Benny Lewis's Blog, page 79
June 24, 2016
How to Stop Being Shy (and Start Learning a Language)
How many times have you heard this when you run a Google search for how to learn a language:
The best way to learn how to speak a language is to speak it.
I wish I earned a dollar every time I’ve read this. I’d be super rich!
But despite its popularity amongst language learners, it’s still advice that makes me want to run away and hide… and forget about language learning.
The only problem with that is I love languages. It’s an itch I’ve got to scratch. No matter how much I try, it won’t go away.
What to do about it?
What it Feels Like to Be a Shy Language Learner
I’ve struggled with shyness for as long as I can remember.
At parties and social gatherings, I’m a wallflower (if I’m there at all). I prefer my own company to a crowd. Books are my favourite companions. And big groups of people make me really nervous. Especially if they’re people I’ve never met before.
So, being told that in order to speak a new language I must strike up conversations with strangers was terrifying.
Simply reading the advice for language learners about “just getting out there and speaking” made me tense up. My natural impulse was to reject that advice and look for a different route.
I’d much rather stay home with a language textbook and labour through grammar drills than I would go out and speak. And there have been several occasions where that’s exactly what I’ve done. I punished myself with tedious and difficult exercises as a way to make up for not doing the work I should have been doing: speaking.
I Was My Own Worst Enemy
Like most people, I wanted language learning to be comfortable and easy. The problem? I veered between two extremes. I either stuck myself in the centre of my comfort zone (not speaking at all) or I stepped so far out of my comfort zone that I thought “I’m never doing that again”.
Over time, I became more and more afraid to test my limits and try things that challenged me. So instead, I allowed my shyness to hold me back from accomplishing a lot of the things that I would have loved to do.
In hindsight, after having tested the advice I am going to give you, I am the first to admit that I was getting in my own way.
I allowed myself to become the biggest obstacle to my own success and happiness.
When I took a look at where I was and what I wanted to achieve, I decided it wasn’t worth taking the comfortable road. There was so much more I knew I was capable of and I knew I couldn’t give my shyness any more power over my progress.
Eventually, I got tired of using my shyness as an excuse. I had to make changes.
Here’s what I did.
4 Steps to Overcome Shyness and Achieve Your Language Learning Goals
Step 1: Admit that You’re Shy
You’ve got to start by being honest with yourself. If you’re shy, admit it, and get comfortable with that fact.
This seems rather obvious, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to become used to ignoring shyness rather than recognizing and dealing with it.
So how do you know if you’re shy?
If you’re shy you may have a hard time doing things like:
Meeting new people
Being called on in meetings, gatherings or classes
Being the focus of attention
Speaking up when you have an opinion to share
Initiating conversations
Being watched while trying to do something
Accepting compliments
All these things can be hard to do in our native languages, let alone when adding a new language into the mix!
Being shy is totally okay. In fact, it can even be an asset! But if you’re running from your shyness, you’ll never learn how to make the most of it.
Step 2: Ask for the Support That You Need
One of the hardest, but most important things you can do to start addressing your shyness is to get the support you need. Ask for help.
This can be friends, family, or professional advice and support.
Asking for help is rarely easy. Even more so when you’re shy. But the outside perspective and input can go a long way in providing you with ways to work through your shyness.
This could be asking your friends about how they deal with their own shyness (you'd be surprised at how many people see themselves as shy). Or it could be to have them help you get into new social situations. It could mean delving into your past and working out where your shyness comes from (perhaps with the help of a coach or therapist). Or it could mean investing in a course.
Step 3: Take Small Steps Outside of Your Comfort Zone
We are creatures of habit. Taking action beyond the border of your comfort zone feels scary. That’s why it’s called a comfort zone. Anywhere outside it is uncomfortable.
But when it comes down to it, you can only beat shyness by taking confident action - and to start with, that’s unlikely to feel comfortable.
This doesn’t mean that you need to push yourself too far, too fast. It’s not about leaving your comfort zone entirely, but it’s more about stretching where the boundaries lie and making that zone just a little bit bigger, one small step at a time. Take action - but make it gradual.
Step 4: Recognise That Language Learning Can Be a Huge Confidence Boost
If you’re shy, learning a new language can help you discover a "new you".
When you speak another language, you can be whoever you want to be. You can reinvent yourself. There’s no need to be held back by the expectations your friends and family have about you. Nor do you need to live your life trying to fit into labels that you feel define who you are.
We are so much more than labels. They may help describe certain aspects of who we are and what we do, but they are by no means all-encompassing. No one is shy in every part of their life, and so, you should never let the term hold you back from being who you really are and pursuing the things you’d love to do.
Learning a new language can give you a whole new way to express yourself and redefine how others see you. It can be a great outlet for trying new things - especially since the people you interact with will likely be in the same place as you. It’s often said that we develop different personalities for each language that we speak, so perhaps your persona in that new language will be a little more outgoing than the one in your native language!
Wanting to speak another language is an excellent reason to tackle your shyness and become more confident. Plus, you’ll get a boost in confidence by developing a new skill such as learning a language.
Beat Your Shyness by Learning a Language
You are not alone. Everyone is shy about something. According to a study by Stanford University professor emeritus Philip Zimbardo, approximately half the people in US alone claim that they are shy to some degree. But your shyness doesn’t have to prevent you from pursuing your dreams.
We often use “I am shy” as an excuse to avoid doing things we’d rather not. But the only way you’ll ever overcome any feelings of shyness you have is to get out there and experience different social situations so that your discomfort and nervousness dissipate.
Learning to comfortably navigate conversations can be hugely rewarding, especially when it means that you get to practice speaking your target language. And the greater effort you make to put yourself in social situations, the quicker you’ll grow comfortable in them, resulting in more opportunities to participate in interesting conversations and get to know great people.
There’s no magic answer to overcoming shyness. It takes hard work and a concerted effort, but it’s worth taking the required steps.
I hope you’ll join me in saying “goodbye” to shy today.
Want more? Check out the Fluent in 3 Months video course, Say Goodbye to Shy , which I co-authored with Benny Lewis. Find out more here.
The post How to Stop Being Shy (and Start Learning a Language) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
June 17, 2016
How to Get a Dream Job Overseas Using Your Language Skills
I couldn’t believe it. After teaching English for a few years in China I’d been offered a job as a cultural liaison. I’d be working at an international design and manufacturing company in China, using my Mandarin Chinese skills every day.
I’d previously tried to find a job the traditional way - by looking at job boards and submitting applications. Then, I discovered a new method for finding jobs. This had worked! I was finally going to be able to live in China and use Chinese.
I’d like to share my approach - including the exact steps I followed to land my dream job.
How to Use Your Language Skills to Find Work
Speaking another language is a valuable asset when you’re looking for work. Employers like seeing it on your resume even when the job they are hiring you for has no foreign language component.
Language is a valuable skill, but it’s not always clear how it can be parlayed into a job.
When it comes to using your language skills for work (assuming it is not a job such as a language teacher, translator, or interpreter), you need to have a main skill which can add the value your employer is looking for. This could be something like finance, trade, manufacturing, or engineering. Whatever it is, you need to realise that this is your most important asset in your would-be employers eyes, not your language abilities (unless your employer needs someone who can facilitate communication or teach—this was the case for me). Most positions that can benefit from knowledge of a foreign language have a hierarchy of the necessary skills which looks like:
Main skill (engineering, video editing, management)
Cultural understanding (this usually includes some understanding of the language though not necessarily a lot)
Language abilities
As I mentioned earlier, if the position you are aiming for is primarily a language-related role, then language is your main skill. So how do you get a job that uses your language abilities while satisfying the above requirements?
Here are the steps I followed:
Step 1: Identify Your Skills - and the Types of Companies that Could Benefit from Those Skills
Maybe you are an accountant, nurse, or engineer. Maybe you are good at video editing or singing.
Not sure what you’re good at? Ask your friends. What do other people ask you to help them with? What did you enjoy doing as a child, before you had any responsibilities?
Next think about the types of companies that would want to hire someone with your skills. For example, almost all manufacturing companies will hire accountants, engineers, and production managers. Engineers help develop products, production managers help build the product, and accountants keep track of the money. Internet companies need people with programming, copywriting and design skills. All companies need to sell - so marketing and sales is another area to think about.
For extra insight, call up a few companies and ask them about the different roles in their business. Tell them who you are, that you are looking for a new job, and want to understand what they do.
You can also ask around among your friends and acquaintances. Ask people you know about their jobs and what their colleagues do. For example if your friend works at a bank ask her to tell you about her coworkers’ roles (loan officer, teller, customer service, accountant).
Another method is to search for a company on LinkedIn. You can see all the people who work there and look at the positions they hold, like this:
Now you’ve identified the industries you could work in (your niche), you’re ready to move on to the next step.
Step 2: Work Out How You Can Help in the Industries You’ve Identified
This step where your knowledge of other cultures and languages starts to be useful.
A lot of job hunters make the mistake of assuming they must fit the mold of advertised roles. If they don’t have the exact skillset specified, they move on and look for another job.
Why is this a mistake? Companies typically recruit for their ideal candidates - and they often struggle to find these. So it’s to your advantage to sell yourself to the company instead of waiting for them to tell you what they would like.
Take the example of a design and manufacturing company. They’re based in your home country - and you want to work for them using your Chinese skills. You’ve also got skills in marketing and sales. You could:
Help them find factories in China to have their products manufactured at a more affordable price.
Be a sales representative in China - pitching their products to Chinese retailers
Conduct market research to help them adapt their products for Chinese consumers
Offer your services as a translator or interpreter to facilitate any of the above.
Working as a translator or interpreter is often an excellent way in - and it’s worth your while to spend time looking for companies with an office in both your home country and the country you want to live and work in.
Speaking of searching out particular companies, here’s how you can find them...
Step 3: Use LinkedIn to Find Your Ideal Company
Head to LinkedIn and type in a keyword to search for the type of company you want to find. You can narrow down your search by company location and size. I recommend searching for small companies of 200 people or less since they are often younger and more likely to need people. Small and medium size businesses are are the biggest source of job creation (at least in the United States).
