Become Fluent in a Language

Fluency in a foreign language is a major accomplishment. It's also a great way to increase your opportunities for employment and travel. Fluency is made up of several different factors, so it's important to work on each aspect: speaking, listening, reading, cultural literacy, and writing.

Steps

Improve your listening skills

  1. Listen to native speakers in natural contexts as much as possible. If you can't find live native speakers to eavesdrop on, watch movies and television shows in that language, or listen to books on tape or music in that language.
  2. Focus on the unique sounds of the language, including the inflection patterns.

Improve your speaking

  1. Practice speaking every day. Try to learn new words and phrases every day. It is also crucial to frequently practice the earlier words you have learned, in addition to newer words. If possible, practice with native speakers, and encourage them to correct you.
  2. Practice the sounds in the language which are most difficult for non-native speakers (for example "ra" and "tsu" in Japanese).
  3. Record yourself speaking, then play it back and compare your inflection and pronunciation to that of native speakers.
  4. Think in the language as much as possible, instead of thinking in your native language and then translating.
  5. Speak as native speakers usually are doing, using idioms and linguistic shortcuts, instead of imitating a textbook, which is often excessively formal and repetitive.
  6. Study the grammar. Grammar books try to explain the rules of the language. The sentence 'This that same is' consists of English words, but isn't grammatically correct.
    • Make strong efforts to improve and remember specific grammar rules, so as to avoid incomprehensibility or vagueness to native speakers. 'Thinking' in the other language will also become easier and more frequent.
    • People who speak only one language often assume that the rules of their own language apply to all languages, or that these rules are almost the same everywhere. This is not the case at all. Learning a language requires more effort and commitment than just learning lots of foreign words.
    • Crash courses often try to play down the importance of studying the grammar. Attempt to opt for a foreign language class, where the teacher may be more adept in helping you better understand grammar rules on a personal and more efficient level.

Improve your reading

  1. Read books, magazine articles, and other "real life" material whenever possible. Based on vocabulary you have learnt, attempt to translate or at the very least, get a gist of the contents' meaning or aim.
  2. Read some material in the language every day.
  3. Make a list of new words as you come across them. Guess the meaning based on the context, visual or auditorial clues before looking them up in a dictionary.

Improve your Writing

  1. Write something in the language every day. This could range from a short sentence summing up your day, to a full-page diary entry or article.
  2. Imitate the words of what you've read.
  3. Study the literary conventions of the language thoroughly. Sometimes the written version of the language is radically different than the spoken version.

Tips

  • Don't underestimate the power of speaking with a native speaker in the language you want to learn. This alone will catapult you into some fluency. If you are unable to find any you can meet with personally, you can usually find a conversation partner to converse with over Skype. Websites such as Conversation Exchange serve as both directories and platforms for conversation partners looking to meet another person who speaks a language they want to learn. You'll also be able to help them with learning English.
  • Make mistakes without worry. It's good to make mistakes because you can learn from them, and be much more likely to correct them in future instances.
  • Attempt to learn the language from a mix of factors; for instance, learn how to master the language in both formal and informal registers, to be able to develop a wider approach to different audiences/people and situations.
  • List, manage and add notes on all of the necessary vocabulary, grammar rules and extra information of the language in a notebook or digital notepad for future reference and revision opportunities.
  • To improve memory of vocabulary for revision, include images (visual or mental) that associate best with specific words. Simply viewing the images used in real-life situations may result in you being able to quickly remember the word associated with the image used.
  • Expand your knowledge across various media. Learn the linguistic structures of a newspaper/magazine article, formal/informal letter, casual conversation or even advertisements to widen your grasp of the language, as you are available to encounter these forms of media on a daily basis.
  • Study Esperanto for a couple of weeks. Studies have shown that people who learn Esperanto for just two weeks more easily learn another language- like French- than those who jump right into it. Esperanto also has many words that are easy to remember for English speakers (such as ĉambro, pronounced tchambro, which means room), and it's spoken internationally, so if you do end up learning it for more than 2 weeks, it might be useful!

Warnings

  • Make sure you know the full cultural meaning of slang phrases, etc, before attempting to use them.
  • Avoid translating between any two languages word-for-word, as results will more often than not turn out grammatically incorrect to native speakers, due to differences in vocabulary and grammar use in each language. Consult a native speaker for correcting translations. Online translators are good enough for rough translations.
  • Learn and maintain a good knowledge of the culture-- you don't want to offend the people you're practicing with. It might be an idea to learn how language in the culture in the past differs from language used in the present.
  • Aiming for fluency means aiming for dedication to revision. Prevent yourself from forgetting/avoiding revision, or you will quickly end up forgetting much of the important content of the language, and end up lengthening or abandoning your fluency time-frame. Make efforts to continue learning the language on a daily basis non-stop for best results.

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