Is there a trick to how our brain retains memory, similar to how dogs are trained?
If you’re a person who desires to be a polyglot, or perhaps a mnemonist,
Discover and learn some tricks to learn languages faster.
Why should you learn other languages?
In real life, you’ll meet many people that share the same interests and hobbies as you.
At the same time, you’ll have cultural differences or different perspectives in life.
If you have a bilingual friend, they might even have better language skills than you.
Learning other languages will make you open to understanding people from all walks of life.
Aside from the many benefits of developing your mental strength, you can also use your skills in your career or while traveling.
What I do when I want to learn languages fast
We all have different techniques, tricks, and other language learning methods to learn fast.
However, I want to give you tips and tricks based on how I was able to learn languages.
Some of these tips are also done by language experts out there. So don’t be afraid to try some of the tricks to learn languages faster.
Maybe, you’re already doing a few of these methods.
Always motivate yourself on the benefits of language learning
There are many benefits of language learning and adults shouldn’t get discouraged (even if they feel they are a little bit old to learn a new trick of the trade).
Besides, you’re not just learning for fun. You’re developing social and interpersonal skills that you will likely use for your business or career growth.
Going from a beginner level to being an intermediate level speaker in less than 2-3 months is possible.
Just make sure that you know what your goals are by the end of the week, month, or year.
Don’t just stick to flashcards. Use space repetition AND do it with a friend
It’s easy to learn a few words with many electronic flashcards from apps or games online. But sometimes, it may not be the best trick to learn languages faster.
Passive learning has its downsides. You might lose motivation when learning if it feels more of a routine than really understanding the vocabulary of your target language.
If you have a scheduled planner for your techniques, you can do it with a conversational partner to keep track of all the words you’ve already encountered.
Then, you can do space repetition while making sure to go back to the earlier words you’ve already memorized.
Don’t feel bad about making mistakes
Learning can take some time so it’s not bad to have mistakes along the way. But, don’t feel like it’s a waste of time.
You can use these mistakes as a learning point. If you remember the words or essential phrases that you keep on missing, write them down in your native language.
Also, making mistakes are part of learning. There are lots of words, grammar rules, and other concepts in languages that continue to develop, so not everything will be perfect the first time you try studying them.
Watching children’s shows in that target language
Yes, it may sound silly. But, here’s the thing. Children’s shows always have slower audio and speaking speed, at the same time, you can also notice many of them are perfect for beginners.
On the other hand, the audio’s tempo is not slow to the point that it sounds like robotic text. You can also hear many learning videos or audio
It is not a wonder why children who learn another language at an early age tend to pick it up and retain them easily than adults who try it at a later age.
Using audio and visual resources when learning
I love listening to music and watching documentaries. If you love watching YouTube videos, there are tons of video series where you can learn almost any language.
I like learning German, Korean, and Italian, so I’ve been watching related Youtube channels.
Just be careful though, don’t spend your time watching and listening more than memorizing.
What I do is to take down notes of conversational phrases a couple of times and make my own sentences as part of my personal learning activities.
Do fake conversations with a language partner
As mentioned earlier, it’s better to incorporate foreign languages in your daily life will help your learning process become successful faster.
If you stick to learning and memorizing essential phrases for cooking, cleaning, getting groceries, or just simply saying greetings will go a long way.
Basic conversations with a person’s native tongue are your target language can speed your vocabulary bank much faster.
There are many tricks that you can do
Keep in mind that various people have their own methods of learning. Especially, if their mother tongue is different from what they’re trying to learn.
Don’t limit yourself to these tricks I’ve mentioned. Practice with something that really works for you.
It’s also helpful if you immerse yourself into the country’s culture, music, and other entertaining ways to help you remember.