The Best Way to Learn a Language: A Fail-Proof Method.
Introduction
So, what's the best way to learn a new language? Okay, so it's perhaps an impossible question to answer. And yet, as language geeks, we have been obsessed with finding the answer for several years. The problem is that if you ask 100 different successful polyglots (people who speak many languages) how they do it, you will most likely get 100 different answers. But what do they all have in common? We were determined to find the answer. We've watched all the videos we could find on language learning, attended several language conferences worldwide, read dozens of books on efficient language learning and learned multiple languages ourselves. We've discovered that the answer is actually quite simple. It's no miracle. It all comes down to finding the right balance between two concepts we are all very familiar with.
Theory: Find great learning resources to build up your knowledge.
Practice: Train your skills almost every day in a way you love.
Theory and practice. You need both to learn almost any skill. Sure, it sounds really obvious, but most people who fail at language learning were not able to find that perfect balance between theory and practice. The balancing act is the tricky part. Too much of either will give you very limited results. Almost everything is learned that way. A doctor goes to medical school to learn the theory, then puts that theory into practice during their medical internship. You want to learn how to play the guitar? You need to learn a bit of theory, then pick up a guitar and practice for several hours. Yep, it's that simple. But it's not always easy to apply when it comes to learning a new language.
The Problem with Traditional Methods: Not Enough Practice.
If you have ever learned a language in school, you were probably never able to reach high levels because you didn't get nearly enough practice. All you learned during those long hours in class is theory. It's very possible to study a language for years without being able to use it. You can build a huge bank of knowledge in your mind, but without enough practice, you have nothing more than a bunch of jumbled vocabulary words and grammar rules. Practice is what truly brings the language together.
The Problem with Beginners: Not Enough Theory.
On the other hand, practising a new language without any knowledge of the building blocks required to understand how the language works is like trying to bake a cake without any ingredients. You're just stirring up an empty bowl (yes, your head is the empty bowl). You need to practice the theory, and you need to continually strike that perfect balance between the two. This balance will gradually change as you get more advanced in the language. The beginning stages will be heavier on theory, then practice should slowly take over as your level in the language increases. Eventually, practice is all you need to continue improving.
Learning a Language vs. Acquiring a Language.
Languages enter our brain in two very important ways. The first one being conscious learning. This is when you are actively trying to remember new words, to understand grammar rules, to pronounce certain letters, etc. This is the theory aspect. The second way languages enter our brain is through lots of input exposure to the language; either through reading or listening. This is how we acquire languages naturally without much conscious effort. You simply sit down, let the words flow in and your brain will start to form new bonds, notice reoccurring patterns and learn new words from context. Isn't that great?
The general message of what you are reading or listening to needs to be understandable to some extent for language acquisition to work.
But there's a catch: Languages can only be acquired naturally through comprehensible input. This is a hypothesis from linguist Stephen Krashen (Ph.D. in Linguistics), who has written a lot of publications on second-language acquisition. This simply means that the general message of what you are reading or listening to needs to be understandable to some extent for language acquisition to work. If you don't understand a single word, you won't learn anything from it. You could listen to audiobooks for hundreds of hours in a new language and not improve at all. If it's just noise to you, your brain will filter it right out. Your brain loves to simply ignore the things it doesn't understand. The material has to mean something.
On the other hand, if you understand the general message or idea, you will learn many words from context. The problem is that when you are a complete beginner in a new language, nothing is comprehensible. It's just a bunch of sounds other people make with their mouths that mean absolutely nothing to you. We need to fix that by actively learning some language theory.
Theory: Finding Great Learning Resources.
For most people, it's unthinkable to simply practice the language as a beginner and get great results. Reading a book will be frustrating, talking to someone will be pretty much impossible, and television or audiobooks will be totally incomprehensible. Immersion is only effective if you take care not to drown in the language. Otherwise, you will simply feel overwhelmed and it'll give you a sense of “this is not for me”, or “learning a language is too hard”. It's the equivalent of giving someone a violin and saying: “here, play this”. Or throwing someone in the water and saying: “there, swim”.
