Don’ts
DON’T spend all your time on grammar
Grammar is an important aspect of any language but you won’t learn if you spend all your time on grammar. What’s best is to save the grammar for the classroom and if you must study grammar, make sure it’s only for a short while and don’t try to know every grammatical rule all at once.
DON’T expect to learn the language overnight
It takes time to learn any language, so don’t give up if you fail on your first attempts, with failure comes success. People that are able to speak a second language or more than 2 languages have this secret, and that is persistency. They don’t just stop learning the language because they are not at the stage they want to be by certain time.
DON’T expect someone else to make you fluent
When it comes to truly learning the language, you can’t depend on a teacher, a friend or another speaker, they can only guide you, but if you really don’t want to learn, then you will not. There is some amount of effort needed by the person learning the language, no one can open your brain and put the information in.
DON’T translate everything
In the initial stages translation is good, but as your knowledge of the language extends, then there is less need for translation. At the end of the day, you will only learn the language if you begin to depend less on your native language.
DON’T use your native language as the main way of communicating
If your main aim is to learn a second language, then eventually you would have to start communicating in it. Studying the language in English and then at the end of that you only know a few words isn’t good enough. To learn more words at a time you would have to find ways to communicate in the language more.
Do’s
DO revise everyday
This is what we call practice, to know a language you can’t just study it once a week or for just one hour. It’s something that needs constant revision. You don’t have to literally practice your language every day or every second but as much as possible is best. If several days pass and no practice, there is a higher change of forgetting what was studied.
DO look for native speakers to talk to
It is always best to talk to a native speaker versus someone that is learning the language like you. This is because a native speaker will be best to point out your errors and show you a more natural way of speaking. Look at this for example, if you were to compare speech from someone that is learning English versus someone that was born and raised in the English language, the difference will be seen.
DO listen to audio files in your target language
I hear a lot of people complain about how difficult it is to hear what native speakers are saying. So, if you are a bit unconfident in your speech. Then before you go out and start talking, digest a few audio, so in time you can mimic the language.
DO practice writing
writing is one of the easiest ways to learn a language and I talk from experience. A language is not just about speaking but you have to write it too. If you can only speak the language and nothing else, then you might be illiterate in that language and we don’t want to be illiterate.
DO visit websites in your target language
The internet has made a wonderful place for us language learners. There are so much internet classes, some of which are free. Another thing that’s so great about the internet and language learning is that, with the internet you have access to so much written and audio resources in your target language for free.
DO get friends that are learning a language too
Friends are always the best for learning the language. Not just any friend but friends who are passionate about language learning. They are the best for encouragement and for judging your progress.
This article was written by Jade. Follow Jade on Twitter @lachicharita25. Follow the blog on twitter @LanguageNinjas. Click here for Google plus.
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