My Strategy for learning a Language
I am coming to the end of a very fulfilling time studying Spanish at Elebaires and thought I would give you my thoughts on how to make the most of learning a language.
VOCAB BOOK. Invest in a vocab book so you can jot down unknown words, phrases and grammatical errors that you make by habit. Ensure to keep it on your person at all times so that when you come across a word you do not know at any moment, whether in the classroom, on the street or watching a film, you can note it down straight away.
WORD OF THE DAY. I have found it useful to force myself to learn a new word a day. Go to your trusty dictionary, close your eyes, flick through the pages, and pick out a word. Write that word down in your vocab book. Finally, try your utmost to use that word at least once during that day.
BUY A BOOK IN THE LANGUAGE. There are many cheap book shops around the city of Buenos Aires, for example the book stores on Plaza Italia, in which you can find books of any genre, period and style. Reading in the language you are learning is very beneficial. It may seem hard at first but it is very rewarding when you suddenly realize that you are looking up words less and less often.
AN ARTICLE A DAY. Read at least one article a day in the language, either on the internet, magazines or newspapers that are available in coffee shops, and endeavor to write down every word you do not know in your vocab book. Although looking up all these words may take up a fair amount of time, you will be widening your vocabulary with every new word you look up. At breakfast, or on the colectivo the next day, try to read through and memorize these new words, and, even better, use them in conversation.
TALK TO PEOPLE. Be sure to talk to people on the street, whether it be asking for directions or making general conversation. The jargon on the street is different from the more formal and slower conversations in Elebaires, the best possible environment for fast learning. But talking to people of the public broadens your awareness of different accents and speeds of speech, and you will also pick up some of the slang spoken on the streets of Buenos Aires.
LISTEN TO THE RADIO. Even if it is only on as background noise, it is a good way to pick up new words and to keep your listening of the language consistent.
HAVE CONFIDENCE…DON´T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES. For me this is the most important thing. Natives understand that you are here to learn and that inevitably you will make mistakes. People are very happy to correct you…after all you only learn from your mistakes! I have learnt that it is better to have confidence when speaking the language, and that people improve faster when they are not preoccupied with constructing the sentence properly and grammatically before saying it. Instead, they speak as soon as they want to say something, regardless of whether or not they are making mistakes.
With time, patience and effort in this way, it is inevitable that you will notice a marked difference in the quality of your language.
