Mark your milestones.
What have you accomplished
so far in your learning? Which situations do you feel confident enough to handle? How good does it feel? Make sure you
track your achievements to use as inspiration for your next goals.
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Have a slang day.
Everyday slang is a magic
key to understanding spoken language. Do a day’s research online and with
specialist slang dictionaries. Get familiar applying expressions by conversing
with native speakers.
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Wardrobe tip.
Pick out all the clothes
in your wardrobe and find a translation of each. Try to recall them when you
next go clothes shopping, preferably with a native speaker or in the country.
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Listen carefully.
There are some great websites
out there to hear podcasts or listen to dialogues in the language. For example,
try www.notesinspanish.com for Spanish. It’s a wonderful and engaging way to learn. It’s even better if you take notes while you listen and review the transcripts.
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Novel speed read tip.
Are you at a good enough
level to tackle a novel in your target language? Take a translation of one you
already know in your mother tongue, preferably one with lots of good dialogue. Being
already familiar with the story will help you. Even just a quick skim will expose
you to a host of useful expressions.
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Slow motion tip.
Listen to a native speaker
voice over and over and then mimic it ultra slowly. Deliberately break it down
to syllables and exaggerate the sounds until you’ve nailed it. You can
revert back to normal speed once you’ve cracked it.
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Go
with the flow.
Some days you’ll
just not be “in the flow” of your new language. Don’t fight
it. Come back the next day recharged and determined. Conversely, on your good days challenge yourself to cover even more ground than you intended.
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Travel dreams.
Why not book a dream trip well in advance to the country whose language you’re learning? This will give
you a clear deadline and goals to act as an incentive for your learning. Think of how much more fun you’ll have
by being able to converse with the locals.
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Pocket formats tip.
Try to buy your language learning materials in handy formats. Who needs to lug
a huge dictionary or phrasebook around when you can slip both quietly into your pocket or bag? Or when
you can store gigabytes of conversations on your mp3 player? You can always use the web for reference/lookups.
By keeping your materials small and snug you’re more likely to use them.
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Regular repeated reviews.
Set dates for review of specific
areas to deepen your knowledge. If you’ve completed the first 10 lessons
in a course then you need to keep going back in iterations to refresh and cement your learning. Consolidate what you already have before tackling new areas. This
builds so much confidence.
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Publicise
it.
If you let your friends, family
and colleagues know that you’re learning a language, peer pressure is more likely to keep you motivated. Nothing gets you going more than proving to others what you can achieve.
Publicise it to make it even more likely that you’ll achieve your goals.
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Puzzle away.
Do you enjoy crosswords or other
types of puzzle? Then download them in a foreign language to add a further level
of challenge!
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Morning linguistic routine.
Try to squeeze in a little language
learning every morning before noon. This could be over breakfast, during your
journey to work or over a coffee break. Making such a strong start, you’ll
feel virtuous and motivated to pick up the pace again later in the day.
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Creative repetition tip.
You obviously need to repeat and
review continuously to get familiar with a foreign language. However, do this
in different ways to test different parts of your brain. So if you’re
working with a useful dialogue then first read, later record it and listen and then finally try to rewrite it in your own
words.
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“Literal” translation tip.
When you come across a new phrase
try sometimes to translate it “literally”. For example, “one
more piece please” in German is “Noch ein Stück, bitte” which translates literally to “still a piece,
please”. The literal translation may sound odd but this technique gives
a useful bridge to get a feel for thinking like a native speaker.
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Pearls
of wisdom.
Enrich your mind as well as your
language skills by researching uplifting quotations in the language. You can
also translate your favourite quotes from your own tongue and keep them with you.
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Phone tennis.
Set up a regular phone call (i.e.
daily or weekly) with a native speaker, even someone based abroad. This could
be a 50-50 language exchange for example. Use a net phone service like skype
to make sure it’s free of charge.
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