In the screenshot below I am searching for a US company with offices in China is hopes of being their linguistic and cultural conduit.
Step 4: Get the Company’s Contact Information
Once you’ve identified a target company, head to their website to find a contact email address. A submission contact form is also fine. To find these contact details, look at the bottom of their website, or look for a Contact page, or an About page.
This is where you find their website on LinkedIn:
A "Contact Us" page often looks like this:
LinkedIn can also be handy in making contact - especially when you can’t find an email address. Look for the profiles of people on LinkedIn that would be interested in hiring someone like you (President, CEO, manager of the department related to what you do, human resources manager, owner of the company) and send them a message directly.
LinkedIn has a service called InMail you can use if you don’t find an email or personal blog in their profile. It’s paid - but when you’re looking for a job using this method, it’s well worth the investment.
Step 5: Send a Short Email Explaining How You Can Help
Send them a short email telling them how you could help. Make the subject about how to help the. Avoid phrases such as “looking for work/job”. For example, I speak Mandarin, have teaching skills, and understand Chinese culture. As such, I can help solve communication issues.
Here’s a script you can use:
Subject: Mandarin Speaker Would Like to Help
Hi ,
I found out about through LinkedIn.
I have been living in southern China's Guangdong province for four years. I've spent the majority of my time teaching English to students of all ages and recently started an English training center with my business partner. I speak Chinese proficiently, can read and write, and have HSK (a Chinese certification) certification. My background is in mathematics.
I am returning to the US in hopes of finding a job at a company that deals with China on a regular basis, and was hoping my experience and talents could be of use at .
Please let me know if you have such a need. I attached my resume for your convenience.
Sincerely,
Step 6: Keep Trying!
If you don’t hear back from them within a week you should email, call, or visit them in person until you do. Do not give up. I’ve succeeded both times that I have used this tactic. The first time I did it a position was created for me. The second time I did it, I met with the HR manager and then was contacted a few months later when a position opened up which I eventually got.
Note that in some instances you will be creating your own role. In the Chinese job I mentioned in the introduction, I was the first ever cultural liaison at that company. They created the role for me because I expressed an interest and explained what I could do for them.
While I was working there we hired someone as the head of a department that didn’t exist until we met this person. We created the role for them, because we saw what they could do for the company.
Try to be creative when selling your services. Companies like smart, creative people - show your skills, and businesses will find a way to fit you in.
There is no bullet-proof way of finding a job, but if you put in the time and effort in the right places you have a much better chance of being successful. Good luck!
The post How to Get a Dream Job Overseas Using Your Language Skills appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
June 10, 2016
German Games and Exercises: 8 Fun & Simple Ways to Practise Your German Skills
Restrict yourself to one learning method, and you run the risk of getting bored. This can lead you to hit a wall, become disheartened and possibly even throw in the towel.
At Fluent in 3 Months, we believe in learning a language by living the language. That means immersing yourself in the language by speaking it - and you can do that from the comfort of your own home.
Did you know that you can study German while cooking dinner? Or, that a game of Scrabble can be more effective than an hour’s worth of textbook study?
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to learn a language and it certainly doesn’t have to be boring.
Here are ten German games and exercises you can use to build your German language knowledge and have some fun along the way.
1. Watch Your Favourite TV shows With German Subtitles.
You’re stuck between feeling you should study and wanting to relax. Give yourself a break and put on a TV show you know and love… with German subtitles. Websites such as TVsubtitles.net allow you to download the subtitles for English speaking shows.
You can even go one step further and find dubbed versions. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything that is being said. Knowing the gist is enough for when you are first starting out.
If you really want to challenge yourself, ditch the English/American TV shows for German movies and television series. Watching German films will give you an insight into the informal language and culture of native speakers. This will help you pick up everyday slang that you are less likely to learn from textbooks.
Watching movies is a great way to learn a language - as long as you approach them the right way.
2. Put Post-its on Items Around the House
Write the German translations of words on Post-its and stick them on your belongings. Place them on clothing, appliances and the items in your cupboards and drawers. You can learn the German translations for the contents of your fridge, while contemplating what to have for dinner!
Don’t forget to write down the German articles along with the nouns (der, die and das in the normative form and ein or eine for ‘a’ or ‘an’). This will help to avoid gender confusion in the future.
There are plenty of opportunities to get creative when using this method. If you are struggling to remember the word for green, write “grün” on a Post-it and stick it on a pot plant.
When you are next trying to recall the German word for that colour, you will mentally link the word to the plant. The Post-it will act as a visual prompt and aid you in remembering it.
3. Cook Your Meals Using German Recipes
Why not impress your family and friends by learning how to make Sauerkraut or Strudel?
One of the most effective ways to become fluent in a foreign language is to live it. This is best achieved when you immerse as many aspects of your life into the culture of the language you are learning. What better way is there to experience a culture than through food?
Buy a German cookbook, or look up German recipes online. Follow the directions as well as you’re able, using your phrasebook or the Internet to decipher words you don’t know. You can translate your own recipes to further extend your knowledge base. For example, transcribe your recipe for pumpkin soup into German. Use this as a reference point the next time you’re craving something warm on a chilly winter’s evening!
This works as an excellent rewards-based system – you improve your knowledge of the language and culture, plus you get a meal at the end!
4. Use Music to Extend Your Vocabulary and Knowledge of German Culture
Listening to German songs is a great way to immerse yourself in German when you’re driving, cooking or doing DIY.
Ballads are a good place to start, as they’re slow and easy to follow. Look up Phillipp Poisel and Tim Bendzko, who sing ballads in German. If you’re a fan of rap or hip-hop, I would suggest Peter Foxx or Fettes Brott. They’re a little more upbeat and fun!
German radio stations can be streamed off the Internet, and are a good way to discover new songs that match your tastes.
Once you have amassed a compilation of songs, start to sing along to the songs that you like. Write down the words you know or recognise, as you listen to the music. Look up the lyrics and try to translate them. New words can be added to your vocab list. Language learning via music is an excellent way to commit new phrases to memory.
Over time, you may learn the lyrics well enough to add to your collection of tunes to sing in the shower!
5. Get in Touch With Your Inner Child
Picture books work well as a resource for memorising new words and phrases.
As you’re reading, sound out the words as a child would and use the pictures to take a guess at what the sentence translates to. Dual-language books are handy in that you don’t have to spend time translating the sentences – you can instead focus on committing the new phrases to memory.
You don’t have to stop at books. If you’re anything like me. chances are you grew up watching Disney movies. You will intrinsically know many aspects of the films - from the plot, to song lyrics, even down to individual lines, off by heart. Disney movies are a great resource in language learning, due to their familiarity and the quality of the films. As Disney is renowned worldwide, the dubbed versions are of the highest quality. Unlike a lot of animated movies, time has been taken to translate the dialogue and the lyrics of their most famous songs.
Relive your childhood and entertain yourself by singing along to the German versions of your favourite Disney tunes, such as “Unter dem Meer” or “Ich kann nicht warten bis ich einen König bin“.
6. Get Creative With Your German Phrases
Constantly referring to your phrasebook to learn how to ask directions or order food can become a real bore. Get a little creative and search the pages to find the most outrageous phrases your book contains.
This exercise is at its most amusing when the phrase does not translate word for word into English.
For example, did you know ‘mein Magen hängt in den Kniekehlen’ is the German equivalent for “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” and translates literally to “my stomach is hanging at my kneecaps”?
This serves as an interesting and amusing insight into German culture. Committing these phrases to memory might win you points with native speakers - and broadens your vocabulary.
7. Find New Uses For Your Old Board Games
Wipe the dust off your board games and start putting them to good use! Use the pieces from Scrabble to structure German words. Or coerce a friend into playing a round, after banning English from the game.
Cards Against Humanity is known as being “a party game for horrible people”. The aim of the game is to pair innocent questions with the most disgusting or horrendous answer available in your stack of cards.
This card game is fairly new, having been around for only the last four years. There are plenty of English speaking versions, from American to Australian. Unfortunately, the company is yet to release a German edition of the game. What you can do is create your own pack, via a PDF on their website. Alternatively, download a German version and follow the instructions to create your own copy of the game.
If you’ve gone for total immersion in your quest for fluency and live in a German speaking country, Cards Against Humanity would be a real hit at your next house party. If not, this is another way you can gain insight into words and phrases that would definitely be missing from your phrasebook.
8. Change All Your Electronic Devices to German Language
This is a simple hack to expand your vocabulary. Your computer, tablet or smartphone is a device you use everyday, so the interface should already be familiar. Changing your computer’s operating system to German is another way you can immerse yourself in the language, wherever you live.
What are Your Favourite German Games and Exercises?
These are just some of the ways in which you can shake up your language learning, to make it more entertaining. If you have any more suggestions or ideas, please share them in the comments.
The post German Games and Exercises: 8 Fun & Simple Ways to Practise Your German Skills appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
June 1, 2016
How to Organise a Working Holiday Abroad (Have Fun, Learn a Language, Get Paid)
After studying French for over a decade, I still couldn’t speak it.
I started studying French when I was eight years old. Five years in elementary school, two years in high school, and four years in university. And I still couldn’t call myself fluent.
I knew the language. I could read almost anything, and I could write with perfect spelling and grammar. But I couldn’t express myself verbally in the language, or understand it very well.
Most spoken French went way over my head. I struggled to follow French movies. And you don’t even want to know about the first time I tried ordering coffee in Quebec...
I wanted to speak French, so I thought about joining a French conversation course. Around the same time, my husband, Max, and I were thinking of ways to escape yet another freezing Canadian winter.
“What about a working holiday in Europe?” Max suggested. I’d heard of working holidays, but assumed they’d be too expensive and difficult to organise.
I looked into it, expecting to confirm my suspicions.
I’d been completely wrong.
I soon discovered that a working holiday is the easiest way to live overseas for a year.
So we went for it.
