Prolong your Language Journey
“Kashmira, I learned German till B1 and I want to continue learning further, but I will be learning the next level in the next year due to some other unavoidable work. What should I do until then to keep in touch with the language ?” A very common question asked by most of the students.
In my initial years I used to advise them to start reading the textbooks or start solving the workbooks again. But with experience and more student interactions, I realized it’s not about the heap of study material on the Internet or the availability of trainers or training institutes. It’s more than that.
Extend Your Language Journey: Tips, Resources, and Motivation
‘Motivation’ : How motivated are you to learn a foreign language? Are you under pressure to learn it ? Or are you doing it because someone showed you the glittery side of it?
Find out the real reason behind learning the language, your real interest and then if your inner voice says, it’s fun to learn, only then continue learning it further.
My point is, learn a foreign language only if you are motivated enough. Make sure the motivation is not based on the current trend or a movie you just watched and were inspired by the actor or the actress, (This happened with Spanish when people watched Hrithik Roshan speaking in ZNMD). Okay, not digressing, but make sure your language learning doesn’t have a temporary motivation.
Keep it ‘sustainable’.
For me learning a language is all about being passionate about learning it. I love the sound of the words, how the letters have different uses and how the words magically change their meanings with different contexts. Basically, I love the play of words, the stories, the experiences and the songs. Expressing feelings, narrating experiences one needs to know the art of using words and for this correct usage of language is important. This passion has always kept me ‘inspired’. It allows me to dig in the language and have fun with it.
Once you know the purpose of learning the language you are ready to explore further. We all know how limited is the knowledge through textbooks & workbooks and it is important to extend our horizons to acquire more. But we cannot eat everything at once, that will definitely cause indigestion. What we need is a systematic balance of everything. Find out how and where the language plays the most important role in our lives.
For example – stories, poems, plays, songs, news channels, newspapers, books, etc. The Internet being vast, it will give you all the options, sometimes extra and you are not ready to gulp it all at once.
Start from the basics. The most common, easy and cheapest way to learn the language is through Songs. Check the internet and start searching for the best songs for beginners to learn your target language.
Play > Listen to the song > Write down the new words > Repeat
Try to sing along with the same intonation. DO NOT see the lyrics on the Internet. Once the tune is in your mind and you have got most of the words, maybe then you can check the lyrics and enjoy the song to the fullest. Do it with one song at a time. Do not rush to understand the meaning. JUST ENJOY !
Another way, you can try with stories and it can be even more creative. Read a short story, a fairy tale or a fable. They are easy and fun.
So, read it, start drawing the characters or the scenes. Now, you’ll ask “what if we are not good at drawing ?” So what ? You don’t need to show it to anyone or post it anywhere. Keep them to yourself, for yourself, in your secret book. And if you still think you are hesitating to draw, you can try cutting pictures from old books or magazines and stick it together. Something like a collage. Creativity knows no bounds. That’s how the comic books get famous, pictures, dialogues, stories and BOOM!
These are just two examples. You can do much more with languages, but I would suggest, stick to one thing at a time, start small in stipulated time. For example, you can start with only 10 mins, later increase 5 mins each time. But, do it regularly. Consistency is everything!
Allocate some time to learn. Mark it on your calendar or set an alarm. Whatever suits you the best.
In no time you will realize you have not only started learning the language, but also started enjoying it. Of course, all the above information is useful for all languages, regional as well as foreign.
You can also connect with us to discuss more options to learn the language.
Until then stay motivated, keep learning !!
Check our other blogs that will help you learn the language further :
https://lingothoughts.com/blog/best-8-podcast-channels-to-learn-german/
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