Getting started with learning a language can be challenging. Even if you are taking classes, you might struggle to find ways to practice outside of class (beyond doing the homework, of course).
Before going ahead with my suggestions, there are a few caveats to consider:
- Some of my suggestions assume that you have access to a smart phone and personal computer, use social media, or have certain events in your city. While this is the case for most people, I realize that it is not the case for everyone.
- The suggestions that I give will not necessarily help you learn grammar, pronunciation, or any other skill in an explicit way. In contrast, they will help you mainly develop your reading and listening comprehension as well as your vocabulary. Looking at these suggestions, you might be able to notice a structure and then derive the meaning from it without an explicit grammar explanation. There are tons of language-learning apps, Youtube channels, and online resources that offer explicit teaching, but given their copious numbers I cannot speak to the quality of them and prefer to present a more “natural” method of learning a language through authentic materials and experiences.
- Last but not least, this is what I have found work for my students typically at the pre-intermediate or above level living in Santiago, Chile. Most (but not all) are native Spanish-speakers. You will want to consider any cultural differences (if you are recommending these ideas to learners in another culture/context) and your own personal circumstances. Feel free to make adjustments and changes as needed.
Onto the list!
1.Change your phone/computer/social media account to the language you are learning.
This suggestion works well if you are already familiar with how your device/social media account works. You will start to pick up new vocabulary, and it will help to develop your reading comprehension.
If you are worried about getting errors messages in the language and being able to navigate them, you can take screenshots of how you configured the language and always switch back if necessary until the problem is resolved.
2. Read about topics that interest you using Flipboard.
Flipboard is an app that you can put on your smartphone that lets you read articles from all over the internet based on your interests. You simply create an account using your email, indicate the keywords that interest you, and then it goes to work finding the articles from all over the internet.
I really like this for a few reasons:
- It isn’t limited to one website or even a series of websites. You can read new from websites that you didn’t even know existed, and it can give you multiple perspectives on an issue.
- If there are articles that appear that you aren’t interested in seeing, you can see the keywords associated with and indicate that you aren’t interested in those particular keywords. I have used this when using the keyword of health, screening out articles about women’s health that aren’t relevant to me.
- Most articles are short. They are typically about 5 to 6 screens on a smartphone, and sometimes there are photos that accompany them. You can probably read the articles in about 5 minutes or less, making them perfect for a commute by bus or subway or something to incorporate into your daily routine during a lunch break or after waking up in the morning.
You can get Flipboard on Apple and Andriod devices as well as on computers at www.flipboard.com.
3. Watch movies and TV shows that you like in the language you are learning with subtitles in the same language.
If you are already familiar with a TV series, this will make understanding in the language you are learning easier. It is also interesting to see how jokes and idioms are translated from one language to another, and it becomes apparent that they don’t always translate.
By watching with subtitles, you are able to see the connection between how words are spoken and written.
Netflix is a popular way to do this, but you will want to see that what you would like to watch is available in the language and with subtitles for the language you are learning. I personally have a collection of TV series and movies on DVD that I lend out to my students to aid them in their language learning.
I personally like Friends, Family Guy, and The Simpsons as series. Some of my favorite movies to lend to students include Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Office Space, The Visitor, Reign Over Me, The Blind Side, and Hidden Figures.
4. Read comic books and/or comic strips from the library or on the internet .
I realize that most people reading this are adults and feel that reading comic books is childish, but here’s the thing:
Unless you are at a C1 level, you will most likely pick up new vocabulary from reading comic books or comic strips. In addition, they give you a visual context to help derive meaning. Last but not least, they are short and you can read them whenever you have downtime.
When I was learning German as an exchange student in Germany, I actually went to the local library and read Peanuts books as a way of learning vocabulary. By seeing the use of perfect modals in the context of Lucy criticizing Snoopy for eating too much I was able to figure out how to construct them in German.
My favorite comics include Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, and Fox Trot. There are obviously many more based on your taste. I have comic books that I lend out to my students, but you can also find them online. You can explore a wide variety at www.gocomics.com.
5. Create a playlist with songs that you like that include the lyrics on Youtube and sing them every day.
Youtube not only has music videos for songs that you like, but people also make videos with the songs and the lyrics so you can sing along. This is a powerful way of seeing the connection between spoken and written language (in the same way with watching movies and TV shows) in a way that you like. You will need to be careful, because sometimes there are small grammar errors with the lyrics.
If you are in a relationship, you could create a customized playlist based on songs that are meaningful to you as a couple. (The 21st century mixtape, if you will.)
To see an idea of how this would work, click here to see a playlist that I created.
6. Listen to the news or podcasts.
If you are at work and have the possibility to listen to something while working, just listening to the news is a great way to get your ear used to the language you are learning. Even if you can’t focus your complete attention on what you are listening to, you will pick up words that you recognize and as your language learning progresses understand more and more. You could also listen this way while doing housework, cooking, or commuting to and from work.
Podcasts are another great way to develop your language skills in an authentic context. The podcast hosts and guests are typically (but not always) native English speakers, and so they speak at a pace that native English speakers can understand.
What I have done with my students is the following: We discuss the topic of the podcast so I get an idea of what they already know, and we preview necessary concepts and vocabulary. After that, we listen to 2 to 3-minute chunks of the podcast and check for understanding as they go. After doing this for 3 or 4 episodes of the same podcast, they can then start listening on their own using a listening guide that I have created for each episode. If you are learning on your own, this can be much more challenging but not impossible.
Some podcasts that I have used this with are NPR Planet Money, Freakonomics, and Happier with Gretchen Rubin. There are podcasts on almost any topic, so if you search you can experiment and find ones that interest you. Some of them also have the audioscript available, which can be a great way of supporting students while they listen.
This works best for students at the intermediate level or above given the necessity to have a certain level of listening comprehension. If you are not at that level yet, you can consider the other suggestions until you are at the right level for podcasts.
7. Attend language exchanges/conversation nights.
In Santiago there are a variety of language nights/exchanges that bring together English and Spanish speakers to practice their language skills. Typically you are a table with 5 to 6 other people, and you spend 5 or 10 minutes speaking English and then switch to Spanish. This will go back and forth for a period of time, and you are welcome to arrive and leave whenever you like.
You typically don’t pay any entrance fee, but rather just for what you drink/eat. I have gone to events and been there for 3 hours only ordering 3 sodas, and it wasn’t a problem. The social atmosphere removed the pressure to speak well and avoid making mistakes, and it felt much more relaxed than in a classroom.
I have gone to one in Santiago that is very well organized and that has a regular turnout of over 80 people every Tuesday night in Providencia. There are drinks, food, and good times. You can find the details of it here.
So, that’s my list. Is there anything else that you do or that you encourage your students to do in order to develop your language skills? If so, feel free to share in the comments section below.
