How to Really Learn a Language

by Jeff Martin

  You can train yourself to think in the foreign language. Again, it may sound silly, but you should make up characters in your mind with whom to speak. Have mental conversations with these native-speaking characters in their language. I do this all the time, and with little to no effort. In fact, a large part of my day is spent speaking with these imaginary characters, provided I’m not mentally engaged in something else.

  Hopefully the aforementioned mental tricks will help you to achieve different levels of fluency. For some people though, just the idea of becoming fluent can be overwhelming, especially if they desire to achieve a native-like fluency. The best way to attack this apprehension is to think about how long it took you to learn your first language. Verify your level of commitment. If you really want to learn a language, then you should allow yourself as much time as you were allotted as a child. Although, if you follow the steps in this book, the process will be much faster.

  To become a certified interpreter, I had to achieve a native-like fluency as a prerequisite even before I began my interpreter training. I began learning Spanish in 2001 and didn’t become certified until 2009. I didn’t become master certified, which is much more difficult, until 2017. It took me approximately 16 years to master Spanish and my interpreting skills to such a degree that I could receive the label of master certified. Even after having achieved that level, I am still quite limited in my vocabulary when compared to a well-educated native speaker. The Spanish staircase is still seemingly endless for me, and I don’t perceive there to be any cap on how much I can learn. Every day new phrases and vocabulary are being added to the language as it evolves. Just like fluency, mastery is not a single level. Both are vast spectrums.

  A great thing for you to do, especially if you are only learning your second language, is to have a decent approach to goal setting. Primarily, I like to set my goals based on the courses I am using. These goals are measurable and easily visualized. I focus on short-term as well as long-term goals. For example, I might say, “I will complete this lesson today, this unit this week, this level this month, this entire course this year.” Some other goals could be ordering food in a restaurant, having a short conversation with a native, singing a song all the way through, and understanding a telephone conversation or a Facebook post. The point is that you need to be able to gauge your progress. Be reasonable with yourself. This will take time. Always remember, you will only really learn this language if you don’t quit.

  09 Wordsmith

  Step 5 - Building Your Vocabulary

  In order to climb the ladder of fluency, you must constantly build your vocabulary. If you have already achieved a vocabulary of a couple thousand words, you are likely able to understand most of the spoken and written language that you are exposed to regularly, yet you are constantly finding words that you don’t understand. Such a small percentage of an adult native’s known vocabulary is used daily. This doesn’t mean that the rest of their vocabulary isn’t important. There are over 170,000 words in the English language, yet only about 3,000 words make up around 95 percent of what is used with regularity. When topics arise that are not part of the daily, mundane situations that a person normally encounters, they need to be able to draw upon their passive vocabulary. These are words that every adult native has learned and has mastery over and can draw upon in an instant.

  Think about it this way. In your native language, you could probably explain to your neighbor that you need to borrow some jumper cables, because at some point in your life you had an experience which required you to have your car jump started. But when was the last time you had to have such a discussion? Luckily it doesn’t come up on a regular basis. The term jumper cables is very important to know in case of such an emergency. It’s just not a part of your daily, active vocabulary. Do you know how to say jumper cables in your new language? If not, then that is what I call a vocabulary hole.

  Fluency is often topical, meaning that you have learned the words related to topics that you have had experience with. If you work in a Mexican restaurant and have learned quite a bit of Spanish vocabulary from the workers, then you have no problem talking about subjects related to food and restaurants. Yet as soon as you find yourself in a situation that you have not had experience in, such as having to take your car to a mechanic that only speaks Spanish, your restaurant vocabulary will not help you much.

  Frequently when I am engaged in conversation in a foreign language with someone, or reading a news article, I will come across vocabulary holes. These are missing parts of my vocabulary, which would not be missing in the vocabulary of an adult native speaker. Vocabulary holes are caused by lack of exposure to subject matter in the language. I remember one time at my first interpreting job, which was at an elementary school, I was asked by a teacher to translate a letter that was to be sent home to her students' parents. It was a short letter, so she stood by while I translated. She noticed that I had to look up the word rabbit in Spanish. She was surprised, and asked, "You know how to say all this, but you can't say rabbit?" I was quite embarrassed, but I told her that if I never had spoken about rabbits with someone, read anything about rabbits, seen any movies about rabbits, and was never otherwise exposed to the word rabbit in Spanish, then I would have no reason to know the word. Fortunately, I now know that this was a cop-out. I should have done the work and exposed myself to as much vocabulary as possible on a regular basis, especially working as an interpreter.

  The best way to attack the vocabulary hole obstacle is head on. Be proactive. Use the techniques described in chapter three about massive exposure to the spoken language, with a focus on listening for comprehension. Do the same thing with the written language. Make sure your language input is mostly in the foreign language. You can change your language settings in most electronic devices. You can do the same thing with your email and social media accounts. Read news articles written in countries where the language you are learning is spoken. Read books and magazines printed in the same countries. It’s important to avoid translated literature as much as possible, until you have reached the point at which you are able to point out translation errors. Always check the source to make sure its origin is a foreign country where your new language is spoken.

