As a professional linguist language learning is something I'm keen to promote, and a New Year presents new opportunities to learn new skills. How can you reach your goal?
Have a reason to learn - Some people start every New Year with the same old list - eat healthier, go to the gym, learn a language - only to fall back into their old routine after a few weeks. So it’s important to think about why you want to learn Spanish. There are many possible reasons - to get a better job, to travel, to enjoy the culture of the country where the language is spoken, to communicate with family members who don’t speak English.
Try to clearly define why you want to study the language, what you want to do with the language (speak it, write it, just read it or all three?) and how you can achieve this - will you learn at home with books and CD’s, assist a class or use a private tutor?
Visualise - Create a mental picture of yourself using the foreign language according to the reason why you want to learn - you could be sitting in a restaurant ordering a meal, watching a foreign language movie or making a business presentation, but allow yourself to dream about this vision - make it as real as possible and you’ll feel motivated to keep learning.
Enlist a friend - It’s always easier to fulfil your goal if you have a buddy to work with, so why not convince your partner, spouse or best friend to team up with you. You can help motivate one other. Why not arrange to meet up with fellow students once a month for a coffee and a revision session, or create a wiki or forum where you can all share ideas and tips. If you live in a university town there may be foreign students who would be happy to spend half an hour a week for conversation practice.
Mix ’n’ match - Language learning should be fun, so mix learning with pleasure. Do you play football or enjoy painting? Look out for foreign language websites on those subjects and you’ll be surprised at how much you can actually understand. Some of your favourite websites might have pages translated into the language you’re learning. By focusing on topics that you enjoy learning you take part of the hard work out of learning.
