5 things you should DO when learning a second language.
Place yourself there: you have a language oral exam, or a presentation, or a job interview in a second language. You feel the eyes of the listener are saying: mmm…this person does not sound very comfortable…is he/she having trouble finding words? is it me? You start feeling the sweat sliding down the collar of your shirt and… you wake up. Yes, it was a dream, but I’m sure some of you felt that could happen to you…so what to do? Here’s what to do:
1. USE the language for personal purposes -predictable, right? It is often forgotten that speaking a language is a skill, just like driving a car or playing a musical instrument is. No matter how much knowledge you gain about it through books or exercises, your skill is unlikely to truly improve unless you practise it -using the targeted language to do things you enjoy doing in life may help you more than a hundred grammar exercises. From organizing volleyball matches on the beach to attending culinary workshops. Anything works! There are great applications on the net for it –just search meetup barcelona on Google. Find groups that gather in bars to practice the language if you prefer. Find your own language partner –just Google language exchanges barcelona- or go for conversation private tuition if you have the money –it’s a good way to spend it!
2. Just face it: you are probably going to sound stupid... As we saw earlier, many language learners hold the mysterious belief that somehow years of textbook cramming and classes where a teacher is lecturing a monologue will magically make their skill develop. And there are other wrong strategies. For instance, one strategy I find particularly ineffective is the one based on waiting until you can make almost no mistakes before opening your mouth so as not to embarrass yourself. Please. Don’t Do That. You really have to overcome your fear and your embarrassment and practice speaking with somebody as soon as you can. You will make a fool of yourself. Surely. Well, do. So what?
3. You need to hear it everywhere! We all learn by copying, and the only way you can copy a language is by listening to someone speak it. Even if sometimes you don’t understand much of what you listen to, don’t hesitate to get exposed to the language as much as you can (i.e. music, movies, radio, the news, etc.): you’ll get used to the “flow” of the language. And here is the good news: Euroaula is bringing immersion to your household: For our 1st and 2nd year students of GRAU in Tourism Tell me more is going to be available very soon! Log in and surf it -the more, the better! You will also be able to speak to it!
4. Zoom out! See the bigger picture Languages involve a lot of uncertainty. If you get worried about having to know every single word you find, you will feel miserable and may fall into lethargy. The problem is, we can never know every word there is out there. Good guessing skills (intuition, that is!) are very important when it comes to acquiring a foreign language, and you should ensure you remain flexible and open to uncertainty. Get into the habit of guessing the meaning of new words from context. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually learn them through repeated exposure, in different contexts, at different places. However, you should look for words that are vital to your understanding of what’s happening if there is no way you can guess them; keep your eyes on the big picture. Focus on what you know rather than on what you don’t know.
5. The music of the language: intonation. A lot of people dedicate little time to really working on their pronunciation, and much less on their intonation (what some call the “flow” or “music” of the language). If we pronounce foreign words in the music of our own language, we will be hard to understand. This might surprise you, but intonation may actually be more important than the pronunciation of individual sounds or grammar if you want to make yourself understood. And here’s some good news again: you only need to listen to the language –no thinking required!
Roger García, English teacher