Did I learn to speak French? I’ll let you know in a moment.
First, let’s take a look at the practical side of organising a working holiday.
Where Can You Go on a Working Holiday?
Working holidays are restricted to citizens of countries that have reciprocal “youth exchange agreements” with one another. Because of the “youth” part, you usually have to be between the ages of 18 and 30 to take part in a working holiday.
The following countries have youth exchange agreements with at least one other country:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Chile
China
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
New Zealand
Portugal
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Where you can go for your working holiday depends on your home country. For example, US citizens can only go to Australia or New Zealand.
Note: This list can change at any time, so check with your local consulate before making any plans.
What Jobs Can You do on a Working Holiday?
A working holiday visa gives you the right to work in nearly any fixed-term job in the destination country. Fixed-term means that your employment contract has an end date. This is necessary because your visa has a strict expiry date, and you can’t take a job that requires you to work beyond that.
For this reason, most working holiday travelers look for seasonal jobs - typically in agriculture or the tourist industry. These jobs are usually easy to find in countries that offer a working holiday visa.
Fancy working at a ski resort in the Alps in winter, or at a surf shop on a beach in summer? Many businesses in the tourist industry are very familiar with the hiring process for people who have working holiday visas. A good number of them also look for English-speaking employees who can interact with tourists who don’t speak the local language.
Here are some of the jobs that younger working holiday travelers typically consider:
English-language tour guide at a tourist attraction
Hotel customer service agent
Restaurant server
English (or other foreign language) teacher
Unskilled labour in a factory or in agriculture
If you’ve already graduated from college or university and have specialised knowledge, it’s certainly possible to find a job in your field of expertise, especially if you know a bit of the language.
I got a job in web development and tech support in France. It was an entry-level position that wasn’t as challenging or as well-paying as my previous work back in Canada. But my goal was bigger than resume building. I wanted to work in a French-speaking job with colleagues who would later become my friends. I also wanted to travel a bit, and pay my way while I lived abroad.
The point is to be open-minded when you’re looking for a job. Try not to focus on the “perfect” place to work, or you might never find it. Get out there and apply anywhere and everywhere that you’d be willing to work.
If you don’t hear back from employers right away, don’t give up. You’ll find something eventually. Don’t be afraid to pound the pavement.
Working full-time, even in a job that requires you to use English sometimes, is a really effective way to improve your language skills. If you’re the shy type who tends to avoid making plans to go out and meet speakers of your target language, then you’ll need a new way to get out of your comfort zone and meet native speakers. A job is one of the best ways to do this. You’ll be pushed outside your comfort zone for eight hours a day.
Where to Stay on Your Working Holiday
Be sure to plan ahead for a temporary place you can stay while looking for a house or apartment to live in for the remainder of your working holiday. or other long-term accommodation. You don’t want to spend all your savings early on by staying in a hotel for weeks.
I found a short-term apartment rental on an AirBnb-type website. I had to book it far in advance. I needed to book it all in French. I had to wire money overseas to secure the reservation. It took a lot of planning.
There are easier ways to find a place to stay. For example, virtually every major city in the world has youth hostels that you can book online, in English, on relatively short notice. I’ll be honest: hostels aren’t my thing. I wish they were. It would have been one less thing to think about while planning my trip.
A hostel will probably be the most affordable place to stay while you look for long-term accommodation. But if they aren’t your thing either, then try some of these vacation rental websites for reasonably priced short-term rentals:
Airbnb
9flats.com
HomeAway
Homelidays (for France, Spain and Italy only)
Wherever you plan to stay at the beginning, make sure it’s affordable enough to spend at least a month there. That’s roughly how long it will take to find a permanent place to spend the remainder of your working holiday. It took two months in my case, but again, I’m picky!
Looking for long-term accommodation can be tricky. Every country has its own websites for apartment rentals, and its own laws regarding leases and tenant rights.
One of the most useful websites I’ve found for getting advice on how to start house-hunting is Expat Forum. It has sub-forums for 22 of the top anglophone expat destinations in the world. I can only speak for the France sub-forum, but all of the members were incredibly helpful with all of my questions, including those not related to house-hunting.
Alternatively, learn how to say “apartment rental” or “house rental” in your destination country’s language, and do an internet search for websites. Most of them let you search based on your preferred criteria, such as furnished or unfurnished, sole occupant or a shared apartment with roommates, and price range.
How Much does a Working Holiday Cost?
The money side of things is what makes a working holiday so unique. You can travel for months (or even a full year) without first saving up tens of thousands of dollars. It’s earn as you go.
That said, you do need some seed money before you get on an airplane.
To get a working holiday visa, you need to prove, among other things (e.g. health insurance — check with your consulate for a complete list), that you have enough money to survive in the country until you find a job.
The amount of money required differs depending on the destination country. For France, it was $2,500 (Canadian) when I did my working holiday. The amount has since risen to $3,000. This does not include the cost of your flight or one year’s worth of travel insurance. Rather, it’s spending money for when you get to your destination country, to hold you over until you find a job.
This spending money requirement is a bare minimum. I recommend you have at least double that amount, especially if you plan to settle in a big city, which can be expensive. Remember, it needs to cover all of the following expenses until you find a paying job:
accommodation
groceries
transportation
entertainment
extras (cell phone plan, internet, blankets and other miscellaneous items for your accommodation, etc)
You’ll also need to think about how to manage your money. It’s tough to get a job without a bank account.
It’s often possible to use your current bank account from your home country - though this could end up costing a lot in international money transfer fees. That’s why I recommend getting a local bank account. Having a local bank account will also make it a lot easier to cash your work paycheques.
My employer in France paid its employees exclusively through direct deposit into their bank accounts, and all of my apartment utilities were paid through direct withdrawal. So not having a French bank account wasn’t an option. To open an account, I needed to show proof of my home address in France. I used my short-term apartment lease as my proof of address. Not all banks will accept this, but for working holiday travellers, it’s probably the only official document that they have that proves where they live. If the first bank turns you away, try another. Some are much more reasonable than others.
How Do You Apply for a Visa?
As I said earlier, a working holiday visa is one of the easiest ways to live in another country. The application package for a working holiday should be available on your local consulate’s website. It contains a comprehensive checklist of all of the documents required to apply. These usually include:
The application form
Proof of sufficient funds to last in your destination country until you find a job
Your airline ticket (some countries will waive this requirement, especially since tickets are mostly non-refundable these days. You shouldn’t be stuck with an expensive ticket if you get turned down for a visa!)
Proof of travel health insurance for one year
Official passport photos to be used on your visa (Careful! The photo requirements may be different from passport photo requirements in your home country. I had to get my photo done twice before it matched the dimensions required by the French consulate)
A cover letter explaining why you want to do a working holiday
Go to your local consulate’s website to download a complete list of all requirements for a working holiday visa for your destination country.
The application fee for a working holiday visa is often free, or at least very cheap compared to regular visa application fees.
Do You Need to Speak the Local Language?
Even if you’re an absolute beginner in a language, you can still do a working holiday in another country. Your options will be more limited than someone who already has some language skills, but there will still be opportunities. You could work at a tourist attraction, an English school, or at a job where there are no customers (such as in a factory).
Once, on a trip to Paris during my working holiday, I ate at an American fast food chain. One of the employees there was an anglophone who spoke no French when he got the job. They hired him because so many customers were American and they needed a fluent English speaker.
Even so, his workplace wasn’t exclusively English-speaking. Many customers were French, plus all of his coworkers. When I ate there, he had been working there for two months, and his French was pretty darn good. So it’s possible to find work in an immersion environment even if you don’t speak the language.
That said, I recommend that you learn at least a little bit of your target language before you travel. There’s plenty of time to do this as for most destinations you need to apply for your working holiday visa at least three months before your departure date. You can learn a lot in just a few months. You’ll be motivated too, since you’ve got the hard deadline of your departure date.
Did I Succeed in Learning French on my Working Holiday?
On my working holiday in France, I created some amazing memories. it was also the best decision I’ve ever made for my French language learning. The only downside was that we couldn’t stay forever.
Working in France was the single greatest contributor to my fluency in spoken French. It really forced me to use the language on a consistent basis. I’m terribly guilty of cancelling my RSVPs to language-learning events. It’s not that I’m shy or I dislike people. I just find that it takes a lot of energy to interact with new people in a foreign language. And when I get home after a long day, getting dressed up and going out to meet strangers is often the last thing I want to do.
My job removed the opportunity for me to avoid meeting French speakers. I couldn’t very well cancel a day of work, could I? So every day, I would interact with French speakers all day. I got used to it, and soon, going out in the evening to meet a bunch of French people at a Couchsurfing event suddenly didn’t seem like such a daunting activity.
It also wasn’t long before my coworkers became my friends. Whenever I didn’t feel like hanging out with strangers, I could go out with my coworkers for a more comfortable evening of French-speaking.
How to Learn a Language While You’re Working Abroad
A working holiday will give you some of the best tools possible to help you learn another language.
Here are some of the ways that a working holiday will give you all the advantages you need to learn your target language.
You Get a Full 12 Months to Immerse Yourself in the Language
It’s not exactly easy to interact with a foreign culture, and see a foreign country as a local, if you can’t speak the language!
No matter what level you start at, a year will give you ample time to learn your target language to fluency — and still have plenty of time leftover to use it while living in the country.
If you live in a neighbourhood populated by locals, work at a job where you need to use your target language, and you put a bit of effort into it, you won’t be able to stop yourself from learning your target language.
Make friends with locals, participate in conversations with your coworkers, and get to know the servers in the local bar or cafe. Make a new world for yourself in your new country.
It won’t be effortless. This is especially true if you’re shy or introverted. If you have inhibitions when it comes to making friends in your home country, don’t expect them to melt away when you go abroad. Your attitude will be a huge contributor to your success (or failure) in this respect.
What I love about working holidays is how they set you up for success. They give you the tools to live, work, and eventually, speak like a local. Take advantage of these tools, and have the experience of a lifetime.
