3 Scientifically Proven Tricks To Speed Up Your Foreign Language Learning

Ich verstehe es nicht, je ne comprends pas, no entiendo… whichever language you try to learn, you know that it’s harder than it seems. Understanding the new culture, communicating with new people, make better business partnerships – whatever are your aims to learn a new language, it’s definitely worth the effort!

1. Make connections with what you already know.

Another awesome way to accelerate the learning process is to use associations. Do it a few times and it can easily become a habit of yours.

When you sit down to learn new words, or practice grammar, or do speaking exercises, or just revise what you learned last, try connecting anything to something from your current or past life. Depending on how your brain works, that could be absolutely any possible mental connection, regardless of whether or not it’s possible in real life.

Some specialists even say that the secret to learning anything comes down to associations.

Either rely on your imagination (that can be fun and practical at the same time if you’re a daydreamer by nature), or get familiar with mnemonics.

2. Start with the basic words.

I know plenty of people who decide to learn a foreign language, get their hands on the first dictionary, and start learning new words like crazy, day after day. But they don’t give their memory the chance to use them and make connections to store them properly. They don’t give it time till each new set of words has reached their subconscious mind, which means truly understanding their meaning.

Stop learning hundreds of words and thinking you’re making progress. To do this right, you’ll just need the essentials, and then it’s time for action.

What I mean is, every language has words used so often, that you practically understand and can say anything the moment you know them. So, even with the 300 most common words in your chosen foreign language, you can do well. But it’s important to get that done soon, so that you can actually start putting them into practice. Use new wordsin common life situations or very private, such us flirting with a girl over text! Why not?

3. Practice as soon as possible.

Any skill we build in life is a matter of going out of our comfort zone and challenging ourselves a bit. So it is with language learning. To accelerate it, stop spending hours in front of the screen trying to memorize every detail. Instead, go ahead and find ways to speak it.

I’m serious. Even after you know 300 words, begin using them in sentences. You can find like-minded people on forums or social media, who want to do the same, and just practice together. You can hire a local person to have conversations with you on Skype. Even better would be if you could do that on the street (which is possible if you just moved to a foreign country and are learning their language).

The opportunities are many. It’s all up to you whether you’ll do it the old fashioned way, or will prefer the smarter techniques and scientifically proven methods that work every time.

What language learning hack will you try first?