This is a question that I hear quite often from people who have started to learn a language. Many people believe that if you spend enough time learning vocabulary and grammar then speaking the language will just come naturally--they couldn't be more wrong.
There are two sides to being able to speak a language well: speaking, and listening/understanding. Being able to speak a language well obviously does depend on how much vocabulary and sentence structure that you know, but it also depends on confidence in using those words--how at ease you are at speaking these words, how well you pronounce them, and how quickly you can think and form the words into a sentence. This takes practice. Retaining the vocabulary that you learn effectively also takes practice: Our minds are built to learn through repetition and recall, the best method for this is of course practice. Without it, what you learn will soon be forgotten.
Listening to and understanding a new language also takes practice. To understand the new vocabulary as it is being spoken you must train your ears and your brain to recognize the words and the sound of the language. Most new languages sound gibberish to begin with when spoken by a native speaker, but the more you hear it the more words you will be able to pick out. Your ears will become tuned to the new language
How can you practice your new language?
Obviously the best way to practice any language is to go to the country that speaks it and talk to the locals. This could simply be a regular holiday to your country of choice or a specialized language learning holiday where you get taught the language within the country itself.
If, like many however, you cannot go to the country to actually use its language, there are still plenty of ways you can practice and most of them are free: To brush up on your listening skills there are many internet TV stations available in many different languages, most of which offer free downloads--like Sopcast. These provide many different programs with all manner of topics, from many different countries around the globe. The programs they offer are streamed so as long as you have a fairly fast internet connection you will not even have to wait for them to download; you can be listening to authentic Spanish or Chinese in seconds.
There are also audio books available in many languages that you can download for your ipod or computer. There are many great audio books, some of which you can get for free and these will give you a wide range of material to listen to in whatever language you choose-- perfect for training your ears.
If you want to practice talking as well as listening then your best bet is to join a language exchange program. These offer you a perfect opportunity to write to, chat to, or even meet a native speaker of your chosen language. These exchanges are generally free to join and have a wide range of languages and native speakers available who are more than willing to trade languages, ideas, and cultures with you. This can be as useful as traveling to the country itself if you can find the right person and almost as much fun.
There are many ways in which you can practice using the language that you have learned--I have just noted a few here to give you some ideas. Of course first you have to learn the fundamentals of the language and enough vocabulary to get you started. After that, practice becomes as important as the learning itself; after all it is certainly true what they say: Practice makes perfect. It is also a lot of fun and I wish you all the best in becoming multilingual.
Neil Breakwell is a teacher in Thailand and has lived in Asia for 9 years. He is the creator of a language learning website that gives advice on the best ways to learn new languages and gives honest, in-depth reviews of the best language learning products. If you are looking to learn a new language or want to practice the one that you have then visit http://www.lingualogue.com |
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