Doing it tough learning a new language?  Don’t know where to start?  Unfortunately, most foreign language teachers inadvertently ensure slow progress in language learning.  This really pisses me of because it is a massive waste of time and good intentions.  Learning a new language is a challenge, but it has massive benefits, so it is important to understand how to make the most effective use of your time and learn the language quickly with the right techniques.  The reason why many teachers (authors of language books are just as bad) don’t understand how to learn a language is because they never did it themselves as an adult.  They may know how to speak two or more languages, but they didn’t learn their second language late in life. You may find yourself wasting months or years mucking around with grammar, studying vocabulary or simply making minimal progress.  Here are my tips to speed up the process.

Why learn a language?

It is important to know why you are pursuing your language study.  Here’s a few ideas, but ask yourself why so it is clear for you.

Learning a language is about life, fun and experience.

Speaking multiple languages :

• increases global understanding
• multiplies your travel experinces
• opens new career horizons
• expands your mind
• significantly increases your problem solving ability
• delays the onset of Alzheimer’s

The natural way to learn a language is how a child learns language.

The first 1-3 months

1) Get your ear in – Just learn the sound of the language, learn to hear the spaces and the common beginning and endings of words (beginnings and endings typically have gramatical context which will come in handy later).

Have fun – Don’t worry about what the words mean or feel bad if you forget the meaning. Just enjoy the sound as if it is music and listen for the pauses and patterns.

2) Practice speech and correct pronunciation - Different languages have different mouth movements, so you need to practice these in the beginning. Babble like a baby! Just repeat the words and get the sounds as accurately as possible.

Have fun  - Just repeat the words from any language program you are listening to  (eg an audio program, a children’s story read in the language, etc). Exaggerate the sounds, say them loud, say them soft, say them with with different stresses, say them in a high pitch or a low pitch.

Aside – Anyone who speaks two languages, but hasn’t spoken their mother tongue for a while knows the feeling that their mouth just won’t do what they want it to so it can take a week to get back to fluency even with your mother tongue.

3) Ensure daily contact with your new language because you need to keep that part of your brain working. This is easy if you are in the country and immersed already, but if you are studying the language at home or preparing to emigrate then surround yourself with pictures/books/drawings/etc. that remind you of the country and the language.

Have fun – Put lots of symbols so you bump into them everywhere.  Key places to ensure you have your symbols are – front door, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, car and anywhere you frequent regularly (workplace).  See if you can keep a news paper on the table, get inventive.  A banner, etc.

4) Learn the phrase: “I speak [new language]“ EG: Hablo español / Je parle français / 我说日语 / وأنا أتكلم اليابانية / Ich spreche Deutsch.
The reason why you learn this is that you have a whole positive affirmational sentence (using FPFC) which will come into your head when you see your symbols. Don’t worry about learning a watered down sentence like “I speak some Spanish”, be positive.

Have fun – This is a good one to just use it more and more bravely.  Use it on friends at home, tell people you speak the language when you meet someone, use it!

Next …

5) Plan for mass exposure.  Ok, this is where you will make your breakthrough. Babies listen to millions of words and it all just falls into place. You can do the same.  Here is the process once you have the exposure from the first steps.

