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Making the most of your time and energy when you’re learning a foreign language isn’t easy. As a learner of foreign languages myself, I’ve wasted endless hours and have often lost my motivation and been tempted to give up learning altogether.
Fortunately, over the years I’ve come up with useful ways to save time and avoid going round in circles, studying the same words and grammar over and over. So, here’s how I’ve succeeded in learning several foreign languages.
- I keep away from language courses that don’t come with audio material. Learning a language without audio recordings is like trying to find out what colors look like by staring at a black and white TV.
- I always look for language courses that minimize the number of words I have to look up in the dictionary. Good courses give you the translation of the words in the dialogs and texts you’re studying. Very good courses give you those words also in their recorded material.
- If you’re having lessons with a teacher, always learn from native speakers. An hour with a native speaker is worth twenty with a non-native, and you don't pick bad pronunciation habits.
- I don’t wait anymore for the day when I’ll have plenty of time to spare. Those times never happen to most of us. Instead, I listen to audio magazines, audio books, podcasts, etc., while I cook, commute, bathe, walk, etc. Using those free ten or twenty minutes here and there a few times a day can truly work miracles.
- I always use language courses that are right for my level and focus on topics I like. There are plenty of language courses to choose from, and they vary widely in their teaching methods, content, pace and structure. Getting the right language course for you, as an individual, will make all the difference to whether you succeed or not.
This article has been written by Maria Fernandez, an experienced Spanish teacher and author of Learn Spanish At Your Own Pace, Spanish for Kids - interactive multimedia lessons, Spanish Podcasts for Beginners, and other language learning publications.
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