More Language Study Tips

These language study tips are a continuation from the Language Learning Tips page. Try to work some of them into your language study routine and you'll find they can complement your language learning method in ways the method would not be able to do on it's own.

Try a few others out even if you don't think it will work for you, it may pleasantly surprise you. These language study tips can help make your language learning experience more effective and enjoyable.

Have a great language study tip of your own? Share it! Submit your best language tip to the site and get your own page to share it with other language learners!

Motivation/Inspiration. Occasionally, we may need a boost to our motivation or a shot of inspiration. The single biggest shot of motivation I got was when I read Barry Farber's book How To Learn Any Language. It's a simple book and a quick read, but it's filled with great ideas and language study tips, as well as stories and anecdotes of his life and the languages he's learned. Read my review of Barry Farber's book. There are lots of other books out there that can give you a boost of energy or get you focused on learning your new language. If you think you may need it, then pick one up.

Software. Even if you do not use a software product as your core language learning method, they make a great supplement to other methods. They are often multi-media - they use text, audio, images and even video - and so are usually a different approach from book and audio based methods. They can help take some of the monotony and stress out of learning from grammar books and make it a little more fun.

Language Journal. From day one of your journey learning this new language, start making entries into a language journal. Mark down what you're working on, what you think you're getting and what you are having trouble with. Take notes on which methods or language study tips are successful and which are not. Jot down any interesting tidbits about the language or culture that you learn along the way. Make enties regarding your experiences with the language such as when you first use it in real life, your first 'hello' to a stranger or overhearing a conversation on the subway and understanding some of it. As you progress in your new language, you will be amazed at how far you have come. This is your guidepost to show you where you started and how much you have accomplished since then. If you are truly intrepid, start a blog of your language learning experience. Try using Blogger for a free blog and see how many other people begin to share experiences with you!

Forums. Try lurking around the language learning forums on the internet. You are bound to pick up a few ideas on language learning in general, but more importantly, you'll find people learning the same language you are at a variety of levels, including the same level you are at. Communicating with these people will enable you to share experiences, successes, failures and language tips. You may even gain a few long-term study partners out of it. Look for forums for your new language on the individual language pages or at the Language Penpal Resources page.

Study Group. What better way to share experiences and language study tips than by having a language study group? Band together with a few other people and follow a course together. You will be able to work on pronunciation, conversation and vocabulary with other people at the same level in the new language. Set timetables and goals, share study materials and quiz each other. The group can be in person or even online in a forum or chatroom format. Try the Langauge Penpals Resource page to find other learners of your new language who may be willing to work as a group.


These language study tips are just ideas I've come across myself. Some are more successful for me than others, but you should try as many as possible to find the ones that work for you. A single language learning method rarely does the trick for anyone, but it still amazes me that people blame the method for not getting them to where they want to be. We can't rely on the method to do all the work. As you try some of these language study tips, you will eventually find the magic combination of methods, tools, and tips that brings you the results you are looking for, and the bottom line is - it's you who will put that plan to work.

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"Any man who does not make himself proficient in at least two languages other than his own is a fool. Such men have the quaint habit of discovering things fifty years after all the world knows about them - because they read only their own language."

- Martin H. Fischer