Pro tips for language learners
I’ve worked all kinds of gigs in the language industry over the past 15 years or so. English teacher, interpreter, French teacher, and, for the last 18 months, I stopped wearing multiple hats and focused on being a translator. I’m not comfortable calling myself a pro but it’s a distinction that I just received on Fiverr (the main freelance platform that I use for work). According to them, only 1% of Applicants Earn Pro Status. All right, I’m done bragging, I promise. I do have a few tips to share on the topic of language learning, but first, let me tell you a bit about my own journey learning English.
I started learning English in 6th grade (age 12). English came to me naturally, I guess I had a knack for it. For one, I was raised by a single mom whose native tongue was not French. Although she did not get to teach us Lao (or maybe because she did not do it), I had to train my ear for things I could not understand. When she spoke to her relatives, I would try and listen to familiar sounds, patterns, and rhythms. I’d try to read her body language, mostly to figure if she was saying something behind my back (in front of me actually; one of the many perks of speaking a foreign language, I learned early on). The internet only became widespread when I was in high school; before that, music was my main teacher, especially hip hop which was all the rage in the 90s. Since there was no way to look up lyrics, I had to really listen.
When I was 16, I went on a 2-week trip to the US. We were a group of roughly 25 students. Although I was just a freshman, I could speak English better than any of my peers, making me the de facto spokesman for our group. I was very shy back then and this “position” really helped me to come out of my shell. Another plus was that it gave me the confidence to date a girl who was a sophomore (when you’re a teenage boy, nothing quite says cool dating an older girl). Each French student was paired with an American student and we stayed with their family. My language partner was a great guy, I also got along really well with his parents. In the evening, we could talk for hours. Once, we went through their photo albums. They showed me pictures in which they were both completely naked. This was at Woodstock, they explained. I kept in touch with them for maybe 6 to 8 years after that trip.
Looking back, this 2-week trip was a turning point in my life. I got to sit in on some high school classes, watch football games, visited the campus of Rutgers University, and went to the White House. I felt as though everything I had watched in movies was true, and I got to be a part of it. I’m convinced that, if not for that trip, I would not have decided to major in English 2 years later. I wouldn’t have had the same drive to improve my language skills and to get to where I am today. But enough about me, here are my Pro tips to help you along your own journey.
Don’t run before you can walk
This sounds like a no-brainer but it bears repeating. You can’t start studying chess strategy unless you’ve learned how the pieces move first. There is a method to the madness and students –especially out of frustration—- tend to take shortcuts, which is counter-productive in the long run. If you don’t know the basic rules of grammar and syntax, you should not be learning “fancy” words. For example, I have an elementary level in Spanish and a few months ago, I decided it was time to improve so I started reading Cervantes’ Don Quixote. If you’re not familiar with the book, imagine that you’ve just learned enough English to be able to read children's stories and that since you had no problem reading those, the only logical book to read after that was Hamlet. I quit after 50 pages, it was too much too soon.
Keep a holistic approach
For most people, you learn a new language to be able to experience a new culture and so the main focus is on speaking. That’s understandable, it’s also the right approach. However, my advice is not to completely disregard the other parts of the language. Think of it as the holy quaternity: listening, reading, speaking, and writing (they usually come in that order). When you begin, you can overlook one or two facets but once you get to an intermediate level, you’ll quickly hit a ceiling if you don’t find the right balance between these four.
Your typical language learning curve
Don’t obsess about how much progress you’re making
At times, you will feel like you’re on a roll, your brain can absorb new words and more importantly, come up with the right ones. But keep in mind that your progression curve tends to be steeper at the beginning and sooner or later, you’re bound to reach a plateau. When you do, it’s easy to get frustrated and to feel like your efforts are not paying off. Whatever your target language is, you might have mastered enough vocab to hold a conversation with a local but what does it take to turn a conversation into an interesting conversation? Well, a lot. For every adjective you can think of, can you name 3 or 4 synonyms? For every rule you know, how many exceptions can you think of? If you’re aware of these ebbs and flows that are inherent to language learning, you will be better prepared to sail through the difficult times.
