Conversation Conservation
Tips for keeping your foreign language skills sharp
This article was published in Abroad View's fall 2009 magazine.
By Asha Toulmin
Lost your lenguaje after coming back from Lima? Can’t find the right mot now that you’ve left Paris? Arriving back home in the United States means you’re no longer immersed in a foreign lingo—which can be problematic for maintaining language skills you may have developed during your time abroad. Over time you may eventually try to think of a word but your mind goes blank. But if you keep exposing yourself to the language, your hard-earned foreign tongue will stick. Here are five easy ways to create your own mini-language immersion:
1. Through education: Continue taking classes in your language. Whether they’re light conversational classes or intense literature courses, learning new material will require you to strengthen and use the language skills you already have. Also, offer up your language skills and use them to become a tutor. By having to teach and explain things to others, you will learn the material better yourself and feel responsible for keeping up-to-date with the language you are teaching.
2. Through the Internet: Let’s face it—the World Wide Web has virtually unlimited resources for procrastination. But you can turn them to your advantage. Change your Facebook profile language. Follow a Twitter account in the language. E-mail with people you met on your study abroad program who can also speak the language. Even YouTube has videos in a variety of languages, and you can choose to do your Google searches in different languages.
3. Through the media: It’s one thing to know how to say “I love you” in your new language and another to see it expressed on the silver screen. Being able to associate words with certain people and events can help you remember them, especially if they are part of a defining and important line. So watch movies in the language—even if you read the English subtitles, you will still be absorbing some of what you are hearing and will strengthen your skills. Subscribe to a magazine, newspaper, or newsletter in the language, and watch the news online or on TV. Not only will it reinforce your vocabulary, but it may also help you learn and remember vocabulary specific to areas where the language is spoken.
4. Through your community: Depending on where you live, there may be events, activities, and groups in the area that involve the language. Take advantage of this—you can make new connections that may introduce you to other language resources, and you may meet new people with whom to practice speaking. If you don’t have something established in the area, you can always start your own event, club, or group at your university or in your community. Chances are, other people are looking for ways to practice their skills as well.
5. Through personal habits: Just keeping up some simple habits can make a world of difference in maintaining the language skills you have. Keep a journal in the language—this way you will also have to think of, or look up, words that express your inner thoughts and daily activities. If you forget specific words, write them down on a list and make a concerted effort to use each in a sentence the next day. Label things in your room with their foreign language equivalent. Make a calendar for yourself with one sentence to memorize and understand for each day.
These relatively simple tips will help you keep up with what you know, but the best thing you can do is plan a return trip. Nothing beats actually being in the place where your language is spoken. Until then, keep learning and, most importantly, keep talking.