When learning a language, studying is where we place most of our effort. It requires concentration, attention and brainwork. Yet while perusing verb tables can be loads of fun 😉, you would only end up spending a few hours a week actively learning.
Here are four things you can do outside of studying that will help improve your language ability:
Change your mobile phone language
We spend a lot of time on our phones and they can be great language learning tools. Consider changing the language of your phone’s operating system to your target language. This will help you to pick up on common vocabulary related to everyday communication. You could take this a step further and set individual apps to work in your target language too.
Changing your phone language can typically be done by accessing your Settings. Make sure you remember how to do it so that you don’t get confused when trying to change it back to your home language.
Watch videos with subtitles
These days subtitles are widely available for video content. Having text on screen can make it a lot easier to make out. what someone in a video is saying. However you can take using subtitles further.
Apps like Language Reactor can show subtitles in both your home and target languages. You can even focus on a specific word in the subtitle to see its translation.
Memorize a specific sentence in your target language
This is a tip I came across on Twitter by @matt_boot_ . Commit to memory a sentence in your target language that contains elements of a rule or topic you’re learning. For example, choose a sentence that contains a present tense verb, or the subjunctive mode.
Once you’ve memorised it you can practise changing individual parts of the sentence. For example, changing the subject from “I” to “he”. You’ll then be able to understand the context of what you’re trying to say a lot better. The more you practise with it the more flexible you’ll become in using different parts of the sentence.
Incorporate your target language into a hobby or passion
You might reach a point where you’ve lost motivation to learn, or you might just want to ease off of studying for a while. Feeling that way is perfectly normal. Besides, taking a break is important in preventing burnout.
Hobbies and pastimes are great ways to relax and give your brain a breather. Since you won’t get bored of a hobby easily, you can use that to aid your language learning.
Learning Japanese and have a passion for cooking? Try preparing a dish using a recipe in Japanese. Studying Portuguese and interested in football? Watch a match with Portuguese commentary. Picking up Russian and enjoy gaming? Switch your game settings to Russian.
This way you can keep your mind fresh without neglecting your language ability.