Fun & Easy Ways to Learn a New Language

Sara K.
May 11, 2016
3 min read

I was thrilled this morning when I woke up and had a message on Tumblr from someone who recently started following me. She asked what some of the best ways were to learn English on her own; her first language is Arabic, but she wants to self-teach herself English. Totally over the moon when I got that message, and I though it was something worth sharing with you guys because the answers I gave her are ones that, I think, can be applied to learning any language - whether you're teaching yourself or you're taking a language course in school.

01. Listen to music. It can wake up your mind, and if you listen to music in English, it can help you grasp the language. 02. Play Scrabble (or some other word game). Scrabble is a classic board game where players use random letters they pull out of a bag to create words in the fashion of a crossword puzzle. It’s a great way for English learners and native English speakers alike to strengthen their vocabulary; it challenges you to think and try to come up with as many different words as possible with the set of letters you have. 03. YouTube. This link is a list of nine YouTube channels FluentU suggests for learning English. Much like listening to music, hearing someone and watching someone speak the language makes it easier to see and understand how certain words and letters sound. Though I don't know of any off the top of my head, I'm sure there are YouTube channels for other languages; I used to watch videos all the time when I was learning American Sign Language, and YouTube was my primary source. 04. Television shows and movies. There are a lot of great T.V. shows and movies in English, and, much like watching YouTube videos, you have a chance to hear and see people speaking the language. 05. Study in a new location. If you’re studying English from a textbook or you’re trying to read a book in English, sometimes changing up your study location can help you focus. Studying in the same place can start to get boring; a change in scenery will improve the enthusiasm you have for learning, and it can help improve your memory. 06. Read in English. If you’re now comfortable jumping right in to a series like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter (which I don’t suggest!), start with shorter novels or even children’s books. Read magazine articles and the newspaper. Even read blogs in English! Anything that will get your mind focused on seeing new words and being able to add them to your vocabulary. 07. Find a conversation partner. Probably the best way to learn English is to just start speaking it. If you have friends that speak English or friends who are learning English with you, just start up a conversation. Make a point to say to yourself and you your friend “I want the conversation to be in as much English as possible.” The more practice you get and the more conversations you have in English, the better your vocabulary and pronunciation of words will get, If you’re conversing with a native English speaker, be sure to stop them if they say something you don’t understand; don’t be afraid to ask them to stop, slow down, and explain things to you. 08. Use English resources for children. Like children’s books. You can also find interactive spelling and vocabulary games online. While they’re geared toward children, the simple and easy-to-follow structure will help you to grasp the language. 09. Try Rosetta Stone. But only if you can afford it! The Rosetta Stone website gives you a few purchasing options: CD-ROM to put in your computer, an instant download to your computer, and having instant access to the lessons online. However, they are all a bit pricey. I’m talking around $500 pricey. Personally, I’ve never used Rosetta Stone so I can’t give you any personal feedback on it. My boyfriend says he used it when he was younger to learn Italian and it worked well because it emulates being thrown into the culture. But honestly, I’d just skip on Rosetta Stone.