Language Practice - Using what you Learn
Learning a language and the volcabulary that goes with it from a language course is only half the battle. You could complete 100% of the course and commit every single word to memory, but if you then put the books away and never think about the language again it would soon be forgotten.
The only sure-fire way to retain all that information, tune your ears to the sound and rhythm of that foreign language, and perfect your pronunciation and confidence of speaking, is to use what you have learned for real—practice your new language.
So what are the best ways to practice your foreign language?
1) Go Abroad
The obvious and best answer is to go to the country where your new language is spoken and talk to the locals. This is most commonly done by people going on regular holidays. Book that ticket and go out and practice your language. The problem is that many people go abroad and find it easier to continue speaking English. The people they meet in the hotels speak English, the restaurants they go to...yes they speak English too. You have to make an effort to speak to non-English speakers.
2) Go Abroad and Study
This is a perfect way to learn a language and practice it at the same time. Combine the efficiency of an intensive language classroom with the added bonus of continual practice that only immersion in the country of origin can bring. Study Spanish in Spain, Japanese in Japan, or Arabic in Egypt and practice what you learn as you learn it.
There are several companies that organise language courses abroad but possibly the best and most comprehensive is Cactus Language. They have almost 30 languages to be studied abroad or in your home country and will organise everything for you from the flights to the accomodation. They are a highly reputable company and learning a language in its own environment has to be the best way to master any language. What could be better than learning French while sipping wine in Bordeaux? Not a lot I imagine.
3) Audio Books
Audio books are downloadable books that can be played either on a computer or an mp3 player wherever you are. They can simply be novels, or non-fiction titles, or even educational products.
They are available in English but can also be downloaded in other languages. What better way to tune your ears to a language than by listening to a simple story in that language. You may not understand a lot of what you hear to start with—that is normal—but once you begin to tune
yourself to the language you will begin picking out the words you know and forming sentences.
One of the best audio book companies is audible who provide audio books in many different languages. They will sell each book individually, but they also do a membership deal where you can pay per month and download many more audio books than normal. Audible also have language learning courses themselves.
audible.co.uk
or audible.com
- just type your language into their search bar and see what books are available. Both UK and US sites offer free audio books which can be played on almost any personal mp3 player.
4) TV
Foreign TV has always been considered a useful language practice tool. Many people watch foreign TV stations and listen for words that they understand, look up words that they dont, and generally try to tune their ears to the sound.
Of course the main problem is most people cannot get a wide variety of foreign TV and movies on their regular sets. You can however turn to the internet. Internet TV is an expanding person-to-person phenomenon which is generally free. All you have to do is download the TV application and this will give you access to hundreds of streamed TV channels from around the world. Many of these are not in English and so free local TV can be streamed to your pc to help you practice your language. Of course we cannot promise that the quality of the local TV will be particularly high, but that is not what you will be looking for right? The only internet TV application I have used is called Sopcast and is free and easy to use.
5) Language Exchange
If you are looking to practise speaking and listening skills then a language exchange is your best bet. Language exchanges are sites that allow people from different countries to come together and help each other learn their language. Most language exchanges are free and allow you to write to, chat to, or meet native speakers of your chosen language. You can learn a language and make friends with language exchanges. Maybe you will get an invite to their country. Either way it is possibly the best way to practise your language without leaving your home.
Three excellent and FREE language exchanges are my language exchange, Shared Talk, and conversation exchange.
There is of course also a language exchange application through facebook.