1. Listen to music in the language you are trying to learn
According to the European Survey on Language Competences, children who grow up listening to their parents speaking another language and are exposed since early childhood to music and TV in another language develop better skills than children who only use it in an academic environment. The best way to learn another language is how you learned your native tongue, in a natural environment and by being exposed to it all the time.
2. Watch movies and TV shows in the original language
The same goes for TV. The countries where TV and film dubbing is not as common as subtitles tend to have a higher rate of bilingual people. So, the next time you want to stream your favorite series, make sure to choose subtitles over dubbing. This is also a fantastic way of broadening your cultural horizons, so do some research about the best TV shows and films spoken in your desired language and watch them with subtitles.
3. Make a list of cognates and learn it by heart
There are many words that are similar between different languages. They are called “cognates,” and they exist in every pair of languages. For example, in Spanish you have “importante,” while in English you have “important.” There are many lists of cognates for every possible pair of languages online. Find one that seems useful and learn it by heart. This is specially good for the first stages of learning, since it will help you to be more comfortable with your new language.
4. Start With High-Frequency Words and Phrases
For most languages, there are between 300 and 500 words that make up the bulk of it. These are the words that most people use more frequently. Start by learning those words. There are many websites that have handy lists of the most common words, both written and spoken. Learn these by heart, and you will be able to have basic conversations in no time. This will also help you start conversations and learn more words as they come up.
5. Find things that are relevant to you
If you are already learning a new language, there probably is an aspect of its culture that you feel drawn to. For example, if you are learning Italian, it might be because you like its long culinary tradition, so maybe you can learn vocabulary related to the kitchen, cooking, and ingredients. Or maybe it is another type of interest, something related to your work: for example, if your company is doing a lot of business with China, you might want to learn words and phrases in Mandarin that are related to business.
No matter what strategies you decide to use, make sure that you study regularly. It doesn’t matter if it’s only for a few minutes a day, being persistent is the most useful thing you can do to learn fast. Also, learning another language, no matter which one, is a proven strategy to keep your brain young, among other benefits.
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