How to Learn Any Language

Co-authored by Tian Zhou

Last Updated: January 21, 2023 References Approved

Learning a foreign language can be difficult, but if you follow certain techniques, soon you'll be able to learn any language. Although there's no easy way to go about it, with some hard work and practice, you can be fluent in no time.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Getting Down to the Basics

1
Learn from your past experience. If you've learned languages in the past, go over what you learned then and try to figure out what was most effective for you. What helped you learn? What didn't? Which parts of the process did you find easy? Which parts were hard? When you've sorted this out, you'll be ready to start learning the language.
2
Study English Phonology. English Phonology deals with English pronunciation. English Phonology helps in understanding pronunciation of other languages. You can find many websites and online videos on English Phonology. Relate English pronunciation with other language pronunciation.^{[1]
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3
Learn pronunciation. Even if a language has the same alphabet as yours, that does not mean that the pronunciation is always the same.
- It will help to learn IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet, as most dictionaries use it.^{[2]
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- The Foreign Service Institute offers free online language learning materials, which include audio recordings which help with learning pronunciation. The Duolingo app and BBC Languages also offer various languages and useful pronunciation tips. ^{[3]
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4
Pay attention to the grammar. This is probably the most important part of the language besides the vocabulary. "Paul want Mary go store" may communicate an idea, but it is not at all correct English. If you do not pay attention to grammar, you can sound equally incomprehensible in another language.^{[4]
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Expert Source

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 March 2021.}
- Look at the structure of the language and how the articles work (masculine, feminine, neutral). Getting a handle on the structure of the language will help you understand how it fits together once you start learning different words
- Ensure you know how to express questions, affirmative and negative statements in the past, present and future using the 20 most common regular and irregular verbs.
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Translate your daily spoken native language into required language. Just imagine you went to shopping center . Then think how you would interact with people. Write the whole conversation in your native language then translate every sentence into required language.
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Memorize 30 words and phrases each day. Start with the most common words. Memorization is half the battle and there are many different ways to memorize.^{[5]
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- You can practice writing each word a dozen times, which will get you used to using the word itself.
- Try using the words in various and different sentences. This will help you practice the words and make it easier to recall the words when you need them.
- Don't forget to keep practicing the words once you move on to memorizing other words. If you don't practice them you will forget them.
7
Practice the alphabet. Especially if you're learning a language which operates on a different alphabetical system, you will need to know what the letters look like and how they operate.^{[6]
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Research source} For example, this can be a crucial step if you're an English speaker who's learning Chinese.
- Try associating images with each letter and sound, so that your brain will have an easy path to remembering the letter and the sound that accompanies it. For instance: In Thai the letter "า" is pronounced "ah." If you're a guy you can think of this as the path taken by your pee if you're urinating against a tree and the accompanying sigh you make as you relieve yourself. Associations can be as simple, or as silly as you want, as long as they help you remember.^{[7]
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- You may also have to accustom yourself to reading from right to left, or from the top of the page to the bottom. Start simple and work up to more difficult things like newspapers and books.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Practicing the Language

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Listen. Listening to the language, be it through movies or television shows, through audio language coursesor music can help you retain the words you're trying to learn. Just listening won't help, though. You will need to repeat the words and speak them yourself.^{[8]
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- The method called "shadowing" is considered by many polyglots (people who know many languages) as a useful technique. Put your headphones in and go outside. While you play the language, walk briskly. As you're walking briskly repeat aloud and clearly what you're hearings. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This will help you connect kinetics (movement) with the language and to retrain your focus so that you aren't obsessing about memorization.^{[9]
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- Use audio books or audio language lessons. You can listen to these while you commute to work or while you jog around the park. This will help your listening skills. Repeat listening to short segments of 30 seconds to one minute until you feel you have complete comprehension. Sometimes you may have to listen to the course completely more than twice to fully catch all that it teaches.
- Watch television shows and movies without the subtitles. This includes soap operas, news shows, even shows you already know that have been dubbed into the language. It's a fun way to practice and apply your knowledge.
- Listen to music in the language you're learning. This is fun and easy and will, hopefully, keep you interested in what you're doing. Just put on some music while you're doing the dishes or going for a walk and pay attention to the words in the songs. You might also want to listen to classic songs because they are easy to catch on to.^{[10]
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2
Read in your chosen language. Start off with simpler books and, as you get better, move on to more difficult ones.^{[11]
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Research source} Challenge yourself to reading without a dictionary and let yourself puzzle the meanings out by yourself.^{[12]
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Expert Source