  If you aim to achieve native-like fluency, you need to broaden the scope of your language exposure. You need massive exposure to all the different registers of the language, in a wide variety of subjects. You need exposure to the news in all possible media including written, audio, and video. Consume novels and biographies both in the traditional format and in audio. Watch talk shows, sitcoms, dramas, and movies. Listen to lyrical music. Devour books or articles about science, history, politics, religion, and any other topic that you can think of. Bring to mind a subject and research it online in the foreign language. Online encyclopedias are sometimes available in foreign languages. Use them.

  In order to not become overwhelmed by the amount of vocabulary that you need to learn, it’s important to slow down and have as much repeated exposure to the material you are learning from as is necessary. If it’s an audiobook, listen to the same chapter repeatedly until you can fully comprehend everything that you hear. If the device you are using to play the audiobook has the ability to skip back in small increments, such as 10 or 30 seconds, then repeat each segment until you understand each word. Try to find the written version of the book to use as a reference as you listen. If the book has been translated into English, procure the English version as well. Just remember that translations can be faulty.

  If you’re reading an online article, save a copy of it, and read it as many times as it takes for you to understand every word. If you’re watching a movie or a show, repeat each scene or clip as needed. Using subtitles can be helpful as well. I recommend watching without subtitles at first, to judge your level of comprehension and force your brain to attempt to connect the puzzle pieces, absorbing meaning through context. Afterwards, watch with the foreign language subtitles if available. If you watch with Eng
lish subtitles, you’ll more than likely be reading more than listening, which won't help you to learn the words. However, watching with English subtitles can help you get a better sense of the storyline. If you choose to do this, only do it once, and always return to the same movie or show using the previous steps. Your goal should be to watch without the need for subtitles.

  I also recommend that you fall in love with music in the language that you are learning. Music affects us on an emotional level. For that reason, the words that you learn from songs will have a deep meaning to you. Additionally, if you like a particular song, you’re more likely to listen to it often and memorize the lyrics. Through learning songs, you will absorb a massive amount of vocabulary, grammar, slang, and connect more with the culture. It’s fairly easy to find the lyrics of almost any song, so you can take your time to look up the words to fully understand each song. Music videos are great too, since you can watch mouths, and gather some context clues from the scenes.

  It’s important to understand how to effectively look up words. Most people simply type a word or phrase into an online translator, yet they are unaware of the ineffectiveness of this method. I typed the phrase into an online translator; “I don’t really know why she skipped town.” I copied and pasted the translation and reversed the language pair to translate it back into English, which resulted in, “It is not known exactly why the city is omitted.” When I simplified the phrase to, “She skipped town,” the result was, “She jumped the city”.

  The reason online translators are ineffective is because words can have more than one meaning. Let’s look at the word way. How many ways can we use it?

  1. Well, this is one way. (form)

  2. I'm on the way. (path)

  3. Show me the way to cook pizza. (method)

  4. Which way did he go? (direction)

  5. That's way too hot for me. (emphasis)

  6. I like the way you talk. (manner)

  7. By the way, (idiom)

  There are probably more ways than those listed, but you see my point. An online translator doesn’t always pick the correct meaning of the word or phrase that you are looking up.

  A better way to look up words is to use monolingual dictionaries, as this gets you thinking more in the foreign language. After you have looked up the monolingual definition, look up the bilingual definition using a bilingual dictionary, not a translator. Language forums are very helpful for this, since you can ask other users how to define or translate certain terms. After you look up the bilingual definition, try to find the word or phrase in context. Search the term by itself using a search engine and see what pops up. If you are looking up a noun, use an image search.

  One trap I used to find myself constantly falling into is the ambush of false cognates. Some people refer to false cognates as false friends. A cognate is a word that looks similar and may even sound similar in both languages and has the same meaning in each. A false cognate is just like a cognate yet has a different meaning. A hard lesson for me was when a Hispanic coworker told me she was embarazada, which means pregnant, not embarrassed. I’ll let you use your imagination to feel the awkwardness I endured in that situation. Once you get deep enough into learning your new language, you’ll find patterns which indicate that a word is a cognate. Never assume the meaning. Always research the word to be sure. Also, in many languages nouns have genders. Don’t automatically assume the noun’s gender. Learn the gender as being part of the word.

  I’d like to reiterate that repeated exposure is the key. Reading a passage or watching a clip multiple times, although it may seem monotonous, is way more effective than memorizing vocabulary lists or using flash cards. Growing your vocabulary from repeated exposure ensures that you are always learning from context.

