How to learn a foreign language without the pain Part 3

If you see a spooky table or huge lists of exceptions and deviations, and internal logic of language itself to grasp does not work, get on the Internet: if somebody already found a way to streamline all this horror and make it more understandable? Pay attention to all the details and try to find something in common in all — including the spelling of the words.

In Spanish there are many words ending in -ción and -sión: these endings sound very similar, so that the ear to distinguish between them and difficult to remember, and to learn what letter they are written — well, no. So I suffered until I discovered that there is a rule: the spelling of endings, you can recover cognates — verbs and nouns. Suffering then ceased. The moral: laziness healthy and competent search on the Internet to save lots of nerves.

And by the way: don’t forget to Google not only in their native language, but the language you are learning! It is possible that the native speakers too lazy to learn all this, then surely there are rules and monitoring, structuring the necessary information.

Find a nice material

We all know what language is best to practice every day, and that you need to read texts written by native speakers, and practice to perceive it by ear. So enjoy! In the web you can find a huge amount of material in a foreign language: probably you will choose yourself something to taste.

Do not neglect such practices: reading and listening materials in the language, you will get used to its sound and structure and develop linguistic flair, which will tell you what sounds natural and what’s not; how to say, how — no. Don’t forget that different works written in different styles and different layers of language: reading “the Disappeared”, you can go crazy with jargon, and the characters in the “Crown” talk is quite difficult and sublime. Choose those works whose language is the closest to that that you need.

A nice bonus to the study of language in books and serials: if anyone will resent that you are already three hours watching “Game of thrones”, you can always choose to respond with dignity to that, in fact, learn English.

Contact the professionals

If you are a professional procrastinator and I am afraid that you will not find such materials regularly, find an interesting blog, feed, or podcast and subscribe to updates. Then you directly in the mail will be coming fresh materials on which you will be able to train their language skills. Of course, procrastinating even when articles and videos are already waiting in the mailbox — but still always easier to take the reading when the article already is at hand and you don’t need quite a while to find something to read.

And if you find a really interesting topic, the likelihood that you will open letters with new materials that would dramatically increase. Even if you’re not going to read the whole letter with a dictionary or to check every unfamiliar word in the new issue of the blog, and just catch the General meaning — it is better than nothing.

Learn science

Hardcore option: start learning a foreign language. Grab yourself an interesting online course on platforms like coursera or futurelearn, and then you just have to understand all these texts and videos to get the desired knowledge.

Keep a diary

If you need to learn how to write in a foreign language, try to guide it a diary (at least the most simple notes!) Or any other entry: shopping, to-do list for tomorrow, or even signatures to posts on Instagram. If you feel confident enough set up an account in the language of the social network or invite someone from the friends to start to correspond in a foreign language — just try not to write blueprints.

Think in a foreign language

But it so happens that you learn some rare language or just do not want to torment others, and the language of social networks for some reason don’t work for you. How, then, to train communication skills? There is a solution: start thinking in the language you are learning. Of course it is hard but you will get used to Express their thoughts in a foreign language, and also understand what kind of vocabulary you most lacking in your daily life.

A distinct advantage of this method is not only that you talk with smart and nice person, but that you will not have to blush before the interview, if you forget a word or made a mistake in the conjugation of the verb.

However, there is a drawback: you can mentally skip over the word do not know, or grammatical construction in which not sure, and not to notice that in some area you have spaces. And, of course, not all of the errors you will be able to see — so be careful.

And a bonus tip: leave perfectionism behind

Don’t expect the ideal level of language proficiency to begin to use language to the fullest — to communicate, to learn, to read books and watch movies. Write, talk, ask for advice from others and enjoy the process: believe me, in this case, the language you will learn much faster and easier!