As a bit of personal background, I like to describe myself as a linguist, as I currently speak Spanish and German to A Level standard, and plan to study Spanish at Uni (with the hope of some day reaching fluency!). I've always found it really cool to be able to communicate with someone from another country in their native tongue and enjoy the challenge of keeping up with native speakers who talk ridiculously quickly and in a strong dialect (yep, I do love a challenge!). It's what I feel my strength has been throughout high school! So this is why I've decided to compile a list of tips for those planning on learning a language, or those who have already started and may benefit from some refreshing, based on my 7 years as a dual linguist!
1. Are you really committed to learning a language, or is it a spur of the moment decision? First of all, you need to figure out just how much time and effort you're willing to put in to keeping up a new skill - it's like anything else, exercise perhaps. How many people start a gym membership on a new year's whim and end up ditching the fitness a couple of weeks in? Sadly I feel like this is the case for so many potential linguists; at school it's pretty much compulsory to take a foreign language to GCSE level but so few continue with it beyond a couple of barely useful phrases (such as 'on my holiday to Italy I ate pizza and swam in the sea') which, if anyone didn't already know, doesn't really qualify you as a fluent speaker.. Sorry to disappoint! So what I'm trying to say is if you'd like to take up another language, stick with it and work hard at it!
2. Set aside an amount of time per day to practise. This is where apps like Duolingo come in really handy! They send you pesky little reminders if you're neglecting your vocab which inevitably make sure you end up doing your fair share (so I guess they're not so pesky after all!)! Honestly, I wouldn't have come this far linguistically if it weren't for studying my languages at school almost every day and you can hardly go wrong if it's a regular part of your day, just like brushing your teeth or watching your favourite soap.
3. Ensure you practise all 4 key skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. This is so crucial! Picture coming to England and being able to converse with speakers perfectly well, but not understanding a word of the signs, papers or physical directions. Focussing solely on one skill is a sure fire way to weaken your language ability, which is why I believe music and YouTube videos have aided me so much in Spanish and German, with regards to diversity of media. Due to growing up with a cousin fluent in Spanish (shout out to Mel, my original Spanish inspiration!), I was constantly surrounded with little phrases and more importantly, songs of artists such as Maná, Juanes, the Gipsy Kings, Julieta Venegas and much more. Even now, at a fairly proficient level, I do sometimes have to consult some song lyrics to remind me what a certain phrase or word means, or even how the subjunctive works! Similarly with German, the YouTube videos of Snukieful, BarbieLovesLipstick (yup, I do like my German beauty bloggers!) and the music of Emma6 has kept up my listening skills over the years, hence I found myself to be so much more confident when it came to completing work experience in Dortmund!
4. Don't give up when it all gets on top of you!! This is probably the most heartfelt piece of wisdom I can offer you. Trust me when I say that I've had so many moments in life when I've doubted my linguistic abilities, wanted to just switch to English speaking when abroad or found German grammar too much to bear (I apologise profusely to my school German teachers. They tried their best with my limited grammatical ability but I reckon adjectival endings and cases will always be beyond me :() but it's ridiculously rewarding when you have a breakthrough or get into the swing of things! For instance, last week in Spain, I had a waiter ask me why I could speak Spanish so well - he wondered if I lived there! My friends will testify that this was a defining moment of my life :') It really does pay off and I have no doubt that my year abroad in Spain for my degree will be one of the most difficult, testing yet fantastic experiences of my life so far. I just can't wait *to be King* (okay someone stop my Disney references now..)!
5. Don't be afraid of making mistakes! It honestly won't matter that much and it's far better to try and get something slightly wrong than hold back from attempting anything. If anything, you'll find that any errors you make will stick in your mind even more, and to a certain extent, failed attempts really are the best way of learning! I have a rather funny anecdote about a time in Germany when I confused numbers and left my employers in stitches at my idiocy.. anyone interested in finding out the whole story, comment below!!
So that's it - all I have left to say is happy language learning and please do keep me posted as to how you get on! If anyone has any more tips or questions, I'm always more than happy to chat with you, just leave me a comment :)
Y para mis amigos que hablan español, espero que no haya sido demasiado difícil tolerarme durante los últimos años, con referencia a la cantidad de tiempo que paso hablando sobre idiomas. Vosotros sois fantásticos :)
P.S. ¡Si alguien quiere que escriba artículos en español, lo haría con mucho gusto!
P.P.S. Disclaimer: none of this blog post, or any other post I've written, has been sponsored!
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