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 March 2021.}
- Children's books are a great place to start because these books are meant to teach children how to read and understand their language. Since you are just starting out, you will want to start somewhere easy.
- Find books that you have enjoyed in your native language and read them in the language you are trying to learn. Your knowledge of the book's contents will help you decipher the words and keep you interested in the reading material.
- Try popular magazines or newspapers in the language you wish to learn. Choose a topic that interests you. Magazines are a good way to learn common idioms in context. Magazine and newspaper articles cover a variety of subjects, and they're generally much shorter than reading an entire book.
- You can purchase a quality dictionary of the language you wish to learn or you can use a free online language dictionary. When you encounter a new word, highlight it in the dictionary. Then, copy the word, definition, and an example sentence using the word into a notebook. Then, study the notebook. This activity helps you think in the language.
- Sometimes a picture dictionary is helpful for learning common nouns for some languages. Use a picture dictionary for Japanese, for example, because many of their words carry a variety of meanings, as in English.
3
Speak with native speakers. If you don't speak the language, you are unlikely to learn it well and keep it in your memory. There are programs that link people learning a language and native speakers via Skype. If you can't do that, look around your city or town. Chances are someone will be able to direct you to a person who can help you practice. A language school is a good place to start.^{[13]
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- Learn some idioms, proverbs and expressions. As your level advances, learn about some of the idioms and even slang in the language. Even if you don't end up using them much, they will help you recognize and understand these elements when you hear or read them.
- Don't be embarrassed if you aren't speaking the language properly yet. It takes time to learn.
- This step cannot be stressed enough. If you don't practice speaking the language you won't be fluent in it. Talk to native speakers, get a friend to learn the language with you and practice with them, talk back to the t.v.
4
Practice. Do not hesitate to speak the language in public and with native speakers. It will be helpful in improving your mastery. Also, don't be ashamed to allow other people to correct you if you pronounce something wrong. No one knows everything. Welcome constructive criticism. Test your knowledge at every social occasion you have.^{[14]
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Expert Source

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 March 2021.}
- Keep watching movies and television shows. If you are learning Spanish, for example, and if you like soccer, watch it in Spanish to keep the language fresh in your memory. Make sure to yell at the t.v. in Spanish when the game isn't going your way.
- Challenge yourself to think in the language you are attempting to learn.

Expert Q&A

Question

How can I learn all languages?

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Tian Zhou is a Language Specialist and the Founder of Sishu Mandarin, a Chinese Language School in the New York metropolitan area. Tian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) from Sun Yat-sen University and a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. Tian also holds a certification in Foreign Language (&ESL) - Mandarin (7-12) from New York State and certifications in Test for English Majors and Putonghua Proficiency Test from The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. He is the host of MandarinPod, an advanced Chinese language learning podcast.

Tian Zhou

Language Specialist

Expert Answer

It's already hard enough for the average adult to master one additional language! There's a certain point where you just can't learn any additional languages on the same level as a native speaker. I don't think it's necessarily realistic to expect you'd be able to learn every language.
Question

What words should I start off learning in a language?

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Tian Zhou is a Language Specialist and the Founder of Sishu Mandarin, a Chinese Language School in the New York metropolitan area. Tian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) from Sun Yat-sen University and a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. Tian also holds a certification in Foreign Language (&ESL) - Mandarin (7-12) from New York State and certifications in Test for English Majors and Putonghua Proficiency Test from The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. He is the host of MandarinPod, an advanced Chinese language learning podcast.

Tian Zhou

Language Specialist

Expert Answer

Choose a few topics that are going to come up really often. Common greetings, restaurant menu terms, and normal questions. Start there. It's going to make picking up on other vocab terms and phrases as you start practicing.
Question

Why is it so difficult to learn pronunciation as an adult?

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Tian Zhou is a Language Specialist and the Founder of Sishu Mandarin, a Chinese Language School in the New York metropolitan area. Tian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) from Sun Yat-sen University and a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. Tian also holds a certification in Foreign Language (&ESL) - Mandarin (7-12) from New York State and certifications in Test for English Majors and Putonghua Proficiency Test from The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. He is the host of MandarinPod, an advanced Chinese language learning podcast.

Tian Zhou

Language Specialist

Expert Answer

Adults learn in a different way and a lot of linguists agree that after a certain age, you lose the ability to truly become a native speaker. You can recognize this and try to get better, but you should also accept that you can't pronounce certain words due to your accent. That is not something to be embarrassed about, because people will still be able to understand you.