  Learning a new word and later being able to recall it is like learning a person's name. If you rarely interact with the person after meeting them, the next time you see them it may be difficult to remember their name. But, if you see the person regularly, and interact with them, their name is simply part of who they are. Likewise, if you learn a word, and are exposed to that word often, it will be hard to forget it. After a little while you don't even have to try hard to draw upon the memory of when you learned the word, as it just becomes part of your vocabulary. For example, can you remember the time you learned the word house? Me neither. I do, however remember the time I learned the word aesthetic, which rarely comes up in conversation. I remember where I was sitting and with whom I was speaking when they explained what it meant. Whenever I’m exposed to the term now, the memory of when I learned it slightly grazes my consciousness, yet when I use common words such as house, I don’t experience anything of the sort.

  Just as I’ve described before, using mental tricks can help you to remember words more quickly and easily. One thing you can do is to picture an image of the word in your mind, not the letters of the word, rather the meaning of the word. If you are learning the word cat in the foreign language, picture the biggest cat you can imagine. Make your mental image extraordinary and bizarre. Give the cat wings and imagine that cats in the language’s country of origin all have wings. Once you have a clear image of the new species of cat you have created, make up a scenario. Perhaps the winged feline is chasing you toward the edge of a cliff. Imagine that you are running away from the creature alongside a native speaker of your new language. Imagine yourself yelling out to him, “What is that?”, to which he replies something along the lines of, “That’s a cat!” The more bizarre and far-fetched you make the scenario, the easier it will be to remember it. It’s important to always include yourself and a native speaker in your mental scenarios. Add as many emotions as you can. Think about how scared you were as you were on the verge of becoming cat food. Be as creative as possible.

  Another thing I like to do is have mental replays of words that I have learned from natives. I mentally relive the situations when I learned the words over and over in my mind. I used to do this on purpose, but now it happens naturally. This may take some work to get into the habit of doing, but it helps a great deal. The key is to spend time on each word as you are learning it. Vocabulary building is not about how many words you can learn quickly. It’s about how many words you can effectively recall and use at will.

  10 Refinement

  Step 6 – Sophistication

  In order to achieve native-like fluency, you will need more than just an extensive vocabulary. You will need to reach a level of sophistication similar to that which you have in your native language. Most of the techniques and exercises mentioned in this chapter will be things that would be pretty easy to accomplish in your native language. Let that be your measuring stick throughout this process. When you face difficulty in performing these exercises, just remember how easy it would be to do the same in your native language. This analysis will also help you to measure your progress in the foreign language that you are learning.

  In the chapter about courses, I recommended not to use grammar-based workbooks until you have reached a certain level of fluency. If at this point you feel like you are ready, then you should do the following: Purchase a few or even several different bilingual grammar workbooks until you find those that are effective for you. Go through them slowly and repeat each lesson until you have it mastered. You will also need to set up some sort of review schedule so that you don’t forget what you’ve learned.

  When you get to the unavoidable sections on verb conjugation, don’t let them scare you away. In conversations I’ve had over the years with language learners, one of the biggest difficulties most people face is the concept of verb conjugations. Unfortunately, verb conjugations are usually taught early on in schools and courses, which tends to overwhelm the student who hasn’t even reached the most basic level of fluency. While learning about verbs and their seemingly endless conjugations, it’s wise to use mental scenarios as well. You can start by thinking about the scenarios in your native language. Pick any simple scenario you want, such as going to t
he grocery store to buy some juice.

  Picture a timeline, like an arrow on a chalkboard. If now is the present, then you can talk about now in terms of, “I’m buying juice.” If it’s something you are going to do, it’s “I’m going to buy some juice.” If it already happened, then obviously it’s, “I bought juice.” If you picture these three events on a timeline with yourself being in the present, the future being in front of you, and the past being behind you, then you can easily alter each part of the timeline by changing the scenario;

  “I would buy juice if I had the money.” I would have bought juice if I had gotten paid.” “I will have bought juice by the time the store closes.” “I had already bought juice when he arrived.”

  Such scenarios are easy to picture and describe in your native language, and eventually will be in your new language. I recommend learning the verb conjugations in a few tenses such as present, future, and past, yet simply talking about yourself just like I did above. After you have mastered the “I” form, move on to the next one. Most verb charts show the conjugations listed by pronouns, such as I buy, you buy, he/she buys, they buy, we buy, you all buy. Memorizing them in that way can be monotonous. The best way to understand each conjugation is to be able to picture the scenario and understand how to describe the action.

  When I was learning my first foreign language, I was excited to learn each new verb because I could immediately learn how to say it in the present, future, and past tense, meaning I could learn three new words instead of one simply by conjugating. When I first started to study verbs, I was presented with all the different names of the tenses, which bored me to no end. Instead of focusing on what the verb tense was called, I would skip straight to the verb and pay attention to the conjugation. I would picture a scenario in which I could use said conjugation and move on with my learning. I’m fluent in several languages and to this day I still don’t know the names of all the tenses. That may shock you, but if you think about it, it doesn’t really matter. Do you think about the names of the verb tenses you are using when you speak your native language? Probably not.