How to Learn a New Language

Learning a new language can open the door to endless possibilities. You can immerse yourself in a different culture, develop conversational skills and talk with people across the globe. All this, you can achieve by simply learning a new language.

How do you take the first step? Learning a new language requires consistent hard work, and you can’t expect to master it in a day! But that doesn’t mean you should feel worried about the journey ahead.

Here at Distance Learning Centre, we tell you our best tips for how to learn a new language. If you’ve already begun your language-learning journey, why not take one of our online courses?

We offer IGCSE courses in French, German and Spanish so that you can enhance your employment prospects and conversational skills. It’s never too late to start learning!

How to learn a new language

1. Settle on a language you love

Whether you learnt German, Spanish or French during your education, you must feel passionate about the language you’re learning. Without a genuine interest, you’re less likely to push yourself.

Countless studies have shown that motivation and a desire to understand the culture of your chosen language keep students on track. So if you love the language you’re learning, you already have an advantage.

2. Take an online course

Online courses are a brilliant way to add to your language learning. Most UK secondary school students will study modern languages from 11 or 12, with some continuing into GCSE and even A-Level.

But with Distance Learning’s IGCSE courses, students around the globe can gain a highly-respected pre-university qualification. You’ll receive a preliminary course in the language of your choice (we offer French, German and Spanish IGCSEs!).

After 200 hours of self-study, you’ll have fostered new listening, reading, conversational and written language skills that you can take with you for the rest of your life.

3. Use technology to help you

More people are learning languages now than ever before. With advanced technology, we can access dictionaries on our phones and have Google explain complex grammatical rules in under a second.

It’s no wonder that language-learning apps are all the rage. Use your phone productively and download an app that tops up your understanding of vocabulary and common expressions. You can learn on the go, taking time to squeeze in that extra bit of language practice.

4. Use movies, music and books!

We all love settling down for the night with a good book, movie or playlist. But as monolinguals, there is an entire world of media and culture locked behind closed doors. Well, not anymore!

Language learning isn’t all work and no play. Take some time away from your flash cards and dive deep into the most renowned movies and books that your language of choice has to offer.

While this may feel like you’re slacking off, absorbing media will improve your listening skills and allow you to listen to native speaker pronunciations.

5. Get real-life practice

Interaction in a new language is crucial. It’s all well and good recalling vocabulary from memory, but what about using it in conversation? That’s why getting real-life practice is an excellent way to put your skills to the test.

Interact with native speakers in your area, find a pen-pal online and exchange skills. Remember, your eventual goal is to use the language the way they do, so you’ll likely pick up tips left, right and centre.

Why is it hard to learn a new language?

Simply put, learning a new language is hard because it takes a wealth of time and cognitive effort. It is an established fact that adults struggle to learn a second language!

Children, however, have brains like sponges that absorb information about the world: our minds learn language implicitly when we are young, a skill that we lose as we age.

We listen to our caregivers talk for years before speaking our first words. We read or are read to at a skill level higher than our own at home. But once we’ve reached a certain part of our development, the brain must work harder to form connections.

However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible! Learning a second language when you’re an adult is about finding your skill level, immersing yourself in grammar and vocabulary, and not being afraid to make mistakes.

How long does it take to learn a new language?

The time it takes to learn a new language is relative to every person. Many factors contribute to our language learning process, including what language we’ve chosen and our native tongue.

If you want to learn a language distinct from your mother tongue, it will likely take you much longer to master. How much you study and use your language productively will also impact your skill level. Plus, your personal opinion of fluency might come into play.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (AKA the CEFR) measures how well a person knows and understands a language. A student who can communicate confidently in detail may be considered a B2 in Spanish, German or French.

But you may believe you have only learnt a language when you reach the level of a C1 or C2 speaker! It’s all down to your personal opinions of fluency: few people can learn a language full-time, so studying and practising whenever you get the chance is perfectly normal.

Choose Distance Learning for your language-learning needs

Now that you know how to learn a language, why not try it out yourself? We offer our premium IGCSE courses to students 16 years or older. Take the step to enhance your skills and employability with Distance Learning’s online language courses.