Always, there was something about learning a foreign language in high school that implied we couldn’t speak the language – whatever it was that we were learning. If we had gone on a study abroad, we might be able to speak a little. But most of the time, unless we have lived extensively in a foreign country as a child, there was no way for us and our peers to learn a foreign language. That wasn’t something that any of us put on our resumes.
There have been so many language resources, like Lovlan, Rosetta Stone, the classroom, and youtube videos. Why is it that there is still a great divide between textbooks and being fluent? When you pour all your heart and soul into grammar and vocabulary, why can’t we feel those words? Why can’t we converse still?
After being a Japanese teaching assistant for 2 years and observing excelling students for an extended amount of time, I made a list of all the magical things they do to better their fluency. This can help all foreign language enthusiasts ace those tests.
- Find hobbies in your foreign language.
When these students have free time, they go watch movies and tv show in their target language. After a while they pick up some of the colloquial words that give them a head start for upcoming vocabulary words or help them pick up background cultural information.
Other times they do things like listening to songs. One of my favorite things that they do is when they walk around on campus. Their brains aren’t idle. They are in constant conversation with themselves describing the scenery around them in the language. While other students are snoozing, they are getting more experience speaking the language.
- Study all the material before you hit class, so that all you do is review.
It’s not like they have more experience, they’re just one day ahead of the material. Trust me, you’re not stupid when you can’t don’t know the answer to some of the questions in class. These students have read the material and actively internalized all the vocabulary and concepts.
- Memorize social rituals.
Okay, this one is a given. The more fluent your body language and manners are, the more you’ll be trusted around native speakers. Something as simple as learning how to talk with your hands in the target language puts you at a cut above the rest.
- Practice correctly, it’ll be a habit.
Don’t ignore your mistakes. Always correct it when you can. Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect. It makes things permanent.
- Find a friend that speaks that language (like someone studying abroad).
Because it’s really hard to find work with a student visa, you can probably hire them as a tutor for something in your student budget. Have them talk with you for an hour on the weekends. That is the closest thing to immersion that you can get.
- Read a book outside of class for fun.
One of the greatest methods to learn an active vocabulary is to read something (hard or easy) in the target language and translate as you go. Read it out loud to work on pronunciation. Listening to yourself read will also improve your grammar. The harder the better. Although picture books are a great place to start, when you read current articles you grab more educated colloquial speech.
- Go to a meeting of the target language speakers and people-watch.
Observe their body language.
Find a student club or a meetup group. You don’t have to be fluent and you don’t have to even be a part of the group. All you have to do is show up to the place they’re gathering and watch. It’s up to you whether you want to jump into the fray or sit and watch.
- Make a tangible goal of going to the country. Start saving money now!
If you’re continually motivated, you’ll grow exponentially. Have a goal of going to the country so that you learn the language out of future survival. It’s also just plain fun to dream of the moment you step off the plane.
- SLANG!
We all know that most of our foreign language vocabulary comes from cuss words at first. This time, learn words that natives use everyday to describe how they’re feeling. Slang softens the new language and allows you to sound more fluent than you really are.
10. Use your instinct.
By this I don’t mean BS it and speak the first thing that comes to your mind. What I mean by instinct is to notice all the things that other students don’t. That includes humor, tone, cadence, inflection, and more.
Whereas the French language is rather consistent in their cadence in the beginning, they elongate the vowels at the last word. There are so many little things like that in every language that doesn’t get translated over in class. Being conscious of something as silly as Japanese stand up comedy makes a huge connection difference. Foreign language conversation goes both ways. When we put ourselves in their context, they start to see us as someone that belongs there. When we learn how to walk the walk, natives will talk their talk to us. They can teach us things we can’t get in a classroom.