Immersion is only effective if you take care not to drown in the language.
We need to learn some theory first, and we do this with great resources. It could be a computer program like OUINO, but it can be anything you find useful for your needs. We believe there are a few key features that are incredibly helpful when learning language theory.
Key Features to Look for in Great Language Resources.
Thorough Content: Make sure the method you use teaches proper pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and verbs in a way that makes sense. You need to be able to use this resource for the long haul in order to reach a comfortable level in the language. It should bring you to a point where all you need to keep improving is language exposure and practice.
Structure & Progress: Your learning resource needs to have some kind of structure and be organized in a way that allows you to improve. Make sure you are not always searching for what to learn next. You should be able to see what you have learned so far in order to avoid feeling lost.
Flexibility & Autonomy: You need to learn things that matter to you. Learning useless vocabulary words will kill your motivation. You need to learn at your own pace. Find a speed that is right for you; too fast and you will be lost, too slow and you will be bored.
Challenge & Practice: You need to be able to practice what you learn in multiple ways and feel challenged. If the method you are using always seems really easy, ask yourself if you are truly learning.
These are some of the points we made sure to include in OUINO. But any resource covering the points above is most likely a very good learning resource and will help you achieve your goals. The length of time you use a course will depend on the language you are learning, your experience with learning new languages, and your personal preferences.
Practice: Train Your Skills Doing What You Love.
The word ”love“ here is essential. The most important thing when practising your new language is to enjoy what you do. Polyglots throughout the world all seem to learn languages in very different ways, yet they all succeed. Some language learners rave about the power of reading, others swear by speaking from day one, others mostly watch television or listen to podcasts. The answers seem different for everyone, but in the end, they are all saying the same thing. They are simply stating what they love doing to learn languages, and this becomes the best way to learn for them. It makes sense, doesn't it? When you love what you do, it becomes much easier to stay motivated and learning becomes a seamless experience.
The best way to learn a language is to truly enjoy the ride. Once you have learned a bit of theory, it's all about making the language part of your life and finding ways to practice that don't seem like a chore. If you don't like to read in your native language, it would be absurd to make reading your main learning activity. If you're a shy introvert, speaking to people as a beginner will give you anxiety attacks. You need to try different things. You'll eventually find the perfect way to practice your language. Learning a language takes a long time, there's no way around it. The hours you spend practising this language can be long and painful, or fun and exciting. The brain learns a lot better when the content is relevant and interesting. Plus, the truth is that if you don't find a way to enjoy the learning process, it will be next to impossible to keep it up in the long run, and you'll likely give up before you reach any kind of fluency.
The 4 Language Skills and How to Practice Them.
When learning a new language, there are four main skills you'll need to work on. You have your input skills: listening and reading. There's also your output skills: speaking and writing. Input and output language learning are closely related and all skills are interconnected, but creating a healthy balance of listening, reading, speaking and writing can bring you a lot of success in language learning. There's an incredible amount of things you can do to practice your new language. Just make sure to choose content that's appropriate for your current skill level at first. Take a look at the following list of learning activities and try the ones that are most appealing to you. If you'd like to get more detail about these learning activities, we have many other articles and videos on our blog that will help you find ways to love learning a new language.
Listening: podcasts, audiobooks, music, movies, TV shows, YouTube videos.
Reading: books, magazines, articles, comics / graphic novels, social media feed.
Speaking: real life, online teacher, online language exchange, thinking aloud / speaking to yourself.
Writing: online chat & messaging, journal/diary, email & SMS, translating, creative writing.
Conclusion.
In the end, it all comes down to this: strike the perfect balance between theory and practice, and make sure you practice the language in a way you love. Finding things you enjoy doing will ensure that it's not a burden to put in some time every day. If you can do that, you are guaranteed to make a lot of progress in your new language. If you're interested in learning a new language, we have combined everything we know from years of language acquisition and research to create an awesome learning program that will take care of the “theory“ part of the equation, but it will also give you plenty of practice. It will teach you everything you need to know to become independent in the language you want to learn. You can find us at OUINO.com. Thanks!