You See the Country From an Insider, Local Point of View
My mode of travel is different from that of the average tourist. Rather than short, purely sightseeing vacations, I prefer to make a new country my home for several months or longer. Before my working holiday, I managed to accomplish this through an international exchange program to Thailand in university, and a student internship in Hawaii for my degree program.
If you’re a university student, I highly recommend you take advantage of travel opportunities available through your university. But if you’re not, then a working holiday is the perfect alternative.
When you put down roots in a foreign country, you get more opportunities to improve your language skills than tourists do. Sure, tourists can create opportunities to practise their target language, but it’s just not as easy. Tourists already have a lot to worry about between relaxing, seeing all the sights, catching the next train or bus, and connecting with the friend or loved one who is vacationing with them - all in a couple of weeks.
A working holiday gets you as close to living like a local as is possible without actually emigrating there. You’ll live in an apartment or house instead of a hotel. You’ll say hi to your neighbours every day, and see your colleagues at work. You’ll become a regular at cafes and restaurants in the area. Unlike a tourist, your photo album will fill up with photos not of landmarks, but of all the people in your new life.
You’ll also learn to navigate the bureaucracy of your new country, from getting a bank account to figuring out how to pay your taxes there. (France has a reputation for its endless bureaucracy, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. And I learned lots of new vocabulary about finances to boot!)
When you settle into a routine like this, you’ll get endless opportunities to practise the language. You’ll actually get to know the people who make regular appearances in your life. You can get beyond basic pleasantries. You can use the language constantly throughout the day, even outside working hours.
Your whole life will be infused with your new language.
What are you waiting for? How about you start planning your working holiday today?
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The post How to Organise a Working Holiday Abroad (Have Fun, Learn a Language, Get Paid) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 28, 2016
The Productive Language Learner: How I Transformed my Phone into a Productivity Diva
If your answer is a resounding YES, then let me tell you – I empathise!
Between work commitments, money managing, keeping your health in order and an ever-demanding social calendar, it can be difficult to achieve some sense of balance. Or prioritise the things you actually want to do with your time… such as learn a new language.
I often feel like technology is more of a hindrance than a help. For many months, I’d been growing more and more resentful of my mobile phone. Since I had moved overseas from my native country of Australia, I had become to rely on it more and more, as it provides instant access to almost everyone from back home. I disliked how much of my attention it took up.
So, instead of being a slave to tech, I decided to make tech my slave. No longer will I answer to my mobile phone (although, I will answer it if it rings - unless I know it’s a telemarketer on the other end!).
I took it upon myself to do some research and find some phone apps that would help me get myself more organised, and in turn, boost my productivity. Less time spent on frivolous tasks would mean more time for language learning. Yippee!
That First Step: Determine Which Areas of Your Life Need Attention
First things first - I took a (mental) step back and looked at the areas of my life that were causing me the most grief.
Scheduling
I was still relying on a paper diary, which I often forgot to bring with me. As a consequence, I was constantly forgetting start times for work, blanking on social events and having appointments skip my mind. As a result, I was a scatter-brained mess.
Prioritising Tasks
I wrote my to-do lists on scraps of paper that I’d then misplace, or tried to simply rely on my memory... ha! It wasn’t an effective method by any means.
Money Matters
My finances were a mess. I had been travelling a lot and spend, spend, spending as a consequence. I needed to devote more time to keeping tabs on my expenses and actually start paying attention to my ever-growing student debt.
General Health
“A healthy mind promotes a healthy body”, as the adage goes. It’s not wrong – all the disorganisation that was going on upstairs was wreaking havoc on my health. I wasn’t eating properly, hadn’t exercised in months and had issues sleeping through the night.
With all this in mind, I began my search.
Here are the final results - a list of productivity apps, how I used them to revolutionise my life, so that you in turn can do the same.
Before we jump in, a note - I have an iPhone, so all the apps I used were for iOS. Don’t worry, Android users, I haven’t forgotten about you. Most of the apps mentioned work on either platform and there is usually a substitute available, in any case.
Sleep – The Be All, End All of Productivity
I decided to start by addressing my woeful sleeping patterns. Lack of sleep can lead to multiple health problems, including memory loss and mood swings. These are definitely traits anyone wanting to pick up a new skill should look to avoid.
Being an extremely light sleeper, I’ve always been interested in the science of sleep. I wanted to get a better idea of my own sleeping patterns – the hours in which I was more prone to experience a deeper sleep, so I could arrange my bedtime accordingly.
After downloading Sleep Cycle, you place the iPhone on your bed before you nod off for the night. The app tracks your sleeping patterns via the movements you make as you dream. It knows when you’re sleeping lightly (because you move a lot), and when you’re in a deep sleep (as you tend to stay still). You can also set an alarm that will wake you up at the best possible time within your cycle, in order to leave you feeling refreshed and energised.
Sleep As Android does pretty much the same thing. It aims to wake you up at the best possible time in the morning and will warn you if you’re not meeting your sleep requirements.
As an iPhone user, I went with Sleep Cycle. I was shocked to find out how much I tossed and turned throughout the night. I began setting the alarm for the rough time I wished to be awake by morning. I found this process to be much less jarring than a standard alarm at 8AM. The app would gently rouse me from my slumber, leaving me feeling far better equipped to handle my day.
Boost Your Concentration Levels with Meditation
Meditation is one of those things in life that you know you should be doing - however, it’s easy enough to find any and every excuse under the sun to not devote any amount of your time to it.
Keep in mind that there are many reasons to spend even as little as ten minutes of your day meditating. It improves your concentration, helps with stress and enhances your creativity.
I started by downloading Headspace, which can be used on both iOS and Android. You can create an account and subscribe - but there is also a free ten day trial that you can keep using until the end of time, if you wish.
I didn’t want the paid service, so from there I moved on to using Insight Timer. It has a plethora of free meditation tracks, which are available in different languages (this is an app that could perhaps moonlight as a language learning tool!). You can also set a timer that will signify the end of your meditation.
It’s up to you, but personally – I believe meditation is something that you don’t need to pay for. These apps work as a wonderful introduction to the world of meditation and from there, there are plenty of guides available on the internet for those who want to go at it alone.
Over time, I dispensed with the apps entirely - although I still use my phone to meditate. I set a timer on it, sit back, close my mind and try my best to empty it.
It sounds easier than it is. Yet, like anything, meditation improves with practice. After only a few months, I can feel myself becoming a calmer, more collected person (and my sleep has improved dramatically). Rather than procrastinating all the time, I’m throwing myself at my work with enthusiasm. In short, I feel like I have a bit more command over my mind, something that I can anticipate will only improve over time.
The Knock-On Effect
After a few weeks of concentrating solely on the health of my mind, my body began to follow suit. I joined a gym for the first time in over a year, went back to yoga and started working towards refining my diet. Feeling refreshed and energised, I knew it was time to turn my attention to that which was next on my list…
Managing Finances – No More Money Woes
I was a bit sick of opening up my bank account a few days after pay day and wondering where on earth all my money had gone. I needed to find an app with which I could track my daily spending, to ensure I was keeping myself within my budget and subsequently had enough money to feed myself.
I decided to go with HomeBudget. I could divide my money into separate accounts – such as access, savings and money that was to be set aside for tax. From there, I could allocate how much money I was spending on things such as food and holidays and where that money was coming from (it did tell me what I already knew to some degree: that that was a lot!).
I’ve heard that Mint is also quite a good app for keeping across your expenditures. It’s said to be great for goal tracking in particular, such as saving up for an item or paying off your student debt.
HomeBudget turned out to be an invaluable addition. Once I got over the shock and horror of how much I’d been carelessly spending, I was able to turn my money to more worthwhile sources - such as my savings account.
Keeping on Schedule
No more running late to work every day, missing appointments and leaving friends hanging. It was time to lose my hard copy diary and… gulp! Go digital.
I started scheduling all my various tasks for the week ahead into my Google Calendar. I dug the fact that as a Gmail user, a lot of what I’d booked online (such as flights and accommodation for travel) showed up in my calendar of their own accord. I also liked how I could set reminders for myself, via email or pop-ups on my mobile phone screen.
On my iPhone itself, I use the Sunrise Calendar app. The interface is both user-friendly and straightforward. It’ll show you what’s coming up over the course of your day and, if you’re British, provide you with the local weather. It’s compatible with Google Calendar, includes Facebook birthdays and invites and allows you to add events vocally. It also gives you the option of incorporating various other calendars, such as the moon cycle and the national public holidays in your country of residence.
For Android users, SoCalendar wins the award of having the trendiest name on this list. It works in much the same manner, but also uses gestures to navigate, which sounds like a fairly fun feature. For example, swiping your fingers different ways across your touch screen will provide you with alternate views of your schedule.
It’s amazing the difference it made to have my calendar directly at my fingertips. I now knew where I was due to be and what I would be doing at any given time. Those unscheduled hours could now be put to good use - tackling my never-ending to-do list.
Searching for an App that Would Allow Me to Tackle my Never-Ending List of Chores
What I wanted was simple. A place to put items on my ‘To-Do’ list, with some sort of reminder that would encourage me to get them done. A reward-based system wouldn’t hurt either. We all like to be patted on the back when we get something hard or icky out of the way.
Fortunately, I stumbled across Carrot, which is the Jekyll and Hyde of the iOS world. As long as you keep on top of your list, Carrot will shower you in compliments and well-wishes. Abandon her and feel her wrath, like a more aggressive version of Siri.
Ticking tasks off the list gives you points, which will eventually allow you to “level up”. As you do so, you unlock more features, such as the ability to be reminded of chores on your home screen and being able to rename them on your list. Other fun features await, but I’m not going to spoil them for you!
Oh, Android users. I looked so hard for an abusive equivalent – alas there doesn’t seem to be one in existence. However, you can revel in the fact that Google’s version of a ‘To-Do’ List – Google Keep has been designed for you and you alone! It has time- and location-based reminders, which you can colour-code. Plus, the app on your phone will sync seamlessly with your Google account on the web.
