"QUICK TIPS FOR LEARNING LANGUAGES ON YOUR OWN"

1. Find a reason

to learn the language, because it’s hard to do something continuously without a clear goal in mind. Is it to talk to people? To express ideas? For your career? For the pursuit of knowledge?

2. Consume audio-visual media especially to practice associating words with meaning instead of translation, but also to practice listening comprehension and to refine your accent.

3. Make it enjoyable. Study the language by doing things that are enjoyable to you, e.g. reading, watching movies, listening to music, talking to people (or to yourself). Also, study aspects of its culture that you love.

4. Utilize spaced repetition to enhance long term retention, i.e. study a little every day.

5. Don’t worry if you aren’t great at it at first. Focus on what you can understand and can do, and fill in the gaps later. Don’t stop practicing just because you don’t understand.

6. Create a routine. Make it a part of your everyday life to reduce the friction it takes for you to make progress each day.

7. Be patient. Focus on improving rather than mastering the language really fast. It’s not a race, and you’ll experience many small successes along the way that will motivate you to learn.

8. Use the pareto principle. 80% of what you use comes from 20% of what you study. Find the 80% by paying attention to the words and phrases you use/want to use the most when talking to people, writing in your diary, etc.

9. Practice. Practice. Practice.