learning-a-new-language Archives

How to Stay Motivated While Learning a New Language

Learning a new language can be a rewarding adventure. However, it is not an easy task, as it requires regularity and a lot of work. Thankfully, there are many ways to stay on top of your game when it comes to language learning. Here, experts from Lingomee.com share some tips with you about how to keep motivated while studying a new language.

Set Realistic Mini Goals

To speak a language communicatively you need a few months, or sometimes years, of regular practice. That might feel overwhelming, especially if you are just starting. This is why it’s worth setting small goals that can keep you motivated.

For example, you can set a goal of learning 50 new words per week, or having a short conversation in a new language, or even practicing language 5 minutes every day. After finishing the task, you will feel instant gratification: maybe you didn’t get to the native level in a year, but you are on the way there. Step by step to reach your ultimate goal.

Schedule Your Learning Time and Stick to It

Whether you are learning a language with a private tutor, through apps, or with a handbook, you need to schedule time when you learn and stick to it! It is always hard to find time for learning. It might seem that you are very busy, and while sometimes it might be true, very often you might waste your time watching Netflix or scrolling Instagram.

Sit down and think about the realistic time you can spend on learning a language. Is it 5 minutes every day? Or maybe four 30-minute sessions a week? Whatever amount you choose, try to make it your routine – write down in a calendar the days you are going to study, and try to do it, no matter how tired or busy you are. This way, you can build healthy a habit that will help you to stay motivated.

Find Language Learning Buddies

Sometimes it’s easier to stick to the practice when you have someone who can hold you accountable. Having a learning buddy is a great idea! You can motivate one another to learn and even improve your skills by practicing the language while talking with one another.

If you don’t know anyone who is learning the same language as you, you can try tandem language learning or search for language learning groups. It’s a great opportunity to improve your skills, stay motivated, and also meet new people. Perhaps they have similar learning goals as you and you may become good friends.

Make Your Learning Interesting

Trying to memorize new words, complicated grammar rules, and the structures of sentences can be tiring. To not lose your motivation, add an extra spin to your learning. Watch your favorite series in the original language, play around with some language apps, or try to read a simple book. This way, you will connect learning with fun and your studying session will become more pleasant.

Top 5 Language Learning Apps for Everyone

You can install these best language learning apps on your iOS or Android smartphone and learn a new language anytime, anywhere. All apps are designed for people with different knowledge of the language. You can set the level of difficulty, study the language in a mode convenient for you and in your free time. It is enough to choose one program you will apply to every day. The apps can be used as a standalone vocabulary and grammar review tool or an add-on to make your English or tutor learning even more effective. We will take a look at the most incredible five language learning apps for everyone. Read on!

Preply

Preply is considered one of the best language learning applications for beginners and intermediate learners. The most important thing about that application is its native user interface and clear messaging. You can choose over a hundred online tutors to start learning your favorite language.

The application of a popular service with many different workouts will help expand your vocabulary and develop your reading, writing, and listening skills. Learning is based on gamification, so you will not lose interest in English. You will constantly feel progress and the incentive to move on.

Duolingo

It is a handy application, thanks to which you can playfully learn English, spending just a few minutes a day. Start with simple verbs and phrases, practice your grammar, and complete daily assignments to build vocabulary and get closer to your goal.

Another app with an unusual, playful approach will make learning English pleasurable and easy to memorize new words. The curator of the Memrise reconnaissance group will take you on an exciting journey through the unknown Universe of the English language, full of secrets, mysteries, mysterious enemy agents, and kind assistants.

BBC Learning English

The official BBC app, bringing together content from a variety of English learning programs on radio and podcasts of the Broadcasting Corporation. In addition to audio content, various exercises are available for understanding grammar, building phrases, and mastering new words.

The application does not require much time: it is enough to devote 20 minutes a day. It contains more than 20 thousand English words, and will help you improve your pronunciation thanks to unique simulators. You’ll be able to replenish your vocabulary daily by memorizing ten new words with this program. In addition, you can divide new words into thematic lists and track progress for additional motivation.

