Learn a Language on Your Own

By Nate Marcus
Printed in Abroad View, spring 2004

So you’re going abroad in a few months, but you don’t have the luxury of taking a language class. Never fear—you’re in luck! By combining these simple techniques you can learn a foreign language without setting foot in a classroom.

Buy the right book
Spend time looking at grammar books in the bookstore. Find one that is colorful, interesting and easy to flip through. Beginners needn’t buy a “501 Verbs” book or even a dictionary; the grammar book should list important verbs and other words in the back.

Use the Internet 
Find a good dictionary online (a useful resource for several languages is www.wordreference. com). Search for a list of a foreign country’s hit songs and download them. Then, look up the words from the lyrics. To increase your exposure, listen to broadcasts, watch live TV and read articles in a foreign language on the Internet.

Get out the flashcards
Perhaps the most important technique is to amass hundreds of flashcards and study them diligently. Write out the verbs, expressions and major vocabulary you think you will need on cards half the normal size. Take at least 15 new cards around with you each day and flip through them whenever you have a spare minute. The more often you see a word, the better you will remember it.

Listen to Pimsleur tapes 
Pimsleur’s audiotapes are very effective. The speaker pauses and asks you to reply promptly in the language. You should move on to the next tape only when you respond correctly 80 percent of the time. These tapes force you to repeat words and phrases. There is no writing involved, which makes them perfect for jogging or driving.

Read books
If you are an intermediate student, find a book that you love, such as The Hobbit or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone translated into the language (you can usually buy it on the Internet). Highlight the words you don’t know and after each chapter look them up online (typing them is much faster than flipping through a dictionary). Write the meaning of the word in the margin; when you’re done, re-read your annotated copy.

Practice, practice, practice 
Knowing someone who can talk to you in the language is a plus, but it isn’t necessary. A trick is to pretend to talk to somebody whenever you’re alone. Explain to your “friends” what you are doing, thinking and seeing. People may notice that you are talking to yourself, but this ritual will prepare you to speak in the language with greater ease when you arrive.

Nathaniel Marcus was a senior at Middlebury College and was on the  Abroad View Student Editorial Board when he wrote this article. He worked at Concordia Language Villages at the time.