I also really liked the look of HabitRPG (iPhone and Android), which turns your boring list of “To Dos” into a video game set in a fantasy world of wizards, unicorns and dragons. How delightfully nerdy! As you cross things off your list, you earn points that you can use to upgrade your character with items and pets. Fail to complete tasks, and your character’s health will suffer, plus you may lose points in the game.
When I think about Carrot, I often wonder where she’s been all my life. There’s something about having your “must-dos” there, staring you in the face, that encourages you to do your best to get them done. I’ve shocked myself by how productive I’ve been in ticking off all the icky tasks I’d normally leave forever. And all to keep a little AI program on my phone happy. Well. At least it’s working in my favour.
There was one area however, in which this kind of ‘to do’ list wasn’t doing much by way of assistance. There may be a small collection of activities you wish to fulfil daily, in the view of making them become a habit. From drinking two glasses of water over 24 hours, to ensuring you’re meditating every morning… or doing a spot of language study!
I knew Carrot wasn’t going to help so much in this regard. So, I looked elsewhere for other apps that were fit to do the job.
As we live in the digital age, with a couple of clicks of my mouse I found exactly the app I had been envisioning.
Making a Habit Stick
Habit List stepped in and saved the day. It’s superbly simple to use. You make a note of an activity that you wish to turn into a habit, select a frequency reminder (i.e. whether you want to be reminded every day or odd days and at what time), and that’s it. It’ll pop up at the time you’ve programmed it to, reminding you to fulfil the task. I’ve set it to remind me to do a little bit of language study every single day and feel endlessly irritated if I end up breaking my “streak” (my longest at the time of writing is 8 days!).
Rewire for Android works in much the same regard, although there were a couple of other features I liked the sound of. You can keep a mini-journal going in the app, to make notes on your progress and daily achievements. You can also introduce a little bit of flexibility into your schedule. For example, you may not want to go running every single day, instead aiming to visit the gym four days of the week. Rewire will reflect this in its scheduling.
We all have our own little rituals for making habits stick, and this one has certainly proved to be effective for me.
Putting It All Together
I was surprised by the overall difference I was seeing in both my level of productivity and general well-being, after only a few weeks of using these apps. I now waste less time and feel more in control of the direction my life is heading in. It’s quite empowering!
Best of all, I have time now to dedicate to the activities I actually want to be doing… like learning a language.
Is there a mobile phone app you use that helps you stay on task in some way? Or have you had a similar experience to what I went through? I would love to hear about it in the comments.
The post The Productive Language Learner: How I Transformed my Phone into a Productivity Diva appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 21, 2016
5 Reasons to “Fail Fast, Fail Often” in Your Language Learning
Here’s the rub: by focusing on success, we gloss over our failures. Aren’t those important, too?
I think failure is really important. In fact, the best language learners fail the most. Let me say that again: the best language learners fail the most.
Failure has long been given a bad rap as something that should be avoided, especially in language learning. But the truth is, failure is the road to experience. The more mistakes you make, the sooner you’ll reach your goals.
Yes, mistakes are awkward. Mistakes are messy. Mistakes can leave you feeling “Did I really just say that?”
So, embrace the ick!
If you’re NOT failing, then you’re not pushing yourself enough.
Seriously, if you imagine yourself speaking fluently in an exotic new language but fear awkward moments, don’t throw in the towel. Not until you’ve read this article.
Here are a few reasons why you actually fail faster to enhance your language learning efforts.
1. The Best Way to Fail is to Speak
The other day I was eating durian, a pungent and notorious Southeast Asian fruit with some of my friends. They stared at me and complained about the smell and asked me how I could eat it.
“It’s a required taste,” I replied.
My friends laughed in my face.
“Required! Ha! You mean acquired?”
I stared down at my sticky fingers and couldn’t help but to laugh. It was funny, but it wasn’t a big deal. See, people make mistakes and fail all the time EVEN IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE. At least I do...
When you speak a language - especially a language you’re learning, you will make mistakes. Guaranteed. Accept this fact, and you will learn faster. Why? Because speaking is crucial when learning a language. I’d even argue that you don’t really know a language until you can use it in conversation.
[bctt tweet="You don’t really know a language until you can use it in conversation." username="irishpolyglot"]
Be prepared to make mistakes and know that they won’t be as bad you think. Try to be stoic for a second and ask yourself, “What’s the WORST that could happen?”
I mean, would you confuse “acquired” and “required”?
Remembering my failure leads leads nicely to the next point...
2. The Harder You Fail, the Better You Remember It
It took one memorable moment for me to know that I’ll never forget the difference between required and acquired. While it wasn’t my most epic failure, it sure did help build on the knowledge I already had.
Now, every time I think of acquired, it brings me back to that memory: pungent smell, humid weather, sticky fingers, and the hot flush of embarrassment. All that is a really powerful anchor that ties me to what I learned that day.
When you fail, your heart sinks, and it can feel like the world is sinking with you. Or it can be really funny. Either way, you create a moment of strong emotion, and that burns what you learned onto your brain.
3. Failure Gives You a Bigger Language Toolbox
The movie Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood makes a good point about failure. In the movie, an older man lets a young neighbour boy borrow a few of his carpentry tools to make some repairs. As the boy stand in the garage, he is in awe at this man’s collection.
The man explains that each tool he has, he bought because of a specific job that required it and he learned how to use each one, mistakes and all. He says it takes time to build a collection like that, and you have to do it one tool at a time.
[bctt tweet="The more you fall off the horse and get back on, the better you’ll be." username="irishpolyglot"]
It’s the same for language learning, except you’re collecting new words and grammar structures. Each failure adds one more skill to your collection, and you’ll gradually become more fluent as your “garage” fills with tools.
We’ve all heard the cliche: “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” For some of us the numbers are a little higher, and that’s completely fine! The more you fall off the horse and get back on, the better you’ll be because with each failure, you are able to learn something.
4. Even Failing Gets Easy - With Practice
I walked into a restaurant in South Korea for the first time. I was 19, alone and as soon as I made eye contact with the waitress, I felt immediately unprepared. I didn’t know any Korean, so I barely looked over my options and softly ordered the first thing I vaguely recognised. I escaped as soon as I finished my rice with mystery meat.
The experience was nothing like I thought it would be. I had hoped to engage someone in conversation, maybe even ask a few questions about my options. But no – my fear got in the way.
I messed up, but maybe that was okay.
The next day I realized how important that experience was to shaking off those travel jitters. Each day after that experience, I walked into eateries, museums, and shops with more confidence than the last. Soon, it was easy to walk up to a stranger and ask for directions.
Sure, the first time you forget a word, your body may tense up and you may get nervous. But once the experience is over and you realize it wasn’t so bad, you’ll be better prepared for the next mistake.
The best language learners make hundreds (if not thousands) of mistakes a day. But they didn’t start that way! They started by making one, then a dozen, then a few dozen. The more mistakes they made, the easier it got to make mistakes. And as it got easier, they made even more mistakes!
Want an easy way to start “making mistakes”? Ask questions - even questions that feel stupid. The more you get used to asking questions, the better you get at it. The more you native speakers about their language, the less scary it gets. You’ll discover that while not everyone will bend over backwards to help you, a lot of people will.
5. Failing Can Be Fun!
Have you ever failed at following a road map, only to find yourself in a fresh landscape meeting new people? And all because of a wrong turn! Have you ever missed a flight but ended up meeting someone incredible on your next one because of it? Good things come from failures, but only if you let them.
[bctt tweet="Why learn a new language if you don’t allow yourself to have fun while doing it?" username="irishpolyglot"]
It’s important not to take life -or language learning- too seriously. It’s those little sidesteps that make learning a new language a blast.
While failure does show that you’re working the language and moving forward in your venture, you should also see the fun in the experience. If you find yourself getting tense when learning, just slow down, take a deep breath, and think about all of your past failures. I promise you’ll find yourself smiling in no time! Life’s too short not to laugh at yourself. After all, why learn a new language if you don’t allow yourself to have fun while doing it?
Fail Faster, Fail Forward
Like it or not, failure is a part of life. It be embarrassing, scary, or daunting, but it’s going to happen, so might as well embrace it, right?
No matter where you are in your language learning journey, you’re going to fail. Even if you already speak ten languages, the eleventh is going to come with challenges. So when you’re diving into a new language, remember that no one becomes fluent in a day!
Language learning is a journey that can be an absolute blast, so enjoy those little failures because they will be part of the memories you tell for years to come. To quote Michael Jordan:
“I can accept failure, but I cannot accept not trying.”
The post 5 Reasons to “Fail Fast, Fail Often” in Your Language Learning appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 13, 2016
How I Learned Spanish in 4 Months (Without Leaving India)
Even those Indians who do feel adventurous rarely pick Spanish. It's French and Japanese that enjoy that privilege, which is why I decided to learn French when I was still a clueless teenager. That endeavour failed miserably as I soon got curious about German. Then came Russian, which I can still read and write, and then Spanish. By the time I was 20, I had tried my hand at no fewer than six European languages, and aced none of them.
Like any other demotivated language enthusiast, I threw in the towel and shelved all language ambitions. Then one day I stumbled upon various language learning blogs, including Fluent in 3 Months. These pumped me with a whole new rush of adrenaline, and Spanish started looking doable once again. I resolved to nail Spanish no matter what. Motivation was at an all-time high and I wasn’t going to miss the train this time.
I’d like to share my journey with fellow language hackers in the hope that my story might be inspirational.
But before I begin, let me state the ground rules I subjected myself to for this adventure. I resolved to:
Use no mainstream commercial products like Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur.
Avoid immersion-tourism (I couldn’t afford it anyway).
Count success as my ability to converse with a native-speaker for an hour without any hiccups.
Spanish in 4 Months: Day 1 - 20
Motivation wasn't my only nemesis in my prior language learning attempts. It was more of an effect than the cause itself. A little self-reflection led me to the root of my problems: lack of strategy. This was crucial because unless I had this out of the way, I couldn't count on doing any better this time.