Learn English Grammar

The British Council’s app is for everyone who wants to improve their English. As the name suggests, it focuses on learning grammar and helps you progress at any level. Work through the exercises, answer test questions, and practice phrasing about various topics. This app enables you to memorize new words through associations. The Pronunciation Assessment program will help you learn to pronounce the words you have understood correctly. The app is available for free, but there are also paid materials.

English Grammar in Use

A program from Cambridge University Press helps you improve your grammar skills. With the help of the English Grammar in Use, you can automatically use articles, irregular verbs, and nouns.

It is a real treasure, not just a dictionary that might be on your smartphone: 150 thousand words, a spell checker, and the ability to search for terms to create anagrams. In addition, every day, you will memorize the day’s assertion that the application will suggest to you. The dictionary is available offline.

To Wrap It Up

Mobile apps have turned language learning into a fun game. Learn English and other languages through your favorite TV shows and songs, talking to native speakers, fun quests, memes, and horror cartoons. It does not take much time – use the minutes that you stand in queues or spend on public transport. Most of these language learning applications on this list are free.

We hope that this blog post has provided you with the most valuable information on the mobile apps that can change your view of learning languages. You can download the most suitable one, pick the subscription type and start learning. Some of them are free, though, which is excellent for the people to try out.

The 8 Unexpected Perks of Learning a New Language

The ability to speak more than one language is a gift, but it’s one that doesn’t come easily. People are never lukewarm about their attempts to learn a new tongue. They’re either being forced to and hate it or they willingly throw themselves into the new linguistic exercises.

There is no in between. Here’s what you gain when you learn to love a new language.

1. A new way of looking at things.

A new language provides you with an untried lens through which you can view the world. From its grammar structures to new ways of constructing adjectives, languages operate differently from each other in how they go about describing the physical world.

Learning these new methods, you force your brain to see the things from the point of that language. A new language gifts you with the ability to come at problems from more than one perspective. Aren’t you lucky?

2. Perseverance.

Learning a language is no easy feat — it’s a long protracted task on par with Hercules’ 12 trials. It’s trying for sure, but the results are undeniable.

Not only do you gain the ability to drop what you’re doing and throw down in a new tongue, you’ve also received a first class lesson in how to persevere to the end.

3. Ability to look inside the brain of a new culture.

Being proficient in another language gives you a front row seat for beginning to understand the way another culture works. From idioms to how people greet one another, language is the way in which cultures operate and how traditions are passed on.

By being able to understand the nuances of a tongue, you get a little glimpse straight into the heart of the culture that wields it.

4. A secret code.

Bare with me on this one. Yes, there are probably millions (if not billions) of people who can also speak the language you are learning. However, if you are learning it at school within a friend group where not everyone can speak it, then you have been given a secret code.

When you and your friends need to talk to each other about that uncouth faux pas your other friend just made, then your shared language is perfect. Your other friends may grow to resent you, but they’re just jealous.

5. Travel becomes cheaper and easier.

When you’re traveling in a different country it’s a huge asset to be able to speak that language. Not only will it save you tons of time, but it will save you money because you won’t ever have to consider using a dreaded tour guide.

Not to mention that traveling on your own in a foreign country using your hard earned language powers makes you feel like a complete bad*ss.

6. New friends from those previously inaccessible.

A new language gives you the potential to be friends with a whole score of people who you now have the ability to be conversant with. You didn’t even know how many besties you were missing out on! Revel in your new friends.

7. Access to new literature.

The same goes for literature. Yes, there are translated texts, but something is always lost in translation, or maybe something is gained… Regardless, a translated work will never be exactly the same as the original, and that’s okay.

Yet, when being proficient gives you the ability to experience the work in its undoctored form.

8. An appreciation for your mother tongue.

In the process of adventuring into a new language, you stray from your mother tongue. But from a distance, you’re able to see more clearly all the shades that make it beautiful.