• Get enough sleep. When I was learning my second language, I had a nap from 5pm – 6pm every day for the first month. This was immersion, but the principal applies that you need rest to take on another language. If you are doing your language study late at night, or when you are overtired, then you will make slower progress, it won’t be fun and you are more likely to struggle.
• Listen to lots of words in context – the jet boost to success in a new language
  • Watch movies you have seen before in your new language.  If you can stay awake without subtitles, do so.
    • Action: Check Amazon.com or your local library for movies
  • Listen to stories alternating with a language vocabulary program.  The reason for alternating a story with a language program is that one is educational and one is contextual.  This will get you to the next level.
  • Read books in your new language ignoring the fact that you don’t understand everything initially.  This takes a leap of faith, but even if you just read the words without understanding them you will progress quite rapidly.  You should concentrate while reading, if you feel tired initially, then you are on the right track.
    • Action: See my post How to choose which book to read when learning a language.
• Practice every time you have the chance.
  • If you are outside the country
    • Join an online hobby or interest group in the language you wish to learn.  Each interaction, encourage people to communicate with you in their language even if it is with a standard sign off like “I speak [language]” (from above) add “so please write back in [language] to help me practice” if some people are too thick to get it.   Another thing you can do is look up the language days that the native speakers of your new language hold in your country.  Any exposure is good exposure with native speakers, but read the below so you know how to break through.
  • If you are in the country
    • The most powerful way to control the language spoken is to always be the first to start the conversation in the local language.  Always be the one to start the conversation in the local language when you meet someone. Be proactive and get used to saying the first greeting. This is easy. Most people say ‘hello’ at a specific physical distance. If you consciously increase the distance at which you are comfortable to say hello, then you will have the first word.
    • Ask an open question to give people something specific to answer. Go a little deeper than just ‘Hello’. For example, you might build up some phrases with open questions in the local language which you can use regularly like:
      • ‘Hi, how are you today?’ – You can go deeper and more specific like ‘Are you feeling well again today’ if you know they were sick or are you feeling energetic today’ if you want to boost energy.
      • ‘Hello, it’s a [lovely] day today, do you also have the spring birds around your house?’ (substitute words like warm/cold/hot/nice/beautiful spring day, etc. and an appropriate question).
      • ‘Hello, how is your wife/husband/children’ (substitute people and names because this will give them something specific to answer)
      • ‘Hello, I saw it will be nice on the weekend, do you have any plans?’
      • Make your own start phrases.

The Breakthrough – Fluency

Be consistent and persistent.

The first words are important because it is the first words which determine which language will be spoken at least initially.  Being on the front foot will confuse people and throw them into their native tongue.  Even if you need to switch back, it won’t be long before you can keep going longer and longer and people will get used to starting with you in your new language which will be an advantage later.

Be ruthless with your dream to learn a new language.

Once you are fairly fluent, you might find that people who are less confident either in your abilities or their own or who want to learn your language will want to switch languages on you.  If you know you are fluent enough, just keep speaking the language.  Don’t swap back. This is tough, because it may feel rude not to go back to English (or whatever your mother tongue is) but I used to tell myself that if they wanted to learn English, then they could visit Australia. Since I made the effort, I’ll speak the local language.

Very last – Language Study

Only after you are fluent should you start studying language, grammar, spelling, etc.  Your massive exposure will help you significantly in this and it will come easier to you now you are fluent.

How long will it take me to learn a new language?

This method got me from minimal school German to the level of being able to work 100% in German talking with external customers and running presentations within 6 months.  It is quite possible to become fluent with 6 months immersion.  Just keep in mind that I’m somewhat driven and some languages have different levels of difficulty, so 6-12 months is plenty of time. Immersion means daily exposure and effort which is mush harder if not in the country. In terms of difficulty, Danish is really tough and you may find some like Japanese which could seem daunting, easier than you think. Just be open and you will learn whichever language you like using the above.

Poor advice and time wasters to avoid when learning new languages and what to do instead

• Carry/buy a dictionary – Rubbish ! – only useful later when you are stuck on a difficult word and then you would look it up online anyway.  Anyone who tells you to carry around a dictionary is really only aiming to get you to the level where you can find the toilet if needed in a foreign country as a tourist. You can safely ignore their advice. Looking up one word in a dictionary is a massive waste of time, you could have been exposed to 100′s of words in the same time using the techniques I outlined.  Instead: Throw your dictionary in the bin to eliminate temptation. 
• Studying spelling and grammar before you are fluent – Useless ! – a major reason why people fail – This idea comes about because of people’s tendency to wish to appear as experts.  No one would even dream of teaching their children to spell before they can speak, so don’t waste your time. Instead: Ignore studying spelling and grammar before you are fluent.
• Practice writing before you are fluent – Draining, forget it – Reading is fine, but hold off on any writing, it’s too slow at first and won’t give you the exposure you need. Instead: use translation software if you need to translate and spend your time reading/talking
• Joining language study or expat groups.  This does have it’s place, but I would suggest that if you really want to gain fluency, these groups are more of a hindrance unless it is a full time language school or language course.  Groups who meet weekly typically don’t make much progress, so all you will hear is a lot of people telling you how hard it is to learn the language.  You might even get a teacher who convinces you to waste your time on spelling or grammar.  If you put the effort in then you will be better than most of them in a month or so, so it will be pointless. Instead: Join a common interest group or club who speaks the language you are learning.

