It took me nearly 25 years to get around to starting to learning a language properly…

I’ve always been a “numbers guy”. At school, university, and now my job. When I was a teenager I dismissed learning a language as a frustrating thing. I got an A at GCSE French, but my accent was poor, and my grasp of vocabulary felt insufficient. Frustrated, I never spoke it after, and now it’s all forgotten.

A seed of wanting to know another language remained though. Forever fueled when I’d talk to a non-native English speak with 3 or 4 languages under their belt. Five months in South America would be my test bed for Spanish in the real world, and I started practising before I went.

And once I arrived in the other side of the Atlantic, I discovered how much I enjoyed communicating in another language. The way languages were taught to me at school were all wrong. It shouldn’t be all rope learning grammar and blocks of arbitrary phrases. It should be about conversation with real people that I truly want to talk to. With continued practice, the words just start to flow.

I can’t claim to be anywhere close to fluency. I’ll continue flunking of pronunciations and meaning of new words for a very long time. But I’ll keep on learning. My tips on how best to do this are below.

Just first – as us native English speakers often need a little more persuasion – why bother learning a language in the first place?

Why learn?

Meet more people.

If you speak English, you perhaps speak the worlds most widely spoken language. At the top estimates as many as 1.5 billion can communicate in English, but that still leaves 80% of the globe who don’t. That’s a lot of room for new friends or potential romances.

And even if someone else speaks some English, if you make an effort to speak in their language first, you’ll often be surprised at how suddenly they have much more time for you.

Get to know a bigger world.

If you’re speak some of a language, you’ll suddenly feel more more comfortable traveling to the places that it’s spoken. Your holidays will become much more enjoyable. And the culture of the place will open up in much greater detail too. From music and history to crude jokes. There’s a lot out there that is never translated into English.

It’s good for the brain.

You can’t argue with science, and from numerous studies it’s been linked to a huge range of benefits. For starters it improves your English by drawing you to focus on the mechanics of languages, it helps to ward of Alzheimers, and it even makes the brain bigger!

It improves your career options.

At worst it adds an impressive line to your CV. And then there’s potentially so much more. It makes you better able to communicate internationally – often a good way to boost your salary in this multinational world. And perhaps, it gives you an exciting opportunity overseas, something you never would have had the ability to take otherwise.

It’s satisfying to learn something new.

Sometimes it’s just nice to feel good about yourself. And this is quite simply much easier to do when you’re accomplishing something.

You’re much less likely to get screwed while traveling.

Taxi drivers and hard nosed sellers won’t know what’s hit them when you explain to them in their language how they’re trying to rip you off.

How to learn?

Conversation, conversation, conversation.

I’ve said it three times because this is what it’s all about. Let’s be honest, it’s why you’re learning a language. It’s also the most efficient and enjoyable way to lean. To be speaking it right from the first opportunity. Classes or online course might promise you the world, but remember that they’re also trying to sell you a product. In reality, the best way to learn is completely free – it is just to speak it as much as possible. Repetition is the surest way to memorisation, and through conversation you’ll also be picking up new words all the time. Sure, you’ll make a few mistakes, but everyone does. And as many people you speak to will have been a fellow language learner at some point, there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or afraid off. And these days, no matter how provincial your town is or how socially inept you might be, finding someone to talk to is not hard:

• Online language exchanges – These are incredibly accessible, and there are dozens of these. Free websites that allow you to chat with a native speaker of essentially any language. Many people want to hear a native English speaker, and they incredibly willing to give their time to help you with your learning in exchange. Italki is an absolutely fantastic website. I used it to start chatting to many South Americans before I flew out there, and some of them event went on to become my friends in person. You can chat through their messaging service, and I really recommend setting up Skype conversations right from the start.

• Language exchange meet-up groups – Most cities will have these. Often you’ll be able to practise with a beer in your hand – which we all know is a great way of loosing the foreign language tongue. Have a search for Meetup and Couchsurfing events and Facebook groups.

• Holidays – Go on and treat yourself. Head to the country and put your conversational skills into action.

I now also use Facebook Chat and WhatsApp on a daily basis to keep up conversational Spanish with some great people I met in South America and other language exchange buddies. With the aid of Google translate for those occasional words I don’t know, or the new ones I want to use, I have little problem typing or voice messaging in Spanish.

It also goes without saying. The more time you spend speaking a language, the faster you’ll learn it. Whatever people might say to you, there is no shortcut to time and perseverance. But for me, conversation is a much more enjoyable way to learn than having a head in an exercise book ever was.

Phrase book and beginner book/CDs.

If you’re a complete beginner it’s helpful to get the groundings in a cheap and easy way. Just read and listen when you have the time – on the bus, or while cooking dinner. But once you’ve got a few words and phrases under your belt, pass these on to someone else – it’s time to start talking to real people.

One-on-one tutoring.

A beginners group class might also be of helpful hearing and practising the basics, but once you’re beyond a few classes, switch to a private tutor. There’s no hiding now, and so it forces you to listen and speak much more. You can also tailor the class to exactly what you want to get out of it. You’ll accomplish things a lot faster. It really is worth the extra costs. And if you are money conscious, use the internet to find a cheap native tutor that will teach you over Skype.

Utilise your smartphone.

I’ve downloaded Google translates English-Spanish dictionary offline onto my phone. I can check words, even on the move. I also have Duolingo – an addictive free app that challenges you to learn a few words each level. You’ll get far more out of this than Candy Crush, and 10 minutes a day is a helpful way to expand your vocabulary. If you look, there are a lot more apps too. Games, and vocabulary/grammar builders. While not an application as such, you can access the website SpanishDict, which is fantastic for a fast check of verb conjugations.

Films, books, music, podcasts etc

To learn a language well you need to create a small world around it. Watch, read, and listen just like a native. You won’t understand everything, but you will be absorbing the rhythm and the accent. I’ve met people that have learnt English as a second almost entirely by this method – simply absorbing the cultural output of the USA and England over the years.

Try and find films with English subtitles if you’re struggling. Get a book in the language to read as soon as you can – young adult fiction is often a good way to start – you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you understand (and the dictionary on the smart phone for the rest). With music, find the lyrics to read while you’re listening. And with the right podcasts you’ll have no problem, you can find them online tailored to all language lessons.

Write things down.

I carry around a small notebook with me that I can flick through in the quieter moments of the day. If you speak, write, and read something you’ll memorise it much quicker. A language teacher once told me that I should aim to do that with 10 new words a day. Even if you do it for only a couple of words a day, you’re vocabulary will improve fast. When it comes to ordinary conversation, it’s said that 100 basic words comprise 50% of those you’ll speak. Target what you learn and you’ll be conversational in no time at all.

Conversation.

I’ve already said this once, but it’s so important that I’m saying it again. And if there’s no one around, have conversations in your own head. What might you want to say to someone if they were in front of you now? Or had a great conversation in English today? Well how much of this can you translate into your new language. Look up any key words that you don’t yet know.

Date someone foreign.

An option only available to singletons, but it’s arguably the best incentive to learning a language that there is!

Before South America I found some great inspiration from a few other too. If I haven’t yet persuaded you to say hola, bonjour, ni hao, or hello in whatever language you’d like to speak, have a look at: [Add links]