your journey.