Next –> Choose Which Book to Read and Learn a Language

It is possible to learn a language and move to fluency fast by reading specific books in a specific way.  Even if you are only just starting learning a language, certain books have an advantage, you don’t need to understand the words in the book, this is the trick.  What you need to learn a language is massive exposure to thousands of words in the right context, because your brain is designed to store and make sense of these words.

No matter if you want to learn German, French, Japanese, Arabic, are studying the Spanish language, or learning English as a second language, one of the best is with books.  You can really move rapidly from a low level (basic exposure to the language) through to fluency with reading. From my experience, there are certain books which will massively speed your language study.  If you haven’t read my article  You Too Can Study and Learn Languages Much Faster, check it out, now below is the part about how you choose which book is best to read if you want to learn a language.

How to choose which book to learn a language

Which book you choose is important.  You need a book that is at the right level and that you can get into.  I have listed some good books to learn a language at the end of this article.

Look for -

1. Relatively simple language used- Assuming you are over 16, you want a book aimed at teenagers.
2. A book with an exciting story – This is essential to keep you engaged.
3. One of a series is really good (not essential though) because if you like the first, you can go on with the next and it will be easier for you.
4. Translated from your mother tongue into the language of study – Books which have been translated from your first language will be easier for you to understand.  It can make a significant difference for learning a new language.
5. A book you enjoyed as a child - This will help you keep the plot.
6. Popular classics for all ages are a good start because there is a good chance of all of the above.
7. Note, it is not important that you understand every word, you only need to understand about 5-10% of the words.

What level should I be to learn a language this way?

If you understand 5-10% of the words in the book, that will be fine.  You should have a basic idea how the words are pronounced, ie you should be able to read it aloud without understanding it, but roughly get the pronunciation good enough.

How to read the foreign language book for learning a language the fastest.

So you have your book (if not, see below), now is the leap of faith.

• This takes a leap of faith, but just read it without stopping as fast as you can.
• Don’t concern yourself with comprehension at first, just read the words knowing that babies don’t understand the world until they have massive exposure.
• If you feel tired after a few minutes initially, that’s fine, put it down and do another page in an hour.  A really good habit would be 10-20 minutes morning and evening.
• Make sure you have a second mode of learning to boost your pronunciation (see below).  Dictionaries are not worth it because they are too slow.

Remember – Just read – Let your new language fall into place.   You will only need 2-4 books.  If you are in a course right now, then this is perfect.  Read, read, read and you will soon become top of the class.

What additional support do I need?

Exposure is the most important when learning a language, but just as children learn, you need multiple modes.  A second mode of language support helps on the spoken side and pronunciation.  Try any of the following:

• Amazon Instant Video is really good, go to the page, then search for the language you are learning (eg spanish)
• Regular language classes are the most common way, but to be honest, I find the best thing about these are that it keeps you focused.  Unfortunately too many teachers think grammar is important, whereas for most people what they want is fluency and communication skills.
• Audio language programs like Rosetta stone or again on Amazon are good
• Language software is also good as it can quickly make the links to increase vocabulary.
• Language apps (like on the Apple store) are really good too.
• Radio programs – again, just exposure, just listen actively and let it sink in.

Where to find a books for learning a language

Because books that fit into the selection criteria above are quite popular, you should have no difficulty finding them.  Try the following:

• Local Library
• Friends or teachers
• Amazon.com
• Markets
• Second hand shops
• Friends
• Ask your teacher

Recommended books to learn a foreign language

Check my post on Easy Reading – Classic Books For Good Reading Skills or Books for Boys.  If you want to find them online, go to Amazon.com, click on the book you like then copy the title into the search box and add the language you want to learn at the end.  Many of them will come up in your new language.

As one suggestion, you almost can’t go past Harry Potter.  It was written specifically to encourage reading, and is translated into lots of languages.  It’s long (lots of words), it’s a series (more words) and has a good story that carries the reader.

It is easy to find on amazon (yes, as a big reader, I love amazon), just go to Amazon.com and type in “Harry Potter Spanish“, “Harry Potter French“, etc

Here are the French / Spanish/ German / Arabic translations

Remember that learning a language is a big task.  It won’t happen overnight, in my experience, 3 months is the minimum if you are in the country where it is spoken.  Whichever way you learn, you need to persevere and be realistic.  Immersion (ie living in the country) is the best way to learn a language, but this book method is second fastest.

Next –>  Easy Reading – Classic Books For Good Reading Skills.

Then –> Other Good Book Lists on UpgradeReality