Perhaps you’ve suddenly decided to learn a new language to help you scoot up the career ladder or because you’re planning on traveling. Or maybe you’ve wanted to learn for years and are resolved that 2022 is going to be the year to do it. You might want to learn a new language for fun or fancy polishing up on skills that haven’t been used since school days.
Whatever your reasons, the good news is that learning a language today is easier than it’s ever been before. Why? Stick with us, and we’ll explore the reasons that this year is the best yet to get started on your language learning adventure!
Language Learning Apps
Today, language learning isn’t confined to the classroom and is no longer made up of reciting tenses and writing down long lists of vocab – it’s an immersive, dynamic experience that aims to make learning engaging, enjoyable, and relevant. The prevalence of new language learning apps fulfills all of these functions, and they’re a convenient way to gain proficiency or boost your online or in-person studies.
Choose from apps that deliver a complete course of study experience, or look at those that utilize AI technology to accelerate your learning through the tailored provision of bite-sized programs and content. One of the best things about using a language learning app is that this mode of study can fit entirely around you and your lifestyle: learn on the go, on your lunch break, or listen to a module while you’re doing the housework or out jogging. Revisit content as and when required to revise or check you’ve understood.
Many of the language learning apps out there have a free basic tier, as well as a selection of paid packages, so have a look at the one that would suit you – and your pocket – best.
Learn While Watching TV
One of the best things about gaining fluency in a new language today is that you can do it by relaxing in front of the TV, watching a subtitled binge-worthy box-set, or a smash hit movie. It may sound too good to be true, but research has shown that viewing subtitled tv shows in the target language not only increases proficiency but results in the viewer gaining greater confidence when speaking and listening to the language, too.
Have a look at learn a language Lingopie for an example of a platform that offers a library of subtitled TV shows and movies in a range of different languages to get started gaining proficiency by watching TV! Titles are categorized so that you can easily see which ones are best for beginners, intermediate, or advanced learners, and the platform provides additional tools, too, to support and accelerate your learning. Once you’ve gotten used to watching with the English subtitles turned on, you could try switching the subtitles so that they appear in the target language and, eventually, turn them off altogether.
Viewing TV in the target language is a key immersive learning technique; the immersive learning method by which we incorporate the new language into our daily lives as much as possible – has been proven to be the most effective way to become fluent in another tongue. So, whether you’re looking for the best Netflix shows to learn Spanish with or fancy learning French with a selection of films, it’s just one more reason that learning a language now is easier than ever before!
Online And In-Person Forums
Whereas in the past, it was difficult to encounter lots of native speakers to practice discussing in the new language, unless you could take a substantial time out to go traveling, now the online world allows for rich opportunities to meet and converse in the target tongue.
Use dedicated language learning online forums to connect with lots of speakers – both native and learners – and get chatting! As well as online forums, you may be able to find a regular in-person meeting too; these can be great opportunities to practice speaking and listening to the new language and make friends. They’re a good way to boost your confidence and hear a range of regional accents and dialects, as well.
Hybrid Ways of Learning
The flexibility with which we can learn most subjects these days is a huge bonus and has opened up opportunities to learn for many who would struggle without this due to work and other commitments.
All of the above reasons form part of the hybridity of approach that makes language learning much easier now than it was in the past. You could choose to study using a mix of online classes, in-person sessions, and immersive techniques, some of which we’ve touched on above. As well as meaning that we can fit our learning around our lives more easily than has ever been possible before, it also means that we can tailor how we learn to the way that suits us best.
For example, if virtual learning that you can undertake at your own pace and in your own time largely works best for you, but you’d like the option to have in-person class meet-ups a couple of times a month, this is doable. Alternatively, if you would prefer to learn totally solo, then you could augment your online studies with immersive learning techniques and the use of language learning apps.
Availability of Material
And finally, the sheer volume of material in the new language offered by the internet is a major reason that now is the best time yet to learn a new language. Browsing a news website in Italian, for example, is possible with just a couple of mouse clicks; you can order books and magazines in French within minutes or immerse yourself in the sound of Spanish music for the day.
The internet is one of your best friends when it comes to incorporating immersive learning techniques into your daily life. Why not find a pen pal in the new language, commit to exchanging regular emails, or tune in to a native radio station for an hour?
Use the internet to surround yourself with both the target language and the culture of the country in which it’s spoken for a holistic and richly rewarding learning experience.
Leveling Up Language Learning
So there you have it—the top reasons why now is the very best time to learn a new language. Use one or a range of these methods to get started today with learning the language you’ve always wanted to in a way that suits you. Research has consistently shown that becoming proficient in one new language makes it much easier to pick up a second – even a third – and so this could be just the start of a lifetime of language learning.
WE SAID THIS: There are many ways to picking up a new language but did you know that there are even more creative approaches to your learning process?