A structured approach to learning a language from home

How to tackle language learning in a world of unlimited online resources

Versión española aquí.

source: communicaid.com

Whether picking up on your ‘holiday’ Spanish, revisiting a long neglected French GCSE or conquering commercial Mandarin, learning a language can open doors: new experiences abroad, a new job, new friendships and even relationships. Any improvement you can make in a foreign language will increase the opportunities open to you, and getting comfortable in a language can multiply those opportunities exponentially.

There are now more free online resources than ever before. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of apps, websites and podcasts available, many of which claim to be a one stop shop for teaching you a language fast and for free. (I’ve provided a list at the end of the resources I’ve found most useful).

After a year of little progress learning French on Duolingo, I decided to take a different approach. While the tried and tested way to approach fluency in a language is spending time immersed in the target country, few of us have the time or opportunity to pack up and spend a few months abroad! Determined to get to a level where I could comfortably sustain a conversation, I set out on a different path (and got there without spending a penny).

The following alternative approach requires proactivity: you won’t be mindlessly guided through a predetermined course, nor will the language naturally seep in as if you were immersed in it. Equipped with a method to cut through the mass of online resources, and alongside a healthy dose of determination, you’ll soon be making progress in your target language in a way that works exclusively for you.

Source: theconversation.com

What are you learning for?

Before you get stuck in, take a minute to think about why you want to learn the language or when you’re most likely to use it. Will it be writing emails to international partners at work? Or chatting to locals on an upcoming backpacking trip?

One way to break down a language is to categorise skills into: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing, and split content further into formal and informal. If you’re looking to join in conversation with the French neighbours, learning how to sign off a formal letter probably won’t help you. Languages are vast. Focus on what will be most useful to you.

Start a theme-based folder for vocabulary

Notebooks are cool but folders are cooler.

Whether you’re a paper person or all digital, a theme-based folder or word document helps you to dynamically organise your progress in a way that works for you.

Perhaps you start your journey with a YouTube video on greetings. Make a ‘Greetings’ notes page and add it to your folder. Structure your notes however you prefer (comic strip doodles, translation lists, you do you!) Remember to leave space for new vocabulary, and if you’re ultra-organised and want to remind yourself of the progress you’re making, add a date.

Now, every time you learn a new word or phrase, add it to the relevant theme page. Don’t see one? Make one! Keep themes in alphabetical order so they’re easy to find.

This might seem obvious, but when you get to more advanced vocabulary, thinking about how you would classify a new word (and so building your own associations) makes it easier to categorise and remember words long term. For example: listening to a podcast in your target language, you learn the verb ‘to surf’. For you, would surfing come under ‘Sport’? ‘Holidays’? Maybe you once surfed with your parents and it would go straight to ‘Family’. The key here is to build a network of vocab in a way that is logical to you.

Starting a new theme? Try Quizlet for some initial vocab lists in your target language.

Memorisation techniques

In the same way that building vocabulary by theme encourages you to attach new words to existing ideas, memorisation by association is a classic memory technique you can lever to tackle some of the tricker new vocabulary you come across.

The principle dictates that attaching an idea you want to learn to a visual image you already have makes it easier to recall the new idea. For example:

• The French for ‘parcel’ is ‘le colis’. A border collie dog wrapped up in brown paper, stamped, and slotted behind my flowerpot isn’t an image I’ll forget any time soon.
• The French for ‘lawn mower’ is ‘la tondeuse’. Not only do I picture a tonne weight crushing my shiny new lawn mower, ‘tondeuse’ is feminine, so the lawnmower being flattened is wearing a skirt!

The more bizarre the image you associate, the less likely you are to forget it.

Add a grammar section

Separate from your vocabulary themes, start a section for grammar.

Add to this section only when you start to see patterns or structures you don’t understand: find out what they are and how they work.

For example, learning Spanish, you notice sometimes adjectives end in ‘o’ and sometimes in ‘a’. Google it! You’ll find it’s called Adjective Agreement (maybe you’ll come across a handy resource like this one from the BBC). Once you get your head around how it works, make your own notes and add a page to your grammar section.

How to express a negative statement? Google it, understand it, make your own notes (and order it alphabetically of course).

If you were to read all the grammar points necessary to master a language, the mile-long list of jargon would put anyone off starting. This method approaches grammar from the opposite direction: only when you notice a pattern is it time to get googling and put a label on it.

Getting it done

Any method is only valuable if you apply it. Not just today, but again and again.

Make a language learning routine by setting time aside on a regular basis. Bonus points for making a weekly calendar event.

Putting in a weekly zoom slot with a language exchange partner is an easy way to commit!

Decide what you’re going to work on before you get there. At the end of a session, write down what you plan to do next, whether that’s tackling the imperfect tense or watching an episode of ‘La Casa de Papel’ (see a list of resource ideas below). Removing the need to decide next time means it’ll seem like less of a chore when you come to it.

Be kind to yourself. Learning a language on your own is hard. It can often feel like an uphill struggle and it’s not always easy to notice your progress. Remember to stop and appreciate how far you’ve come! (Dated your notes? Look back at your ‘Greetings’ page when you get on to the imperfect subjunctive for a huge ego boost).

Resource ideas

See below a list of some specific resource ideas grouped by skill, suggested order from beginner to advanced.

Some sources are available only for learners of French, Spanish or English.

Reading:

• BBC bitesize site
• Duolingo app (great for starting structures and vocabulary)
• Mosalinga app (great for key vocabulary)
• YouTube (search your language ‘for beginners’: and find a channel that works for you!)
• TV and film with target language subtitles (great for familiarising yourself with written alongside spoken words. Start with kids cartoons!)
• Duolingo podcast transcripts
• Short stories (if you’re reading on kindle: download a monolingual dictionary to easily highlight and learn the words you don’t know)
• News articles (try googling ‘top French newspapers’ )
• Books

Writing

Even if no-one checks what you’re writing is correct, formulating your own sentences in your own time is excellent practice.

• Write down some basic sentences (‘what did I do this weekend?’)
• Compare translations of websites with your own language (like this page on Airbnb in various languages) to identify structures and grammar you don’t know.
• Summarise articles in the target language using vocabulary from the article
• Write a paragraph or two on your opinion of an article
• Write or translate an article on Medium.com!

Listening

Podcasts podcasts podcasts.

• Coffee break languages podcast (beginner to advanced)
• TV and film with subtitles in your own language (great to familiarise yourself with how the language sounds)
• Duolingo podcast (real stories, context in English)
• TV and film without the subtitles (how much do you understand from the context?)
• TED Talks (YouTube or via a podcast platform. High level language spoken at a slow pace)
• News broadcasts
• Conversation podcasts (search ‘top podcasts’ in your target language)

Speaking

• Speak to yourself, the dog, your plants, or the wall. (A non-scary way to get used to hearing yourself pronounce foreign words)
• Find an exchange partner: Tandem app, HelloTalk app, Facebook groups (try searching ‘language exchange’). Prepare questions and answers on a specific theme like ‘weather’, ‘vegetarianism’, ‘homelessness’ or even ‘dystopia’. The sky’s the limit!

Good luck!

Source: dreamstime.com

Are you learning a language from home? What approaches are you taking?

Louise Dowds studied Spanish at university and set out to learn French in 2020. For any feedback, comments or questions please email dowds.louise@gmail.com.