Today, we’re going to share with you, the top 7 creative ways to learn a language, the pros and cons included.
1. Conversation Exchange
Pros: Can learn with anywhere online Cons: Time consuming to find the right language partners Conversation exchanges can be great for someone who wants to practice speaking their language. You find someone online around the world who wants to learn a language that you speak, and voila! For example, if you want to learn spanish and you know how to speak English, you’ll need to find someone who wants to learn English and knows how to speak Spanish. It’s not impossible, but it does take self-discipline, patience, and more importantly, time.
2. Immersion Program
Pros: Forces you to live in a different country and speak the native language at all times Cons: Requires a big portion of your time, money, and commitment Immersion programs, if you can afford it, can be a great way to learn a language. Depending on the program, you can be set up with a family host that only speaks your target language, undergo classes, and live in the foreign country that speaks your target language.
3. Memorize 1,000 Common Words
Pros: Easy and simple way to get started in learning a language that’s effective Cons: Limited to vocabulary, without speaking practice Research shows that learning the first 1,000 of the most common words in a language allows you to understand 90% of the oral language. This is the ultimate language hack that anyone can start implementing into their studies. Take advantage of free language challenges that will send you 10 of the most common words in your target language, this will take you only 5 minutes a day to learn.
4. Language Meetups
Pros: Great opportunity to meet new friends with something in common Cons: Time can be spent speaking English instead of the target language, if not organized well If you love meeting people and learning languages, this is an easy sell. Language meetups happen all around the world every week, and you can gather in one room to practice your target language. Fair warning: most language meetups are more social than language practicing opportunities. Either way, it’s a great way to spend an evening with like-minded people!
5. Online Private Tutoring
Pros: Learn anywhere in the comforts of your home and save a lot of time Cons: Requires an investment If time is of essence for you, private tutoring online can often be the best investment of your money and time. You can gain 1-on-1 access to a professional native speaking teacher. You can learn in the comforts of your home, and you can learn faster with a personalized lesson plan. Choosing the right language teacher who matches your personality and interests is a key factor, as the process of learning a language with someone is more relationship-based than anything else.
6. Home Immersion
Pros: Allows you to learn a language without much effort Cons: Lacks speaking practice There’s a lot of creative ways to set up your own home for language immersion. Keep in mind, this isn’t the most optimal way to learn a language, it should be used as a complementary activity to your other learning efforts. One creative way is to label items in your house in your target language. You only need to set this up once, and you can subconsciously retain new vocabulary without much effort as you walk around the house.
7. Watch Movies Online
Pros: Have fun while learning a language Cons: Not every movie will have subtitle in your target language What’s better than chilling out and watching your favorite movie, while learning a new language? This is why watching movies or TV shows online, using your target language as the audio is a great way to learn a language. The tricky part is finding movies that provide audio or subtitles in your desired language.
Featured photo credit: vamosblog.co.uk via vamosblog.co.uk
