How to learn a language fluently
The 4 domains in which you need to gain expertise to learn any language are reading, writing, listening, and speaking. To be fluent in a foreign language, you need to practice and work on all 4 domains.
1. Speaking
Most people don’t practice speaking a foreign language enough because they’re nervous or worried that they are not prepared enough to get started. They also don’t practice speaking as they are shy and lack confidence because they are afraid of making mistakes in the language. Since they are in the learning stage they also fear that they don’t have sufficient knowledge to start speaking any new language as it’s out of their comfort zone. The truth is that if you want to become fluent in a language, you need to practice speaking it. You need to prioritise speaking in your target language to reach conversational fluency in a language.
2. Become a Better Speaker By Reading
Developing and practising your reading skills can make you better at speaking a foreign language. When you practice reading, you notice the new words vocabulary and learn about grammar and even pronunciation. By learning about vocabulary and grammar, you will become more familiar with the language. When you become familiar with the language you can start conversing in the language which will help you to learn the language better. Read children’s books and comic books in the foreign language. Reading will help you to understand the meaning and context of the words .
3. Listening
When you listen to a language, you begin to absorb it. Listening to the words can help your brain to grasp a new language and it improves your learning power of a language. As you listen to a language, you’ll begin to learn to differentiate between words, tones and pronunciations. Listening improves your perception of grasping and speaking a language.
4. Writing
Start practising writing basic sentences like your introduction or about your family, interests, hobbies etc. You can start by writing simple comments or short blogs on social media and the internet. You can also keep a journal where you write basic sentences about how was your day or your feelings about daily life in general. If you have a friend who is learning the language along with you, you can send them text messages in the target language. Write basic emails, letters, and journal entries to improvise your writing skills. Writing also enables you to understand the meaning and context of the words.
5. Consume foreign-language media
Watching tv shows and movies can help in enhancing your knowledge related to a language. Listening to songs and radio news can also help you to improvise your level of the language. Find local music lyrics online and try to sing along.
6. Make use of free foreign language podcasts and apps
You can learn by listening to podcasts and also by using learning apps. You can also use basic apps like news etc to improvise your understanding level of a language.
7. Imitate
Imitate and repeat the lyrics of the songs etc whenever you listen to them. This will help your brain to register the words of the language and learn sentences and vocabulary. Pause the scenes and try repeating the dialogues in order to learn about their usage properly. Try watching native language movies and then imitating them as it will help to learn the language better. Find the lyrics online and try to sing along.
8. Read local literature
Every country and culture has its native renowned and expert writers. It’s important to explore the local literature written by the writers of the country in the language you’re learning. Some of the famous writers from a few countries who have written great literature are Miguel de Cervantes of Spain, Dante of Italy, Hugo from France, and Tolstoy from Russia.
9. Talk to a native speaker
If you can manage to astonish and surprise natives with your vocabulary and pronunciation, that’s when you can call yourself a fluent speaker. Speaky provides a global language learning community platform where you can meet people from 180+ countries and talk with them to practice your language skills online. Your friends can be great support while you are learning a foreign language together but natives are definitely a better option in order to gain expertise in a language.
10. Make a vocabulary journal
You can recall, review and memorise words with this journal. You can maintain a separate notebook which will be your personal guide and help you to build a vocabulary of most often used and commonly used words.
If you’re wondering how to become fluent in a foreign language, Join Multibhasa classes.