How to Teach Yourself A New Language

The reality is, Duolingo won’t make you fluent in 2 weeks

The New Year is here and like everyone else, I’ve made new year resolutions that will inevitably be abandoned after 2 weeks — to learn Spanish.

Just kidding.

I’ve been trying to learn Spanish on and off (mainly off) for the past year. Progress has been slow — glacial is probably a more accurate description.

Teaching yourself a new language seems like a great idea at first and it is — if you persist in the long run. You’ve all seen the ads online about language apps and lessons which ‘guarantee fluency’ within weeks and months. Hmm, I’m skeptical.

Language ‘fluency’ requires years of continuous practice from speaking the language daily. The folklore of language apps and social media promise fluency when in reality, it delivers you to a ‘basic conversational’ speaking level at best.

After all, being able to say ‘the meal was tasty’ in Spanish is hardly considered fluent.

Reality check

Having tried to teach myself Spanish for the past year, there are 3 key issues I’ve encountered that anyone learning a new language will run into.

1. You learn words and phrases, not sentences

The problem with self-teaching a new language is you end up learning random words and phrases with no context rather than flowing sentences. When I break down a sentence in Spanish, I know how the individual words but combining them to form a fluid sentence is a different ball game. For other times, you’ll memorize a question to ask and then stand there blankly when they reply because you don’t know how to continue the conversation. That’s the end of that convo.

2. No structure

Teaching yourself a language is like going to a foreign place without a map. You have no direction. You don’t know how to differentiate the ‘essentials’ to master first from the advanced ‘tips’ reserved only for somewhat fluent speakers. What actually happens is you find yourself aimlessly hopping between random topics, none-the-wiser about what to learn first.

3. Speaking to a screen

You’re also unlikely to be in the country whose language you’re learning, so you never have a ‘real’ opportunity to practice what you’ve learned aside from talking out loud to a screen. This means you forget what you learn.

A 3-step blueprint to learning a language

Now the problems have been addressed, I’ll try and offer a solution.

This is a blueprint that I use (developed by trial and error), it works for me. Notice how I say ‘works’, not ‘worked’, because I am nowhere near fluent in Spanish. However, I’m making steady progress — and more importantly, it keeps me motivated and disciplined enough to continue learning, at whatever the slow pace it may be.

This is not a blueprint for ‘instant’ results. It’s a pathway that takes years to complete but results in a much deeper understanding of the language and culture by the end.

1. The basics: Language apps and books

There are a ton of language apps out there so there’s no excuse for not being able to find resources. Apps are great, to begin with, because they hammer home the basics of language — vocabulary. To form sentences, you first need to have vocab — the nouns, adjectives, and verbs in every sentence.

Duolingo or Rosetta Stone are examples of apps useful for learning new vocab in an engaging way by tracking your daily streak or awarding in-game points to keep you motivated.

If you aren’t motivated, you won’t learn it — simple as.

These apps also emphasize repetition, the single most important skill to commit anything to memory. What you learned previously is often tested again the following day/days ahead to ensure it’s fixed into your brain. Unfortunately, repetition is also the downfall of these apps. There are only so many times you can learn ‘hermano’ is Spanish for ‘brother’ before it becomes tedious.

With the world’s information accessible on your phone, why would you need a book? Certainly, books are nowhere as stimulating as apps. Some are also written in an overly formal style that drains all the fun out of learning by focusing on unnecessary details.

However, books have one key advantage: structure. It’s easier to track what you’ve learned in a book than in an app. Books indicate what you should be learning first before introducing more complex content. The detail also provides extra information about specific words such as history and context (if you’re interested) whereas apps are designed for you to grasp the language as fast as possible without the fluff.

It depends on what you’re looking for — whether you want to learn a few phrases for your upcoming trip or whether you want to immerse yourself in the language. Using a combination of both helps you knuckle down the basics.

2. Holding a conversation: Video tutorials

YouTube is the place to go for video tutorials (on just about anything). With a bit of digging, there are hidden gems that teach you languages. For languages, I classify video tutorials into two types: directed tutorials and teaching through conversation.

Directed tutorials: The classic ‘How To’ videos. If you’ve mastered a decent range of vocab and want to start building phrases and sentences, video tutorials are more useful than apps. You can control playback speed, make notes and the information is presented through visual and auditory means. It’s *almost* like having a private 1-to-1 lesson.

Conversational videos: These are precious. Learning languages through conversational dialogue is as close to speaking to a local as you’ll get. Aside from seeing the language used in ‘real time’, you pick up nuances such as accents, slang, and culture. One problem with learning a new language is you’re often taught the language in an overly ‘formal and textbook’ way. Few of us speak Queen’s English in everyday dialogue, it’s much more informal. The same applies to other languages.

Playing the videos at 0.75x speed and repeating aloud the subtitles of conversational videos has been the most helpful ‘hack’ I’ve found for learning Spanish. It’s much closer to a ‘real’ conversation when slang and filler words are used and also provides the context of when you would use particular phrases.

3. The path to fluency: Practicing with the right people

Mastering a language requires consistently speaking with someone fluent at the language. There are 3 ways to achieve this.

Practice with people: If you have friends or colleagues who speak the language you’re trying to learn, you’re winning. Try to hold a basic conservation with them or send them a few lines written in that language (if you’re not confident enough to hold a conversation yet) so they can help you improve. They’ll be able to notice all the small, important aspects you won’t i.e. use of grammar and tenses.

Take formal lessons: Once you’ve reached a degree of fluency and committed to learning a language, taking official lessons is an option. This provides all of the benefits of books, apps, and videos in a classroom environment personalized to you (opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback). You’re also more likely to commit to something if you’re paying for it!

Visiting the country: To become ‘conversationally fluent’ in a language, you’ll have to immerse yourself in an environment where you can only speak in that language — otherwise, the locals won’t understand you.

Yes, it’s incredibly nerve-wracking being in that situation, but it rapidly increases your speaking proficiency.

Confidence is a barrier. Where possible, you’re better off alone when speaking to locals because you’ll feel more confident to try and won’t feel as judged. If your friends are hovering around as you fumble your way through the conversation, your confidence will tank if they start giggling. Locals are also more likely to offer constructive feedback to help you improve when you’re alone rather than part of an intimidating group.

Thoughts in notation

The costs of learning a language are dedication, commitment, and patience. The cost of conversing with strangers in their own language and taking part in their culture? Priceless.

It’ll take years for me to be anywhere near fluent in Spanish. But it’s not a race. I’ll get there, one word at a time. Happy learning!