Foreign Language Fluency in 5 Easy Steps

A Wealth of free online language-learning Material

Dec 11, 2008

With the advent of the internet, the iPod and social networking sites such as Facebook, studying a foreign language is easier than ever before.

English might currently be the "global language", but there is no reason to avoid studying the other languages spoken around the world - especially with the aid of the internet and its resources.

Picking up grammar and basic vocabulary is an essential first step. Free tutorials are available at private sites and as 'added-extras' on the websites of larger organisation, like the BBC.

Although studying grammar might feel like a slog, it will make reading and writing the language later on seem like a dream. It certainly isn't necessary to learn by heart all the tenses or how to form obscure grammatical constructions, but it is a good idea to have an awareness of how a sentence is put together.

Tip #1: Learn new words at night, just before going to bed. Write the new words on a sticky note and put them on the bathroom mirror as a morning reminder.

Reading

The internet is a goldmine of foreign-language texts. Look up foreign newspapers, film review sites, free short-story e-zines, recipe sites. Find out the country code for the language you want to learn, and rifle through the local search engine (for example: Google.cn for Chinese, Google.fr for French).

Children's websites are particularly useful in the earlier stages of learning to read a foreign language, as are children's books and cartoons.

Tip #2: Print out an article or story and try to read it straight through, highlighting the words and phrases that don't make sense. Go through it a second time, using an online dictionary to make a list of new vocabulary.

Writing

Talk to native speakers and learners in online forums. Practising to put together the newly-learnt words and phrases is a vital step on the way to fluency.

Forums and chat-rooms are easy, free and less hassle than a pen-pal. They are the perfect places to practice introductions, descriptions of family and friends, and likes and dislikes. Ask people questions about their hobbies, their favourite book, and their home-town.

This is not just the perfect opportunity to brush up linguistic skills, but also to make friends with native speakers and learn more about the culture behind the language.

Tip #3: Online learning communities like Palabea are ideal places to start searching for online language-learning partners. Find native speakers interested in learning English and offer to swap languages.

Listening

Youtube.com has revolutionised the way that students learn spoken language. Before, it was necessary to find a language teacher or native speaker, or go abroad to hear a foreign language spoken properly.

Now it is possible to watch clips from trailers, films and informal language 'lectures' in every language by the thousand. Look out for clips from familiar films and cartoons, foreign pop songs and translated film trailers.

Some websites also offer free audio books in a variety of languages. Foreign radio channels are also good sources of free audio material. Listening to a variety of types of material will provide maximum benefit for language learning.

Tip #3: Get hold of foreign films and watch them in the original language with English subtitles. After watching them once or twice, turn off the subtitles.

Speaking

Finding somebody to practice speaking with is the hardest aspect of studying a foreign language without going to classes or travelling abroad. If possible, hook up with another language student on a web-based language-learning community and practise over Skype (or in a cafe).

Use local community boards like gumtree.com to advertise for language partners or a language exchange. Try to find a native speaker who wants to study English.

Tip 5#: At the end of the day, a language can be learnt without any outside help. If necessary, speak to the mirror.

Studying a language is challenging, rewarding and immensely fun. Travelling, going to classes, buying books – these are all excellent methods of study, but there is in fact no need to spend a penny or to leave the comfort of the internet connection in order to access a wealth of language-learning material.

The copyright of the article Foreign Language Fluency in 5 Easy Steps in Language Study is owned by Jessica Wright. Permission to republish Foreign Language Fluency in 5 Easy Steps in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.