Learning a new language - The most efficient ways

Moving to a whole different country can be a scary thing, for anyone of any age. Learning a new culture, new way of living, and most of all, learning a new language. But, apart from being rather scary, it is also extremely exciting. Learning to live in a new country has a lot of obstacles but also has a lot of great opportunities! Whether you are moving for work, family, love or just for a change of scenery… Moving to a new country can be great in many ways.

Like we mentioned before, one of the things to keep in mind when moving to a new country is learning a new language. To do this there are different ways and techniques to learning a new language without stressing out about it.

Let us talk about some of the ways to learn a new language.

Local language school

Most areas offer some sort of a language school, whether big or small. You might find a big institute dedicated to languages around you, or you might encounter a classroom that holds language classes. Worth checking out what is available in the area!

Join a class

If you are moving to somewhere more remote, like a town or village, you are more likely to come across a specific class held by someone local instead of a classroom/institute as mentioned before. These classes tend to be helpful, and on the plus side, you get to know your neighbours.

Friend group/Coffee meeting

Sometimes it is not even a big thing as in joining a class, sometimes it's just going out with people for a morning coffee. Just the difference is, you practice and help each other out with the language you are learning.

Practice little bits as you go along with everyday things i.e. shopping, getting petrol…

This can sound sometimes terrifying, but it's not as difficult as it sounds. Just every time you go out and about with your daily life, just chat to the people around in the Spanish you know, whether is something big or something little. Bit by bit you will get more and more comfortable in using your language this way and learn more things along the way.

If this still sounds like quite a scary thing to do, start yourself off small. When you are in a shop, just say thank you in your language, just randomly say “Hey, how are you” to people. Gradually you will find yourself using more and more language with every day uses.

Find someone also learning and practice as much as you can

This is one of the best ways to learn a language. Most of the time you will find someone local in the same position as you… Wondering how to learn this scary new language in a new country. These are the people you need! Set up a day a time every week, or even more, and get together and just practice what you know about each other. And when you get comfortable with this, then you can research a bit more about the language and help each other advance their vocabulary and grammar.

Do mini-tests on yourself or with people

This does not have to be anything major or mean anything, it's just a great way to practice your language and discover how much you know about it. This way will help you get stronger and more confident in learning this new language.

And if you want, you can do this with friends or colleagues. Test yourselves on the knowledge you have, and the knowledge you do not have, help each other to fill in the gaps.

Set yourself little goals

This is a technique used for various things in life. You will find that this is used a lot when people are trying new things, trying to break habits, learning something new, etc. Set yourself mini-goals. Do you want to learn 5 new words in one week? That is a goal. Want to know all the colours by the end of the month? There you are, another goal.

These little goals will help you advance smoothly and get learning the new language at a pace that suits you!

Duolingo

This is an app you can find on all devices, Android or IOS. It’s a free app to help you learn and practice day to day languages, from vocabulary, to grammar, verbs etc. It keeps goals for you, has small tests, mini rewards. It is a handy little app to have on the go as well in those moments where you are free and have nothing to do and just want to learn a little bit more.

You can find it on your play store/app store. 

So, overall, these little steps to take in your day-to-day life will eventually help you learn a new language more practically, more efficiently, and at your own pace. The most important thing to remember… It is not a rush! Take your own time at getting to know this new language because it is not easy. People will appreciate you taking your time at learning it, slowly at your pace, then not even trying at all. And most of all, most people that notice you are trying to learn a new language, will help you in any way they can.

And there is no deadline! If it takes you 2 months to learn one sentence, so what? You are going forward instead of staying still. Learning a little and slowly is so much better than not learning anything at all, so be easy on yourself and very importantly, do it at your own pace!