Learning the Local Lingo
August 8th, 2008 by Miguel

When moving to another country, learning the language can mean adjusting to the lifestyle or remaining an outsider. There are several ways to learn a foreign language, just take a look at the ideas below.

Books with CDs There are lots of books that come with CDs in order to learn the language. You can play the CDs on your way to work. Just remember to repeat the phrases aloud.

Media Once you get a handle on the language, watching TV or movies. If possible, put closed captioning on as well, that way you can listening and read the words. If you don’t understand what was said, you might be able to read it and then understand.

Listening to the radio, both the news and songs will also help you get more accustomed to the language and its accents. And don’t forget about emailing, forums, newspapers, and chatting. Find someone who speaks the language you want to learn and try chatting or exchanging emails. Reading forums is a nice way to learn slang and casual conversation. You could also try joining a chat room in the local language and talk about things that interest you. Reading the newspaper whether the printed version or online is a great way to learn formal speech.

Language partners These are a great way to meet the locals. Try to find someone with your same level, but in English. Go out and have a coffee and spending half the time talking in English and half the time talking in the language you’re trying to learn. Or, you could find another foreigner and just spend the entire time trying to talk in the target language. You can talk about family, local news, or just practise reading aloud. Remember to correct each other’s pronunciation.

Post-it. Putting up little notes all over the house can help you learn about daily items. For example, on the door, write the word for door, on the mirror, do the same. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to name all the things around you.

Practise, practise, practise Don’t give up. At first, it can be difficult to learn a language, but then you’ll get a grasp on it. You’ll find that you might reach a plateau after a while, but keep at it and you’ll find yourself learning more and more.

Read aloud Just looking at the words in your books won’t help you when you have to have a conversation. Practise reading aloud in the target language. After a while, you’ll notice that the words come out faster, you’ll have less of an accent, and it will also increase your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.

Stopping translating Although it may seem easier to think in English and then translate to the target language, it’s way too confusion, takes a long time, and some things simply don’t translate. Make a point of thinking in the language you’re using.

With a bit of time and effort, you’ll be able to make a lot of practise in the language you’re trying to learn and this will help you adjust more to your host country and open up a whole new world.

Sharon de Hinojosa (naturegirl321) has lived and worked (mainly teaching English) in the US, Scotland, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Korea, and Peru. As well as teaching short-term in Venezuela and Taiwan.

She has created The LA Job List http://www.thelajoblist.blogspot.com which lists schools, institutes and universities in 19 Latin American countries which offer English teaching positions.

Since living in Peru since August 2006, she wrote The Ultimate Peru List http://www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com – With 60 pages it’s a comprehensive guide for those living in or moving to Peru.


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