Create language snapshots
While a tendency to look back will prevent you from moving forward; once in a while, it’s good to get a reality check, especially if you don’t have a tutor to give you pointers. It’s something I wish I had done more. I didn't really have the technology growing up, but there’s no excuse today. Keep a diary, record yourself speaking, make a video. If you study regularly and listen to recordings of yourself, you will be your harshest critic, but also, if you give it enough time, it will become evident that you made some progress. All I have left from my early 20s is my master’s thesis. I skimmed it a while back and let’s just say, I wasn’t impressed. One of the main reasons why I started blogging is that, when I will read my posts a few years from now, I’m hoping I will be disappointed. So write, vlog, record yourself, you’ll thank me later!
Language learner beware!
In my experience as a teacher, if you’ve reached an intermediate level and you’re unable to practice for an extended period of time, it’s actually possible to regress. I’ve seen it with a number of my own students who took classes in college, graduated, started a job and for one reason or another, decided to resume learning French. After a few years without using the language, they had to re-learn some of the basics. In France, when you learn a language in school, the title of the class translates into “living language”. If the language you’re learning is not living,—at least in your mind—it will slowly wither.
When you don’t work hard, work smart
Sometimes, you just don’t have the willpower or the energy to do the “hard stuff” (i.e. attend a class, a conversation group, do grammar drills…), but you still want to do something language-related, to make yourself feel better. It happens to the best of us. When you allocate time for these “in-between” activities, think of ways to be proactive. One example that comes to mind was when I was studying for the GRE (a standardized test). I had to learn thousands of new words and you can only study flashcards with words such as “internecine” or “atavistic” for so many hours. If the goal was to improve my vocabulary, I thought, I just need to read a lot.
So that’s what I did, but I was reading on my Kindle. I’m not going into the whole book vs. ebook debate but if you’re able to read in a foreign language, the Kindle has this great feature where you can simply tap on a word and see its definition. It will store the word in a Vocabulary builder that you can consult later. (See the screenshot of my actual Kindle, let me know in the comments below if you can guess what book I’m currently reading). On top of that, it will give you the context in which you found the word. I actually have a second dedicated Kindle for Spanish learning. Sometimes, I wish there was a similar feature on Netflix, where you could seamlessly take a screenshot of a scene in which you learned a new word or expression. But don’t let that be an excuse. If you’re unable to let go of your phone for 90 minutes because you have to look up in which other movies you saw that actor, then you can also grab your phone to make a quick note and check on that expression the next day.
Trial and error
When I was 20, I spent a semester abroad at the University of Sheffield, in England. I lived in an apartment with 6 other guys. One evening, there was a small party in our building. A girl approached me and we chatted for a bit. After a while, she said: “you’re looking very dapper tonight”. I had no idea what she meant. It sounds silly now. I should have guessed from context, but I was shy and self-conscious about my English. I pretended I couldn’t hear her properly. She repeated herself. At that point, I should have confessed I didn’t know the meaning of the word dapper, but my brain just froze, and instead, I grinned and walked away. I told my roommates about this incident a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh about it.
Four years later, I was dating a girl in the US. I was at her parents’ house for Thanksgiving. After stuffing ourselves with roast turkey, green beans, and pumpkin pie, she and I decided to walk it out. I wasn’t acclimated to the cold weather of the Pacific Northwest yet and after about 20 minutes, I said: “Can we head back? I’m feeling a bit frisky.” For some reason, I thought “frisky” and “chilly” were synonymous. She laughed because it was the first time she heard me make a mistake. I’m just glad her parents didn’t go on that walk with us. I have dozens of examples like this, some more embarrassing than others but the point is, if you mess up, the worst that can happen is if no one tells you about it. When you’re in good company, just go with your gut.
Other than language, the only other thing I excelled at in my life was soccer. In many ways, learning a language is very much like learning a sport. The learning curve looks similar. Sometimes, you feel “in the zone”, everything is fluid and effortless, and time seems to slow down. You seldom get to experience that feeling without putting in a serious amount of work. Yes, language is fun, it should be fun, but it’s also hard work and a lot of delayed gratification. If you put in the work, if you can get over your fear of making a fool of yourself, good things will come. Remember, shame is temporary, but new words last forever.