Every language is a bottomless pit of rules and words. Aiming to learn everything at once is not only a recipe for failure, but also an exercise in futility. Not all rules of grammar are equally critical to daily conversation and not all words in the dictionary are meant to be learned. So I spent the first entire week just researching the bare essentials that I needed to get the ball rolling.
I sifted through countless language-learning forums and even analysed my own conversations in English to get a feel for which aspects of grammar I used most heavily. Chances were I would be using the same in Spanish with some minor differences. By the end of day seven, I had a list of items I had to cover before starting my first conversation.
Ser/estar: Spanish equivalents of "to be". Since this is the most heavily used verb in English, they seemed like a no-brainer.
Por/para: These two prepositions made the list because even in English it would be impossible to hold a conversation for long without having to use “for”, “of”, “through”, or “around”.
Present tense: Needless to say, most of our conversations are in this tense, making it essential. Not only that, but with the present tense you can discuss future events without having to use the future tense conjugation! That makes the present tense more versatile than any other.
Past tense: Spanish has two of these, the preterite and the imperfect. After the present tense, this is what makes up the bulk of conversations.
Imperative: Again, imperatives are hard to wish away in a real-life conversation even at the beginner level which makes them, well, imperative!
So, there you go. Four verb tenses, two verbs, and two prepositions – that's all I had to nail for now. The job seemed a whole lot easier now with some tangible structure and an achievable goal in sight.
But this was not all. I also had to deal with vocabulary. I prepared a list of 1,000 high-frequency words to memorise. This would easily have me covered in almost 80% of all conversations.
Instead of rote rehearsals, I resorted to etymology and mnemonics to memorise words at the speed of thought.
Over the next couple of weeks, all I did was learn new words and practise grammar. I did nothing in the way of speaking, nor any immersion.
Spanish in 4 Months: Day 21 - 60
By now, I felt pretty comfortable using the limited grammar and vocabulary I had assigned myself. Or so I thought. It was time I tested the waters with a little immersion. Knowing your conjugations is one thing. Being able to put them to use in a real-life scenario is another.
I needed to see if I could express myself in simple written Spanish a native speaker could understand.
A few minutes of research landed me two options: Lang-8 and italki.
Both offer a way for you to write down phrases and sentences in your target language, then have your work reviewed by native speakers. To return the favour, you could do the same for those writing in your native tongue.
This was exactly what I needed.
I set myself a personal goal of composing no fewer than 20 Spanish sentences every single day over the next 40 days. This was a modest yet challenging goal. The sentences could be about anything, any subject, any idea. This was going to be a thorough exercise in expressing myself freely, albeit only in writing.
For added immersion, I labelled stuff around my house with their Spanish names. I also started listening to Spanish music (although I could still make out nothing).
I also read a lot about the Latin American culture and way of life. This kept me motivated and I consider it an important aspect of my learning.
Spanish in 4 Months: Day 61 - 90
Two months into my experiment, I had become reasonably proficient at expressing simple ideas and thoughts in Spanish. I could write short essays on any generic topic with little help from anyone.
Now, my goal was to reach the same proficiency in speech.
I explored the forum on italki and found several learners willing to participate in Whatsapp groups for language exchange. This opened a whole new world to me - it was language practice on steroids.
By this time, I had also made a few connections on Lang-8 and had a sizable list of partners on Skype. With a dozen-odd partners on Whatsapp and as many on Skype, I had someone willing to talk at any time of the day.
The constant stream of exchange requests soon got overwhelming and I had to figure out a way to filter and trim this madness. I used the following filters to choose the best partners for me: time they were active, country they were from, and most importantly, the quality of their internet connection.
The first few hours of speaking Spanish were extremely awkward. I had to struggle comprehending even a four word expression! I would get frustrated every few minutes and almost feel like quitting. It was hard. Very hard. As if that weren't enough, I would find myself tongue-tied on something as basic as cómo estás!
Things began to get better sooner than I expected. By the end of the first week, I felt a whole lot more confident on my calls. I made it a point to spend no less than an hour a day chatting in Spanish, rain or shine. I took notes, consulted online translators, and made mistakes – a lot of them. But I got better and better.
Some of my language exchange partners turned out to be too shy to even try speaking English. This worked for me although it was terribly selfish on my part as it was not mutually beneficial.
During this time, I also explored Android apps like HelloTalk and Quazzel which are meant for language exchange and nothing else. I did find a couple of precious contacts off them. But in the long run, Skype is what prevailed.
Spanish in 4 Months: Day 91 - 120
My only significant exposure to Spanish over the previous month had been my conversations with native speakers on Skype. I continued to do some reading, but the focus had almost entirely shifted to speaking. The kick I got after each conversation was out-of-the-world! The sense of accomplishment you get after having spent an hour speaking and listening to nothing but Spanish is unparalleled.
Spurred by these successes, I decided to step up my efforts. My conversation time went from one hour a day to two hours a day.
On top of speaking, I wanted to improve my listening comprehension, so I subscribed to a couple of podcasts.
The first podcast I picked was a now-archived series from Spain, Audiria. This is a collection of audio clips on various topics. Episodes are sorted by topic as well as level of proficiency. Since I was focussed on Latin American Spanish, Audiria wasn't an exact fit for me, but was incredibly useful nonetheless.
Another podcast I subscribed to was La Casa Rojas. Episodes are close to an hour in length and the diction is clear. I admit I couldn't make sense of everything I heard, but I wasn't blank either. Every small spike in progress was adding up and I was happy.
I was desperate to start enjoying the richness of Spanish cinema, but my level of comprehension still wasn’t quite there. So I started with two series on YouTube that were perfect for me at that stage: Extr@ Spanish and Destinos. I also discovered a Chilean movie specifically made for learners: Sol y Viento. I would strongly recommend these to anyone looking for exposure to Spanish.
I continued reading for at least an hour a day. I diversified into a lot of interesting reading materials: newspapers like El Universal, comic books like Condorito and Gaturro, and short stories. All this was freely available online.
Spanish in 4 Months: Conclusion
By the end of four months, I had reached my goal. I was able to hold a comfortable conversation with a native speaker on a variety of subjects with little aid and I was able to consume news in Spanish without having to refer to a dictionary.
Of course a lot still lay ahead and I was still unable to thoroughly enjoy a commercial Spanish-language movie without subtitles. But the progress I had made in a space of four months was incredibly satisfying.
Could I have achieved all of this quicker? Maybe. I confess I had always been on the fence about the speak from day one strategy, but that's not to undermine the concept. The only reason I couldn't go straight into full-immersion and conversation is because I was doing this at a time when online language exchange still wasn't as popular as it is today. Remember I didn't have the luxury of traveling, so my only option was online calls.
Plus, when you speak with someone remotely, you have a big disadvantage: you can’t see body language to guess what's being spoken. You have to rely on the words and how they sound. That would have been extremely overwhelming to me if I didn't have my basics in place.
With this experiment, I learned one key lesson: If I could learn to converse in a European language, much less Spanish, living in a small town in the boonies of India, then anyone, anywhere can. I didn't travel, I didn't buy into gimmicky software, I didn't enroll in fancy classes. I just followed my instincts and made the best of every resource I could get my hands on. A little ingenuity and a lot of willpower got me a long way.
The last thing I would advise is, please do not delude yourself. Learning an alien language is not a cakewalk. It's tough and it calls for a bulletproof will. You will be frustrated beyond your senses and you will feel like a loser a million times over. But it's not gonna be that way forever. After a point, you'll have an epiphany, and that's when you'll start reaping the rewards. Rewards that more than make up for all the frustration you were subjected to. Just stay determined to cross over into that zone and you'll be shocked by what you're capable of!
The post How I Learned Spanish in 4 Months (Without Leaving India) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
May 6, 2016
The 4 Stages of Language Learning (And What to Do at Each Stage)
Years earlier, reading in my target language was the most painful exercise I could imagine. I used to have to stop to look up every second word in a dictionary. It was horrible.
Now, reading in a second language is fun and, contrary to my earlier experience, something I look forward to.
I had known for a while that the secret to being an effective language learner was action-taking.
The more action you take, the faster you will learn.
[bctt tweet="The more action you take, the faster you will learn." username="irishpolyglot"]
But, the moment I realised how much easier it is to read nowadays, I discovered that action is relative.
What do I mean? Reading at an early stage of a language learning journey is neither easy nor enjoyable. Unless you have zen-like monk abilities to will yourself through a book word by word, sentence by sentence, then at the start of your language learning journey reading is not an effective activity.
If you accept the premise that the most valuable thing to do to improve your foreign language competence is to take action, then the most essential questions to ask yourself are:
Which are the most important activities to do? And at what stage?
Before I tell you how I answered this question for myself, I need to share with you a simple metaphor. To me, language competence is like an aeroplane in flight.
A Simple Metaphor for Language Learning - An Aeroplane Taking Flight
Even if you are scared of flying (which I am), the moment a plane turns onto a runway, and the engines start to fire, can be incredibly exciting. Every time I’m on a plane in those first few moments of a flight, I’m reminded of two things: how amazing humans are, and all the possibilities of adventure that await at the end of the flight.
I get these same two feelings when someone decides to start a new language learning mission. Our ability to carry around the thousands of pieces of information required to speak another language in our heads is remarkable. And after a period of time studying, the possibilities of adventure grow and become real.
To get off the ground, a language student, like a plane, needs to follow a series of carefully coordinated actions.
Stage 1: Take Off
To take off, a plane needs to apply enough force to accelerate, it needs to lower the flaps to get enough lift at runway speeds, it needs to travel in a straight line in the right direction, and it needs to maintain constant acceleration for long enough to get off the ground.
Even though the stakes aren’t as high with language learning, if you want lift off, then you, too, need to focus on a series of carefully coordinated actions. If you aren’t accelerating in the right direction, or you haven’t accelerated for long enough, getting off the ground is going to take more time and be a lot more difficult.
