Here’s a nice little article that might prove useful for the language teachers in our faculty. It provides 10 tips regarding behaviors and attitudes you require to learn a foreign language quickly and effectively. Here’s a brief summary:

1. Immerse yourself
It’s almost impossible to learn a new language, or at least to learn it rapidly, unless you begin thinking in that language. But how do you think in a new language you can’t yet speak? The answer is to simply immerse yourself in it.

2. Forget translating: think like a baby!
Through imitation, repetition of sounds, and above all, by not being shy or self-conscious.

3. How do you say?
Besides common greetings, the one phrase you should memorize and always have at the ready is the phrase is “How do you say that / what is that called?”

4. Write it
After having conversations, jot down the things you remembered hearing but didn’t quite understand.

5. Use cognates and draw links
Unlocking the usage of cognates instantly gives you several hundred more words to your vocabulary. For example, most words ending in “ion” in the Latin languages are the same in English. For example: information / información, donation / donación

6. Local TV, movies, music
Watch movies, listen to music, sing songs, and browse newspapers and magazines. It’s fun and helps improve your pronunciation and comprehension.

7. Non-verbal cues
Beyond words, observe locals when they talk. Be it the Gaelic shrug or a slight tilt of the head, combining body language with a new tongue helps you communicate better.

8. Get emotional!
Emotive experiences often etch impressions onto our memory. Make full use of embarrassing / funny / angry experiences by linking them to the new language.

9. A world of friends / then going solo.
Having a friend to practice with helps you get better, and you can also learn from the different mistakes different people make.

10. Practice at every opportunity before and after you travel.

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