Do you want to improve your foreign language skills and get to a level of a native speaker? So mastering a foreign language is not easy but if you really like the language in question, you’ll do everything to go a step further and start thinking and speaking foreign tongue as a native speaker, you should definitely check out 7 tips for improving your foreign language skills without having to double the number of your weekly language lessons.
1. Talk
It is absolutely necessary to exercise everything you’ve picked up or learned! I know how it’s embarrassing but I want to tell you that I’ve been through the laughing-stock experience too. It’s not a big deal and even locals make mistakes! That’s why you need just relax and start speaking! The more you speak, the better your pronunciation will be.
2. Read books
That’s actually what I do when I’m trying to improve my foreign language skills. To tell the truth it works like a charm! Every day you have to use only native language at work and home. Books will help you master one language like no classes ever could. You will not only learn a lot of new words and use them in a sentence but you’ll gain an unlimited access to a different dialects as well as sarcasm and humor. Reading books allows you to stop thinking in your native language and open up a new folder in which all words and rules you know fit in as if they should be.
3. Read magazines
Try to read magazines, which contain the things that might capture your attention and help you expand your vocabulary. You don’t even have to form a sentence or read the whole article – you see the picture, you see the description right under it and you can even learn the words, which do not pop up in the conversation that often. Maybe it doesn’t sound like much at first, but all those words will sooner come handy at some point.
4. Listen to music
Listening to favorite music is a perfect and easy way to improve foreign language skills! You don’t even have to like the traditional local beats to enjoy this amazing learning strategy, because each country has its own rap, rock, metal and pop scene. If you barely understand the words you can find the lyrics, read them carefully several times and even find out a translation of all the parts you can’t understand. You may couple this with your lessons, for example, listening to French music if you are learning French or Spanish music if you’re learning Spanish and so on.
5. Watch movies with subtitles
Watching movies with subtitles is one of the best ways to improve your foreign language skills. Besides it’s not bore! Don’t delete the subtitle, change it to the language you’re going to become more proficient at! You will have so much fun watching the movie with the only difference – your brain is also actively participating, memorizing the words you see on the screen.
6. Listen carefully
If you can’t speak foreign language yet, you should do your best to understand what foreigners are saying. It seems to be super-boring at first, especially if you don’t know the language at all, but there is always a light in the end of the tunnel and it will get much brighter and closer very soon! If you have questions don’t be afraid to ask about something (whether it’s a word, a phrase or the meaning), then listen carefully and do your best to remember as many new words and phrases as possible.
7. Ask questions
Still wondering how to improve your foreign language skills? If you live in a country whose language you’re learning now, you should often walk about the town you live or have at least some friends who speak the language and put them your questions. If you don’t understand and know a lot of things you can even point your finger at and ask something like “What’s that?” or “What does it say?”.
Are there any other tips for improving foreign language proficiency? What is your favorite way to learn a foreign tongue? Share your thoughts, please!