Learning something new gives us a positive feeling of a new beginning in our lives. I think we all agree with that. What I want to kill, is the feeling that people feel in their hearts when they think of the procedure of learning something new. This is why I am here. To talk about easy ways we can all learn a new language.
What I have seen from others and what I have experienced for myself in the past, is that people see it as a task, as something they MUST do. “I must get my English degree”, “I must learn the language of my ancestors”… “I must”.
No. You don’t have to do anything that doesn’t serve you personally. If it serves you personally though, you’ve got to love it.
This is where it all comes about. Loving the procedure of learning. Learning to love the time it takes us to change into someone more interesting. This is what we are going to talk about.
Easy ways to get to love the procedure of learning a new language.
These are tips that helped myself as a student of myself.
1. Learn five new words a day. I had made many mistakes before I reached this conclusion. This is what worked for me. Take it, if you think it can serve you, or leave it.
I had tried to learn several languages in the past. First because of my studies, and afterwads as a hobby. Now that I have engaged languages as a hobby in my life and I do it for pleasure, I don’t want an extra weight in my mind. Life is difficult anyway, we don’t need to add things. I learn five new words of the language that I have as a target.
Do not underestimate the importance of those five new words.
Five words a day gives us thirty new words a week. I give myself one free day. That means, if I teach myself to stay consistent and disciplined on myself, I will have 120 words at the end of the month.
But the most important lesson is something subconscious.
It is the feeling of pride that I stayed faithful to myself and maybe for the first time, I was disciplined for my own benefit. No one pushed me but me. And I did it. This feeling, if you cultivate it more it can take you really far. Not only the language thing. Starting from today. No matter your age.
Five words will be difficult to ever turn into a heavy feeling of guilt. I think most of us know how it feels like creating this dirty feeling of not doing the job I had to do for myself. A feeling that in the long term, adds to our present or future depression.
And there is no excuse! If you don’t have 3 minutes per day to learn five words, you don’t have the time to eat or shower.
2. Make this habit part of your personality. In the education system, there is a tendency to force the learner to do things. No matter the age or the background. For me, this is a crime. Imagine how many adults believe that “this was not for me”, or “I am not clever because I didn’t…”! It is not an exaggeration to think that this is one of the main reasons our society is sad.
We can’t have a positive, colorful society when each one of us feels that they are a failure.
So, if you want to learn something new, whatever this is, replace the cliche phrases: ” I do Greek/French/whatever”, “I have to study about it”, “I don’t have the time”, ” I tried but it is not for me”, ” I don’t have a specific talent” or whatever comes in your mind, with the new phrase “I like spending my free time learning Greek/French/whatever because THIS IS WHO I AM”.
THIS IS WHO I AM. The person that chooses the positivity of knowledge. Learning is a source of internal happiness. And I know it.
My personality reflects on this kind of person, I like just learning new things. I do this because this is a part of my personality and it gives pleasure. Once, you make this thought a habit, it won’t take long since you will see positive results in the way of your thought.
3.Listen to easy songs of the language. Everything we learn serves our own pleasure. The activity that pleases us is the one that will stay in our life. When you learn, even one word in a new language, you want to find this word somewhere, so as to feel the pleasure of the result of your work. This feeling is really familiar to me.
The kind of music that is ideal for a beginner, is something that bothered me as a teacher, but most importantly as a student. I have reached the conclusion that pop music in every country is the best kind of songs to get to know a new language.
Just think about it: Is it easier to get to know the English language with Black Sabbath or Britney Spears? (I am talking about the language, not the kind of the music.).
Here you can find a list of easy Greek songs and their lyrics, so as to have an easy start.
4.Get to know the country. You don’t have to visit a country in order to love it. I love Ireland, but I have never been there. It is the best era to live as a human being. All the information is in front of us in real-time and most of it, it is free. We can learn particular things about the country we choose as a target of our hobby. For example, we can learn about its geography. We can learn about the music or the scientists that were born there and their lives. About the food!
Whatever you find interesting in your life, you can transfer it regarding to this country.
Make this part of your personality. Why? Because life is much more fun this way. And you will feel a better connection with your goal.
5.Find online courses. As I mentioned before, no matter what they say, it is the best period to be alive, compared to the past. This happens for many reasons. The one that is important to us right now, is that knowledge is more approachable to anyone than ever. Knowledge is almost free and can be reached in real-time. We may have got used to it, but it is shocking.
Learning any skill nowadays is cheaper than ever.
I feel a headache when I remember how much money my parents used to pay for my English courses. You can read here about everything you need to know about e-learning and private lessons and the dilemma which of the two to choose.
Having a teacher and working as a team at your own pace for your own goal, can take you really far. A teacher can be your personal mental trainer.
Having a pasionate teacher can take your life to another level.
If you liked this article about easy ways we can all learn a new language, you may also like this one. It is about the connection between learning languages and the fight of depression.
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Efi Asvesti
Teacher & Writer @
myGreekTeacher.com
