Language Learning Strategies

Some people claim that the most important thing for language learning is talent. In fact such statements are very far from the truth. It is most important to study a lot and to have enthusiasm for the language, in order to learn it. I developed some strategies that I feel work well for me.

Personally I think that vocabulary is most important to learn a language.  If you don’t know enough words, you won’t be able to express your thoughts. There are two ways of studying vocabulary: for long-term memory or for short-term memory. Of course it is desirable not to forget the words you learned. Therefore it is important to practice them over and over again. Even if you think that you already know a word, it is still possible to forget that term if you don’t use it on a regular basis. This regularity can be achieved by using vocabulary trainers. Phase 6 for example is a very good program that retrieves you in specific intervals. If you know a word, it is shifted to the next phase. If you fail to know it, the word is shifted to Phase 1 again. In the higher phases the words are tested less frequently than in the lower ones.  Even though this is a very effective program, I cannot use it because it is too time-consuming, when you have a huge amount of vocabulary to study. Instead I use a vocab training app on my Smartphone, which lets me decide when I want to test my knowledge. I often employ it in the tram, because my way home from university is quite long. Before a progress check I tend to focus on the words I need to know for that exam, because it’s usually very much and it’s hard to memorize them all. Vocabulary is still one of my biggest problems regarding language learning, but I think that if I optimize my time-management, I will be able to extend my word pool.

Grammar is also an important part of every language, because it ensures comprehensibility. It is not enough to understand grammar rules. To me it is important to practice a lot to explore my weaknesses. Often times I realize that I misunderstood a rule while doing gap-fill exercises. These should always come with solutions. At university we use the ‘Innovations’ books for grammar practice. The course book doesn’t contain any solutions. Therefore I don’t really like to use it. The workbook by contrast is very useful and also quite extensive, which I like. The exercises have helped me to improve my grammar skills, so I can really recommend that book.

When it comes to listening and reading comprehension there is just one thing that I can recommend: Real life practice. It is not only the most effective way to optimize your skills, but it is also a very rewarding experience. After finishing an English book, I always feel amazing, because I love to read and moreover I know that I did something to improve my language skills – without any pressure. Furthermore, in most cases the quality of the original version is much better than it is in the dubbed one. Another thing I love to do is watching English series that weren’t yet published in German language, for example Game of Thrones. I can recommend the page that starts with kinox and ends with .tv  ;) – a very good source for poor students who have no money. But keep in mind to choose a version without subtitles! Otherwise you will never practice your listening comprehension.  All in all those strategies worked out quite well so far, as I never have too many problems with listening or reading comprehension.

Text production is the supreme discipline of language learning, as you have to implement everything you studied.  This can be rather hard work. The best idea is to produce many texts and to have them corrected by an expert, preferably a native speaker. It’s important to observe the types of errors you make, to see where your weaknesses are. After that you can work on improving them. Before writing I prefer to draw a little mindmap that contains headlines for every paragraph. Otherwise I tend to flounder and my text has no structure. In the end, the message of a text is what matters the most and language is just the tool to convey that message. It’s always good to keep that in mind.

One thing that people often forget is that cultural knowledge is also very import for language learning. Depending on the culture, there are many different traditions regarding religion, food, parties, and everyday life. As a result there are also various specific expressions. If you know nothing about culture, you will not even be able to understand some words, even if they are translated into your mother tongue. As a translator you might also get confronted with historic topics. If you are not familiar with them, the job might get very hard for you as well. Admittedly I often struggle with cultural issues as I find it very hard to remember dates. Facts can easily be memorized by watching documentaries and reading articles about a topic, but the numbers are another thing. Maybe it helps to draw a timeline with little images that show what happened when. I will probably try out this strategy for the next progress check. We will see how it works out.

Thus it is proven that language learning is all about effort and good strategies. Talent might be useful but studying is still most important.