Stage 2: Managing the Bumps
Once off the ground, things become a little easier. The flaps come in, the wheels go up, and you can start steering the plane in any direction you want. That said, the seat belt sign is still on. There is still a lot of work to be done before you are through the bumpy period below the clouds.
Language learning in this stage is about managing the bumps. Conversations won’t be smooth, they will feel awkward, but the more you can do in this bumpy period, the faster you will be through the turbulence.
Stage 3: Gaining Altitude
Now that the bumps and turbulence of the clouds are gone, the seat belt sign is off. You are free to move around the cabin. All you need to do now is simply continue to climb upwards until you reach cruising altitude.
Your conversations are starting to take on more structure and depth. Your target language is starting to become a lot easier and you no longer need your first language to communicate.
Stage 4: Cruising
At the final stage of flight, you’ve reached cruising altitude. This is the easiest part of the journey. Now you can go anywhere you want.
Language learning at this final stage is incredibly rewarding. All of your carefully planned actions have gotten you to where you want to be. You can now start another language learning mission or continue to cruise around enjoying the view and exploring your new surroundings.
So, which stage are you currently at? Let’s look at how to determine competence in a straightforward way.
Which Stage are You at in Your Target Language?
I made a big mistake early in my language learning journey. I focused too closely on grammar rules. In other words, I tried to fly before I had taken off.
I have a background in maths and engineering, which meant I found grammar rules really fascinating. I was motivated to study them, which isn’t a bad thing since motivation is essential for consistent improvement. But I discovered I couldn’t really say what I wanted to say because I was always looking for words I didn’t know.
A common way to judge language competence is to use the European Framework of Reference for Languages. In my experience though, this framework can be deceiving. When I attended Spanish class I was placed in level that didn’t seem to match the students around me. I couldn’t communicate as well as the other students in my class despite knowing all of the grammar rules in the exercise book.
Instead of focusing on grammar rules, I wish I had focused more on vocabulary in the early stages. And not only focus on learning it but actually using the vocabulary that I knew.
For this reason, I’ll offer a straightforward method of measuring language competence:
Your competence in a foreign language = total number of active words in your vocabulary.
[bctt tweet="Your competence in a foreign language = total number of active words in your vocabulary." username="irishpolyglot"]
Therefore, when it comes to the four stages of language learning I outlined above, each stage is defined by the total number of active words you can use.
Let’s take a closer look at each stage as it applies to language learning, and how you can move through each stage as effectively as possible.
Stage 1: 0 - 100 Words
Primary activity: learning the sounds of the language / pronunciation
Secondary activity: word selection
At this first stage of language learning, there are two activities you should focus on above all else.
Firstly, you need to learn how to make the sounds of your target language. You should work on your pronunciation at stage 1 for three reasons: you want to be able to communicate your message as effectively as possible as soon as you can, adjusting to the sounds of your target language will help with your listening skills, and pronunciation is a habit—it’s much easier to form a good habit early than to change an ingrained habit later.
Find a good language tutor online, or look for a local school. Try to get one-on-one feedback to determine how well you are pronouncing the sounds of the language, and what you need to do to improve.
The next thing you need to do is choose words that are going to allow you to express basic but very important ideas.
My brother recently went on a trip to Colombia for a fortnight. He didn’t have “time” to learn Spanish, and asked me to give him a few essential things to get him through the trip.
I taught him the Spanish words for: “yes”, “no”, “I want”, “I need”, “I can”, “to find”, “to speak”, “this”, “please”, “thank you”.
With these words, he could walk into a shop and say, “I want this please”, “no, I don’t want this”, “thank you”. He could also ask someone on the street, “I want to find this”, or “I need to find this”, and then point to something on a map.
In other words, even at this stage, you can (and should) use and speak your target language.
At this stage, your language skills are like a plane accelerating down the runway. You are a long way from cruising, but if you carefully select practical words, and practise saying them correctly, you will be able to communicate.
Focus closely on these stage-one activities and soon you will have lift-off.
Stage 2: 100 - 1000 Words
Primary activity: start having basic conversations
Secondary activity: keep studying high-frequency vocabulary
In this second stage, to improve effectively, you need to focus on your active vocabulary.
You are still below the clouds, the seat belt sign is on, it feels very awkward to have conversations in your target language, but you have to actively use what you have learnt.
Basic conversations in this stage allow you to express yourself more broadly, and begin to investigate aspects of the language and your surroundings with practical questions.
Now you can start to ask things like “What is the difference between these two verbs?”, “Can you help me with the translation of this sentence?”, “What are the best things to do and see in this city?”, or “Where is a good place to go to try the local food?”
Your goal during this stage is not to focus on the specific vocabulary of certain topics, but to focus on connecting words and phrases that will allow you to ask about things in a general way.
Search out vocabulary frequency lists in your target language, run down the list and look for words that you don’t recognise in the top 200, 300, 400 etc. words. Learn these words as a priority. Then every time you discover a new high-frequency word, look to use it actively in your next conversation in your target language.
Stage 3: 1000 - 2000 Words
Primary activity: build grammar skills
Secondary activity: start exploring topics of interest in your target language
With one thousand words in your active vocabulary, you can now express almost any idea in a general way.
Your goal at this third stage is to now improve the structure of how you are a expressing your ideas. This means a greater focus on grammar rules, particularly for languages with difficult grammar.
This is the point where I recommend you buy a grammar book.
It may be common advice to start a new language with a grammar book, but Benny has always said the key to getting good at a language quickly is to speak from day 1. Focusing too much on grammar and not enough on active vocabulary is the mistake I made early when I started to learn a second language as an adult. This is why stages 1 and 2 are so vital for getting to cruising altitude quickly.
Your other goal at stage 3 is to start looking into specific topics of interest. You now have a rock solid base of general words to delve into areas that draw your curiosity, so use them to explore.
Do you like music, sport, art, travel, surfing, cooking, books or hiking?
See if you can find people that speak your target language that also share your interests.
A typical conversation now might involve questions like, “Where do you think the best place is to pitch a tent?”, “Do you have any spare pegs?”, “My portable stove has run out of gas, do you have a spare canister?”
You can now move safely around the cabin and you have a lot more freedom in your target language. Things aren’t totally easy, there is still a lot of specific vocabulary to learn, but you no longer need your first language to communicate and discuss a widening range of topics.
Stage 4: 2000+ Words
Primary activity: reading
Secondary activity: more of your favourite activities for motivation
At this last stage, you’ve reached cruising altitude. Communicating in your target language is now easy and enjoyable.
You can speak for hours with friends on a range of different topics, and at the end of the night your head isn’t left throbbing from deep levels of concentration and effort.
If you want to improve at this level, just like the other three levels, you need to continue to build your active vocabulary. This is a lot more difficult at this stage, however, as you will come across words that you have already seen or used at stages 1 to 3 over and over again.
For me, the best way to regularly run into new words is through reading.
Conversational vocabulary tends to more limited than literary vocabulary. This means that when you have conversations at this stage, you may find that there are still a lot of words you don’t know but they just don’t come up regularly in conversation.
See if you can find some books, fiction or nonfiction, in your target language that appeal to your interests. As you are reading, every time you discover a word that you don’t know, take note and then look for an opportunity to use that word in your next conversation.
This process will ensure that you are deliberately and systematically adding new words to your active vocabulary.
As a simple example, I recently had a discussion with a friend about two words I had read in a book and made note of. The two words were the English equivalent of ascertain and investigate. We discussed which words would be used in certain situations and when. As a result of this conversation, I can now use these words in the right context.
Changing Your Language Learning Activities As You Grow
Each stage of language learning requires a different approach.
At the start, activities like reading can be very frustrating. Down the path, they can be quite fun. Knowing grammar rules may not be useful if you don’t have a core set of active vocabulary to use. And learning the specific vocabulary of certain topics is something you should only look to do once you have solid base of general high-frequency words.
As you improve your skills, you’ll want to challenge yourself in different ways. The more often you can do activities appropriate to your level, the faster you’ll get to cruising altitude, and the easier it will be to get to wherever it is you’d like to go.
What stage are you at in your language learning? Let me know in the comments.
The post The 4 Stages of Language Learning (And What to Do at Each Stage) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 26, 2016
How Yoga Can Make You a Better Language Learner
He could barely talk. “That was the hardest thing I’ve done in the last year.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, yoga can be hard.”
Truthfully, I hadn’t found it as challenging as he did. I’d been too busy comparing myself to the girls in the room, who were all far more flexible that I was.
Then it struck me: yoga’s a lot like language learning. It never really gets easier, you just learn how to battle through the difficult parts. You become a better fighter. You accept the fact that it’s going to be difficult, and you get on with it.
I also realised that yoga not only helped me get in shape. It made me a better language learner.
Here’s what I’ve learned about language learning from yoga (plus how you can apply these lessons):
Yoga Lesson 1: Habits Matter (as Much as Goals)
When I first started yoga I couldn’t come close to touching my toes. I could barely touch my shins. As I write this, after doing yoga for a year, I still can’t sit cross legged, my downward dog is horrible, and I almost have panic attacks in the middle of class.
But I still keep going back and I love it.
Why?
Because I’ve developed the habit. If I stop doing yoga, I’m only gonna get worse. Just like language learning: the more you put in, the more you get out. The more I stretch and the more I push myself, the faster I feel my body improving and the better I feel.
The more I practise yoga, the more I realise how important it is to keep practising yoga, on a frequent basis.
It’s not how good I am that matters. It’s the habit that matters.
Habits are a massive help when it comes to language learning. The more you practise, study vocabulary, and the more you dedicate time to it, the better you’re gonna get and the more confident you’ll be as a result.
This sounds obvious, so I’ll try phrasing it the other way. When you stop studying, you’ll start forgetting. By building a habit of studying, you’ll see great progress over time.
I once took a week off yoga. When I returned to the mat, every pose was more challenging than I remembered. I could tell that I had forgotten some of the poses. The poses that I used to do comfortably now made me want to cry. I felt horrible. Language learning works the same way: if you take a long break, you’ll start to forget and you’ll lose confidence. That’s why having an accountability group helps.
