Hi everyone! Well, we've nearly made it! What a year 2020 has been...
There's been a lot of hardship, but some positive things have come out of it too.
I'm talking about all of you out there who have made the best of a difficult situation.
Some of you have learned a new language in preparation
for all the travel we'll hopefully get to do in 2021.
Others have gotten really good at social distancing and have taken the opportunity to meet new virtual friends
and conversation partners from all over the world.
And here at MosaLingua we kept ourselves very busy working on our apps and courses and making videos about language.
Today, I'm counting down the best language tips from the videos we put out this year.
If you've subscribed to our channel, you may have already seen some of them.
And if you haven't joined our Youtube community yet, hit that subscribe button now
and turn on your notifications so that you don't miss any of the cool things we have planned for 2021.
Now, without further ado, MosaLingua's top language learning tips of 2020!
Get in touch with your motivation
The very first step is to clarify why you want to learn a particular language.
There are about a million good answers to this question
but it's important that you write down your main "whys" because whenever you encounter an obstacle
and you will, you will have them to remind yourself why you started the journey.
Set good learning goals
In the introduction to this video, I referred to learning a language as a project.
So like for any project, you need to have goals. The nature of your goals can change everything,
so this is a really important preliminary step.
My tip is to have several mini goals that you can check off in a short amount of time.
Luca's favorite "micro goal" when he starts learning a new language from scratch
is to memorize the 300 most common words, by learning just 10 new words a day.
This is what you'd call a SMART goal.
It's Small, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time sensitive.
Choose your learning tools carefully
There are plenty of possible tools that can help you achieve your goals
so you'll need to put together your language toolbox carefully.
We're all different, so different learners will choose different tools.
My suggestion is to pick tools that are effective
so you're sure to make the best use of your limited time
and appealing to you
so that you'll actually enjoy the process.
Avoid methods that waste your time
Language education is a big industry, which in the last 10 years has become more and more competitive.
And some companies haven't been able to resist the temptation to develop
courses and solutions that are easy to sell, but not actually useful or effective for learners.
Here are a couple things that you should look out for and avoid:
Multiple choice questions, where all of the answers except one are pretty clearly wrong.
Memory games.
Things that disrupt the learning process, such as countdowns and timers
which actually induce stress and make it more difficult to memorize new information.
Games that have little or nothing to do with language learning.
And, generally, any activity that seems too good to be true.
Build a basic and useful vocabulary
First, start with a small amount of the most common vocabulary.
That 20% you'll need in 80% of situations...
And second, learn correct pronunciation from the very beginning
to avoid developing bad habits that can be hard to break.
Make sure you won't forget what you learn
First of all, you need to review what you learn as many times as possible.
The sad truth is that your memory can be unreliable.
So when you memorize a new word, your job is not done.
Luckily, there is a powerful technique to make sure you remember what you learn in the long run.
It's the Spaced Repetition System, or SRS.
This method makes you review what you learned about eight hours later
then one day later; again, eight days later, and so on.
After many review sessions, the words you've learned finally make their way in your long-term memory.
And once they are there, you're a lot less likely to forget them.
So review, review and review again, using the Spaced Repetition System, if possible.
Another powerful technique you can use to make vocabulary stick
is to start using what you've learned right away.
So if you learned a new word or expression, try to work it into your conversations.
I usually start by talking to myself, so I imagine a situation in which I could use
that particular word or sentence.
And then I act it out aloud to force myself to use it.
Work on your listening skills
You need thousands and thousands of hours of exposure to a language if you want to master it.
For true beginners we recommend choosing resources that were designed for learners
at least for the first few months.
The magic words are "listen," "listen," and "listen" some more.
You should make sure you're exposed to the spoken language for at least 10 minutes a day.
But at the beginning we recommend more like 30
if you want to start making progress faster.
Try to plan some time throughout your day when you can really be immersed in the language.
The internet is your friend and you are lucky to have it. So go ahead and use it!
Learn correct pronunciation
Now, why do I say "correct pronunciation"?
Because lots of new learners will read a word and memorize how they think it should be pronounced
which usually isn't quite right.
And then, when they hear it in a conversation or another listening exercise
they don't understand it, even though they know the word and they know what it means.
This is easiest to do with a flashcard app. Ours includes built-in recordings by native speakers.
But if you have a different way of keeping track of vocab lists
Forvo is a great site for finding out how to pronounce a word.
Choose your target language
search for a word or phrase
and listen to the recording.
You can even download it as an mp3 and save it to your computer or phone.
Once you've learned some words and sentences, move on to the next resource:
dialogues about some typical situations, like the ones in your MosaLingua app!
By the way, when I say move on, I don't mean stop learning and reviewing vocab.
You should still aim to learn 5 to 10 new words or phrases a day
and add in other listening practice little by little.
Most of your real-life listening practice at the beginning of your learning
will be based on short conversations about common topics. So start there...
Try this: pause the recording after one character asks a question.
Take the time to think about what they said and how you might answer.
And then listen to the response and check your understanding.
Prepare to talk in your target language
Think about what the first conversation is like, in your native language
when you meet someone you don't know.
Nine times out of ten, you ask and answer many of the same questions and discuss mostly the same topics, right?
Well, it's exactly the same when you meet someone who speaks your target language
which means that you can prepare a sort of script.
Everyone's script will look pretty similar and include things like:
name, age, where you live or where you're from
why you're learning the language you are, and how long you've been learning it
details about your family, what you do for a living and what you like to do in your free time.
All you really need to do is fill in the blanks.
Make a list of possible questions and how you would answer them
in your target language, of course.
Study grammar (at the right time!)
Grammar is a wonderful tool, but it's also a very dangerous one.
Grammar can be tricky. Grammar can be boring.
Grammar can keep you from expressing yourself freely, because when you start with grammar
then whenever you open your mouth, you'll constantly be thinking about rules and exceptions
and this will have a negative impact on the flow of your conversation.
Instead, only study a grammar rule when you feel the need for it.
If you want to tell a friend about your plans for your upcoming vacation, then study the future tense.
This way, you will put the rules you learn to use right away, which helps you remember them.
Well that does it for our countdown of the best language tips of the year.
Which ones have you tried out? And which ones are you planning to put to use in 2021?
I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
Thanks for watching.
Happy holidays and I'll see you again in the new year. Take care!
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See you next time!