Je Ne Comprends Pas: 5 Tips to Speak and Understand Another Language

Konnichiwa. Bonjour. Hola. Shalom. G’day. Guten tag. Hello.

I love languages. I still struggle with English but I love new languages! I love the fact that everywhere you go people are communicating in their own way and it works! I am also (slowly) learning a new language. I have been studying Japanese for the past 3 years and it’s been incredible.

Learning a new language literally opens a whole new world and gives you opportunities that you couldn’t have had otherwise. (Not to mention it makes you look a lot cooler than the fake Jeopardy nametag and plastic glasses you’ve been wearing for the past 3 weeks – stop that).

After trying a bunch of different ways of studying, I have my own method these days. Here are my top 5 tips for learning a new language.

1. LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE

The most important part of learning a new language is hearing what it’s supposed to sound like. You want to make sure you can sound as natural as possible so you don’t make weird mistakes like telling a girl she is KOWAI (scary) instead of KAWAII (cute) – I watched a friend do this in a nightclub in Japan, I then watched the same friend get a drink thrown at him. True story.

Get online and find podcasts or streaming TV shows in the language you are studying. Listen how the native speakers of the language pronounce the words.  There are a ton of sites out there with collections of audio and video in different languages! Get used to hearing it.

2. WHAT’S YOUR MAJOR FUNCTION SERGEANT PILE?

Choose ONE function and study it for a week. What do I mean by function? I mean, choose one way you want to use the new language.  A function might be, “Ordering food in a restaurant” or “Talking about my favorite bands”.

Spend a week learning the vocabulary that you would use to have the conversations you want. Each day add 5-10 words to your vocabulary. By the end of a week, you will have enough vocabulary for a specific conversation! Do this for a couple of months and you will be able to talk about a lot of different things!

(Think, you and your friends probably have the same 4-5 conversations every time you are together, “Heidi and Spencer are like, totally gonna get divorced” – learn 8 or 9 conversations in a different language, and you are golden)

3. TALK TO YOURSELF

I wouldn’t normally suggest this BUT, start talking to yourself! C’mon, do it for the kids!

Start thinking in your new language. As you are walking to school or driving to work, if you see something that you have learned in your new language, say it to yourself. As you are brushing your teeth, think of how to say, “I’m brushing my teeth” in your new language.

The point is, start training yourself to think in the new language so when you get in a conversation you can quickly think of the words you want to use!

4. TALK TO STRANGERS (but don’t take their candy or get in their white van)

You need to use your new language as much as possible! Contact your local University/College and find out if they have a language club you can join (I go to a Japanese/English language exchange once a week at a nearby University and I’m not even a student!) Don’t wait until you are fluent, start now as a complete beginner!

Check meetup.com to see if there is a language meet-up in your area. If you live in the boonies, check online for chat rooms or pen pal exchanges that you could use to practice talking/writing/thinking in a new language. Instant messaging programs for your computer are awesome to make friends across the globe and practice new languages, just remember to use common sense when talking with people who you have never met before!

Another thing you could do is, join a cultural association. For a few years I was a member of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, which is (believe it or not) a centre for people who want to learn about Japanese language and/or culture, in Canada. They have great events and classes for the general public to have experience with Japanese stuff.  There are centers/clubs like this in cities across the world for cultures from all ends of the earth.

5. STUDY HALL

Continue to study your new language. After you have had a conversation in your new language, review the areas where you became lost like a little puppy in Tokyo. There will always be things that you don’t quite catch.  Don’t sweat it, focus on what you did catch and keep moving forward!

Remember to have fun. Laugh at the mistakes you make, like the time I told a student she was ”yasai” (vegetable) instead of “wakai” (young). You aren’t going to get it perfect the first – or even the hundredth time – but the more you immerse yourself in the language, the quicker you will learn.

Are you studying a language? What language are you studying and what are your tips?

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm and is filed under I Made My Own Lunch, Make Your Own Lunch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.