There are no shortcuts, no brain implants, and no magic pills. There’s no secret. You just have to do it, day after day. You just have to build the habit.
Yoga Lesson 2: Appreciate the Journey
Nothing worth having ever comes easy. Being able to speak a foreign language is definitely a skill worth having.
There’s a simple rule in yoga: when you’re struggling, focus on your breath. This brings you out of your thoughts (“this is so difficult!”) and into the present moment.
Practising yoga has helped me realise that it’s important to take deep breaths. Focusing on my breath brings me into the present and helps me enjoy the journey. When I do this, everything else falls into place.
When I let my mind worry about the past or the future, it’s easy for me to get overwhelmed and worried. But when I take it one day at a time or even one breath a time, I’m reminded to enjoy the journey and trust the process.
As a language learner, you’ll hit rough patches. You’ll forget words, mispronounce words, and forget to conjugate. But that’s okay. It’s okay if you have to stop and take a few deep breaths every once in awhile.
Some days will be better than others. Sometimes you’ll struggle more, but at the end of the day, all you gotta worry about is enjoying whatever step you are currently on. If you can do that, after a while you’ll be surprised at the outcome.
Yoga Lesson 3: Comparing Yourself to Others is Silly
When I was just starting out with yoga, I thought the other members in the class were missing bones. I could NOT believe how flexible they were.
Then I realised: Everyone comes from different backgrounds with different experience and different levels of flexibility. Some people have been practising yoga for years. Others, days.
The more I went to yoga, the more I realised that comparing myself to others isn’t good for my confidence. Unless you’re extremely flexible, you’d probably experience something similar in a yoga class.
The same is true of language learning.
The only person you should compare yourself with is the person you were yesterday. Once you do this, you’ll realise that you’re making progress and you’re getting better.
Even so, it can be frustrating when you see someone who’s really good at speaking another language (or at yoga stretches). And it’s intimidating, especially you want so badly to be where they are. You know it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get there.
Comparing yourself to others doesn’t help.
I’ll say it again: the only person you should compare yourself with is the person you were yesterday.
Yoga Lesson 4: The Real Work Happens Outside the Classroom
Having a teacher and going to a class is an important part of yoga practice. It can also be a key piece in the language learning puzzle.
But it is that. Just one piece.
While teachers can show you the way, they can’t do it for you. My yoga teacher still doesn’t understand why I can’t touch my toes, but it’s not her fault, it’s mine. I have to stretch more.
Here’s how I see it. Having a teacher gives you a runway to go and practise on your own.
What are you going to do with that runway? Use it to launch your daily language learning habit, or just visit it once a week?
If you really want to see results, you have to practise in your own time.
What Inspires Your Language Learning?
Yoga inspires me to learn a language. And practising yoga has taught me life lessons that I apply to language learning. Maybe there’s not a big difference between stretching your body and stretching your mind.
What life lessons do you use in your language learning?
The post How Yoga Can Make You a Better Language Learner appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
April 22, 2016
Thai Practice: 10 Simple Games and Exercises to Improve your Thai Skills
The jump in popularity of Thai as a foreign language has led to an explosion of fun games and exercise ideas on the web to help hone your Thai skills.
I’ve collected some of my favourites from around the internet, as well as one or two “unplugged” ideas that you can do with just a pen, paper, and a wee bit of imagination. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself, and try some of the more advanced ideas even if you don’t think you’re “ready”!
1. Listen and Learn
If you’re just starting out in Thai, or need more listening practice with basic vocabulary, try this listening comprehension game, which covers all the basics, including greetings, colours, body parts, directions, and much more. There is no reading or writing Thai required to play.
To get started, click on the category you want to practise, such as “Hello and Thank You” or “Drinks in Thai”, to open the game for that category. Within each game is a set of images you can click to hear the Thai pronunciation for the object in that image.
Click each image to listen to the Thai pronunciation as many times as you like to absorb the new vocabulary. Then click “game” in the top right to test your knowledge.
2. Learn Thai Numbers, Fast!
This mobile app is available for iOS and Android.
Want to learn how to haggle in Thai? Then you’ll want to study up on your numbers. This very simple app does one thing, and does it well: it teaches you all the Thai numbers up to 9999 by presenting them in random order for you to test your knowledge.
There are two exercise modes: standard flashcards, and a listening exercise where you type each number as you hear it. Even if you’re already familiar with the numbers, this app will help you recognise and recall them quickly, so there will be no “ums” or “ahs” when it comes to real-life situations.
3. Speed Listening
This webpage has six Thai audio conversations recorded by a professional Thai teacher, with transcripts in English, Latin alphabet transliteration and Thai script, side-by-side.
The teacher has managed to pack a ton of incredibly useful Thai colloquialisms into each conversation, so you’ll have plenty of examples of natural, everyday spoken Thai. You can listen to each conversation at both slow and normal speed, to get accustomed to the way real Thai people talk.
4. Thai Directions Game
This game will not only help you practise directions like “left” and “right”, but also prepositions, landmarks and units of distance.
Take an old paper road map or log onto Google Maps, (or draw your own original map on paper if you’re feeling creative), and mark two points on it, point A and point B. Now describe, out loud, the best route from A to B.
Bonus points: Don’t just say “turn left on Street 1, turn right on Street 2”, etc. Get ambitious! Try to say more complex phrases like, “If you pass the supermarket, you’ve gone too far” or “Watch out for children playing near the school!”.
5. Thai Typing Tutor
No matter what your skill level is in Thai typing, including “nonexistent”, this typing game will help you improve it quickly.
If you’ve been focusing most of your time on speaking, listening and reading, and you’re ready to add typing to your list of Thai skills, this highly addictive game will familiarise you with the Thai keyboard, or sharpen your skills if you can already type. And you don’t even need the Thai keyboard enabled on your computer to play!
The game is simple: one letter at a time falls from the top of the screen, and you need to type the correct key before the letter hits the bottom. If you get it wrong twice, a hint will appear. The game automatically speeds up and slows down to adapt to your ability.
If you’re ready to take your Thai typing to the next level, try this similar but more difficult game, which has complete words instead of individual letters. You’ll need the Thai keyboard enabled on your computer to play this one,
6. Thai Vowel Hand Signs
This is a two-part video by hyperpolyglot Stuart Jay Raj.
If you’re still learning to read Thai script but you’re finding the rules confusing (“wait, some vowels go above the consonant? Some go below? And some go BEFORE or even AROUND? What the!”) then start with this exercise on pronouncing and remembering the main Thai vowels, which includes easy hand signs and some fun and, er, interesting mnemonics to help lodge them in your memory.
7. Photo Mnemonics
This is a simple but powerful exercise that helps you find things to talk about in conversations with native Thai speakers. It’s a variation on mnemonics.
The idea is to look at a photograph and try to describe it in Thai. Repeat your description over and over until you’re comfortable with it. If you’re a beginner, your Thai description might be as simple as single words: “person”, “football”, “red”. This is fine! If you’re more advanced, try to come up with complete sentences to describe the photo.
This would be a very dull exercise if that was all of it! So, make it interesting.
First, use a photo related to a subject that you’d be interested in talking about in your native language. Then you’ll already be motivated to speak about the topic, and the exercise won’t feel like a chore. Interested in sports? Use a photograph of your favourite sport in action. Music? A picture of some musicians doing their thing.
Next, make up a funny background story about the photo. I can’t emphasise enough what a huge help this will be for your memory. Now describe the photo, and tell the backstory, as well as you can in Thai.
Be sure to speak aloud as you go along, and look up vocabulary if needed. Get to know the photograph. Revisit it regularly and describe it to yourself in Thai until just looking at it reminds you of the words and phrases you learned, and you can say them aloud without hesitation.
Now you have a ready-made mnemonic in your mind that you can instantly visualise and refer to when talking about that subject. Next time you’re chatting with a language partner online or in person (you are speaking regularly with real Thai people , right?), you’ll have some vocabulary ready to say about a subject that you enjoy.
8. Tell the Time in Thai
Telling time in Thai is very different from English. It’s not easier or harder, but the differences require some practice to get familiar with.
This exercise tests your ability to tell the time by presenting you with a random clock face, which you need to correctly tell the time for by clicking on the Thai time words in the right order. If you can’t read the Thai alphabet, you can switch between Thai script and Latin alphabet transliteration whenever you like.
9. Multilingual Word Search
You don’t need to be an advanced Thai learner to have a lot of fun with this word search game.
Can’t read Thai yet? No problem! You can still look for the words in the word search even if you don’t know what they mean. It will get you used to those “squiggly” characters so you’ll have a head start when you do start learning to read.
The word searches are sorted by category, so you can study the the vocabulary that you’re most interested in learning. Even if you’re great at word searches in your native language, it’ll take a bit of practice to “get an eye” for it in Thai.
The best feature? After you finish each game, you can tap each word to listen to the pronunciation, and view the definition in a Thai-English dictionary. And a huge bonus with this app is that you can play word searches in over thirty languages! Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin, you name it. Believe me, even for languages you’ve never studied before and can’t read at all, this game is highly addictive. You have been warned.
10. Thai Classifiers Flashcards
If you’ve been studying Thai for even a short while, you’ll certainly be familiar with the concept of classifiers.
While most Thai language learners might groan at the thought, are they ever handy! Mandarin has a similar concept with its measure words, and after the initial learning curve, I ended up embracing them during my Mandarin language mission.
Only about seventy classifiers are needed to cover virtually every noun you could hope to use in Thai, outside of specialist technical contexts. Learn these words, and your comprehension skills will instantly hit the next level. Why? Because now if you hear a new noun in conversation, or read it on a sign or in a book, if it’s accompanied by the classifier then you’ll immediately have a clue about what type of object it is. Then you may be able to guess the meaning of the noun from the context of the sentence, without wasting time looking it up in a dictionary.
Over to You
How do you learn Thai? What are your favourite exercises and games? Let me know in the comments.
The post Thai Practice: 10 Simple Games and Exercises to Improve your Thai Skills appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.
