Helpful ways to learn another language

Learning another language is fun, but can also be quite challenging. Knowing where to start for me was difficult. I hadn't learnt a language in 9 years and I gave up learning the last language after 3 years. I wasn't interesting in learning another language until 2016, only I started learning Spanish at the beginning of 2017.

Anyway, I didn't know what would be the best to start with, so I used my mum's Spanish book she had. Its a book to learn if you're going to a Spanish-speaking country and it was good because it taught me words and gave me information, but I wanted to expand what I used. Now I have multiple things I use, which is why I'm writing this post.

I have some tips to help you learn another language, especially if you're stuck on where to start or are struggling on what other sources to use. Some of these might be obvious, but I have a mix of recommendations I wanted to share in hope it can help someone.

Books

This is an obvious one, but I wanted to recommend two books that have helped me and I know they have these same ones in other languages.

The first one is called 5 Minute Spanish and I no longer have this because it was a library book, however I found it very helpful. It has so much information in it, words to learn and one thing I found very helpful was that it broke down the pronunciations to make it that much easier to learn. This was an extremely helpful book and it does come with an audio cd, however because I got this from the library there wasn't a cd. Audio cd's would be very helpful.

Another great book, well, dictionary I use is an Oxford Learners Spanish Dictionary (that I can't find online to link, however there are a few different ones). There are many versions in other languages and the language dictionaries are ones I'd really recommend. This dictionary is good because at the beginning its Spanish to English, in the middle it has information and more words/sentences to learn and at that end its English to Spanish. Underneath some of the words, there are sentences that could be useful. One thing I like about the middle part is that it shows you how to write a formal letter, a letter to a friend, text messages (and abbreviations) and more.

Memrise

Memrise is an app that I previously wrote a blogpost on (here) and I've been using it for a while. You can learn a bunch of languages on Memrise and because of the features available, I find it very helpful. Memrise is a website and an app, so you can use it while on the go. Memrise is free to download and sign up to, however you can buy pro, which unlocks a few more features that aren't available if you don't pay for it. You can learn so much without paying for it and on the app, you can sometimes unlock some pro features a certain amount of times.

Memrise is good because they say words to you, which will help with pronunciations. The features they have for free, are: learn new words, classic review and speed round. The features they have for pro, are: difficult words, listening skills, learn with the locals and chatbots. Sometimes they throw in learning with the locals when you're learning new words and I find it very helpful. Another great thing about Memrise is that you can learn more than just languages, so if you choose to learn more, you can have it all in one place.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a website and app that I recently started using. I find it Duolingo helpful because when I created an account, they tested me and put me at a level. I think all of Duolingo is free if I'm correct, but I think its really good that there aren't pro features. There are so many languages to choose from on Duolingo and so much to learn within that language.

On the level I'm on, they give me a ton of sentences that you have to translate and also some hearing parts, where you write what you hear. I find the hearing parts helpful and fun. I've been using Duolingo a lot in the month I've discovered it and its definitely one I need to recommend.

Remembering words

I have a few tips on remembering words/sentences that I think might help.

My first tip is finding words that are similar and will help you remember them. You can remember from objects, places that are similar or even peoples names. Its always helped me by finding words that are similar/the same things. I think this might make remembering words a little easier for you, especially if you're really struggling to remember a word.

Another tip is writing and repeating words every day. My brother used to play a Battlefield game and every time the woman on the game said 'apple' or 'butter', my brother said I have to say it in Spanish and it stuck. Every now and then I was just saying 'manzana' (which means apple) and 'mantequilla' (which means butter). It helped a lot and those words stuck with me very quickly. Even going around your house/workplace every day and finding things to say in the language you're learning over again and would make the words stick with you.

Revision cards

The last tip is revision cards. You could take words you struggle with, cut them up and pair them together. If theres words that look similar and you get confused about, you could list them on revision cards, practice them for a while and get someone to test you. I've found revision cards super helpful.

Songs

A good tip I've learnt is listening to songs in the language you're learning. You can learn a lot from the titles, words, lines and pronunciations. I listen to a lot of songs in Spanish and I've learnt so much from songs that I didn't know before. I find listening to songs in the language you're learning very helpful. 


And those are my tips. Hopefully they helped at least one of you. Do you have any tips on learning another language?

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